Brad and I have been super busy lately and I have had very little time to update our blog. Here's a bit about what's been going on in our lives: Brad is sort of hosting an "exchange" resident from Wales. His name is Lyndon and he is a delight. We were planning on having him over for dinner on Friday night, but we ended up going out to dinner with him and Dr. Saltzman at this very cool, rustic restaurant in Big Cottonwood Canyon. We also were invited to a dinner on Sunday night at Dr. Saltzman's for fellows and first and second year residents. Over the weekend, we did pilates, swam, ran, and biked. On Sunday, we biked Mill Creek Canyon for the first time and it was brutal! My legs were beat from the 7.5 miles of hills I did the day before, but even with fresh legs, this 7.6 % average climb would have still been painful. It was a beautiful ride and we got to see the leaves changing in the higher elevation. It reminded me of a New England fall and I got a little homesick, so I rewarded myself with an apple fritter (one of my favorite fall treats) after the ride was over.
This week went by super fast! Brad and I have been busy, busy, busy! Brad has been getting home very late every night and he has a lot of work on his plate. He is also starting to set up some interviews for academic jobs, so while it's exciting, it's also stressful since our October is chock full.
This weekend, we are flying to Napa Valley for Sarah Gilman's wedding. We are stoked to see Napa Valley and to spend time with some of my college friends. It will be a short trip, but a very fun one.
In other news, we bought our new skis. They are all-mountain wide skis. We are so excited since they are designed for 50% powder and 50% all-mountain. We also ended up getting a ski pass at Solitude and we bought a discount card for Alta. We keep hearing that this winter is going to be even more epic than last winter, so we are so ready! All we have to do is buy bindings and we will be good to go! That's about all I have to report. I promise to update you with pictures and stories from Napa Valley and more adventures next week.
Stay tuned...
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
Hello All,
Another weekend is winding down and I'm here to fill you in on our week. Brad and I had a busier week than usual. We attended an Orientation to the Pilates Reformer on Tuesday night. We had a good class and we are more acquainted with the reformer. We ordered a DVD so we can do workouts on our reformer at home. We are very excited for the DVD to arrive as we think it will be a great workout alternative.
I had off from work on Thursday, so I headed out for a hard ride up City Creek Canyon. About 4.8 miles into my ride, I got a flat. It figures that I would get a flat the one time I was riding alone! I hadn't had a flat in a LONG time, but I didn't have any problems changing my tube. Instead of heading up the canyon, I turned around and headed home since I only had one spare tube on me. It was a good thing because my rear tire was half way deflated when I got home. I guess both my tires wore out at the same time. On Thursday night, we attended a Bates event called Welcome to the City. Other NESCAC schools were there and Brad and I mingled with Bates, Bowdoin, Colby alumni. I felt really old at first, but then a lot of people showed up that had graduated ahead of me. It was a nice event and I'm happy I attended.
On Saturday, Brad headed out for a ride and since my new tires that I ordered (from Backcountry) hadn't come in, I went out for a long run. We both had awesome workouts which set a nice tone for the rest of the day. Brad used the early afternoon to get some work done while I went out to check out bridesmaid dresses for my wedding. Later in the afternoon, we drove up to Snowbird for Oktoberfest. Brad and I bought these awesome glass beer steins and we got a really good black bier. We walked around the festival while enjoying some people watching and the crisp air was really nice too.
On Sunday, we decided to venture out on another mountain bike ride. We bought a book at Barnes and Noble and we choose a nice sounding trail ride from it. We headed to Mill Creek Canyon to the Big Water Trail which is 6.5 miles out and back ride. I know I'm not an experienced mountain biker, but the book definitely made out the ride to be a lot easier than it was. We had a really big elevation change in a matter of 2 miles. The area was beautiful and the trail was really great, but all the rocks and roots were very slippery because of recent rainfall. I did a lot better than I had on previous trails. I had one fall, but it happened so fast, I couldn't even tell you how it happened! At the top of the trail, we came upon Dog Lake which is this small, serene lake nestled into the aspens. Brad and I enjoyed watching a dog swim for sticks while we caught our breath. The dog loved the water, but was the least efficient swimmer ever! I took a video of it - see below. The ride down was a lot more fun and wasn't as technically difficult as it was going up. That may be because it's easier to go over rocks and logs when you have more momentum - but I'm not really sure. It was a good, hard day of mountain biking and I look forward to continue to challenge myself.
After Brad and I got home from riding and Brad had four hotdogs(!) for lunch, we got busy with our new gear from Backcountry. We both got new tires (and they are REALLY nice) and Brad got a bike computer for his mountain bike. I'm so pumped to go for a ride on my new tires - I wouldn't have been able to afford such a nice set if it wasn't for my sweet discount. Working hard at Backcountry certainly pays off!!
The weather is beginning to change here. The mornings and evenings are very cool, but the days are still warm. We saw some leaves beginning to change in the higher elevation. I'm not sure if there will be any kind of apple harvest here - I don't think Utah has apple orchards. I'll be really sad if we can't get apple cider and cider donuts here! I am already missing the New England fall season a lot, but snow will be here before we know it and Brad and I will be skiing in November. We decided to get season passes at Alta since both of us get decent discounts from our jobs.
In other news, I really hope Rhode Island sends out my duplicate title. Brad is all set with his Utah plates, but Rhode Island has really screwed me over by never mailing my car title when I registered there. But something worth noting is that when Brad and I got our Utah licenses we had to take a written test. Brad is a really good test taker and is obviously extremely smart, but guess who got 100% on her exam?? That's right, I did! This will probably be the only time I ever score better than Brad on an exam, so that is why I am publicizing it. :)
In work news, Brad is enjoying his fellowship and he is learning a lot. He is being kept very busy with a lot of work to do for three surgeons, but it is all contributing to his growth and development as a foot and ankle surgeon. As for me, I got trained in returns last week at Backcountry, so it's nice to be more versatile at work. Even though my work is very physical, I am really beginning to enjoy going in and doing some hard labor instead of sitting behind a desk trying to motivate uninspired college kids. The people I work with are very passionate about outdoor activity and it is very refreshing - that doesn't mean I don't have my bad days, but there seem to be less of them lately.
Well that's enough from me. I'll be back with another update next weekend!! Thanks for reading :)
Another weekend is winding down and I'm here to fill you in on our week. Brad and I had a busier week than usual. We attended an Orientation to the Pilates Reformer on Tuesday night. We had a good class and we are more acquainted with the reformer. We ordered a DVD so we can do workouts on our reformer at home. We are very excited for the DVD to arrive as we think it will be a great workout alternative.
I had off from work on Thursday, so I headed out for a hard ride up City Creek Canyon. About 4.8 miles into my ride, I got a flat. It figures that I would get a flat the one time I was riding alone! I hadn't had a flat in a LONG time, but I didn't have any problems changing my tube. Instead of heading up the canyon, I turned around and headed home since I only had one spare tube on me. It was a good thing because my rear tire was half way deflated when I got home. I guess both my tires wore out at the same time. On Thursday night, we attended a Bates event called Welcome to the City. Other NESCAC schools were there and Brad and I mingled with Bates, Bowdoin, Colby alumni. I felt really old at first, but then a lot of people showed up that had graduated ahead of me. It was a nice event and I'm happy I attended.
On Saturday, Brad headed out for a ride and since my new tires that I ordered (from Backcountry) hadn't come in, I went out for a long run. We both had awesome workouts which set a nice tone for the rest of the day. Brad used the early afternoon to get some work done while I went out to check out bridesmaid dresses for my wedding. Later in the afternoon, we drove up to Snowbird for Oktoberfest. Brad and I bought these awesome glass beer steins and we got a really good black bier. We walked around the festival while enjoying some people watching and the crisp air was really nice too.
On Sunday, we decided to venture out on another mountain bike ride. We bought a book at Barnes and Noble and we choose a nice sounding trail ride from it. We headed to Mill Creek Canyon to the Big Water Trail which is 6.5 miles out and back ride. I know I'm not an experienced mountain biker, but the book definitely made out the ride to be a lot easier than it was. We had a really big elevation change in a matter of 2 miles. The area was beautiful and the trail was really great, but all the rocks and roots were very slippery because of recent rainfall. I did a lot better than I had on previous trails. I had one fall, but it happened so fast, I couldn't even tell you how it happened! At the top of the trail, we came upon Dog Lake which is this small, serene lake nestled into the aspens. Brad and I enjoyed watching a dog swim for sticks while we caught our breath. The dog loved the water, but was the least efficient swimmer ever! I took a video of it - see below. The ride down was a lot more fun and wasn't as technically difficult as it was going up. That may be because it's easier to go over rocks and logs when you have more momentum - but I'm not really sure. It was a good, hard day of mountain biking and I look forward to continue to challenge myself.
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| I'm very happy to have made it up the trail! |
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| Brad hanging out among the "quaking" aspens. |
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| Quaint Dog Lake at the end of our mountain bike ride. |
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| Beautiful bluebird sky and nice view on our descent. |
After Brad and I got home from riding and Brad had four hotdogs(!) for lunch, we got busy with our new gear from Backcountry. We both got new tires (and they are REALLY nice) and Brad got a bike computer for his mountain bike. I'm so pumped to go for a ride on my new tires - I wouldn't have been able to afford such a nice set if it wasn't for my sweet discount. Working hard at Backcountry certainly pays off!!
The weather is beginning to change here. The mornings and evenings are very cool, but the days are still warm. We saw some leaves beginning to change in the higher elevation. I'm not sure if there will be any kind of apple harvest here - I don't think Utah has apple orchards. I'll be really sad if we can't get apple cider and cider donuts here! I am already missing the New England fall season a lot, but snow will be here before we know it and Brad and I will be skiing in November. We decided to get season passes at Alta since both of us get decent discounts from our jobs.
In other news, I really hope Rhode Island sends out my duplicate title. Brad is all set with his Utah plates, but Rhode Island has really screwed me over by never mailing my car title when I registered there. But something worth noting is that when Brad and I got our Utah licenses we had to take a written test. Brad is a really good test taker and is obviously extremely smart, but guess who got 100% on her exam?? That's right, I did! This will probably be the only time I ever score better than Brad on an exam, so that is why I am publicizing it. :)
In work news, Brad is enjoying his fellowship and he is learning a lot. He is being kept very busy with a lot of work to do for three surgeons, but it is all contributing to his growth and development as a foot and ankle surgeon. As for me, I got trained in returns last week at Backcountry, so it's nice to be more versatile at work. Even though my work is very physical, I am really beginning to enjoy going in and doing some hard labor instead of sitting behind a desk trying to motivate uninspired college kids. The people I work with are very passionate about outdoor activity and it is very refreshing - that doesn't mean I don't have my bad days, but there seem to be less of them lately.
Well that's enough from me. I'll be back with another update next weekend!! Thanks for reading :)
Sunday, September 11, 2011
And we're back...
Hello, Hello! I'm so sorry for the absence! My computer needed to go to the infirmary because of a redirect virus, but it's back and better than ever. Let's see - where do I begin to catch you all up...it's been awhile.
I'll start with Labor Day Weekend. Brad had an opportunity to go on a fly fishing trip in Idaho with other doctors from the University Orthopaedic Center. He had a great time. He went out on Friday evening and caught a few fish (which were much bigger that what he is accustomed to) and he went out with a guide and floated on the Snake River on Saturday. Overall, it was a great fishing trip for him and I'm looking forward to when he takes me out.
While Brad was fishing, I had the opportunity to host my good friend from Cranford (my hometown). Bethany flew into SLC on Saturday and spent the day and night with me and then headed to Jackson Hole for her brother's wedding. We had a great afternoon catching up and had a wonderful dinner at the famous Mexican place in the area- the Red Iguana.
For the rest of the weekend, Brad and I relaxed and went for a few bike rides. Fortunately, we got offered tickets to go see Alison Krauss on Sunday night and we hit the jackpot! The concert was at Red Butte Gardens and it's basically all lawn seating. The tickets were for the VIP section and so that entailed VIP parking and hor d'ouevres, dinner and dessert - as well as, our pick of seating with lawn chairs. Brad and I didn't know what VIP entailed so we biked (all uphill) there and packed our own picnic, but we were happy to supplement our picnic with catered food from Whole Foods. The concert was amazing and we thoroughly enjoyed listening to Alison Krauss' amazing voice.
Although our work week was shortened, it was both intense, tiring, and long for both of us. My job required me to work from 5 am to 3:30 pm on Tuesday. I'm a morning person, but waking up before 5 am is just brutal! We were so happy once Friday came along and we celebrated by having a date night!
This weekend was relaxing and productive. It's doesn't get better than that! Brad and I got in a 30 mile ride and climbed 2800 ft on our bikes. Afterwards, we ran some errands and then settled in to watch Penn State football. Unfortunately, Penn State didn't play well, but it was a fun afternoon relaxing on the couch. After the PSU game, we listened to Utah football play USC. That was a competitive game, but unfortunately they didn't win either. At least Syracuse had a winning weekend! On Sunday, Brad and I went for a nice hike in the Wasatch Mountains. We hiked about 6 miles roundtrip and gained about 2300 ft. We saw three beautiful alpine lakes at the top of our hike. We ate our lunch on glacier-scratched rocks with a gorgeous view of Lake Blanche. We finished up our Sunday with a nice home cooked meal of scallops, green beans in a bacon cream sauce. Everything is better with bacon!!
Other highlights from the past two weeks include Jill surpassing her 30-day work period which means she earned her discount. She gets to buy items from all of Backcountry's sites for a significant discount. She also has a Bro Code discount to give out to anyone which is wholesale cost + 40% so if any of your Blog Readers would like it, just send us an email/text/FB post. Brad found out his abstract he submitted to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery was accepted! So he gets to present his paper at the conference in San Francisco in February (and hopefully I'll be tagging along!). Brad has also been doing a lot of work on sending out his CV and applying for jobs. It's a stressful situation, but it will be really nice to find out where we will be living next Aug/Sept.
Coming up this week, Brad and I will be deciding on whether we will be buying ski passes this winter. We also signed up for an orientation to Reformer Pilates (we have a reformer in our house and we are both looking forward to learning how to use it). We also will be attending a Welcome to the City hosted by Bates. Jill hopes to meet up with some fellow Batesies. A lot of good stuff is headed our way! Thanks for following our adventures and stay tuned for Brad's post - he claims he will write a blog post one of these days! :)
I'll start with Labor Day Weekend. Brad had an opportunity to go on a fly fishing trip in Idaho with other doctors from the University Orthopaedic Center. He had a great time. He went out on Friday evening and caught a few fish (which were much bigger that what he is accustomed to) and he went out with a guide and floated on the Snake River on Saturday. Overall, it was a great fishing trip for him and I'm looking forward to when he takes me out.
While Brad was fishing, I had the opportunity to host my good friend from Cranford (my hometown). Bethany flew into SLC on Saturday and spent the day and night with me and then headed to Jackson Hole for her brother's wedding. We had a great afternoon catching up and had a wonderful dinner at the famous Mexican place in the area- the Red Iguana.
For the rest of the weekend, Brad and I relaxed and went for a few bike rides. Fortunately, we got offered tickets to go see Alison Krauss on Sunday night and we hit the jackpot! The concert was at Red Butte Gardens and it's basically all lawn seating. The tickets were for the VIP section and so that entailed VIP parking and hor d'ouevres, dinner and dessert - as well as, our pick of seating with lawn chairs. Brad and I didn't know what VIP entailed so we biked (all uphill) there and packed our own picnic, but we were happy to supplement our picnic with catered food from Whole Foods. The concert was amazing and we thoroughly enjoyed listening to Alison Krauss' amazing voice.
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| A view of Allison Krauss and Union Station at Red Butte Garden |
This weekend was relaxing and productive. It's doesn't get better than that! Brad and I got in a 30 mile ride and climbed 2800 ft on our bikes. Afterwards, we ran some errands and then settled in to watch Penn State football. Unfortunately, Penn State didn't play well, but it was a fun afternoon relaxing on the couch. After the PSU game, we listened to Utah football play USC. That was a competitive game, but unfortunately they didn't win either. At least Syracuse had a winning weekend! On Sunday, Brad and I went for a nice hike in the Wasatch Mountains. We hiked about 6 miles roundtrip and gained about 2300 ft. We saw three beautiful alpine lakes at the top of our hike. We ate our lunch on glacier-scratched rocks with a gorgeous view of Lake Blanche. We finished up our Sunday with a nice home cooked meal of scallops, green beans in a bacon cream sauce. Everything is better with bacon!!
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| A view of the Great Salt Lake from our hike. |
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| Rock slide! |
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| Lake Blanche! |
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| Lake Blanche's sister lakes - Lake Lillian and Lake Florence |
Coming up this week, Brad and I will be deciding on whether we will be buying ski passes this winter. We also signed up for an orientation to Reformer Pilates (we have a reformer in our house and we are both looking forward to learning how to use it). We also will be attending a Welcome to the City hosted by Bates. Jill hopes to meet up with some fellow Batesies. A lot of good stuff is headed our way! Thanks for following our adventures and stay tuned for Brad's post - he claims he will write a blog post one of these days! :)
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| Our reformer!!! |
Monday, August 29, 2011
Quick Update
Hello again,
I'm sorry I can't seem to update our blog more than once a week, but Brad and I have been busy. Actually, Brad was supposed to update this blog last night, but he went fly fishing instead. I'm trying to get him to update the blog because I'm really starting to get sick of hearing myself talk! We don't have too much to report this week. Our work week was busy for both of us, but I can tell that I'm starting to get stronger at my job which is a good thing. My goal this week is to get out more often after work for some exercise. Brad had a few late nights with his job this past week and on top of that he was on call on Wednesday and this weekend so our weekend was a bit low key.
On Friday night, we went to the Adventure Party that Backcountry.com (my employer) was sponsoring. It was a nice event that had free booze, food and zipline rides up in Park City. The party was located right at the base of the 2002 Olympic ski jump (pictured below). Brad and I took a zip line tour which was fun and then tried to do the alpine slide but the wait was too long. It was interesting to take a ski lift up without any snow on the ground or skis on your feet!
I'm sorry I can't seem to update our blog more than once a week, but Brad and I have been busy. Actually, Brad was supposed to update this blog last night, but he went fly fishing instead. I'm trying to get him to update the blog because I'm really starting to get sick of hearing myself talk! We don't have too much to report this week. Our work week was busy for both of us, but I can tell that I'm starting to get stronger at my job which is a good thing. My goal this week is to get out more often after work for some exercise. Brad had a few late nights with his job this past week and on top of that he was on call on Wednesday and this weekend so our weekend was a bit low key.
On Friday night, we went to the Adventure Party that Backcountry.com (my employer) was sponsoring. It was a nice event that had free booze, food and zipline rides up in Park City. The party was located right at the base of the 2002 Olympic ski jump (pictured below). Brad and I took a zip line tour which was fun and then tried to do the alpine slide but the wait was too long. It was interesting to take a ski lift up without any snow on the ground or skis on your feet!
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| 2002 SLC Olympic ski jump in Park City |
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| This is the summer training site for ski jumping. We actually saw an athlete jump off with skis into the water. Very Cool! |
On Saturday morning, we slept in a bit and then I went out and had a really nice run. I upped my mileage and I have been able to push myself during my runs which is so much more fun than how I was feeling before. In the afternoon, we went to the pool (like we do every weekend) and both of us felt good in the water. The pool was really crowded, probably due to the university being back in session, but it made for good people watching. Brad and I observed a couple taking glamour shots all over the pool area. We couldn't quite figure out what they were doing since they didn't have any professional photography gear.
On Saturday night, we made a homemade pizza and then went to the movies to see "Our Idiot Brother." It was a funny movie and we enjoyed our night out.
On Sunday, we got up early to do a ride up Emigration Canyon. We both biked faster than our previous time. It's nice to see that we are starting to make progress on our fitness base. Brad has been spending a lot time watching our hummingbird feeder. He is very diligent with making the sugar water and changing it once a week. He is fascinated with the birds and I'm glad it is keeping his interest. Here is a video we took during one of our dinners in our backyard.
So, that was mainly our weekend, (like I said, nothing too crazy). We were really worried about Hurricane Irene and the impact she could have on the East Coast, so we spent a lot of our time looking at Facebook updates and the news. I'm shocked to see how badly Cranford, my hometown got hit. The flooding is horrendous. My parents got hit bad in northeastern PA too. They had several trees down on their property and one even fell on our barn. They had significant water in the basement because the power went out and the sump pump couldn't do it's job and therefore, they lost their furnace and freezer. However, everyone (all pets included) are safe so that's what matters most. I hope my parents can get power back soon though!
Brad and I are going to try to see Thievery Corporation at an outdoor concert venue for free this Thursday and then we are both looking forward to the long weekend. I can't believe September arrives this week! Brad is excited to go on a fly fishing trip with some orthopaedic staff in Idaho and I am excited to host my friend, Bethany. In a week from today, I will have earned my discount from Backcountry, so if anyone wants the Bro Code discount (wholesale price + 40%) let me know because I can give out to anyone. I'm really missing the East Coast today and I wish I could be there to help everyone with their flooded basements. I hope to have some more fun updates in a week....so stay tuned!
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Weekend Wreckage
Hello, hello!
Another week has gone by and I didn't have a chance to update our blog, but we did have a very busy week. I need to try to update this blog more frequently, so I don't forget to share important details about life in SLC. Here are highlights from this past week:
Monday - I found out I had the highest bid for a standup paddleboard (SUP) in an auction at my job at Backcountry. SOOO exciting! I still need to buy a paddle for it, but even though we are not on the coast, I found out there are several bodies of water that we can paddleboard on and it's a very popular sport in the area. They even have SUP competitions throughout the summer. Another popular event is Full Moon SUP on the Great Salt Lake. I'm very excited to try out this new sport and get a good ab workout!
Tuesday - Brad and I went to see the Gypsy Kings at the Red Butte Amphitheatre. Except we didn't buy tickets, instead we hiked up to a hill that is above the amphitheatre and listened to the concert for free. It was quite the scene - a lot of people had the same idea we did and they brought chairs, blankets, picnics, drinks, dogs, kids, and bikes. It worked out great because we didn't want to stay for the entire concert since Brad and I both leave the house at 5:30 am for work, but it was very fun to hear the Gypsy Kings live. We will try to go back and hear more concert before the series ends in the fall.
Wednesday and Thursday were both busy with work. Brad had a long day of work on Thursday and by the time Friday rolled around, we were both exhausted. We did motivate ourselves to get out and go for a mountain bike ride. Although, we weren't able to successfully complete the ride since I crashed on my bike. It was a totally amateur move and I basically froze while maneuvering over rocks while riding uphill and I basically fell right over on my bike with my feet still clipped in. My hand and hip took the worst hit and I have some sightly bruises, but I was okay - just a bit shaken. Brad was kind enough to ride back with me even though I told him to continue on without me. After some tears and a hot shower, I felt good enough to grab dinner at a local burger joint. A greasy avocado burger with fries and a mint marshmallow shake sure hit the spot!
Saturday - We woke up early and although my body was banged up, I headed out for a run. The morning was beautiful and I thoroughly enjoyed my run. Brad headed out on his mountain bike for a trail ride. Unfortunately, when he came back to the house, he was all banged up and bleeding. He had crashed while going downhill and his back took the brunt of it. On top of it, he realized his phone fell out of his jersey and so he had to go back to the site of the crash to retrieve it. Luckily, it was still there when he went back, and he shot this picture of the scene of the accident. I guess both of us were due for a wreck! We both got cleaned up and went to the pool for some suntanning and relaxing. Later that day, we attended a dinner party for fellows and residents. It was nice to meet the attending doctors Brad works with as well as other fellows in the orthopedic department. It didn't hurt that the event had an Epic Brewery beer tasting going on!
Sunday - Brad got up early and headed out to try some fly fishing out on the Provo River near Park City. He didn't catch anything, but was happy to get familiar with the area. Kindness to Brad for sending me this picture text:
I had the opportunity to have a lazy Sunday morning and so I read the New York Times (courtesy of my sister) while drinking my tea. To cap off our weekend, we plan on making multigrain pizza with fontina cheese, bacon, and baby bellas. I'm not excited for our weekend to end, but life is certainly good out in SLC so I can't complain. Thanks for reading!
Another week has gone by and I didn't have a chance to update our blog, but we did have a very busy week. I need to try to update this blog more frequently, so I don't forget to share important details about life in SLC. Here are highlights from this past week:
Monday - I found out I had the highest bid for a standup paddleboard (SUP) in an auction at my job at Backcountry. SOOO exciting! I still need to buy a paddle for it, but even though we are not on the coast, I found out there are several bodies of water that we can paddleboard on and it's a very popular sport in the area. They even have SUP competitions throughout the summer. Another popular event is Full Moon SUP on the Great Salt Lake. I'm very excited to try out this new sport and get a good ab workout!
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| My new SUP next to my new MTB. |
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| A view of the amphitheatre. |
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| The "scene" on the hill. Brad is on the left... |
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| Sunset view during the concert. |
Saturday - We woke up early and although my body was banged up, I headed out for a run. The morning was beautiful and I thoroughly enjoyed my run. Brad headed out on his mountain bike for a trail ride. Unfortunately, when he came back to the house, he was all banged up and bleeding. He had crashed while going downhill and his back took the brunt of it. On top of it, he realized his phone fell out of his jersey and so he had to go back to the site of the crash to retrieve it. Luckily, it was still there when he went back, and he shot this picture of the scene of the accident. I guess both of us were due for a wreck! We both got cleaned up and went to the pool for some suntanning and relaxing. Later that day, we attended a dinner party for fellows and residents. It was nice to meet the attending doctors Brad works with as well as other fellows in the orthopedic department. It didn't hurt that the event had an Epic Brewery beer tasting going on!
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| Brad took a picture of where he wrecked. Ouch! |
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| Brad made this BLT for himself on Saturday and it looked too professional for me to not take a picture of it! |
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Sunday, August 14, 2011
Tour of Utah
I hope everyone had a great weekend. Brad and I made the most of ours! We got an early start to our day on Saturday and headed out for a ride. We biked up City Creek Canyon this time. It's a 5.7 mile ride up the canyon, but it's quite a bit steeper than Emigration Canyon. The last mile of the climb was HARD! The ride was convenient since on odd days the canyon road is closed to cars, so a lot of people were out with their dogs, on bikes, and there was even a trail running race going on. Unfortunately, we had to obey the speed limit on the way down which was 15 mph...our hands hurt from braking almost as bad as our legs hurt from climbing. After our ride, we ran some quick errands and picked up some meat to make our own beef jerky. Our landlords left behind their dehydrator and Brad and I are both beef jerky lovers. I used to own a dehydrator in college and we actually used to make beef jerky in our dorm (anyone remember that in JB?). Anyways, Brad mixed together two different marinades for the beef and we let it sit in the fridge overnight. We then jumped on our bikes and headed to see the Tour of Utah. The Tour is said to be one of the top 3 best professional bike races in the country. It has 5 stages and let me tell you, it's intense! The last stage is from Park City to Snowbird - so after descending from Park City, the riders have to climb Little Cottonwood Canyon which has 8-12 % grades! We got to watch stage 4, which was a 7.4 mile loop that the riders raced around 11 times. Part of the course was not far from our house, so we biked over and stationed ourselves under the shade of a tree. Spectators next to us told us to be really careful and not to sit too close to the curb since the riders come flying downhill around the corner and are only inches away from the curb (precisely where we were sitting). Our spectator neighbors also told us we had found really good seats to watch the stage and they were absolutely right! When the lead pack came around the corner, it was amazing! They were flying! Soon after they flew past us, their support cars came flying around the corner at insane (dangerous) speeds. About a minute later, the peloton came flying by and even more support cars for them. It was very exciting and totally caused goosebumps for me. We stayed to watch 3 or 4 more laps in that area before moving up to the President's Circle on the University's campus where we could see the riders climb a hill. As the race went on the peloton moved closer to the lead group as well as more riders fell off the peloton pack. We're not sure if there was a crash or if people were just hurting, but I felt so bad for these lonely riders trying to finish the stage on their own. I have some video of the event for all you blog readers!
On Sunday, Brad and I ventured out for another ride on our road bikes (Brad's mtb bike was getting tuned) and we did Emigration Canyon again. We really worked the downhill and had a lot of fun flying down the canyon's 7+ miles. Later on while Brad's beef jerky was dehydrating, we went to the pool to catch some rays and swim some laps.
The weekend isn't yet over, but I think Brad and I made the most of our weekend. We're about to make some beef satays for dinner and then relax for the rest of the night to prepare us for the week ahead. Our 5 am wake up call is SOOO early, but I hope this week will be a bit easier for me than last week.
Above is the lead pack.
Here's the peloton!
Here's the lead pack climbing in the President's Circle.
And then down the other side.
On Saturday night, Brad and I ventured out to try sushi in SLC. The place we tried, Kyoto was very busy and without reservations they could only seat us at the sushi bar - which was fine with us! I'll be honest, the sushi wasn't anywhere near as good as it is in Providence, but the eel roll was decent. Brad liked the sushi better than I did, so I may use this year to try different (non-sushi) items on Japenese menus.
On Sunday, Brad and I ventured out for another ride on our road bikes (Brad's mtb bike was getting tuned) and we did Emigration Canyon again. We really worked the downhill and had a lot of fun flying down the canyon's 7+ miles. Later on while Brad's beef jerky was dehydrating, we went to the pool to catch some rays and swim some laps.
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| Brad's beef jerky in the process of dehydrating. |
The weekend isn't yet over, but I think Brad and I made the most of our weekend. We're about to make some beef satays for dinner and then relax for the rest of the night to prepare us for the week ahead. Our 5 am wake up call is SOOO early, but I hope this week will be a bit easier for me than last week.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
All work and no play...
Well not exactly...We've been kind of boring, but not entirely. Over the weekend, we tried two restaurants that we were pleased with especially since both were in our neighborhood. We also went mountain biking (on our new bikes)! We biked to a trailhead of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail and rode a few miles on it. Mountain biking is VERY different from road biking. I really struggled with sections of the trail and I hope with more practice, I can improve. I think I did a little better on Sunday, but I was still a little frustrated with myself. For this weekend, we are thinking of driving to a trailhead and taking the Dog Lake trail which is supposed to be a "must do" on utahmountainbiking.com. We also took advantage of our gym membership and went to the pool on Saturday. We lounged in the sun and when an open lane opened up, we jumped in a did a workout. Since it's always sunny here and very warm AND there is an outdoor pool, all the ladies wear two-piece swim suits. Well, I was wanting a two-piece too and it turned out that Brad needed new suits and paddles, so I threw in a grab bag 2-piece suit into our cart from swimoutlet.com. Our order came in on Monday and Brad and I tested our new suits out last night. I love my new Speedo two-piece!!
In other news, I started my new job at Backcountry.com. It's never easy starting a new job, but I have 2 full days under my belt and I'm getting the hang of it. Once I have worked at Backcountry for 30 days, I can start getting my awesome employee discount and I will also get a friends and family discount that I will give out which is called a "Bro Discount." You can use the code as often as you like and items will be priced at Backcountry (wholesale) cost + 40%. I stand and walk all day long at my job, so it's physically exhausting and I hope my body will adapt to it soon. It's very different from sitting at a desk job all day which is what I was accustomed to. I keep telling myself that I'm so fortunate to not be sitting on my butt all day when my legs and feet get tired.
Brad's fellowship is going well and he is also adjusting to a new job and figuring out where everything is located. We're starting to think about some possible trips/vacations we want to take while we're out here, but it's tough since neither of our schedules are set in stone right now. It's still nice to think about where we want to travel.
So basically, we've been focusing on work all this week (and being boring) and we will probably continue to be boring until we don't feel so new at our jobs anymore. That being said, I will try to not be as boring and have some fun stuff to talk about (with pictures) for our next update on the blog.
Stay tuned...
In other news, I started my new job at Backcountry.com. It's never easy starting a new job, but I have 2 full days under my belt and I'm getting the hang of it. Once I have worked at Backcountry for 30 days, I can start getting my awesome employee discount and I will also get a friends and family discount that I will give out which is called a "Bro Discount." You can use the code as often as you like and items will be priced at Backcountry (wholesale) cost + 40%. I stand and walk all day long at my job, so it's physically exhausting and I hope my body will adapt to it soon. It's very different from sitting at a desk job all day which is what I was accustomed to. I keep telling myself that I'm so fortunate to not be sitting on my butt all day when my legs and feet get tired.
Brad's fellowship is going well and he is also adjusting to a new job and figuring out where everything is located. We're starting to think about some possible trips/vacations we want to take while we're out here, but it's tough since neither of our schedules are set in stone right now. It's still nice to think about where we want to travel.
So basically, we've been focusing on work all this week (and being boring) and we will probably continue to be boring until we don't feel so new at our jobs anymore. That being said, I will try to not be as boring and have some fun stuff to talk about (with pictures) for our next update on the blog.
Stay tuned...
Thursday, August 4, 2011
Sunsets Galore
Brad and I have been trying to check out the sunset each night. We have a nice view from the balcony in the front of our house. Here's a glimpse of the view we are treated to on most nights:
We've been getting thunderstorms in the afternoons or evenings pretty frequently. It's cool to see the storms rolling in through the wide open sky. I officially bought my mountain bike and I'm excited to head out on a trail with it. I biked to the pool this morning and I still feel like I need to make some adjustments with how it fits. Brad bought his bike tonight from the same bike shop as me. He ended up with a Trek Cobia that he got for a good price. So, now we will be a Trek mountain bike team! I can't wait to head down to southern Utah with our new bikes.
I still can't get over how I can go to the pool at any time and there will be numerous lanes open for swimming. I swam 3000 meters on my own on Wednesday and I plan to join up with a masters group next week. I'm really excited to be able to swim long course outside. Even better is that lounge chairs line the perimeter of the pool, so when I get out from my swim, I can dry out in the hot sun. I'm thinking chlorine + sun = free highlights!
Brad and I are really starting to get acquainted with how the grid system works in the city. My iPhone still comes in handy, but it's nice that I'm getting my sense of direction. We really like that it is a bike friendly city and I really like the selection of radio stations. One station is great alternative rock, while another station frequently plays 80's Madonna - who doesn't love to hear her when you're driving around?! We are also looking forward to seeing some of those "must see" sights now that we are settled in. On the top of my list is to go hear the Mormon Tabernacle Choir during one of their rehearsals and I also want to check out some of the 2002 Winter Olympic sites.
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| You can see the Capitol on the right side of the tree. |
I still can't get over how I can go to the pool at any time and there will be numerous lanes open for swimming. I swam 3000 meters on my own on Wednesday and I plan to join up with a masters group next week. I'm really excited to be able to swim long course outside. Even better is that lounge chairs line the perimeter of the pool, so when I get out from my swim, I can dry out in the hot sun. I'm thinking chlorine + sun = free highlights!
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| A view of the pool from my lounge chair. |
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Hills, Hills, and More Hills
The highlight of our weekend was definitely our ride on Sunday. We biked 11 miles up Emigration Canyon, gaining 2000 ft. It was a nice cool morning and Brad and I didn't experience that lung-burning feeling we had the first time we went out on our bikes. The 11 miles back down was a breeze too.
I had a beautiful run this morning and got to explore a new neighborhood. I'm also loving my new kicks. The color of my shoes motivates me to get out and run! My runs are still hurting (a lot) - I think I just need to get used to this hill theme...my first 2 miles were all uphill, and then my next 2 miles were all downhill.
Brad and I went mountain bike shopping on Saturday and test rode some bikes. I'm going out again today to test ride a few more bikes and then hopefully I will purchase one before the end of the week.
We made a new friend in our neighborhood. She is a birman cat with bright blue eyes and is very sweet. We enjoyed her company as we dined outside on our patio on Sunday night. We also saw another cat in our backyard, so I will have to remember to pick up some cat treats at the store. Our landlords have a fondness for cats and there is a lot of catnip planted around the house, so we may make a lot of cat friends in this next year.
Brad and I joined a gym that has 2 pools - one being an outdoor 50 meter pool. I'm off to go swim some long course in the sun!! Yahoo!!!!!!
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| A view of SLC valley from atop Emigration Canyon. |
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| The reservoir at the top of Emigration Canyon. |
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| My new snazzy Mizunos! |
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| So far, this is my top contender - a women's specific design (WSD) Trek Mamba, but I need to do some more researching and chatting with local bike shops. |
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| And this is Brad's top contender so far. A Cannondale SL 2 29er. |
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| Our cat friend looks like this. We will have to give her a nickname. "Cat friend" simply won't do. |
Friday, July 29, 2011
Jill and Brad's Excellent Adventure
Alright, so I'm back and I'd like to finish up with the details of our cross country trip. After we spent a night in Missoula, we made our way to Idaho Falls. We stopped in Dillon, MT to say hello to our most favorite outlet ever - Patagonia! This Patagonia Outlet has been extremely kind to us because we frequently order from their weekly specials and the sales people are over-the-top helpful on the phone and the prices can not be beat. It was really fun to actually see what the outlet looks like after spending so much time with the sales associates on the phone. Much to my dismay, I did not find anything I needed, but Brad did get a polo shirt and swim trunks. After Dillon, we headed into Idaho Falls where Brad found a great hotel room through Hotwire which was right across the street from the falls. Our room was huge so we decided to set up our wet tent to dry it out from the flood that occurred in Glacier. We had dinner at a new restaurant down the street and then went for a walk on the trails next to the falls.
We really enjoyed our campsite at City of Rocks. Our campsite had some really cool rock formations surrounding it and we enjoyed our chipmunk neighbor as we cooked dinner.
The next morning we got up, had breakfast at the hotel and then began our drive to City of Rocks. We stopped into the visitor center at City of Rocks to get some hiking maps, found our campsite, set up camp, then went for a hike. We got a little lost on our hike (which was my fault) but we eventually found our way. It wouldn't be a true cross country trip without getting lost at least once! After our hike, we were dirty and thirsty so we stopped at a general store to get some gatorade and water and I persuaded Brad to go to Durfee Hot Springs down the street. The hot springs were divine! There were 3 pools with varying temperatures and we spent most of our time in the medium hot pool. It was a relaxing time in the hot spring as we talked to a local who couldn't believe we were from Rhode Island.
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| One view of City of Rocks |
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| Brad liked the craters/bowls that had formed atop some of the rocks. |
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| Brad is solo because my attempt at sitting next to him failed. |
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| Another fail. |
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| I swear I'm trying. |
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| Fail yet again. |
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| Almost there. |
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| Finally! |
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| Brad was a natural at climbing. |
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| Bree challenged us to use the crack. |
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| Welcome to Utah!! |
In other news, I got hired to be a cashier at Whole Foods in Park City yesterday! I'm excited to have a job and even more excited to get that WF's discount. :) Over the weekend, Brad and I plan to shop for mountain bikes, possibly check out Park City, go for a long ride, and try out a new restaurant. On Monday, Brad will officially start his fellowship and I'll be starting my training for Whole Foods soon.
Cheers!
Glacier Hikes
I'm going to try to finish up our cross country trip adventures soon, so I can start updating on more recent happenings for Brad and I.
We were excited about all the hiking opportunities in Glacier. Our first hike was to Snyder Lake which was about 9 miles round trip. We traveled next to the Snyder Creek for most of the hike, but we could only hear it - the trail never actually got close enough so that we could see it. Nonetheless, it was a really nice hike that had a lot of tree cover. About half way up our ascent, we came across some bear scat smack in the middle of the trail! So, as we continued on, we clapped our way up the trail (which is recommended so you don't startle any bears). We never came across the bear, but we did find Snyder Lake to be beautiful and serene. We ate our lunch on a rock on the lake shore and watched the waterfalls of snow melt cascading off the mountains above us. We also saw a mother duck taking her babies out for a swim lesson which was very cute.
After our hike, we were hot and sweaty, so we decided to stop along McDonald Creek. The water seemed so refreshing, we decided to find a swimming spot on Lake McDonald. We changed into our swim suits and since I can't even begin to describe how pristine the lake water is, we grabbed our goggles too. We thought the water would be shockingly cold (it is snow melt after all), but it was endurable and super refreshing. It was amazing how much we could see underwater with our goggles. Unfortunately, after we got out of the water and were drying out in the sun, the flies found us, so we couldn't stay for too long.
The next day we got up really early since our hike started in Many Glacier which meant we had to drive the Going to the Sun Road, then exit the park through the St. Mary entrance, drive north and then re-enter the park through the Many Glacier entrance. We had really wanted to hike the Grinnell Glacier trail, but it was closed to hikers that didn't have ice picks and crampons. We knew our Iceberg Lake hike (10 mile roundtrip) would be crowded, but the hike would be worth it - and we were right.We had amazing views all along the trail; it was really super! We had to cross numerous rushing creeks and there were wildflowers blooming all over (Kindness to Paul and Janet Blankenhorn for giving us their wildflower field guide of western North America - we have been using it a lot to identify (or trying to identify) flowers we have seen). The drive took us longer than we expected (about 3 hours) so we got a later start than we would have liked, but had we been on the trail about 20 minutes earlier, it is likely we would have come across four bears - at least that's what hikers we passed told us. The last 3/4 mile of our hike to Iceberg Lake was in the snow. It was really fun to be sliding around in the slush and of course a few snowballs were thrown. Iceberg Lake was beautiful. It was mostly still frozen and chunks of snow were still falling off the rock walls into the lake. We had lunch on the lake edge, butdidn't stay too long since it was really crowded.
On our 3 hour drive back, we planned to go swimming again, but we drove into an intense rain/hail storm - to the point where we had to pull over because we couldn't see the road. We were concerned about our campsite, so we drove directly back to our tent and sure enough, our tent had flooded since our campsite was slightly downhill. We planned to stay in Glacier for one more night and leave the next morning, but our sleeping bags were soaked as well as our tent so we made the executive decision to pack up and head to Missoula for the night. I need to run some errands. I will try to finish up our trip later today, so stay tuned!
We were excited about all the hiking opportunities in Glacier. Our first hike was to Snyder Lake which was about 9 miles round trip. We traveled next to the Snyder Creek for most of the hike, but we could only hear it - the trail never actually got close enough so that we could see it. Nonetheless, it was a really nice hike that had a lot of tree cover. About half way up our ascent, we came across some bear scat smack in the middle of the trail! So, as we continued on, we clapped our way up the trail (which is recommended so you don't startle any bears). We never came across the bear, but we did find Snyder Lake to be beautiful and serene. We ate our lunch on a rock on the lake shore and watched the waterfalls of snow melt cascading off the mountains above us. We also saw a mother duck taking her babies out for a swim lesson which was very cute.
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| We saw mountain goats hanging around construction equipment on our way to Many Glacier. |
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| Sorry, I can't figure out how to make this picture vertical. |
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| A view along our hike. |
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| Standing above Iceberg Lake. |
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On our 3 hour drive back, we planned to go swimming again, but we drove into an intense rain/hail storm - to the point where we had to pull over because we couldn't see the road. We were concerned about our campsite, so we drove directly back to our tent and sure enough, our tent had flooded since our campsite was slightly downhill. We planned to stay in Glacier for one more night and leave the next morning, but our sleeping bags were soaked as well as our tent so we made the executive decision to pack up and head to Missoula for the night. I need to run some errands. I will try to finish up our trip later today, so stay tuned!
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