Friday nite flight, marathoning USA’s Pacific Northwest. Fall FUN 🍂 First time on Washington’s eastern edge. Beautiful scenic Spokane. Hidden gem. Autumn pallet, snow-remnant & TREES.
2 days, 2 hotels. Airport Ramada Friday-midnite arrival, fancy downtown digs pre-marathon day. Steps from Sunday’s Start, ‘cross the street from Riverfront Park. The Davenport Grand.
Saturday morn alarm. TWO words: Eliud Kipchoge. Greatest distance runner of all time.
Live-stream from Vienna. Kenyan ELITE broke the 2-hour barrier. Impossible, now possible. Just WOW! Whatta way to kick-off marathon week #9. SUPER INSPIRED! No human is limited.
Lyft transport to bib pick-up. Mile walk to Spokane’s downtown Grand. FIRST-CLASS convenience. Hotel bag drop, day chores complete. Riverfront Park. Soakin’ up afternoon sun & colour 🌞
Created for the 1974 World’s Fair Exposition. Photo’d all park must-see’s. Clock Tower, Rotary Fountain, the U.S. Pavilion, Looft Carousel, plaques/sculptures & a life-sized Radio Flyer wagon.
Quick preview of Spokane’s sprawling Centennial Trail (would trek 20+ miles tomorrow).
Spokane Falls, best for last. Pedestrian bridge crossed. Perfect weather, perfect season. Water BLASTING below. And I kept walking. Five miles more. Pasta dinner, hotel home by 7.
Marathon eve. Forecast: Rain. On my mind? Mile 22: Doomsday Hill. Gonna CRUSH it 💪
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- fancy pre-race digs
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- downtown Spokane
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- the interior Northwest
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- Centennial Trail
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- Riverfront Park
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- Clock Tower
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- RED WAGON classic
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- 1974 U.S. Pavilion
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- autumn PALLET 🍂
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- Spokane Falls
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- Sunday preview ❤️
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- scenic Washington State
Spokane, Washington
Nächster Halt: St. Pölten Hbf
Fast jog on the platform, down steps/up steps, across tracks, next train awaiting.
Day start in Vienna. Van to Hauptbahnhof, train travel west to Krems (via St. Pölten Station).
Run-weather arrived day early. Cooler temps, misty rain. Taxi UP UP to Steigenberger Spa, our pre-race digs. Mountainside resort. Hot tub, pool, fancy robes & slippers – Sis did us right.
Retracked down to Town Centre. Pasta lunch, my second Wachau EXPO this trip (Vienna 3 days prior), then a scenic walk-about UP UP UP past cathedrals, vacation villas & hillside vineyards. Weingut (the local word). And a lot of ‘em. Packet pick-up included 2 BOTTLES of white.
SPA DAY. Indoor swim, sauna, outdoor tub. R-E-L-A-X 😊
Watched an over-achiever trail-run up the vineyard mountainside. Accompanied by a cyclist, far far in the distant. Much more entertaining watchin’/kickin’ back in a tub of warm alpine bubbles. LOL>
Dinner, sleeps, morning marathon. Emmersdorf to Krems, race route an-der-Donau. Flat trek along Europe’s iconic flume. Every day (3 countries, 4 cities) same constant, die river Danube. Perfect!
Tomorrow: 42k in Austria’s Wachau Valley. YODEL on!
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- next stop: St. Pölten
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- apricot crêpe – YUM!
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- post-EXPO LUNCH
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- Dreifaltigkeitssäule
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- Piarist Church
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- 11th-century Melk Abbey
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- Justizanstalt Stein (prisoner names, weird but true)
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- race FINISH
…meanwhile in Colorado
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- Fall HIKE 🍂
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- autumn COLOUR
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- Grandpup Marty
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- mountain LOVE ❤️
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- pup with ROVER family
Wachau EXPO (Krems)
First day of AUTUMN. That perfect time of year when Aspen blaze yellow & we don morning jackets.
Smack in the midst of Fall run season [marathoning Cheyenne tomorrow] – no time for hikes? How bad do you want it? Autumn’s once a year, summer’s retreated. Anything is possible 😊
4am crack-of-dawn start Saturday a.m. Backpack readied outside my front hall closet. Bottled water, snacks for Pup. No 14er attempt this day, purposely staying tree-line. Leaf peep slow-soak.
West on I-70, HIKE DAY destination: Silverthorne. Haven’t been since May last year, Ash & Tom’s Colorado wedding. Town will always tug at my heart. Whatta life memory!
Fast forward 15 months: mountain HIKE, no wedding. Angler Mountain. Trailhead start tucked outside a residential subdivision, notta lotta parking. Arrived early – early enough to watch the sunrise/crest the Divide. Slow, deep breath. Magic. Colorado HIKE celebration.
Sunshine poured thru tall naked groves of Aspen. More leaves on the ground than on the trees themselves. UP, UP, UP. We’d hike 2 ½ miles above Silverthorne, snap scenic shots of Lake Dillon – and SURROUND ourselves with YELLOW. Colorado aspen ablaze.
Filled an old swag bag with mementos of the season while Ro ran off-leash. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter – all celebrated, shared with family & friends. Why not Autumn? Idea💡
Purchased cards in Georgetown. Stuffed each with a piece of the day – Aspen leaves, pine cones, burnt thistle. 8 of you received impromptu LOVE from Colorado. Gonna DOUBLE that count next year.
‘Tis the season, my personal fave. Happy Autumn 2018! 🍂🍁
[Confession: day’s hike – Ash’s plan. They’d repeat my trek Sunday morn with Grandpup Marty.]
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- first day of Autumn
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- dog SMILE
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- Aspen YELLOW
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- Fall foliage
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- Lake Dillon
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- tree-line elevation
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- Grandpup Marty
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- Wilp wedding bridge
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- Silverthorne CO
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- Sunday ROMANCE hike
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- season SHARING
