WaMu Theatre, great air-conditioned place to recover after marathon finish 32. Jurassic World, while not as good as the original – most sequels aren’t – still worth seeing for the special effects. Can never go wrong with dinosaurs 🙂
Already been a FULL marathon day – literally. Ran 26.2 miles, ate lunch, watched a sell-out movie – sadly, no shower. Bathroom flash bath as good as it’s gonna get this day. Space Needle. Can’t visit Seattle without riding up the Needle, right? Tickets weren’t good for 2 more hours – next up: Chihuly Garden…Ash’s idea.
Never imagined a botanical garden walk would have made the list after marathoning. Day highlight. Would have missed out on an AMAZING experience. Glass artwork juxtaposed within a botanical setting – SPECTACULAR. So unique, absolutely nothing like it.
Toured indoors, outdoors. Leg weary, watched short films ‘bout Dale Chihuly’s installations in Jerusalem & Finland – before realizing time had quickly expired…almost missed our Space Needle queue. Yikes!
Space Needle Observation Deck – great views of Seattle, something you’re supposed to do. Chihuly Garden & Glass – something you HAVE to do when visiting Seattle. Seriously recommended.
Whatta day – shower & bed couldn’t have come any sooner.
Tomorrow, another early vacation start – trip highlight: seaplane to San Juan Island, breakfast in Friday Harbor, followed by an orca (killer whale) adventure…sailing north in Canadian waters. WOW, WOW, WOW!
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- built for the 1962 World’s Fair
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- skyline from the Needle’s Observation Deck
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- day highlight – Chihuly Garden
First 2015 marathon in the West – ROAD TRIP!
Have always wanted to hike in Wyoming’s Bighorns – just south of the Montana border – so planned a 3-day weekend around the Casper Marathon on Sunday. Unfortunately, late spring snow (2 weeks ago) followed by a week of heavy rain impeded my plans – State Highway 16 from Buffalo to Ten Sleep flooded so…Plan B.
North on I-25 from Colorado to Casper, straight shot. Stopped an hour short, near Douglas – first destination: Ayres Natural Bridge. Snapped a pic & snagged some sage (natural car deodorizer & FREE). Short walk over the natural bridge cut by LaPrele Creek (tributary of Wyoming’s North Platte River). Peaceful place. Would stop here again on Sunday, after my run.
Storm clouds rolled in. Spent the afternoon at Casper’s Tate Museum viewing dinosaur bones, then the Nat’l Historic Trails Interpretive Center – 4 major wagon trails passed thru Casper (Oregon, Mormon Pioneer, California & Pony Express).
Dinosaur digs & fossils make “the Cowboy State” a paleo- tourist destination. More dinosaur finds in Wyoming than any other U.S. state.
So many fossils at Tate – WOW! In New York museums, you see maybe 2 or 3 dinosaurs. In small town Wyoming – big dinosaurs, little dinosaurs, mammoths, sediment fossils. GREAT way to spend an afternoon. Highly recommended.
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- 2 miles off the Oregon Trail, often visited by emigrants traveling West
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- natural bridge cut by LaPrele Creek
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- dirt road treasure near Douglas (LOVE this sign)
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- a paleo- tourist destination
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- 11,600 year old Columbian Mammoth (unearthed locally in 2006)
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- afternoon storm clouds rolling in
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- Mormon Pioneer handcart
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- the Pony Express – St Joseph MO to Sacramento CA
Started Saturday at Garden Creek Falls in Rotary Park (crazy beautiful), then hiked Casper Mountain. Not the Rockies experience of the Bighorns, but a good 5-mile day hike. Probably not the best prep, day before a marathon but…I’m a lover of mountains.
Afternoon plans? Float trip on the North Platte. No rapids here, lazy river float. What I most remember is our Riverton-based guide’s colloquial speech. A fourth generation Wyomingan, he recommended a trip to Fort Caspar where Native Americans were slaughtered. Couldn’t be taught not to steal cattle – so were exterminated. I asked about Sacagawea’s grave site in Fort Washakie. He commented she was a Sheep Eater, a Mountain Shoshone. Seriously? And if so, who cares? None of his facts matched any ‘semblance of reality.
In rural Wyoming, there are Cowboys & there are Indians. Seems the two do not mix – even in 2015 🙁
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- Bridle Trail – 5 miles roundtrip
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- 1957 tragedy – 4 teens veered off Mountain, 3 survived
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- lazy river float, no rapids here
Having completed 27 races, now follow a fairly consistent post-marathon pattern – shower, lasagna, rest.
Threw ‘tradition’ out the window after finishing this morning’s Kentucky Derby Marathon. Sure I showered. Yes, devoured a plate of “go-to” lasagna. But kick around slowly & lick my wounds? No way; no time today.
Invited Connecticut BFF Dawn to Kentucky – #1 she’s my BFF; #2 this gal eats/breathes/sleeps equine. Not only owns & shows quarter horses but versed in a multitude of horse disciplines & events – I tell ya, she’s a HUGE fan of the mighty equine. No one else I’d rather share space in Kentucky Horse Country – I’m better for knowing Dawn.
Hour half drive to Lexington; tonite’s destination: the Kentucky Reining Cup Freestyle World Championship.
…the Kentucky Reining Cup Freestyle World Championship is the largest, most prestigious and most important Freestyle competition in the sport of Reining and crowns the annual World Champion in this, the more artistic side of an otherwise technical sport.
Free from the restraints of a prescribed pattern, Reining competitors must only achieve required maneuvers in their own freely choreographed program, complete with special effect lighting and costumes.
Think the redneck in me still prefers rodeo, but whatta show. SPECTACULAR!
Woke Sunday & picked up where I left off – with the ponies. Arrived early at Churchill Downs (home to the Kentucky Derby) & watched horses exercising on the traditional dirt track. Yeah, pretty much perfect. Derby Museum, Walking tour, Barn & Backside tour – & only 6 days before the next Derby running. A true WOW day!
Lunch at the Cardinal Café, 2 hours at the Muhammad Ali Museum (boxing icon & native of Louisville), then finished at Sunergos (met FB marathoner Heidi), before trekking north to Indianapolis for my flight HOME to Colorado.
Sooo much to see & do in Louisville. That said, if you wanna see Kentucky, you gotta see the ponies. FAAAANNNTASTIC!
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- largest, most prestigious Freestyle competition in the sport of Reining
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- my Connecticut BFF Dawn, fan of everything equine
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- home to the Kentucky Derby
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- exercising horses a week before Derby
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- today’s WOW pic – when in Kentucky, must see the ponies!
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- historic Churchill Downs
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- first Saturday in May, three-year-old Thoroughbreds run a mile & a quarter on this famed dirt track
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- “The Greatest” — Ali was bold, fought for race equality & stood strong as boxing’s Heavyweight Champion
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- “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee”
Kentucky Reining Cup
