Renae climbing in Mesa Verde!
Me saying you want me to climb this, how old is it?
Renae ascending the carved steps out of the Balcony House.
Renae finishing her first half marathon!
Renae looking more chipper before the start of the half, lol.
Acting foolish on the Durango Silverton train.
Train taking on water, it is a steam engine you know.
Renae getting ready to set off from Durango.
Reflective Lake outside of Durango.
Well I had some outreach to do in Durango a couple of weeks ago and then needed to head on down to Chinle, AZ for some outreach. So I asked Renae if she wanted to come and then found a 1/2 marathon to run in Durango between the two outreach events. Man was it ever a packed 6 days. So we drove over Lizard Head Pass to Delores and Cortez and did a little bit of outreach on the way to Durango. We got into Durango around 6pm and felt like eating Italian so went to Mama Boys', I can say I wouldn't recommend it, it was overpriced and not very tasty at all. (As a side side note this was the day that RJ had told Renae and I that if we hadn't heard from him, as he was backpacking in Denali, that we should contact the Ranger Station) During our meal we started calling RJ and Cheryl to see how they liked backpacking in Denali, but we were unable to get a hold of them. So we called and talked with Aunt Ethel Faye and Frank, they were fishing. Both said they hadn't heard from them, I could tell that this bothered Renae, but I said it was RJ so we would wait another hour or two. We headed back to the hotel and began the two hour process of trying to figure out how to report a hiker that hadn't checked in to the Denali National Park Rangers. One might think that this should be an easy process, however, after hours all you keep getting is the message, "If this is an emergency please hang up and dial 911". Well it wasn't an emergency in Durango it was an emergency in Alaska. We must have called 30 different telephone numbers until we located a telephone number for search and rescue outside of Denali who connected us with search and rescue inside Denali and that was around 1030 pm Colorado time frame. They said they would initiate a search starting in the morning. So now both our imaginations started going about Cheryl being dehydrated and shriveling into a small bean and RJ fighting off carnivorous animals with a .45 that he's never shot, etc etc. RJ texted us at 0130 in the morning, probably because we left like 30 messages on both their phones, that they were fine and had been out of the National Park for like 5 or 6 hours. Damn it. So Renae had him call the search and rescue and call off his search. So the point of this little side jaunt into our reality of this weekend is if you tell someone that if they don't hear from you by a certain time to call for help trust that the person will and if you get out and don't have a phone to call that said person find one. So after finding out that all the little peeps were safely tucked away I fell asleep, again.
The next day was outreach to Cortez and Mancos for me and Farmington for Renae, but not for outreach. During my outreach I found a cool little food place tucked away that sold awesome fry bread. If you've never had the opportunity to eat fry bread it is deadly and addictive. So Renae meet me and we returned to this little gem and ate lunch before heading to Mesa Verde. We were running a little behind schedule so didn't get to look around much on the 30 mile drive through Mesa Verde but it seemed much like the rest of Colorado. Our ranger for the guided tour of Balcony House was prior service Marine Corp so we struck up a conversation while hiking down treacherous steps. I think we both enjoyed our little tour but were in a hurry to get back to Durango to pick up our race packets at the brewery for the 1/2 marathon the next day.
We got back into Durango with 10 min to spare before they stopped giving out the registration packets. The bag was like a miniature recycled bag with our timing chip and t-shirt and a bunch of paper crap that just got thrown in the trash. We then walked down the street and had an overpriced but very tasty dinner. I believe Renae had a Buffalo Rib Eye and I had some sort of Red fish. We then drove to where the race was to start so at 6 am there was no mistake. Off to an early bed we went.
The next morning when we woke up we got geared out in our race clothes grabbed what little they had out for the breakfast buffet at the hotel and headed off to the races. When we got there it appeared to be mass confusion but we knew we were to load the slow bus, not the short bus, but the slow bus because we would be 3 hours or slower for this run. I was hoping, hopes that were quickly dashed at the start of the race, that I would shave at least 20 min off my previous 1/2 time. Our bus came and we sat and sat and sat then eventually got started off for the start line. They had three porta-janes for 40 people at the start line and we had 5 min to get to the starting line 1/4 of a mile away. So let me break this down for you, slow people would start 45 min before all the rabbit runners, load a bus drive to the "start line", get dropped off not at the start line but 1/4 mile from it, have 5 min to get to the start line, 3 porta-janes 40 people 5 min. Needless to say when Renae and I reached the actual starting line my head had already deflated me. And were off, Rabbit Renae pulls out with a fast crowd and Turtle Julie tells herself not to start out to quickly. Within 1/2 mile I catch up to Renae and finally pass her at 1 mile, only because she stopped to walk just had toe nail removed week before. I'm thinking to myself this won't be bad....I can do this. Mile 2 whew glad there is an aide station here...........that isn't staffed and has no flipp'n water.....WTF. Mile 2 1/2 camera person smile for the camera. Mile 3 realization that they hadn't stopped traffic down this two lane county highway and that I have been running on a slant. Mile 3 1/4 defeat.....shit(not literally). So at this point I start run walking. For some reason they have orange traffic cones set out along the side of the road we are running along. So I walk for one section then rabbit for one section until like Mile 6. That is when the first real runners pass me. The third person past me is a female and I cheer her on while she runs like a 5 minute pace. By the time I hit Mile 7 I'm pretty deflated and my feet hurt so I start texting Renae she is like 1 1/2 miles behind me as far as I can tell. At this point we start hitting the bigger rollers. I try to keep my run walk up as when I hit Mile 8 I was like a little over two hours so I delusionally thought that I might still be able to come in under 3 hours not realizing that that was 5 miles in one hour, lol. I hit Mile 9 and started walking more than running as my feet really hurt at this point running on a slant while dodging not only traffice but trying not to get in the fast runners way was taking it's toll on me. By this point I think Renae was within a mile of me, she was awesome. Some where between Mile 10 and 12 my soul departed from my body and watched this poor wretched person attempt to be an athlete. At Mile 12 I was snapped back into reality because I faced a straight uphill run that was 3/4 of a mile long. I reached the top and there was a group of women saying you are almost there it is to the end of the block and just around the corner. So I managed some sort of run shuffle thing after asking if she was lying to me. I some how ran (I use that term loosely at this point) to the finish line, lifted my leg for the poor lady to remove my timing bad (but felt bad because I could only imagine the smells I emitted), receive my medal and pilsner glass, headed to the car to put said items in it and back out the other side of the parking lot to find and run with Renae. Thank GOD that she was already on the straight away for the finish line. She had made up a 1/2 mile on me. I had to run to keep up with her walk. I took pictures as she finished her first 1/2 marathon. Then I wanted to puke and collapse. But I went and got Renae's flip flops and then collapsed at the side of the pool, making sure first to remove my shoes and socks, landing so that my feet and lower legs were soaking in the cold water. They were serving hamburgers and beer but I couldn't move. Renae was awesome and stood in line. I must have been really dehydrated because I couldn't keep my head upright without feeling like vomitting. I laid in the shade beside Renae as she moved her way up the line. After getting some water and food I felt a little better, but we were ready to go. Renae got back in line to get one more beer and me a root beer it was yummy. We then headed back to the hotel. We did manage to walk to the car later in the afternoon to go get Sonic ice cream, but pretty much rested the rest of the day.
The next morning we awoke and wasn't to stiff or sore, but could tell we had done some physical exercise the day before. Off to the train station we went to ride the Silverton Durango train. It was pretty cool. It was like a 3 hour 20 min ride to Silverton. We saw where they dropped off for the Needles Crestone hike and decided we would try that sometime. We got to Silverton and disembarked from the train and looked for the Brewery so Renae could watch some of the world cup. I walked around town a bit and then we prepared for the ride back to Durango. Tourists crack me up, on the way back, we rode with a different group, they were a church group. Apparently they don't have prairie dogs or cliffs or rivers for that matter in Arkansas. On the way back we were flipping through one of the Durango magazines and saw a Melodrama Dinner Act and decided to go that evening. I called as soon as I got into cell range and ordered two tickets, but it was to late to add the Dinner on it so we just walked in and ate at the place. More tourists inquiring as to why someone (the bus boy) would put holes in his ears or put studs in his lip. I laughed all through dinner. The Melodrama was well there is no good way to describe what it was.....we ended up leaving right as it was over and I do mean right as it was over.
Overall it was a wild and fun trip to the four corners area. Off to Chinle I went and Renae returned to Grand Junction to work.
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