HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!

Today is our 2nd Anniversary.  Our journey began December 21, 2009.  

This year has brought many wonderful adventures.  The most exciting?  Biking!  We have traveled over 1,000 miles together this year.  May there be many, many more miles to come!!

Thanksgiving with the Balls in Idaho Falls (November, 2011)

 

Thanksgiving with the Balls, lots of food, lots of fun, fun fun!!!

Carolyn sewing flowers for LeAnn's wedding.  What a crazy crafter!! 

The ride home from Tucson (November 20-21, 2011)

Yeah baby!  111 miles! 

What a week!  The drive home was nice, but not near as beautiful as the ride down.  On the way home we drove by Las Vegas and stayed in St. George.



Here is what we saw on that drive:

El Tour de Tucson - 111 Miles (November 19, 2011)

Race day!!  And what a day it was... 

We got up early and planned to leave the house at 5:15, I hit the alarm button and the car horn honked for a nearly a whole minute before I could shut it off, it was so loud we feared we woke up the whole neighborhood!  We set out only to turn back to get Carolyn's gloves we nearly forgot.  

We parked at Scott and Congress and rode about three blocks to the start line.  We got in line with other “Bronze” riders (people who did not expect to finish before 10 hours).  The Platinum, Gold, and Silver riders were far ahead of us.  McDonalds Restaurant was passing around free coffee.  The line grew by the minute. 

At 6:30 they played the national anthem, and then had a light ceremony – everyone was given a small light to wear on their collars – and these lights represented the children that would be benefiting from the efforts of the ride, the money raised would be going towards the hospital and various organizations that worked to help people in need of medical attention. 

At the Starting Line

Ben’s Bells was there and had a bell ceremony right before the ride.  Their mission is to inspire, educate and motivate each other to realize the impact of intentional kindness and to empower individuals to act according to that awareness, thereby changing the world.  http://bensbells.org/ BE KIND!! 

Bill Walton and Barry Bonds were both riding in the race.  Cool eh?  

The ride started downtown, went to the southwest, down around the south side of Tucson and then up the east side, north side and back downtown.

At 7 miles, we crossed the first dry river… we had to pick up our bikes and walk with the other thousands of riders.  When we came up out of the river, there was a mariachi band!!  What a trip!

We had our first stop at 17 miles.  Spirits were still high.  While we saw beautiful scenery the entire ride, one of the interesting things was the AMARC, the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center... literally hundreds of airplanes lined up in the desert.  See images here: http://www.stockwellphotos.com/catalog_amarc.htm

At 30 miles, Carolyn’s back tire was flat.  We stopped to fix it and got assistance from a Bike Patrol rider.  He popped on a new tire, and it went flat again in a few minutes!!  He tried to help us figure out what happened, but we never did find out.  At this point we were about an hour behind where we thought we would be, and close to the very end of all the riders. 

At around 50 miles, we came to the second riverbed that we had to walk through.  This one was much longer than the first, and because we were so far behind, we were walking through with very few other riders. 

I started to worry about our time.  Because of the flat tires, I was worried we wouldn’t finish the ride before dark and the route would be closed.  Carolyn felt my stress… she reminded me the ride should be fun!  I changed my outlook from that moment on.

At about 60 miles, I lost Carolyn!  I stopped to go to the bathroom, and thought she would be pulling into the stop behind me.  By the time I got out of the bathroom, Carolyn was nowhere to be seen.  I looked back on the route, and forward, and couldn’t see her.  I was worried that her tire had gone flat again, so I hopped on the bike and rode back about a mile.  I didn’t see her, and I was sure I had seen her in my mirror not too far back… so she couldn’t be this far away.  I realized that she was probably ahead on the route.  So I booked it down the road. After 8 miles, riding 22-25 miles per hour, I finally caught up with her!!  She had been following someone she thought was me, but wasn’t!  Whew!

Even though the ride advertised food, each stop only had BANANAS and ORANGES!!!  We knew there would be no electrolyte drinks, so luckily we brought our own Powerade powder.  We were also thankful we had our Clif Shot Blocks and an old Luna bar in my bag.  We ate mostly bananas and oranges until mile 72 when they provided peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. 

One thing that was very cool about the ride, was at the stops, volunteers would come right out to the road and hold your bike for you while you went to the restroom or to get a refill or food.  One of the bad things?  Each stop was in the dirt, so after walking thru it, the dirt was packed into our clips which made it hard to get them into the pedals.  I had to stop a couple times and use a bike tool to clean out all the muck!

The wind started to pick up at about 70 miles, a headwind… making it very difficult to ride.  The wind sure does a number on the level of motivation and energy!   At 88 miles – when I was sure I couldn’t go any further, I saw a man riding an arm pedaled bike – he had no legs.  I thought, if he can do this, I CAN DO THIS!!

For the remainder of the ride, I tried to chat it up with others that were near the end with us.  This made it a bit easier, to see all of the people that were working so hard to finish.  We also did a lot of self-talk, to keep ourselves motivated and push ourselves to make it to the end.  Even though every muscle in our bodies were screaming, we just kept saying, “I can’t quit!!”  One of my favorite quotes is from Lance Armstrong, and I used it often, he says: "Pain is temporary, quitting lasts forever!"  

One of the hard things about the ride was that we did not know exactly where it ended!  We didn’t know how much farther we had to go.  

Once we were back in the downtown area, we knew the end was near.  It was dark and most of the spectators had cleared out.  We kept pushing ourselves and when we finally crossed the finish line, it was an amazing and tearful experience.  It was one of the hardest things we have ever done physically.  

At the finish line! WE DID IT!!

The next day, our knees was hurting, our hands, feet and arms were sore, but our spirits soared!!  What an accomplishment!  It is an experience that will live in our memories forever!  

Staying in Tucson, Arizona (November 16-20, 2011)

While we were in Tucson, we stayed with our friends Cindy and Shawn Volk.  What a beautiful home, surrounded by traditional Tucson landscaping.  The Volks are wonderful hosts!

It was a relief to arrive after such a long drive - and it was a treat to stay with the Volks!

The landscaping was beautiful!  

Max and Cloe - chillin' on the patio!  

On Friday, we went to the convention center to sign in for the ride and pick up our bags.  We attended the orientation meeting for new riders to get the scoop on the ride and the rules.  There were several vendors and we enjoyed looking at all the gear and clothes.  

Flagstaff, Arizona (November 14, 2011)

We are headed down south!!  We took the Subaru and the girls rode on top...

We stayed the night in Flagstaff, Arizona before heading further south into Tucson, AZ to ride in the El Tour de Tucson, a 111-mile bike ride!  

While we were in Flagstaff, we drove along Route 66!  

First Century!! Wish 100, St. George Utah (October 22, 2011)

We signed up to ride our first century in St. George, Utah on October 22, 2011.  The Wish 100 is an all woman ride with all proceeds going to support the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

We left Salt Lake on Friday October 21 and then headed down south.  On our way, we stopped at Old Iron Town and wandered around the ruins.  The town was set up in the 1850's by Brigham Young, but only lasted for about 10 years.  The ruins are near Cedar City, Utah.

We also drove through Mountain Meadows.  The Mountain Meadows Massacre was the killing of 120 emigrants who were passing through Southern Utah in September of 1857.  The massacre occurred on September 11, 1857.  The emigrants, men, women, and children, were traveling from Arkansas to California.  They were killed by a group of Mormons with the help of local Paiute Indians.  

Intending to leave no witnesses of complicity by Mormons in the attacks and to prevent reprisals that would further complicate the Utah war, the perpetrators killed all the adults and older children, totaling about 120 men, women, and children.  17 children, all younger than age 7 were spared.    

Currently, a monument rests on the site where the bodies were buried.  

Packet pick up for the ride 

We stayed at the Marriott Courtyard in St. George, and the girls (our two Trek Madone bicycles) stayed in the room with us!!  We checked in at the Best Western, got our T-Shrits and met some of the other riders.  We couldn't wait to to ride!!

Holly and Carolyn at the start line, Wish 100 Century!

We got up early on Saturday morning and headed out to Ivins, Utah - the start of the race.  We started just before 8 am (the official start time was 8 am, but we wanted a little bit of a head start because we are a bit slower than most).  

Watching the sun come up over the red rock was beautiful!!  We rode down the west side of St. George to the Arizona border, then headed north toward Hurricane, Utah and Zion's National Park.  It was a GORGEOUS ride.  It was also a very HILLY ride - we climbed a total of 5,000 feet!  Whew!  Towards the end of the ride, Carolyn started to get heat stroke.  We pulled off the road, laid on the grass and cooled down.  After a short rest, we knew we were close, and hopped back on the girls for a triumphant finish!  With tears streaming down our face, proud of our amazing accomplishment, we crossed the finish line, side by side. 

Carolyn - zooming down the road near Sand Hollow State Park, Hurricane, Utah

The next day, we headed home.  We stopped at Cove Fort, which was built to offer protection to the Mormon travelers in the 1840's and 50's.  We had a nice little tour and the missionary was happy to snap a photo of us.  

Holly and Carolyn at Cove Fort, Utah

NEW YORK BABY!!

  

  While we were in town, we saw several fantastic shows!  Billy Elliot, The Book of Mormon, The Addams Family, and The Mountaintop.  They were all so great!  Billy Elliot was inspiring!  The Book of Mormon had us laughing so hard, our faces hurt!  The Addams Family was an unexpected pleasure!  And the Mountaintop was one of the best plays we have ever seen, we were both in tears by the end and amazed by the talents of Samuel L. Jackson and Angela Bassett on stage.

We got up one morning and walked over the Brooklyn Bride (started on the Brooklyn side) it was a bit hot and humid, but what a view!!  

 

We took the Staten Island Ferry for the fun of it and to get a better view of the Statue of Liberty.  

In front of NBC - where we got to see SNL (see separate post) and tried to see Jimmy Fallon, but didn't make it in.  We spent a lot of time on this street!  The best part is the bakery on the corner, where they make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches out of peanut butter cake... by far the BEST (and probably most fattening) PB&J we have ever ate!!

Carolyn in front of the library... where just a few days earlier, everything was closed and blocked off for President Obama's visit.  

The early days of the Occupy Wall Street movement.  We saw it in the beginning and had no idea how far or how fast the movement would spread!  It is still going strong today in cities all over the world!!  It was interesting to see so many people pull together for a cause like this.  

We walked around Central Park and visited Strawberry Fields.  This is Holly in front of the Imagine mosaic - a tribute to John Lennon, and Carolyn in front of the Dakota, the apartment building where John and Yoko lived, and where John was killed.  

 

The weird little green pond at Central Park... how in the world does it get so green??

One day, to get out of the rain, we visited the Metropolitan Museum (the Met).  It wasn't an original idea, as the museum was packed!!  It was a good way to spend a rainy day.  The best part?  The cafeteria!  Salads and pastas, and the oh so yummy cannoli!  

The 9/11 Memorial.  What a beautiful way to honor the lives lost. 

Saturday Night Live - NYC (September 23-24, 2011)

One thing that both Carolyn and I have always wanted to do is be on Saturday Night Live... but tickets are nearly impossible to get in advance.  They have a lottery once a year and you don't get to pick the dates of the show you want to attend, so for out-of-towners, not ideal.  The only other way to get tickets, is to line up and get stand-by tickets on Saturday morning at 7:00 am.  There is no guarantee you will get into the show with these tickets.  We thought it was worth trying!! 

They pass out tickets at 7:00 am on Saturday morning.  But we knew people started lining up the night before (we thought just the night before).  We headed down at about midnight on Friday night.  When we got there, we were amazed to see such a long line already!!  Later we learned that there were people that had been in line since TUESDAY!! CRAZY!!  We were about 115 and 116 in line.  We were in for a long night, and didn't come prepared like some of the others (many had tents, lawn chairs, blow up mattresses, etc.)... so I dug some milk crates out of the garbage so we wouldn't have to sit on the ground all night.  

It was very humid and the weather called for rain.  We lucked out and didn't get rained on!  There was a 24 hour pharmacy a block away where we went to get snacks.  There was also a McDonald's about 5 blocks away - where we went to use the bathroom.  

In line, we met some great people!!  Right in front of us was two guys from Venezuela. 

 And in front of them, two gals from New York.  We talked all night and became great friends before the sun came up the next morning! 

Having such a great group of people to stand in line with, made the night fly by!  By 7:00 am, we had to make a choice - we could either get stand-by tickets for the Dress Rehearsal or the Live show.  All our friends chose the Live show - which were at numbers 70 and 71.  The Dress Rehearsal numbers were only at 60 and 61... we didn't know which to pick!  We asked the woman handing out tickets, "If you had to pick, which would you choose?"  She said the Dress Rehearsal, so we did.  

We had to come back at 7:00 pm that night and wait in line again.  We did, and we barely made it into the rehearsal!  They only sat a few people after us.  We found out that our friends were the last ones into the Live show, so if we had picked those tickets, we wouldn't have made it in!!  LUCKY!!  It was truly amazing.  We were seated on the front row of the balcony and got to see so many people!  Alec Baldwin was the host and Steve Martin and Seth Rogen were both on the show as was the full SNL cast.  What a great experience!!

New York, September 2011 (Famous People!)

Wow!  We saw many amazing people on this trip!  We were not really planning on it, but we just happened to run into them!  On our first night in town, Bryant Park and the Library was surrounded by security - Secret Service, NYC Police, and many others... The block was barricaded off by big cement trucks and pedestrians were not allowed to use the sidewalks at all.  We found out that there was an event at the Library for the UN and President Obama was in attendance!  No wonder!!

As we stopped to take pictures of Macy's for Rosella, we noticed a large crowd gathering.  We were told Beyonce was on her way to unveil her new perfume being sold in Macy's stores!  We hung out for a few minutes and got to see her up close!  She is gorgeous! 

After leaving Billy Elliott, there was a crowd gathered across the street.  We went over and saw Angela Bassett and Samuel L. Jackson.  They were starring in "The Mountaintop."  

We heard that The Addams Family on Broadway was worth seeing, so we got half price tickets at the TKTS Booth and went to see the show!  It was pretty funny, and afterwards, we waited to see the cast.  We were able to meet the entire cast (and get all their autographs on our Playbills), including Roger Rees (my favorite role was as Dr. Marlow on Grey's Anatomy) and Brooke Shields (who was the sweetest thing!).