My vacation is coming to an end and here I am spending the day at the Tucson airport waiting to get on our delayed plane home. The trip was incredible. First it started out with Bisbee, then a day trip to Sedona and ended with a birthday bash/Halloween party. Charlie and I slept in the trailer with weather that dropped down to the 50's every night. We slept with the windows open. It was bliss.
So when I arrived, I picked up the girls and headed out to Bisbee. I have not hung out with just the girls in so long that I did not realize how much I missed it. We had a wonderful meal at the Bisbee Grille and then headed out to try and map out our route. Unfortunately, we got lost too many times and did not make it even a quarter of the way. We decided to at least tackle the "Ice Man" stairs and were breathing so hard with the altitude I thought we were going to pass out. I thought to myself "Dear Lord, what have I signed us up for?!" Me and my great ideas....
We took a nap and then headed out for dinner and the Bisbee Ghost Tour. I had the best tacos at Santiagos. Oh and let me just say, the hotel we stayed at, the San Ramon, was just awesome! A historic hotel with modern furnishings and so much CHARM. The owner, Tamara, was super sweet and kind. In fact everyone in Bisbee was just so friendly. The hotel only had 6 rooms. A definite place to stay again. So we met for the ghost tour at 7pm. Renee was our ghost host and we walked around the town. She told us stories of the history of Bisbee. Half of a street burned down in 1908 so the town is filled with haunted hotels, bars, art gallerys and even the city park. The city park used to be a cemetary so sightings of children have been seen playing on the stairs. One of my favorite ghosts stories was about a Calico cat. I am not going to spoil it for you in case you are ever in Bisbee...you may want to take the tour.
SO the next morning we are up and at 'em. The race is 1034 stairs and 4.3 miles. The stairs are broken up in 9 stairwells, ranging from 80 to over 200 steps. Jil and Jennifer are nervous. I have it in my head that I am going to walk the whole thing if I have to. We grabbed our t-shirts and strapped on our monster timing chips to our ankles. It is not until we corralled at the starting line waiting for the gun to go off when the butterflies start to flutter in my tummy. Finally, we are off. Jenn and Jil start out ahead of me but I am determined to go slow. We reach the first set of stairs when I noticed everyone lined up to walk the stairs. Well, at this rate, the stairs are somewhat a rest from running. I am able to catch up to Jil but Jenn is long gone. Jil and I run together the rest of the race and finish in 1 hour and 13 minutes. The toughest stairwell was #8. After you complete that set you have to run up a steep hill. That knocked me out. I had to walk to catch my breath, actually, I had to do that several times. Once I did though, I was able to start running again. But overall it was not so bad...and I definitely want to do it again next year. It looks like we have a new tradition. But at least next year we will know what to expect and we will dominate.
Next stop Sedona. I have always wanted to go and now I definitely want to go back. This was a day trip. My aunt Lourdes drove us all up in her van with her four children, me and her sister Coyo. It was breathtakingly beautiful. Sedona is a small town with red, orange and yellow rocks, but within 10 miles, the land completely changes. Soon you feel like you are in Colorado, with the smell of wood surrounded by mountains, the sound of a trickling streams in the background, and the changing color of the leaves. I would love to camp and explore the trails by foot. I am now going to have to add that to my list of 1001 goals.
The rest of the week was spent getting ready for the party. I loved seeing the happiness on my mom's face. It was so worth it to make the trek here. What a way to celebrate a milestone! Coyo and I saw a cute movie called the "Ugly Truth" and I discovered close hiking trails within walking distance of where I slept. I managed to get my running done although I did not get my 9 mile long run in. I was hoping to do that today when I get back to Houston..but it looks like it will be a short run at the rate we are going. Que sera! At least I will have one more day to recover from such a fabulous trip. I am already looking forward to doing it again next year, but hopefully next time I can add the camping trip in Sedona.
