Aruba - days 1 and 2

Okay so day one was really just us schlepping from the airport to the hotel (Bucuti) and chilling out, then eating at the hotel restaurant (the Pirate's Nest). I had the Keshi Yena which is a traditional Aruba dish, and the version at the Pirate's Nest was vegetarian. It was really delicious. Of course now that I'm at home I realize I should have begged for that recipe, since usually it is cooked with chicken or fish and the recipes don't really sound like what I ate at all. I have a few recipes that kinda seem similar, I think when H. is gone I'll work on trying to get a good veggie recipe created.

I mean you're not surprised I'll likely go back to being vegetarian once he's outta the house, right?! And this will keep me busy. Hahaha.

Anyway, so I took some pictures of the hotel but because it was overcast, they're not the best ones of the group. I'll show you more of the hotel later.

We did catch a wee bit of a sunset that poked through.


The next day was a little nicer. Here is the view from our room and also a shot of some of the dragonflies. Every morning there were hundreds outside of our door then by mid morning they disappeared. Very fun to watch.

We then checked out the Butterfly Farm. Here are some pictures from there.








These ugly, 5 inch caterpillars are Owl Butterfly caterpillars. They're so impressively huge and ugly. Apparently they'll just crawl away and cocoon! Did you know that when they cocoon, all their organs turn to liquid and everything re-forms into a butterfly! How crazy is that?

Also Aruba is known for the fact that it rarely rains! So there are a lot of cacti.
We're special in the fact that we went there when they had rain! Lucky Us!


Then that night we went to a pretty decent Cuban restaurant called Cuba's Cookin. They had a free mojito coupon, which I highly recommend taking with you! And also - it is best to take some one with you who doesn't like them - then you can drink theirs too! I highly recommend doing that. And ordering the Ropa Vieja.

Shenandoah

Okay so I'm starting to think I hadn't blogged because I was busy, hahaha.
Anyway we went walking in Shenandoah last weekend...
Here are some lovely fall-esque pictures.

First we hiked Compton Peak (skyline drive mile 10.4)




Then after a nice long (and very late) lunch at the skyline lodge, we didn't have much time so we decided to take a walk to Millers Head (mile 42.5). There apparently is a place where hang gliders go, although we didn't see any.

Bob and Tricia!

A few weeks back my dear cousin Bob got married!! yay! Not only that but he married a lovely, wonderful person. It took me a while to blog because I have been running around a lot and haven't been online as much as usual.

Anyway, here are some of the better pictures that I took!

First here they are, very very newly married!


And here is all of us being Crazy at the Reception!!

Running Questions

Wow it was a nice run today, I think this was because I slacked on Tuesday and mostly walked because my legs were tired from the race. Not that I was running fast or even really pushing myself at the race, but just because there were more hills than I was used to.

It's pretty cool these mornings (today it was 50ish), and this morning was also windy, so it was a little worse than it has been, I wore long sleeves.

So I have a question for you cold weather runners (I'm looking to you - people from Vermont and Connecticut!) when do you pull out winter gear?

And what does your winter arsenal look like? And how do you know what to put on and when? Is it all trial and error?

You see the last time I took up running I lived in Florida. If it was chilly, I'd just wait until the afternoon to run.

And also - it is dark out there when I go running now (I run where there is little traffic so I don't have to worry about that)... but does anyone switch their running to lunch time? I'm concerned once my human alarm clock (aka Harland) leaves that I'll not want to get up in the dark anymore.

Race Update

I posted my race info below (if you haven't gotten there yet) and click here for the article from the Washington Running Report.

I forgot to tell you that we had a new type of time measuring device. Rather than those heavy chips that you have to return, they have a new ChronoTrack(click here for image) which is a light paper loop, kinda like a hospital bracelet. It starts off as a paper strip on your bib, you peel it off and put it in your shoe laces. It makes a "D" shape with the round loop facing up. There is a small chip in it, but you can't feel the weight of it on your shoe at all, and it doesn't flop around.

I hope more races go to this kind of system. It's worry-free! You don't have to worry about taking it off your shoe and remembering to return it to the bin, or worrying about what if yours gets lost somehow because you'll have to pay to replace it.

Navy Federal Credit Union 5K

Well we ran the 5K this AM! It was chilly! 53 degrees at 9am at the start! Yikes - Hello Fall, you're a few days early!!

We both beat our goals by a few mere seconds... but that is what matters, right?!

Harland's goal was to be 19 minutes and he did! Harland came in 2nd in his age group (actually he tied for 1st time-wise, I'm not sure what they use the tie breaker, I'm assuming it went alphabetical by last name since the other dude's last name was Bui and if you look at the official list Bui came in 7th overall and Harland came in 5th overall...) But who really wants a trophy to collect dust anyway? Harland is happy with his 18:46 chip time and a $25 gift certificate to Famous Dave's BBQ. We haven't been there, so it will be a nice evening out one night. He's also listed as one of the Men's leaders on the main page! Click here to see how wonderful he did!! Really, I'm gushing, I'm so proud of my dear hubby!!!

And in less speedy news, I beat my old running times. Here is the link if you forgot about them. I beat my time of 40 minutes - which I admit doesn't seem like much to the average person who runs a 10 minute mile. I had a side stitch at mile 2 and had to walk a few minutes, so I really think I could do better. (I usually don't eat before I run but I talked myself into eating a half a banana an hour before the race, I guess I'll have to work on that). I made it at 39:43 chip time. Which is 24 seconds faster than my older official time! I still have it in my head my fastest time was 36:35, but that could have been an unofficial course and actually shorter than a real 5K. A girl needs goals in her life so that is the time to beat in my next 5K.

The race itself was pretty good - they say there were over 500 runners/walkers. Running strollers are allowed and kids are also allowed so it is a great family race. There is also a lot of random drawings for fun items (I won some coffee) and they had granola bars, bagels, bananas, gatorade, donuts and bread for snacks afterward. The t-shirt is yellow and very pretty (and way too big, I got a Large and H. got a medium and they're both huge on us. I figured I might need a large as runners are kinda small, but I tell you this looks like an XL. I think I may end up snagging his medium, hee hee). There were also prizes for people whose 1st race it was, and prizes for kids. So it was pretty fun for a local race!! Come visit me next Sept. and we'll run it.

The only sad part might be that H. didn't see me finish! Oh well. I did a little sprint at the end and passed like 10 people - haha!

So that was the race. I hope to schedule another one!

MetroMantis and other super stories

Well actually that post title makes this sound perhaps a little more exciting than what it contains...

My parents came to visit for the weekend. This was exciting because they haven't visited me since I moved here! Sadly, I still had a bad cold which made me pretty sleepy on Saturday. Sunday I felt better and we went to DC to the Air and Space Museum.




This second picture is kinda cool, because the background is really a video where planes are taking off of the mock Carrier you're in.

We also went to the national museum of the American Indian. We only got to see one level because it closes at 5:30pm and we had spent so much time in the Air and Space museum.




Here is a picture outside of the museum!


Finally I have a riddle for you. How does the Praying Mantis get from New Carrolton to Vienna?

Why he takes the Orange Line Metro Train!