First, vacations relieve stress. I work very hard to live a relatively low stress life. I pay bills early, I try to live minimally, I have quiet time every day, I run away worries that come up. Vacations are unique in that they remove me from my daily situation and relieve the small stresses that don't seem like stresses until you are away from them. The list of to-do's I wake up to every morning doesn't exist on vacation. The fact that I don't have to clean the shower I'm about to use, or wash the sheets I just got out of, is liberating. Not that I mind cleaning my house at all (I actually enjoy it a little bit) but the fact that I don't have to and there is nothing I can do about the condition of my house while I'm on vacation, is freeing. I don't have to think about the dogs or what's going on in my town, or plan my day around things that are important at home. I love the important things, but it's nice to step away from them.
Second, vacations make me step out of my comfort zone or at least try new things. My comfort zone has stretched in the past few years, mostly from running, but I love to stretch it further on vacation if I can. Vacationing is a time when I try new foods at local restaurants (like sushi and SOMETHING). Vacationing is a time when I try new things, like staying at anywhere from a campsite to a really fancy hotel. Vacationing is an excuse to try new things in fitness-- like hiking a new mountain in Colorado, running with an ultra-marathon group in Reno, or getting lost on a run in the downtown of two major cities. Vacationing is a time to talk to strangers on the tour bus, talk to a local at the coffee shop (where I try the chai, so I know if they get better chai than I do or not) and learn about the many amazing life paths there are.
Third, vacations are a time to learn. I learn about myself on vacation, because I'm trying so many new things (like, who knew that I would end up loving miso soup had I not eaten at a great sushi place?). I am a researcher, so I familiarize myself with the area before I visit, often learning things I would never have learned otherwise (someday, traveling will help me on jeopardy or something other game show, I just know it). I learn about how other people live, from the people living in mansions to the inner city families.
Fourth, vacations are a great time to spend with my husband. I admit that we tend to spend more than we should while on vacation, but it's mostly because we both take this time to spoil each other. We try to always stop at a Whole Foods if there is one nearby, and we often encourage each other to put things in the cart that normally wouldn't go in at home because we want to treat the other person. We talk in the car and often feel more connected on vacation because, being the only person the other knows, we rely on each other for everything. It's time devoted to not only doing what we want to do individually, but making sure the other person gets to do what they want to, too... and we do it together.
Fifth, vacationing is just fun. I love planning, I love having something to look forward to and I love how great home feels after being away, even for a couple of days. In general, getting away is just an awesome way to experience life and get away from the daily routine every once in a while.
With that, I thought I would share my recent vacation story with you all (that is, if you are still reading at this point). Pictures are included!
I'm going to say that Jim and I started our vacation Friday, even if we were still in Ogallala. We had planned on camping in the Rockies, but rain had us deciding to stay home. So instead, we went to the movies and had a nice date night watching "Guardians of the Galaxy".
On Saturday morning, we left the house early with a backpack full of clothes, a bag of peaches and four pairs of extra shoes lining the floor of the backseat (dress shoes made up two pair. And I had two pair of running shoes with me... don't judge). I slept almost the entire way there. When we arrived, we went to Da Kind Soups and had some awesome flavors like sweet potato spinach. The atmosphere was great and the ladies at the counter were awesome.
We went from there to hike to Maxwell Falls. It's a 5.2 mile round trip hike to, you guessed it, a waterfall. I love hiking and we have a soft spot for being in the woods as it reminds us of our childhood in the Black Hills. It was a crowded hike with a lot of dogs on leashes and kids in carriers, but it was a lot of fun.
We then drove up to Guenella Pass, where Jim had camped with his friend a few weeks ago. We drove to the top and witnessed the Alpine Rescue team sending a chopper out to help a stranded tourist somewhere in the woods.
It was a beautiful drive, but it was longer than we anticipated and we had to hurry back to town do catch our dinner reservation, so we changed in the car. Unfortunately, changing into a fancy Chinese dress is hard in the car, so I had some trouble.
We went to The Bistro at Marshdale in Evergreen, CO for dinner. We were a bit over dressed, but it was fun to be treated like VIPs because we were so fancy. I couldn't pronounce my dinner, but I caved and tried the gluten free salmon pasta dish since I would be racing the next day. The lady was very careful to give me gluten free options the rest of the night, as well, including the chocolate hazelnut mousse I finished with (yum).
We then drove to our "hotel". We stayed at the guest cabin of a wonderful older couple who own a ranch just outside of town. Their home was beautiful and looked out over a beautiful pasture. Our little cabin was adorable. They had two dogs that loved us to death and we met with our hosts before heading to bed on Saturday night. She was a puppeteer for many years and they have traveled the world.
Early Sunday morning, I got ready and got on a bus to go to the starting position of the Evergreen Town 5K race. I was surrounded by around 1000 other athletes. I was kind of intimidated by the high school track kids, but when the race got going, I ignored them and did my own race. I let gravity do the work on the downhill and ticked off every half mile in my head. I ended up with a PR of 22:28 and a 7th in my age group finish.
Because I didn't do anything worthy of a medal, we left the after party pretty quickly, Jim eating the complimentary breakfast burrito I was given.
We left Evergreen and headed to Lakewood, as I had seen some shoes after the race I was interested in trying out. We were too early for the Runners Roost (my all time favorite running store), so we walked around the shopping complex it was in before ultimately buying the shoes I wanted to try, a book written by my running hero (Scott Jurek) and some energy gu's for Jim.
Like any good foodie family, we went to Whole Foods as well. We had a gift certificate we wanted to use up and, because it's Whole Foods, spent about twice as much as the gift certificate. But, it is always fun for us to go there and buy foods you can't get locally. My favorite purchase (aside from their fresh ground peanut butter) was something I won't even be eating but look forward to Jim trying-- bacon flavored chocolate.
After that we went to Kazuko Sushi, because sushi is almost a requirement in big city vacations now. It was good and they had vegetarian options for me (I'm not a full vegetarian, but in sushi restaurants, I find it's safer to say I am). They had a great miso soup and shiitake mushroom rolls.
My request every time we visit a city is frozen yogurt. I don't know why I crave cold and fruity while on vacation, but I do. so, we found a Menchies
Less than 48 hours jam packed with nothing but awesome!
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