Travelogue Tale

During our June trip to and from Michigan, I took to texting photos of each day's run to my Colorado running buddies. They rather enjoyed the running travelogue and asked if I'd do it again during our July/August trip to Michigan. I was happy for the diversion so another travelogue came to be. Here's a replay (with a few extra photos to show what all we were up to during this trip...a lot...).


July 25, 2015, 5 a.m.: Kansas City, Missouri

 

Mill Creek Park - multiple laps before starting the Kansas City-to-Petoskey drive.
In the wee hours of the morning - and I was not the only one out there!
So hot & humid, I couldn't even wear my ever-present running cap.

July 26, 2015: downtown Petoskey, Michigan

Ignacious Petoskey

Ignacious Petoskey's view

Extra added bonus on this day - a rendezvous with niece Tara and her kids who were staying in my mom's house during the Petoskey/northern Michigan portion of their summer road trip:

Cousins et al! Corinne, Devon, Tara, Cullen & Audrey in Petoskey's Central Park

July 27, 2015: dawn along the bay, Petoskey, Michigan

Dawn glow over the breakwater on Little Traverse Bay

July 28, 2015: Petoskey shoreline

Beach wildflowers along the Petoskey Wheelway of Little Traverse Bay

July 29, 2015: a pre-dawn run

twinkle light flower garden ...a fairy garden perchance

Also on this day, we had the memorial service for my mom, the lovely Elena Vaughan. A day spent in the warm companionship of friends and relatives.

The floral arrangement for the service
under the floral wreath Deb and I made for mom 2 summers ago

Cousins Yi Lu and John, and son Paul

Paula and practically-mom's-daughter, Pat

Cousin Marcie, Pat,
Paula and mom's bro Kent

Uncle Kent (mom's bro) and Cousin Dan (dad's sister's son)

Mom's graduation picture

High school classmates of mine who came to the service
Dave, Wendy (facing camera), Connie (away from camera) & Glae (Dave's wife)

  
July 30, 2015: a two-run day

Lake Michigan awakens

North Country Trail along south edge of Petoskey

July 31, 2015: a river run

Bear River, teeming with wildflowers along its banks

August 1, 2015: last resort interval session venue

All my favorite straightaways were packed with tourists (height of the summer and all)
so it was off to the high school soccer fields for intervals. Can't have gorgeous every day...

Also on this day, the 45th class reunion of Petoskey High School class of '70! We had a pre-reunion dinner with some friends just to ease into things....

Of this gang, classmates include
Pam (far left), Kirk (to my right), me (in blue), and Connie (to my left)

August 2, 2015: a run along one of my all-time favorite trails

Looking west from East Bay Harbor trail
(Little Traverse Bay toward open Lake Michigan)

Looking east from East Bay Harbor trail
(Little Traverse Bay toward Petoskey & Petoskey State Park)

August 3 & 4, 2015: water and cottages

This day, I just had to get up close to the water

And this day, I just had to run through Bay View
listening to the music and gazing at the cottages

August 5, 2015: hill repeats a la Petoskey

Looking down Harvey Hill -   at the top of which
I've spotted a snake, turkeys and deer (not all on the same day)

August 6, 2015: back to college

Explored the trails at North Central Michigan College - a delightful interlude!

August 7, 2015: a regular ol' run

The every-day sight one sees when running along the Petoskey waterfront

August 8, 2015: a change of scenery
Yesterday we drove down to my cousins' cottage at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore for today's wedding of Kelly Murphey (my cousin John's son) and Rachel Fussell. Spectacular location and thoroughly delightful day of celebration and family.

Morning run along Sleeping Bear Dune National Lakeshore. Exquisite!

Kelly and Rachel listening to the wedding song (Rachel's dad on banjo)

August 9 & 10, 2015: the last two runs along Little Traverse Bay

 The bay view from Bay View

A misty morning for the last P'town run of the trip
...where does the lake end and the sky begin?!?!?

August 11, 2015: west-bound road trip run

It turns out Waterloo, Iowa has multi-mile pathways along the Cedar River
a lovely venue for a dawn run!

Memories

Tomorrow we start a road trip to my hometown of Petoskey, Michigan. This time, the trip will be to memorialize my mom, Elena Vaughan, born October 9, 1920, died July 7, 2015 and one of the kindest, most thoughtful people to grace this earth.

As we wrapped up our nightly phone call the evening of July 7th, she said the sun was shining so I sang out a toodleoo to her as was our tradition (if it were dark out, I'd sing "good evening" ...whichever, it usually made her laugh which was my goal). After our toodles, she told me that when she finished a phone call with my younger son Paul, they would wish each other a smile - and she passed a smile on to me and I to her. Smile, mom. You brought so much joy...

One of the finest mother hens of all-time has taken flight heavenward. Elena Lenore Vaughan, born on October 9, 1920 to Howard and Jennie Nichols in Deckerville, Michigan, died July 7, 2015 at her residence in Petoskey, Michigan.

While growing up, Elena was big sister to Kent, Don and Leon, honing her mother hen and management skills at an early age. She went on to graduate from Royal Oak Senior High School, was certified at Detroit College of Business, and attended Wayne State University in Detroit. From there she excelled as a Legal Aid and Executive Office Manager at the J.L. Hudson Company in Detroit, which provided her with a lifetime of stories to share.

In 1947, Elena caught the eye of the dashing Paul George Vaughan. A whirlwind courtship led to their Valentine’s Day wedding in 1948 and a love-filled marriage. That marriage also brought two children into the world, David Lee and Paula Jean who both now live in Boulder, Colorado. The family tree further branched out with Paula’s marriage to Kendall Miller which, to Elena and Paul’s great and ever-lasting delight, gave them two grandsons, Devon and Paul VaughanMiller.

In 1961, Paul and Elena decided a move from Detroit would be good for the family and thus they arrived in Petoskey, the new owners of The Basket Shop and the Northland Lodge. Elena kept her plate full, helping Paul with the shop until they retired in April, 1984, serving as an Elder of the First Presbyterian Church and as president of the Women’s Association.

Elena is survived by her son, David, daughter, Paula, son-in-law, Kendall Miller, her grandsons Devon and Paul, her brother Kent Nichols and his family, the children of her brother Don Nichols, as well as beloved nieces and nephews from her husband Paul’s side of the family.

Elena overflowed with compassion for anyone in need, deeply cared for those close to her, and truly glowed when surrounded by a happy gathering of family and friends. A celebration of this lovely woman’s life will be held at the First Presbyterian Church of Petoskey, 501 E. Mitchell Street, on July 29 at 2 p.m.. A reception of beverages and cookies (in honor of Elena’s exalted position as Cookie Baking Queen) will follow the service.

Weekend double

It has been quite a long time since I've run what I refer to as a "weekend double" - i.e., two fairly long runs on subsequent days (Saturday and Sunday to be an actual "weekend double"). The last double was the weekend prior to my birthday when I'd gotten it into my head that I should run my age in the seven days leading up to my birthday day, which resulted in a weekend double of 11.5 and 13 miles.  That was pretty much it for 2015 until this weekend when I was feeling like it had been way too long between doubles.

Continental Divide from the Singletree Trail

Yesterday: 11 miles running from home out to the Singletree and Meadowlark trails, meeting up with running buddies Joe and Connie on Meadowlark.

Wildlife along Bear Creek trail

Today: 16 miles from home to Longmont on a variety of trails, meeting up with Connie about five miles into the run.

Wild farm life in Boulder countryside

Both days: fabulous running, great company, and no better way to get the weekend rollin'!

The naming game

When I'm not running, I'm usually walking, sometimes taking the bus, and then there's the occasional ride in the car.  (One does not always have 57 days to cover the 1400 miles from Boulder to Petoskey donchaknow...)  A while ago Kendall started thinking we might be needing a new car as our old one was showing signs of age that seemed to indicate less than reliable transport for long road trips (as well as likely expensive repairs). So car shopping he went and we are now the happy owners of a Toyota Sienna - our first non-Dodge van in a string of vans. And my oh my did it ride nice on our trip to/from Michigan last week. 

Those of you who know our family know my brother is a major proponent of American car manufacturers and refers to all other vehicles as "foreign made tin cans." Needless to say, he is very displeased with our recent purchase. Those of you who know us very very well might also know that we tend to only name our cars when they go into semi-retirement after we get a new car and keep the old one around just for in-town driving. For example, two Dodge Caravans ago became "Old Reliable" when it went into semi-retirement after the purchase of our most recent Caravan.  Now that our current Dodge is being semi-retired, we've finally given it a name: "Old Blue."  However, in a major break from tradition, we've given our brand new van a name. In honor of my brother, our most excellent new Toyota Sienna has been christened "TinCan." ...makes me smile.

[picture above: TinCan in front, Old Blue behind]

The Pisces In Me

One of my running buddies mentioned, upon my return from my recent road trip to Petoskey, that all of my runs during the trip involved water. Huh! So true! I do seem to gravitate toward those running venues that include river trails, beach, lakesides, loops around ponds; if it's wet, I'm there!

And now I'm back in landlocked Colorado.  Fortunately, it too offers stellar running venues. Witness this view from yesterday's run through the high plains along the foothills of the Rockies.  Not too shabby, eh?!

Road Trip Running

I love road trips - seeing the countryside, finding hidden gems, and running in new surroundings. Our trip to Michigan from which we just returned offered plenty of opportunity for road trip running what with 6 days on the road for 3 full days in Michigan.  So here ya' go - a road trip travelogue.

June 3, pouring rain at the beginning of the day,
so stopped at a river trail along the Cedar River
in Waterloo, Iowa for a midday run and lunch break.





 

June 4, a sweet little run on trails 

around ponds  in an office park 

near our hotel in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin 

(home to Beans N' Cream, our favorite Wisc. coffee shop)

June 5, back to Lake Michigan and a run east along the waterfront 

in Petoskey from the Bear River trail

June 6, a much sunnier day in Petoskey and a westward-bound run along Little Traverse Bay

June 7, a run along a favorite trails, the Little Traverse Wheelway along Little Traverse Bay

June 8, a quick early morning run before leaving town.  

Creations enveloped in fog...

(spider web, rock sculpture, Lake Michigan)

June 9, a two-run day. The first one, at sunrise in Dubuque, Iowa was just too short so I followed that up with a sultry hot (98-degree hot by the time I finished) but thoroughly enjoyable run along the Missouri River in Sioux City, Iowa










 June 10, Kendall's birthday - and a Wednesday,
which means hill day.
In Lexington, Nebraska that means repeats
on the pedestrian overpass
up and over a whole lotta busy railroad tracks.

So, yes, a lot of fun running. But the best part of the trip - seeing a happy healthy mom!

 

Me, Connie & Anita - post Bolder Boulder and 

all smiles

Summer is nigh and another Bolder Boulder is in the books. As mentioned in my last post, my stretch goal was to match my 1985 Bolder Boulder time when I pushed then 4-month-old Devon in a baby jogger and covered the course in 55:49. A stretch goal, indeed. I did not meet it in this year's Bolder Boulder, missing it by a minute-ten.  Disappointed? Yes, a bit. However! I did beat last year's time by 1:47, running this 2015 edition in 56:49. The best part? A spring of training with fantastic running buddies and a stadium full of smiles afterward.

The other best part? Now I get to run for fun - my most favorite kind of running!

Trotting through the quiet of country roads, exploring trails, dancing amongst the wildflowers, wandering hither & thither around town, delighting at critters, winding through neighborhoods, following bird songs, 

just .....running.

This past Saturday the gang and I ran on an east-Boulder trail with

spectacular views of the Continental Divide. 

This upcoming weekend, I'll be running on one of my most favorite trails along the shore of Lake Michigan's Little Traverse Bay. 

We runners...we are lucky people...

Springing toward summer

All through April I kept thinking I'd write about the signs of spring:
 

tulips

frozen tulips

prairie lilies along the trail

calves and moms along the trail

gardening

and, in Boulder  -

runners of every size, shape and age 

out training for the Bolder Boulder, 

...and I am one of them.

Running buddies, Connie and Anita, and I have been training our buns off since mid-March.  This is not an entirely new thing as we three train every year for the Bolder Boulder.  But this year my cousin made a comment when she saw a picture of me pushing a 4-month-old Devon in a baby jogger in the 1985 Bolder Boulder - that comment being along the lines of "how about running it as fast this year as you did 30 years ago while pushing Devon." Thus the challenge was born.

me, sleeping Devon, and bro-in-law Andy 1985 Bolder Boulder

And just how fast would that be? 55:49 - 9 minute pace on the nose. It's been a few years since I've run a race that fast. But, what the heck, having a stretch goal is a Good Thing, yes?  So...lots of intervals, tempo runs, long runs and, disconcertingly, the feeling I often get when marathon training is drawing to a close: if the training doesn't kill me, I may actually be fit enough to have a good race.  One week from tomorrow, we'll find out!