My running tribe planned a trip to sunny St George but at the last minute, Joni couldn't come due to an injury that makes us all sad. Anytime, something strikes that stops one of us from running, we all mourn. It's our unique friendship. One heart knit together with our passion for running and our love for each other. It's something I treasure more than words can express. At any rate, Joni stayed home and the rest of us hit the highway and headed south.
A picture in the Beaver chair. Tradition. Always.
Mindi found a sweet condo for us to stay in so after grabbing some food at a cool Peruvian food place, and then delivering some running shoes for my boss, we settled in for the night. My running tribe has the ability to talk each other's ears off about anything and everything, or we can sit quietly together, each doing their own thing and still be perfectly content. This evening was like that. I worked on work things, Mindi read, Brenda caught up on a Netflix show. So relaxing.
Saturday morning we got up early and headed to a trail in Hurricane that Brenda knew about. The More Cowbell trail. I haven't been cleared to run yet, but she did say to add in more things as my foot can tolerate. This trail was mostly flat with just a little incline and decline. Perfect to test my foot out on. So as Brenda and Mindi ran, I walked and enjoyed the fact that I was ON A TRAIL!! I ended up doing 5.5 miles and my foot felt great. The other girls got in the miles they wanted and everyone was happy.
Found me a little lizard friend - Larry
Back at the condo, Mindi and I headed to the pool for some serious sun worshipping. I can't even tell you how happy it made me. I baked while working some things out in my head, I read, I eavesdropped on others around me and then baked some more. Brenda eventually came down and again, just hanging out doing our own thing, perfectly comfortable with it.
For dinner that evening we fought the crowds at the Pizza Factory, took it back to the condo and again everyone settled in for evening doing their own thing. I did some more work stuff while keeping an eye on the riots and protests over the death of George Floyd, but that's a post for another day.
Some peaceful protesters - even in St George. I didn't really expect it.
Sunday dawned and we were slow to get moving. We sat on the deck and enjoyed the morning before packing up, loading the car and heading to Zion's National Park. It has been years since I've been there but both Brenda and Mindi had been there recent enough to remember the drill. If you haven't been there it's stunningly beautiful! They weren't charging to get into the park, but they also weren't running any shuttles into the loop where we can hit a trailhead and get a good hike in. We had planned to try and hike to Emerald Pool's but the road was closed and there were so many cars parked along side the road that it was going to be impossible to get in.
Instead we continued driving and stopped in some pull out's to take pictures and then drove through the tunnels. Since I was the one behind the wheel, I tasked Brenda with taking pictures where she could.
What happens when you let Brenda have your phone - love her!
Once out of the tunnels we continued driving until we could find a decent pull out. We threw on our trail shoes, and headed down the hill and into a cool looking wash. We explored for awhile and took some pictures. Truly a beautiful place.
It was a weekend that I needed. I needed to be with my besties. I needed the reminder of just how much I love them and need to be with them. I heard something from Trey Gowdy this morning that went something like this: After our family, the next most important thing is our relationships with others. I have besties that I love more than words can express. Our memories, our trials, our struggles, our talks, our silences. I have women in my life that I can't imagine not being there.
As beautiful as our surroundings were, more beautiful is our relationships. Just missed you Joni. More than anything.
It was a weekend that I needed. I needed to be with my besties. I needed the reminder of just how much I love them and need to be with them. I heard something from Trey Gowdy this morning that went something like this: After our family, the next most important thing is our relationships with others. I have besties that I love more than words can express. Our memories, our trials, our struggles, our talks, our silences. I have women in my life that I can't imagine not being there.
As beautiful as our surroundings were, more beautiful is our relationships. Just missed you Joni. More than anything.
