Random Holiday Pictures

A lot goes on around the holidays.  Here is a feature of some of the food, presents, and travel from the last week.  See you next year! - A

I had to taste the ice cream with "NOTES OF AMBER"! 

Yummy.

Veggies and Hummus...

Beautiful sunset on my drive down to my sister's.

I made this!  Any excuse for guacamole.  I've heard it doesn't always have to be eaten with a spoon.

My sister made us Christmas dinner this year.  She has a few specialties, salmon and potatoes.

And she also bakes yummy things, like Earth.

"Luke, I am your Aunt."  Seriously, he is helping unwrap presents.

PS: Told you it would be random.

Merry Christmas!

Hope everyone is having a festive yet relaxing holiday weekend.  Since getting back from the race, the past couple of weeks have been filled with shopping, holiday parties, and workouts. Aside from family celebrations I've spent the last couple of days at home catching up on rest and preparing for my out of town guests next week.  I did manage to pick up a few new ornaments for my tree this year including one that has my nephew's art stamped on it.  Enjoy the rest of your Christmas as I plan on going for a run with my husband before we get ready for the next party. :-)  - P

Exploring Las Vegas

Our trip to Las Vegas began focused on running the ½ marathon. Once that was over we were able to take in the sights of this ever changing city.  I hadn’t been there in many years and it was the first time for everyone else, so ultimately it was like experiencing  a new place.  I imagine it is like that for most people unless they go there every year.  We spent the day after the race walking to all the casinos and hotels and soaking up all the sights on the strip.  We were lucky enough to see them lit up even more than they normally are,  due to Christmas displays everywhere. 

The amount of good restaurants Las Vegas has to offer it was difficult to choose where to have dinner.   We settled on Fiamma at MGM Grand one night and the buffet at the Wynn on the other.  Our post race dinner ended up as a combination of McDonalds and Subway so we really wanted to enjoy a couple relaxing dinners out the other nights.   I think our choices ended up perfect.  Fiamma is an Italian restaurant reasonably priced yet a nice menu and long wine list.  We took our time through dinner to enjoy both the food and atmosphere.  Since Vegas is known for their buffets we felt it should be a must do eating event.  Since we missed lunch the one day we managed to spend a late afternoon and early evening at the Wynn buffet.  Having lunch and dinner at the same sitting was a treat as well as a challenge.   Because it was post race (2 days later) we felt it was ok to eat more food.  :-) We spent over 2 hours of slow and well planned eating.   They offered crab legs, turkey, sushi, curry, mashed potatoes, burgers, pizza, salad, and so much more. The dessert bar was beautiful which was like an array of petit four like creations. 

Since we spent so much time exploring the strip we took the time on our last night to walk around downtown Las Vegas.  What is a trip if you don’t go to see some of the older casinos that are still standing.  Although there are some new additions such as the roof and zip lining down the middle of the street you can still feel the essence of old Las Vegas.  It is a must do especially if you recall any of the old movies featuring this part of town.  I thought it was a perfect end to the trip. - P

Hoover Dam

As you have read in the last couple posts P and I, along with her husband M and my sister A, spent a long weekend in Vegas for the half marathon.  We stayed the extra days to see some sights and wander through town since three out of four of us had never been there. By far the most massive engineering marvel we witnessed was the Hoover Dam.  If they say a picture is worth a thousand words, actually seeing it for yourself would be worth multiples more.  It was a short trip from The Strip in a Pink Jeep, and it was well worth it. We got to relax and take in the high desert scenery on the way out there and back.  We were a little early for the Hoover Dam Tour to start, so our tour guide took us to the new bridge that overlooks the Dam and crosses the river first.  It was an amazing view from so high up.  The tour started with a video on the background and statistics of the construction of the Hoover Dam.  

We then boarded an elevator that took us down to the power plan area.  The scale and power generated was impressive. Then, they let us explore the surface of the dam and take pictures.  The Dam is built across the Colorado River, which divides Nevada and Arizona.  This was my first trip to either state, but the best part of walking across the Dam was the fact when we crossed borders we were in two different time zones (AZ does observe daylight savings time) at the same time.  


Going to see the Hoover Dam from Vegas was definitely worth the short trip! -A

Half Marathon - Vegas Style

The night comes earlier in Vegas than in does in Ohio.  But that doesn't help the nerves and the decision making during the day before a half marathon at night.  Fortunately we planned ahead enough to be staying near the start and end of the race.  Since it was so crowded P, P's husband, my sister A and I had to maneuver our way from our hotel rooms to the start line.  The atmosphere was unlike anything I've felt before at a race, so the awesomeness of running the strip at night was totally worth dodging all the people even though it was annoying.  The weather was a great temperature, kind of cool for Vegas, but something we were very comfortable running 13.1 miles in.  However, Vegas has much drier air than we are used to, so that did affect as least my breathing and hydration a little bit. As unique of an experience as it was to have the strip closed down for the race, my feet started really hurting around mile 8 or 9 and I was very glad for it to be over.  Overall, a good race.

And a bonus, the finisher medals glow in the dark.  Very cool.

I know it is not even technically winter yet, but I am ready to start planning for another half marathon in the spring. -A