Rants, Recipes, and Running

Due to the fact that Ryan was going to be stuck in Syracuse for about 3 months, we decided it was a great opportunity to get us to New York City for the weekend. Syracuse is about a 4-5 hour drive, so we ended up meeting in NYC for President's Day weekend. I'm going to let the pictures do most of the talking here. Miraculously we get to our hotel about 20 minutes of each other. Ryan had to take a bus (long story). And I obviously flew, and took the Subway. (FYI - Google maps was the best way of figuring out the subway system!!) We got freshened up, and headed out for some exploring. Our hotel was the Marriot Residence Inn - which was wedged between Times Square and Central Park. Great destination!! We walked around Times Square for a bit, bought broadway tickets for Saturday night, and asked our guy where a local goes for the best Thai food. Times Square is a lot like Vegas. Too people-y. But pretty cool to see. Once ;) Ha! We headed a few blocks north to ...

As I was writing about our trip to Syracuse , I made the statement " I don't think we would have visited this part of the country, if it weren't for Ryan's job.". And it dawned on me that there are a lot of beautiful, amazing places I wouldn't have explored...if it weren't for just that! "We will see how things play out" are words that come out of my mouth several times/week, in fact. When trying to make plans in advance. And I'm okay with that. We cannot control what we cannot control! So here are few gems we have found due to our situation: 1. Tucson !! When I look back at "me" 10 years ago, I would not have chose Tucson. In fact, if you gave me a map and said "Pick anywhere" -- I'd pick someone with more seasons. But, WOW, I can't picture life had we need found this place. Our adventures, the hobbies we've picked up, the friends we've made, the lifestyle we developed.... 2. Montgomery, Alabama ...

When we learned Ryan would be heading to Syracuse for a few months for work....we decided that we would take advantage of this time to visit NYC ( as neither of us have ever been there!). But I decided 3 months with only 1 visit was NOT enough. So I was able to score some tickets to visit Ryan in Syracuse with frequent flyer miles. That is the beauty of the military. It sometimes send them to random places. And those random places can be gems - and places I probably wouldn't have visited otherwise! Which a post about this is soon to come.... I fell in love with upstate NY. I think if you took a normal person that grew up in, say, AZ .... they wouldn't find this part of the country that thrilling. But for me -- I felt at home at times. Rolling hills, tons of trees, snow, farms, rivers, lakes....hmmmm sound familiar? Yes - it reminded me of Minnesota. My 2nd home. Now we visiting in the most undesirable time of the year. But I still just loved it there. Syracuse itsel...

So Thursday night Ryan and I were out hanging metal fencing to snake-proof our yard, and I said, "What should we do this weekend besides our 50 mile bike ride Saturday morning?" And he said, "Do we have to bike?" I said, "What else do you have going on?" Ryan responded "Camping" And within 2 hours we were rummaging through our camping gear and off to the grocery store to plan a spur-of-the-moment trip to the White Mountains! White Mountains are about 4 hours NE of Tucson -- and it is my favorite place in the state! It is all pines and about 30 degrees cooler. In the winter time they get snow and all the hiking trails turn into cross country trails. The scenery is absolutely breath-taking and there is so much wild life!! Our favorite camping destination in this area is Big Lake - and we always stay at Rainbow Campground, which is across the road from the lake. I've gotten so used to reallllllly " roughing it" with backp...