As if hauling my creaky knees all the way to the top of Picacho Peak wasn't exhausting enough, I doubled down on the pain just a few days later by running a 5K. Best of all, my firstborn got to run with me! (At least for a little while.) It was all part of the annual Pecan Festival, a celebration organized by the nearby pecan orchards. It's been going for seven years now, and is becoming one of my favorite festivals in Sahuarita.
The run associated with the festival is called the Pecan Classic, and there are three different lengths to choose from when you register: an 8-mile course; a 3.5-mile course; and a family "fun run" (or "nut run") that is 1.5 miles. The first time I tried out the Pecan Classic, I did the fun run with Lorelai. It was her first race and she loved it. I also had a lot of fun running with my daughter; however, the distance was a little too easy, and I hoped that next time I entered the Pecan Classic, it would be at a longer distance.
We wanted to run again last year, but due to Nathan's father passing away, we didn't get the opportunity to register for the race. This year, I was determined to run the full 5K and we registered online a couple of months ago. I've done a few5Kruns in the past, so I figured I would be up to the task. Technically, the Pecan Classic is not a "true" 5K; its distance this year was 3.35 miles. In past years, the "5K" was 3.7 miles. Most of the time when I go running, I run just over 3 miles, so I was a little nervous about the longer distance. I'd hoped to train well in advance for the race, but life got busy and I wasn't able to run as often as I'd hoped. Oh well; there was no turning back!
As soon as we entered the orchard, I decided that the Pecan Classic is my favorite 5K in the area. Running under the bushy green trees is such a novel feeling in Arizona, and I loved it. The extra shade is nice when you're running, and it feels so much more calm and peaceful than running through the neighborhood. I purposefully slowed my pace so I could linger a bit and take in all the beauty. Lorelai and I ran the first mile or so together; she is so enthusiastic, but at the same time, she wants to talk to me when we're running...and then she is constantly starting and stopping while talking. It can be a little hectic keeping up with her; I am starting to suspect my pace is slowed by following Lorelai's herky-jerky pace.
But no matter! While I'd hoped to go a little faster, I also wanted to encourage Lorelai to have a good time. I hope I was successful. Just after the mile marker, our paths diverged, and Lorelai finished the fun run on her own. I ran for several more minutes and eventually rejoined her at the finish line, along with the rest of the family, who'd come along to cheer for us at the end.
My time was a little slower than I'd wanted, but at least my pace was a sub-12-minute mile, which is what I'd been hoping for. Lorelai was happy to get her participation ribbon, but she told me afterward she was a touch disappointed in the fun run. She complained that it wasn't as "long" or "interesting" than she thought it would be. To me, this was a sign that Lorelai has grown beyond fun runs and is ready to do 5Ks from now on. In fairness, I tried to persuade her to do the 5K this month, but she insisted on the fun run, because she would "get to do the run by herself." Hopefully, next time we enter the Pecan Classic, we can start the race together, then pace ourselves and finish at our individual convenience. Maybe that will give Lorelai the satisfaction of running a "full race" and pushing herself a little more than she did this time.
After we rested up a bit from the race, we joined the rest of the family at the Pecan Festival, which was located on the north side of Sahuarita Road, across from the main parking lot. Since the Pecan Classic starts an hour before the rest of the festival, we had excellent (and even better, FREE!) parking. Nathan is not a huge fan of large festivals (he doesn't much like Fiesta Sahuarita, for example), but I hoped that coming earlier and beating most of the crowds would warm him up to this particular activity.
The plan (mostly) worked! We went straight to the kids' section of the festival, with all the rides and the climbing wall. All the lines were either short or nonexistent, so we all proceeded to have a lot of fun.
Every single one of us tried out the climbing wall, including me! I am a bit of a wimp (I have weak arms and I am afraid of heights), so I actually surprised myself by participating. I didn't get very far, which was a little disappointing, but hopefully I'll be a little braver next time around.
The girls each spent a large amount of time on the climbing wall; sometimes 15 minutes at a time! (Did I mention there were no lines for large portions of our stay?). However, of the five of us, only Daddy made it all the way to the top of the wall and rang the bell!
We were all very proud of Nathan...and he was proud of himself as well. Thanks to his weight loss and increased physical activity (mostly golfing), his natural athleticism is starting to manifest itself in a variety of things. It serves to remind me of what a huge weakling I am. Darn genetics! Oh well, I am still very happy for my husband's accomplishments anyway.
Nathan also tried out the bungee cords and managed to do a few mid-air flips, as did Celeste. Lorelai and Aurora also acquitted themselves pretty well.
I tried, but failed, to flip myself all the way over. It required a lot of arm strength to help pull your body into a flip, combined with a powerful lunge from your legs. I have weak arms, and my legs were already tired out from the run. It was still fun to bounce around for a while, though!
All of us had fun in the gyroscope, though! This spinning metal sphere got pretty intense at times, but I had fun getting completely turned around and disoriented...as did Nathan and all the girls.
This was the longest line we had to face, but everyone waited patiently.
Not long after finishing several rides, the weather heated up, and we started to feel the fatigue. Nathan took Lorelai home (she was pooped by this point), and I followed soon after with the younger girls. I was really glad Nathan and the girls enjoyed themselves, and I was glad we were able to spend a beautiful Saturday morning together at a fun community event. I think I'll plan on running the Pecan Classic every year; I sincerely love the gorgeous race course and would welcome any opportunity to travel it. I also hope I can continue to improve as a runner and better my time each year. Wish me luck!
Picacho Peak is one of the more hard-to-miss landmarks in southern Arizona. It's a large upthrust of volcanic rock that sits just west of I-10, separate from the surrounding mountains and visible from downtown Tucson more than 40 miles away. The peak's summit is a narrow, jutting spire that sits about 3,300 feet above sea level. It's a dramatic, striking mountain which is instantly recognizable to most Arizonans.
Picacho has historically been a beacon or a landmark to travelers like the Mormon Batallion, or the "miner Forty-Niners" heading for California in search of gold. It was even the site of a Civil War battle in 1862, the westernmost skirmish of the entire war. Its more recent history has been no less colorful. The peak was the (fictional) hiding place of an human resistance cell in Stephenie Meyer's sci-fi novel The Host (yes, I did read it, why do you ask?). It now has its own state park blanketing its base (complete with visitor's center!). And just a bit further down the road is the quirky Rooster Cogburn Ostrich Ranch, a fun roadside attraction that has entertained our family multipletimes in the past.
To our family, Picacho Peak has been like a longtime neighbor who lives down on the far end of our street; he's close by, but we've never really gotten to know him. We've driven by Picacho literally dozens of times, as it sits alongside our route to Phoenix. Now that we drive from Sahuarita, Picacho is our unofficial "halfway" marker when we are heading to a temple trip in Mesa. But other than our few experiences at the ostrich ranch, we've only ever walked around the base of the mountain, and gone on a small kid's hike with the girls.
Over the last few years, as Nathan and I have exercised more regularly and lost more weight, we've started craving the opportunity to tackle the peak itself. We know several families that have gone up the peak (sometimes with their kids, sometimes without), and we waffled a bit on taking our girls on the hike with us. The Hunter Trail (which leads to the summit) is known as a grueling, difficult hike. But when Lorelai said she wanted a chance to go all the way up, Nathan decided it was time to give Picacho Peak a try...finally, after years of both of us saying "someday"! At first, he was going to do it alone with Lorelai; however, I managed to convince him to take the rest of us along as well.
"Someday," for us, turned out to be Veteran's Day 2015 (November 11). It fell in the middle of the school week, but there would be no sleeping in for us! We wanted to get an early start so as not to get overheated. As it turned out, it was a chilly day (by Arizona standards...the high only reached the mid-60s; perfect for an intense hike!). We packed along lots of water, Gatorade, and snacks. The hike is close to four miles round trip, and we wanted to bring extra sustenance.
The sign at the trail head for Hunter Trail explicitly says the hike is "not recommended for children under 10 years"...or for inexperienced hikers. We blithely ignored these warnings, took our seven- and five-year-olds with us, and headed out on our merry way. The sign also warned that the trail was "primitive"...and boy, was that sign right! I haven't hiked regularly in recent years, but I was surprised how difficult the Hunter Trail was to navigate. Loose rock, gravel, and dirt crumbled underfoot at nearly every step; bushes, grass and trees were regularly in the way; and the switchbacks were narrow and crooked. This was a consistently steep hike; it was murder on my weak knees both during the ascent and the descent.
This trail had many sections bordered by thick metal cables, strung alongside the path as hand-holds for hikers. They were absolutely necessary for certain sections of the hike; at times, we were descending several hundred feet down a steep rocky face, or else scrambling up a sharply angled rock wall with no apparent hand-holds. Everyone we talked to in preparation for this hike encouraged us to bring gloves, and I am glad we listened to them. Strong leather gloves would have been ideal, but Nathan found several pairs of gardening gloves that did the trick as well. Aurora's hands were almost too small for the gloves, but she wore them anyway without complaint. Without those gloves, we would have had many blisters afterwards!
Scariest part of the hike. This picture is angled a LITTLE bit, but it really is almost this steep! Yikes.
After more than an hour of steep climbing, we reached the "saddle" of Picacho Peak, which is more or less the halfway point of the hike. At this point, Nathan asked the girls if they wanted to continue up to the summit. Lorelai and Celeste were ready to try, but Aurora was afraid to the point of tears; I think she was worried we might never make it back!
Nathan and the older girls headed off on the second (and more grueling) half of the trail, while Aurora and I sat on a bench at the Saddle and watched them go, Aurora weeping piteously all the while. After several minutes, I grew jealous of the rest of the family; I really wanted to make it to the summit, but I wasn't sure if I could make it with Aurora in tow. After my youngest had calmed down somewhat, I gently suggested to her that we could try the initial descent from the saddle (the aforementioned "hundreds of feet down a steep rocky face"; this descent takes you around the western face of the peak and leads to to the Sunset Vista Trail, which goes to the summit). I reasoned that we could try and "see" if her sisters and Daddy were all right. After a little convincing, Aurora agreed to go.
Picking my way down that steep trail with a five-year-old (while tightly gripping a metal cable the entire time) was one of my more heart-stopping experiences as a parent. I was worried enough for my own footing...I was doubly afraid of my sweet daughter falling and being severely injured! I stayed in front of her for all the descents, so as to catch her should the worst happen. But we went very slowly (luckily there was no one waiting behind us), and we eventually managed to pick our way down and make our way out of the shaded saddle area and into the midday sun. At that point, a change came over Aurora. She gained energy and enthusiasm, and she told me she'd like to keep going. I think successfully navigating that steep descent gave her her confidence back.
Aurora...my constant companion through our many dangers
While I was excited to be progressing on the trail, I had several more moments where I strongly regretted subjecting Aurora to it all. Aurora herself, however, seemed more and more excited as we went...she was determined to catch up to the rest of the family, and she trusted me to keep her safe. I prayed constantly to not let her down...even as we approached more and more steep, twisting paths that were impossible to traverse without pulling ourselves along by the attached cables. Luckily, there were a few experienced hikers on the trail who occasionally spotted us during the ascent; that helped me feel a little less nervous.
As it turned out, we were only about 15 minutes behind Nathan, Lorelai, and Celeste. The older girls had done everything asked of them on the trail, with lots of determination and very little complaining. Nathan and I were both so impressed at their courage, resilience, and toughness. Luckily, our cell phones still worked on Picacho, so we were able to keep track of each other's progress.
Finally, after all our hard work, we were reunited on the summit...and what an excited reunion it was! Everyone was so happy to see one another, and we were all very proud of ourselves for having accomplished such a feat.
The sky was a little hazy that day, so our visibility wasn't as far as it otherwise might have been. It was still an impressive sight. The midday sun made our pictures a little glaring, but we'll never forget the terrific way we felt upon reaching the summit.
Our descent of Picacho started with a bang...or, should I say, a whoosh? We'd barely started down the mountain when an Air Force fighter jet on a test run buzzed the top of the mountain. It was probably the closest I've ever been to a fighter jet in full motion; it was loud, sudden, and shocking. Our hearts were beating quickly for several minutes afterwards; and our girls, who were already tired and emotionally worn out, were so terrified that their eyes filled with tears and they could barely function for several minutes. Perhaps they were convinced World War III had started!
The descent frightened us more than the ascent in many ways. The sheer walls we climbed would be doubly hard going down, especially with three tired-out kids (the vast majority of the girls' complaining was done on the descent). At one point, Nathan was holding one of Aurora's hands; her other hand was holding a cable. Her feet slipped, and her body flew out over a big drop; luckily, she was able to regain her footing and complete her descent. It nearly gave Nathan and I a heart attack.
Tuckered-out kids; it was hard to get them back up again
Once we reached the saddle, though, things got a lot easier going down, if a bit more monotonous. The girls were exhausted, and my old-lady knees were screaming with each step I took. In spite of our aches and pains, we all made it back safely to the car, with nothing more than a few minor scrapes and bruises to show for all our hard work. After cleaning up a bit, we drove back into the Tucson area and devoured some pizza...we needed those carbs after all that hiking!
We were tired and dirty, but very proud of ourselves at the same time. It felt great to check Picacho Peak off our Arizona "bucket list." I am especially proud of my girls, who worked so hard and were so determined. I definitely wouldn't recommend this hike to most young kids, especially if the parents can't directly assist them. However, it was really neat to see that our girls were the youngest people (by many years!) of all those who braved the peak that day. No more will our family drive by that mountain and wonder what could be. Now, we can look at Picacho and say, "I conquered you!" Lorelai said she'd like to hike Picacho Peak again someday, but I for one would like to find another hike to try first. Perhaps something less death-defying! However, I could be persuaded to try it again...once my knees forgive me.
To some of you, the title of this blog may appear to be insane gibberish. But that's only because you're an uncultured American capitalist pig-dog! The letters in the title are Cyrillic; the language is Russian; and the message (translated into English) is "Happy Birthday To Me." My thirty-ninth birthday celebration (yikes!) involved a little bit of Russia and a little bit of outer-space drama. But, sadly, there were no cosmonauts included with the outer-space drama; that would have been an amazingly awesome culmination. But as it was, my birthday still turned out pretty well.
Space stuff first: I snagged a copy of Andy Weir's bestselling hit The Martian from our local library. I'd been hearing a lot of buzz about the book and thought I'd give it a try. It turned out to be even better than I'd expected, and it hit all my sci-fi- and space-adventure-loving buttons. The story is a simple one: The first manned expedition has landed on Mars and is settling into its base camp when a large freak storm forces the astronauts into an emergency evacuation. One of the astronauts, a botanist/engineer named Mark Watney, is swept away in the storm during the evacuation; he is lost and presumed dead. But in truth, Watney survived the storm, and now faces the prospect of surviving alone on Mars for a long time while awaiting rescue.
It's a pretty simple premise, but it makes for an engrossing, thrilling book; it reads much like an interplanetary, high-tech version of Robinson Crusoe (with a bit of Apollo 13 thrown in). Watney is the narrator for large chunks of the book, and he is such an engaging, funny, brilliant, and optimistic character that it's impossible not to start looking for the upside to every single near-death experience he has. Watney has to contact NASA (with no working communications array); feed himself for several years (only one month of food was sent with the astronauts); produce enough water for him to survive; and transport his entire base of operations several thousand kilometers away, to the site of the next landing party. This is all explained and carried out with page upon page of scientific babble, but it's done in such a matter-of-fact and clear way that I, as a non-sciency person, was able to follow it pretty easily. I won't lie; the story beats are somewhat predictable, but it's inspiring and fun to read all the same.
And then, just after I finished reading the book, Nathan and I were able to go see the movie adaptation of The Martian in theaters to celebrate my birthday! I'd actually heard about the movie's release a few months before; it's what inspired me to check out the book in the first place (I try to make a habit out of reading a book before seeing the movie adaptation).
I was a little worried the movie would disappoint, after enjoying the book so much. Isn't that often the case with movie adaptations? Luckily, it ended up being very enjoyable as well. Matt Damon, besides being an attractive fellow, is a great actor and he was the perfect guy to portray Mark Watney. In fact, the whole cast was excellent, and the script and the direction were all top-notch. I did notice a few changes in the story (and I was surprised by how many "big events" from the book's final third were left out of the last third of the movie), but I recognized that these were changes that streamlined the story and made it more "cinematic" without removing any of the drama or significant plot points. It was a great film and I'd highly recommend it! Older kids and teens would probably enjoy it as well (just watch out for some of the salty language that is sprinkled throughout).
Our movie date was just the first portion of my birthday date. Since Grandma Barrett was not available to babysit on Saturday, October 24th, we decided to split my birthday date "down the middle," doing the movie on the 24th, and the dinner a couple of weeks later when Grandma was available. Side note: our trip to see The Martian in theaters was also the first time we'd gone on a date while leaving our children behind unattended. Nathan and I were very nervous; the girls less so (of course!). But things all worked out in the end; we adults enjoyed our movie in the theater, the kids enjoyed their movie at home. In fact, all three girls were peacefully asleep in their beds when we arrived home. We are so grateful to have such obedient, well-behaved girls. Let's hope that trend continues into their teenage years.
The "dinner" portion of my birthday date took place a couple of weeks later, on Saturday, November 7th. For a couple of years now, I had wanted to try out Kalina, a Russian/Ukrainian restaurant in northeast Tucson. We first heard of them via their booth at Tucson Meet Yourself, and it gave me a taste of their delicious cooking. Though I acknowledge Russian cuisine isn't among the world's finest, it has a special place in my heart because of the time I spent in Moscow as a missionary for the LDS Church many years ago. Nathan thought my birthday would be a good time to finally try Kalina out; that, plus we had some coupons!
When we arrived, we found that there was to be a large family gathering there that same night, and the long table had already been completely decked out for their arrival. The place settings were so beautiful (and the food smelled so good) that I was immediately filled with confidence as to Kalina's quality.
We'd looked at the menu online before arriving, but we'd had a hard time deciding what to order. Once we arrived, however, we discovered a new item, unlisted on the website: the "First Russian Dinner for Two." It was basically a seven-course meal, with a sampling of a lot of famous Russian dishes. It didn't have every item Nathan and I were interested in, but it was close enough!
As you can tell, I was pretty darn excited to get started.
I did splurge a bit and get a pot of tea. If I'm eating Russian food, then I'd darn well better have some tea to go with it! This was lemongrass tea, which was delicious, but I think I'd like to try another kind next time. Nathan doesn't drink hot drinks, so I had the whole pot to myself! Hee hee hee.
We got a small basket with some rye bread and white rolls. Neither type was the best bread in the world, but it was the only mediocre part of the evening. First course was an appetizer platter: it featured salami slices, a mushroom deviled egg, a blue cheese pastry "bite," a salmon roll, and a slice of bread with tomato/eggplant bruschetta:
Soup course was next, featuring borscht, the most famous Russian soup, and a potato barley soup. They were both good, but one guess as to which one I was slavering over the most:
Russians aren't much for green salads, so both the salads in the salad course made heavy use of root vegetables. The top salad is known as an "Olivier" salad; it has potatoes, carrots, ham, eggs, and peas. The bottom salad is the "Vinegret": it has beets, carrots, peas, and pickles. Both were delicious!
We got vareniki (top) and pelmeni (bottom) as our next course. Russians love these little boiled dumplings, and will fill them with a wide variety of ingredients. On this night, the vareniki contained mushrooms and the pelmeni contained pork. These were probably my favorite part of the meal..definitely the best vareniki I've had since my mission!
The main course was beef stroganoff, which is beef in a heavy cream and mushroom sauce poured over egg noodles. Done right, it can be very tasty (if a bit heavy). Nathan loved it, and I did too...but I was getting pretty full by this point, so I had to take most of my plate home!
For dessert, we got a nice lemon layer cake to share. It was the perfect finish for our heavy meal; we needed something lighter!
Overall, we were both very impressed. Everything was delicious, and the service was prompt, helpful, and friendly. We will definitely be returning! We took the long way home, and tried to get a look at the building site of the new LDS temple that's going up in Tucson, but by this time it was quite dark and we couldn't see much. Oh well, there will be plenty of chances to revisit it later!
So what did I do on my actual birthday? Not much...just ate some cake...
...namely, this carrot cake (not pumpkin cake; the pumpkin's just there to look cute) that I made myself. The cake was covered with white chocolate-cream cheese frosting; sooo delicious. I invited some friends over to help me eat it. It wasn't a huge celebration, but I didn't need a big party. I got to go on multiple birthday dates, and had a great time at each one. Even though I'm older now, at least I'm still well-fed and happy; I must never take those two things for granted.
