Living Denver

I'll be living in Denver for the next 39 days. And while I'm excited for the future, I love living here. I love knowing my way around, and biking everywhere, running in the parks, my yoga studio, hanging out with Liz Cheuk and and the general culture of fitness and outdoorsy-ness.

Last Sunday Liz and I did the dirty dash- a 3 mile mud run filled with mud pits, obstacles and muddy participants! Right past the starting line was the first mud pit (of about 4 or 5) so right away we were filthy! Then we had to jump over hay bales, climb over walls, under walls, across monkey bars and up ropes. At every mud pit Liz tried to ambush me and push/pull me deeper into the mud. She drove, so the joke's on her! She is lucky she brought garbage bags to cover her seats otherwise I would have rubbed my muddy body all over it!

Saturday I volunteered at the Denver Century ride, helping out at the packet pickup table and with the kid's parade ride. It was such a cool event to see! All the early morning bikers (for the longer distance rides- 100 miles, 75 miles etc.) wore spandex on their tiny butts and had beautiful bikes that filled me with bike envy! I like to think that if I had my good bike in Denver I would be a Century ride participant, but honestly I'm not sure I could ride a hundred miles anymore.

Thursday was the Solstice ride from City Park to Wash park. It was super cool to ride through the botanic gardens and Hi-Five all the Americorps NCCC kids working as course marshals. The ride ended at the VOC office in Wash Park for the burrito/beer picnic and I was able to return the tape measure I accidentally walked off with from the Red Rocks volunteer event. I met up with MG and Steve at the ride and had a chance to catch up. Hopefully I'll get to see them again before I leave.

Tomorrow Liz and I are going to the Renaissance Festival!

Krazy Tuna Salad

I made tuna salad this weekend. It was so delicious it was a struggle not to eat it all the first day. I’m not a big fan of mayonnaise, so this recipe is one of my new favorites!

Ingredients:

3 cans of tuna- drained

1/3 or more of a large cucumber- peeled and diced

½ an onion diced

2 ripe avocados

Mix & Enjoy!

This tuna salad makes a great sandwich, and it also delicious on a bed of spinach.

Chicago

This weekend I went to Chicago to visit Noel. I flew out there Friday and we spent the week biking around and seeing the city. Friday we visited with some of Noels friends and borrowed a bike from Dinah so I could bike around. Saturday we explored the city seeing the Bean, and going up in the John Hancock Tower, drinking Ghirardelli milkshakes and eating some deep dish pizza! We met up with a few of Noel’s friends and Mina. Sunday we did some more exploring, out in Devon (a little India area) and then some vintage shop hopping (I replaced my jean jacket that I was super sad about losing) and then met up with Melanie and Jenny from Americorps.

 

Monday we took a train to Indiana to go to a Hawaiian themed dinner party with Noel’s friends. Then Tuesday we took the train back to Chicago. Noel had to work so I went to the art Museum, then got dinner with Stephen (another Americorps buddy) and then found a Bikram yoga studio. I also was able to successfully navigate the city all by myself! Wednesday I flew back to Denver, with plenty of time to go to work L. Chicago was a pretty cool place, but it was super crowded with people, and all the drivers honk their horns super loud, all the time! I’m super glad I got to visit Noel and meet her friends and see where she lives and hang out in the city, but not enough to drop everything I’m doing and move there.