Turtle Runner

Ran along the steamboat trail but as it was getting dark, turned around when hit the underpass for McKaren Blvd.

Ran along the steamboat ditch trail northwest side of Reno.Then up the mountain and down where Skyline Drive crosses McKaren Blvd.

Ran along the steamboat canal again. Water in it this time. Did a nice look by going up the mountain and coming down Skyline Drive.That saves all the in and outs of the steamboat trail.

Running in Mesquite, Nevada. I ran around the air-field southwest of town and out into the desert. Enjoyed running up the dried water beds and studying the Desert Trumpet plant. On the way back to the hotel I got a call from my brother Paul saying my grandma (age 103) died in St. George about 1am in the morning. I guess we won't be stopping in St. George on our way through to see grandma. Funeral is Saturday so I'll get home just in time to turn around and go back.

Had a great run in Moab. I started by running up the Mill stream through town and then toward the east side of town headed up the mountain and ran along the top of the ridge along the east side of town. I realized it was time to be getting back to the hotel but I hadn't found a good trail back down so had to climb down the cliff face rocks. It would have really freaked out others to see me do that but I went slow and tried to remain calm. Just scratched my elbo a little but otherwise I made it down safely and was only 40 minutes later than I said I would be. We then went to Dead Horse Cliff State Park and Canyonlands National Park and I realized another flower I'm seeing everywhere is a very interesting plant they call Mormon Tea. It doesn't really have a flower - rather it is a tiny little yellow cone - it apparently is a reduced for of one of the conifer plant families. I will have to study it further at home. I also loved the beautiful cacti flowers (Claret Cup Cacti). This has been a beautiful trip! 

It was fun exploring around Moab again. I decided to try to find a route that went by where the Colorado River cuts between the cliffs just northwest of the town of Moab. I ended up in the Wildlife Preserve. At one point I was startled by a dozen deer and as they seemed to watch me run by instead of me watching them. That seemed strange since usually people go to places like that to watch the animals. I guess seeing a primate run by was fascinating or a curiosity to them. The cottonwood trees were beautiful as the little seeds caught the wind and had the sunlight behind them. I finally found the road that followed the Colorado river on the south side. I ran out of time but if I am in Moab again, I'll know how to get to the road and perhaps can follow the Colorado River for several miles through the canyon.

This was the day of my grandma's funeral in St. George. I got up before the sun at 4:00am and headed out for a run along the Virgin River as it goes through the west end of the valley. Then later in the day - while the family were meeting before the viewing and funeral, I made a walk along another trail. Finally, after the funeral, I didn't want to talk to all my siblings or cousins who want to pretend that life is so simple and exclude my reality so I slipped out after the funeral and went for a third walk rather than attend the luncheon or visit at my Aunt Carol's house with all the out-of-town guests. I wasn't really looking for a long run but it gave me an excape from my tomo ("totally Mormon") family that doesn't acknowledge the legitimacy of my existence. Apparently my absence created some little bit of stir among some of the relatives. At the funeral I sat away from the rest of the family and thereby avoided having to go up with all the other grandchildren and sing Mormon Jesus songs that I don't believe in - which many of my other secular cousins were pressured into doing. I enjoyed hearing my aunts and uncles talk about their mother and it was a great tribute and I am happy with the way I can begin to reconstruct my relationship to my family as a peripheral member and not a core member of the family.

Did a nice 3 1/2 hour run/hike with Ernie north along the ditch-trail. It was way too windy and cold but I needed to get out anyway. It took me all day Saturday to recover.

Ran for 2 hours at the Gold's Gym here in Reno. It cost $8.00 but they had pretty fancy equipment. I watch parts of Mission Impossible and Bewolfe while running on the fancy machine that was like a treadmill. It has been too cold and windy to run here in Reno much.

Spent 4 hours at 24-Hour Fitness in Reno. They let me in for free since I was only going to be there one day. It wasn't as nice as Gold's Gym but had the same set of equipment so worked for me. Was there from 8pm-12pm while Ernie tried his luck at the casinos.  According to the Elliptical Crosstrainer (precor) machine I did for the first two hours I ran 12 miles. It was fun to get the feet going backwards part of the time. For the last six miles I did a regular tread mill. I enjoyed listening to my atheism tapes - especially Mary Ann Evans' (George Eliot) essay on "Evangelical Teaching". Calories were 770, 770, 840 for each of the 6 miles total = over 2300 calories burned.

Ran for two hours along the railroad and Humboldt River in Elko, Nevada while Ernie was playing the slot machines. It was a little rainy and windy but not too bad. Amazed at how many moble homes there are there. I found two little hot springs which was kind of cool.

Did several walks-hikes today. We (Ernie & I) hiked around Wheeler Farm for about an hour looking at the animals and entertaining the children. We then hiked around Liberty Park for a couple hours, admiring nature, discussing life theories, and admiring all the free spirits at the drum circle. We then went up to the end of I-street in the avenues and did a good hike with Ernie's daughter. I carried the baby Fenix so I got an extra exercise as we hiked up the mountainside and down again. James was doing bike jumping while we did our hike.

Memorial Day. Ernie and James both needed to use my printer but I was out of ink cartridges so I decided about 7pm to do a little run with Lela over to Office Depot to see if they were open on the holiday. They had been opened but closed at 6pm so I decided while we were out to go the rest of the way around the airport field. Nice little run.