Training Log Archive: Nadim

From Northfield Rd., to the Bethesda Metro Station. I rode carrying a +20 lbs. suitcase in one hand.

QOC Intro to Orienteering at Wheaton, MD: I jogged and walked the White course with Samantha. She was enthusiastic starting out but soon needed a bathroom and had a hard time focusing. We stopped a lot, including at an outhouse, but she got hungry after that. We had to go right past an ice cream truck so Samantha got an ice slushy and a ride on the merry-go-round.

Wheaton, MD. Leaving from near the merry-go-round, I picked up some controls and dropped them off at the old ice rink. They were on stands so they started feeling heavy toward the end; especially after the last control which still had 3 good gallons of water that I carried.

After just about everything had been packed-up, I discovered that my van had been boxed-in by parked cars on all sides. A large family reunion, and a lot of other picnickers were in the park and there was no way to find the driver. I reached Heidi and David Onkst who were picking up the controls I'd dropped off earlier at the old ice rink. I walked over to them so we could eat. It was nice to catch-up with people on what they have been doing this summer so far. Afterward, Peggy drove me back. Even after +3 hours, I was still trapped. In about 15 minutes, some kids came by and they were able to get a parent to move a car with just enough room for me to escape.

From Northfield Rd., Old Georgetown Rd., to W. Cedar Ave, to the Elmhirst Pkwy. Trail, to the Rock Creek Trail, to the Ken-Gar parking lot. It had been so long since I last ran, and my legs were somewhat sore from cycling, so I was surprised starting out when I climbed to Old Georgetown Rd., that I felt as good as I had. I picked up the speed going down W. Cedar Ln. and then settled into an pace I felt okay at. After all of the raining, I was happy to find that the trail wasn't flooded. The paving they'd done last year really helped, though it did tend to create dams and large puddles right next to the trail. I only had to step off trail one time and walk through the forest once to get around wet spots. I did need a bathroom toward the end and was glad that there was one open at the end of my run. After the run and cooling off, I got sore rather quickly. Peggy and Samantha and I ate dinner near downtown Rockville.

With a deluge expected today, I didn't bicycle. I was thinking I'd need to bring my laptop home but didn't. I didn't run either. I did have to stay late to pack up things in my office. I'm getting moved to a different one in the same building and will likely start parking my bicycle in a further court next time I ride.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, then to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, DC. There were significant headwinds. I got passed going down the hill after the water treatment plant but I hung on to the roadie who passed me. Sometimes we got up to 25mph but he slowed after reaching Georgetown and I moved ahead. I rode slower after that.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. Leaving work, I discovered a flat tire. I found one hole and patched it but there was another somewhere that I couldn't locate. I resorted to a spare tube and got going. There was less car and pedestrian traffic by this time. The winds were mixed. I thought I was going slower than I ended up. My right leg definitely gets more worn out by a workout than my left as it's been weaker since my back problems and surgery.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, then to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, DC. It was cool again this morning. I took a little while to warm up and after that I rode alone, steadily passing but there weren't as many cyclists riding today.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. There was a bunch of traffic near the beginning of my ride. I got behind a bus that was kicking out thick diesel fumes and didn't get around it until rounding the Jefferson Memorial. After that I was pleasantly surprised to have a pretty nice tailwind for a while. The temperatures were pretty nice so there was more pedestrian traffic on the trail along the river. After all of that, I still got out of Georgetown ahead of my ride time yesterday. On the trail, I rode alone. There were some mixed winds but mostly they were negligible.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, then to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, DC. Though I didn't start that quickly, I picked up the pace when I got through some intersections with green lights and clear traffic. The cool temperatures and a good tailwind helped a lot. They also brought out a lot of other cyclists. As I passed some people, I led 1 or 2 others until after Fletcher's Boathouse. 2 faster riders went by when I thought I was doing pretty well. There was some construction traffic in Georgetown and on the sidewalk just as I was arriving to work. It felt like a pretty fast ride.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. There were headwinds and traffic getting to Georgetown. I was slow getting out. After rounding some turns on the Capital Crescent Trail (CCT), the winds became more favorable.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, then to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, DC. I rode alone, getting passed once further down by a guy who was just getting on the trail at the Palisades. There was a tailwind. It was rather humid but a little cooler after the weekend and overnight storms.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. I got started a while after another thunderstorm had passed through. The roads were wet and caused auto traffic. It felt good to go slower and I geared down to Georgetown. I took the way along the water figuring the Water St. traffic would be bad but looking over, it wasn't so bad there. As I was leaving Georgetown there were 2 ambulances and several police officers parked near the Key Bridge underpass. I figured it was a bicycle wreck since they had made it so that only one person in either direction could get through a gate (keeping cars off the beginning of the CCT). A person was there unconscious with no obvious sign of trauma. I wondered if it were heat stroke but he was probably in his thirty's and looked reasonably fit--not so likely. I wondered, then noted I was about a minute and a half slower at that point. Going up the trail, I just cruised. I got passed by one guy and almost caught another who pulled away.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, then to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, DC.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. The winds were a bit mixed. I did get passed once but I moved okay.

From Northfield Rd. to the Bethesda Metro Station

From the Bethesda Metro Station to Northfield Rd. I escaped an earlier thunderstorm. It was mostly dry as I rode back.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, then to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, DC. Max had again gotten himself to camp. I was too late to check so I went directly to work. There were again a lot of other cyclists, and a steady headwind. Going w/the wind at the end, I pushed up the last hill pretty well.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to Arlington Rd., then to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, DC. Due to the timing of Samantha's and Max's day camps, Max had to get a head start on me. I went by to make sure he got picked-up okay, and then went on to work. I rode alone the whole way. A lot of other cyclists were out so I had a steady stream of them to pass. I neglected to oil my drive train and wipe down my bike after the rainy Friday commute home, so there was some rust on my chain and it wouldn't shift well along the front derailleur. I also had headwinds most of the way. However, taking a day off did have me feeling a little stronger.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. The winds were mixed. I went along the water to get through Georgetown again; it might be slower. Not far out of Georgetown, I got passed by a roadie so I hung on. Both of us got passed by 2 other riders and as the pace picked up past Fletcher's Boathouse, I dropped off. I did tow another guy who perhaps caught me from behind or was someone I'd passed earlier. I felt just a little stronger this day.

Patapsco State Park, MD. Kim & Anne Jepsen hosted a nice event. It was cooler than the last few days had been. I was pretty tired from cycling this week. I think if I were less tired, I could have run through the invasive grasses and hidden deadfall a lot better. Going to #1, I was plodding along on the trail and I decided to cut of a little early to save distance. I hit the control hesitantly on my attack, but went to a rootstock instead of the small nearby boulder. I was still trying to get warmed-up and mustering strength on the longer leg to #2. Focusing on my physical weakness, I lost track of where I was after using trails and a ride. In a race, I probably would have headed straight to the road and came in from the bend like I had last winter. As it was I couldn't make sense of the contours for a while. I stopped and surmised my location off of the contours with not much else to confirm with and hit the control after the error. I would have dropped to the road for #3 in a race, but this being training, and me being weak, I decided to stay as high as I could. Had I read the high route better, I would have seen that there still was a lot of significant climb. I sort of attacked off or an abandoned trail bend and spiked it. I did okay after that but was slow either from hills or grasses. However, I did jump off the trail a reentrant too early for #11--it seemed early, but the trail bends and 2 ditches I saw reinforced jumping in early. The Jepsens set a nice physical and somewhat technical course with legs long enough to induce errors.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, DC. With Max having been on a campout last night, I just did my usual cycling commute after dropping off Samantha. Rains are expected today but it was nice and dry this morning--still hot and humid. Unlike yesterday, there was virtually no wind; the wind may have been preventing thunderstorms on days earlier this week. I rode alone today and was slowing down a bit from Georgetown to the end.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. I was watching the radar at the end of the day and timed my departure pretty well to escape the most of a line of thunderstorms. It felt nice out; not so hot, and easier to ride. There was some traffic to get around at first, but most of that had cleared out. The rain was light for a while, then stopped. I got through Georgetown and passed a guy who turned out to be older. He was right on me a ways out and after he passed me past the trestle bridge and going up the hill, I confirmed he had electric assistance. He'd drafted me sort of for 3 miles (off to the side since my wheel was probably kicking-up splatter). I caught him as we got to a spot with a couple of fallen trees--they completely blocked the way with no room to go on either side. Fortunately, others had beat an elephant path that we could walk through while only occasionally getting caught in vines. I moved okay and caught other riders thinking I was doing alright--maybe I was going slower or traffic had accounted for it. I slowed as I gradually caught a rider on the long straight stretch that I don't like so much before Massachusetts Ave. We later chatted but I felt I was struggling a bit to keep up, even though I'd caught him. The older cyclist with the electric bike caught us and we all broke-up along Falls Rd.

I've started linking pictures to my past log entries from our northwestern vacation.

C • Nice pics! 6

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to Arlington Rd. with Max, then to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, DC. Max was tired again. Combined with the heat wave here, his mountain biking summer camp is taking a toll on him. It's likely to be worse today since he's camping out overnight at Patapsco. He wasn't clear whether his group would be riding with camping gear, or without it and gave contradictory reports. I'm hoping his camping gear will be ported to his camp site because he wasn't really packed to ride otherwise. It took us extra time getting him to his pickup spot this morning. After leaving him to the care of his counselors, I got going on the trail. It felt hotter and more humid (70%) than earlier in the week, but more like summer usually is around here. A high of 100 F is predicted by some, but I doubt it'll reach that. It was in the mid 80s F as I rode. Not long onto the CCT, I passed someone who began drafting me distantly. I was trying to not push much. At Fletcher's Boathouse, a different commuter passed me. I latched onto him for a good pull up to Georgetown. He slowed there and I moved on. I was again getting tired rounding the Jefferson Memorial, and riding into a wind along the Potomac before that.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Arlington Rd., then to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. It was in the mid 90s F with high humidity and an initial headwind when I started. I was slow getting to and through Georgetown. I got passed a mile out of there and didn't try to hang on. It seemed too hot for that and I haven't been riding enough the last 3 weeks to feel comfortable pushing it, with my sudden jump to daily commuting. I saw a few hardy runners and envied them being able to run well in the heat. I remember having been able to do it long ago. I also felt bad for Max who I imagined being hot and tired being out all day in mountain bicycling camp and sleeping out (it's 9:34pm writing this now and the temperature just dropped to 87 with 59% humidity). Cycling this week has been making me sleepier during the day. I looped home via Arlington Rd., to pickup and tow (in-hand) Max's road bike. It was nice to slow down for that. After finishing, my right leg felt the most dead.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to Arlington Rd. with Max, then alone to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, DC. Being tired, Max was moving slowly. I wasn't feeling that energetic either. Tailwinds helped but as I rounded the Jefferson Memorial and headed into the wind, tiredness caught up with me. I was in the upper 70s F starting out.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Battery Ln., Bethesda, MD. It was getting warm out. The further I went, the more the wind cooperated. I also got a nice pull from Georgetown to Fletcher's Boathouse. At the boathouse, the guy I'd been drafting off of pulled-over and waved me on. I kept up the effort, if not the speed. I did a fair job of spinning too.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to Arlington Rd. with Max, then alone to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. Yesterday Max liked his summer camp day of mountain bike riding. He's back for more today though he forgot to wear his gloves and didn't get his camelback ready. My ride was okay. I rode alone I took it casually. It wasn't too hot starting out but I was slowing down the last few miles. I felt the headwind. I feel it dead in my calves and I'm fairly sleepy from it all.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. It was a little slow getting to Georgetown due to winds from a threatening thunderstorm. I was feeling weak from jumping into cycling this week after a break. I got passed first by an electric bike cyclist, and then another commuter. By the time I was out of Georgetown, I was a minute and a half slower than my time yesterday. The winds were oriented to the trail such that I had more of a tailwind later. Somewhere along the way I picked up a drafter who may have caught me. I got passed again but pulled the original drafter to Falls Rd., where I left the trail. One of the guys who'd caught me, and another were at the Bradley Blvd. traffic light. We chatted wondering about the storm and our chances of making it home without getting poured on--I was already drenched with sweat. The light wouldn't change so I moved on.

From Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD, to Arlington Ave., then to 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. After separately dropping Samantha off to a summer camp, I rode with Max to get him to his--it was a little like the old days when Max and I did this regularly except that we were in a rush to get there in time. The rest of the ride in to work was okay. It got off to a slow start in which I hit nearly every traffic light to Falls Rd. After that, the CCT was nice with the air still drier and feeling cool at times. I rode alone. There seemed to be a little bit of a headwind.

From 13th & C St. SW, Washington, D.C. to Northfield Rd., Bethesda, MD. I got off to a slow start since there was construction on Ohio Dr., just off of Maine Ave. However after that I moved well with a tailwind. With this the first day commuting in 3 weeks, I wasn't feeling worn out so much. I accelerated pretty well when needed. I also kept the pace modest so that I could keep it up. I was passing a lot of people and got through Georgetown quickly. Not far past that, I got passed by a roadie. Checking my pace along the way, I felt like I was going faster than I really was. Earlier in the day, I was feeling pretty tired.

Greenway Trail: From Berryville Rd. north to the Rte. 28 Darnestown Rd. Rd. parking lot and back. It was a low humidity day with a breeze in the air, but the temperature was climbing after starting out in the low 80s F. I wore my heavier trail shoes. I hadn't run this far in a long while. I initially paced but kept my effort up going gradually uphill along Seneca Creek to the turnaround. I got a little dehydrated and slowed immediately on the return trip. I'll need to do more of these going to the fall season. It took me a pretty good effort to keep moving adequately the last few miles.

After taking Samantha to the pool in the afternoon, I towed Samantha on her trail-a-bike while Peggy and Max rode along. We went into Bethesda for dinner and dessert, then rode back in the dark.

I did a lot of yard work. My back and legs wern't feeling so good after that. In the evening, I watched a movie with Samantha. I'm still shaking a cold I got out west when on vacation.

Washington, D.C. From 14th & Independence Ave., SW, Independence Ave. to the Reflecting Pool to Lincoln Memorial. Circle, to 23 St. NW., to Ohio Dr., and the Rock Creek Trail, to E. Basin Dr., on walkways along the Tidal Basin, and around the north side of the Jefferson Memorial, to 15th St., to Independence Ave., to 14th St. SW. I felt pretty well running as often is the case returning from higher altitudes. I had been rested and it was a pretty nice day. The low 80s F temperature was a lot warmer than I was used to. The downhill first mile was into the wind a bit, but a fair amount of tourist pedestrians to run around. The mile along the river was with a tailwind and fewer tourists. I felt like I was slowing down finishing up but I guess I pushed harder and ran faster, even though there were more tourist and it was a bit uphill.

Back to work, I'd thought about working out, but I was jet lagged and it was raining hard (check out Peggy's log). I had a lot of catching-up to do at work too.

Travel Day. We had an early flight and went through Chicago coming back.

Twin Falls, ID - Perrine Coulee - Our helpful hotel desk clerk had told us that the canyon and falls were near our hotel and we had planned to see it. We wandered about a mile away on her directions and ended up in Perrine Coulee, a nice park in the Snake River canyon floor. We'd been following the Snake River more or less since we'd left Yellowstone a few days ago. The roads we took crossed the Snake many times and we'd even rafted in it in the Tetons. It was good to get to see it out here. The canyon was interesting but not complex. There were some falls that we only noticed on the side of the canyon when Max pointed it out. It being the 4th of July, there were a lot of people out and about. Almost all of them were kayaking. There may have been an event going on. There was an outfitter tent there. The people who weren't kayaking seemed to be local on their daily walk down and up the canyon road. We tried to get onto a rocky knoll. Though the morning, it was already hot and a path we tried to go to had signs indicating the way was closed for restoration. We just wandered a bit until I got directions to the namesake Twin Falls, which was about 6 miles away by car. So, after our wandering hike, we drove over. There was a sign before the paid entrance that made comparisons to Niagra Falls in height or something else--that seemed over stated but there was good volume flowing over the upper falls which we could see from a sort of observation deck, and the falls were beautiful. Like Niagra, it would have been even more so if the hydro-electric facility were not so prominent. The falls were very close and just upstream of where Evel Knievel jumped the river on a rocket.





After seeing the falls, we thought we'd get a drink and see one more sight before going to Boise. At the McDonald's we stopped at, a woman pointed out the our right front tire on our rental car was nearly flat. Filling it at a gas station only made the slow leak, leak faster. A call to the rental company for instruction wasn't very fruitful. The spare was a donut that was not going to get us to Boise and most places were closed. We found a Walmart that was open but busy. No other auto place or even a car rental office was open to help. We were told it'd take 3 hours since other car owners needing help all resorted to Walmart's automotive shop too. We ended up sitting around shopping 2 hours before the fixed it. I made good use of the time by forcing Samantha to learn how to tell time on a clock face. I used a bunch of cheap clocks on a shelf, most of which were set to 10:10 am/pm. I had to shame Samantha into focusing and I didn't feel too proud of it, but she did finish by being able to tell time.



Finished with Walmart, I held out to to to Balanced Rock (40 minutes west) for a drive-by. I'd seen the picture and thought that looked interesting. However seeing in person and realizing that it was rather large did impress me. It was in on a ridge area of old lava flow that had been mostly eroded by a stream. A few other boulders there had a balanced appearance but none quite as extreme. If we had had time, I would have like to hike into the rocks as we could see one other guy doing.





We finally got to Boise 2 more hours later. I felt like most of the day had been wasted. We did get to see the new Despicable Me 3 movie and eat dinner. All that was left was was going to the firework display. That had been moved due to high water in the place they normally display at. We arrived latish in traffic. I ended up having to park in a McDonald's parking lot where I waited in line to buy drinks as the show started. It was sort of funny watching from there--not at all ideal but I suppose it was very American. There was slow traffic getting out and back to the hotel after the show.

Lava Springs ID - After a morning in Jackson, WY, in which we mostly just shopped, we started our drive homeward.



The route went through the back roads to hot springs in Lava Springs ID. The country getting there was interesting with more volcanism dominating the terrain, and various large and small businesses. One large man-made land work near Soda Springs was a +1 mile long, 1/3 mile wide, and +100 foot tall, waste containment pool. I've stood next to the Great Pyramid in Egypt and the work it must have taken to build the pool walls reminded me of that pyramid. It was explained by our hotel registrar later on, that molten slag from an ore mining operation (Monsanto phosphate and other stuff?) was poured into it and that the sight of the molten slag being poured was "beautiful" at night. That place must have been 2 hours away from our hotel so it must have been coincidence, or something really big for the region for her to know about it.

Lava Hot Springs was like a sudden hidden oasis as we crossed long stretches of desert. A lot of people were there hauling innertubes and floats up to go down a fast flowing creek. Others like us came for the namesake hot springs--it was odd going into the hot water on a hot day but it worked for a while. When we bought our tickets, they explained that there was a cold pool options but it turned out to not be on the premises. Rather than get our shoes out and on for the described 4 block walk, I chose to just go barefoot with Max and Samantha. That was a mistake. The sidewalk was burning hot and when the sidewalk ended, there was gravel or tar to walk on. We were like bugs running to the safety of shadows on the walkways or an occasional grass spot, then resting and cooling our feet. We had wet our towels before going so that we could make our own safe ground and cool off, but it was so hot and dry that the towels even started drying out. The 4 blocks turned out to be 6 longish blocks too. I felt some burns on the ball of my feet. Max seemed less bothered but he did go from shadow to shadow too. Samantha worked at it but needed help. In a few spots. I had to carry her across gravel and tar. We finally got to the pool and cooled off--very busy with indoor and outdoor large pools, slides and even a climbing wall on a pool side that Max went up. Unfortunately we had to do our hot walk all again to get back--it was only slightly easier and both walks took mental toughness. Peggy said she had a good rest in the shade on the grass near the hot pools.

Driving on to Idaho Falls, I got indication of a tire pressure warning. The car was handling well at 84mph and +95 F temperatures so I figured it was getting over pressured from the heat.

Grand Teton National Park - From our Colter Bay cabin, I got out for a much needed run. Peggy had run earlier on a small trail we'd scouted on a map during an evening lakeside stroll. I figured that I'd do the same since I thought the trail I wanted to take had been closed--a bear had killed an elk in the area. To my surprise, I found a trail headed in the direction I'd wanted to go that was open. It was hilly initially but it got me to Heron Pond and Swan Lake. The pond was more of an inlet to the larger Jackson Lake. I hoped I'd see a moose but was a little worried about finding a bear. I'd run this trail in 2000 and liked it back then. Back then it felt a lot easier. I paused at a trail junction to read a map where the trail ahead was closed. A runner had come up from behind and turned toward Swan Lake from there. I pursued and caught him but it took me more effort than I thought it would. Luckily we both had to stop 2 times as groups of horses and riders came at us from the other direction.

Grand Teton National Park, WY - Inspiration Point. After we got our sleepy kids going and checked out of Colter Bay, we stopped at the Oxbow Lake for some pictures. We didn't see any moose but there was a nice pelican and a lot of wild flowers to set off the Tetons in the distance.





We also drove up to the top of Signal Mountain for views.











We were able to make a boat shuttle trip across Jenny Lake to start the Inspiration Point hike. The weather was looking risky but we were okay. We toyed with the thought of going to both Inspiration Point and Hidden Falls but in a continuing series of closures we had been running into, the connecting trail had been closed for changes--a gift of $19M had been given to make infrastructure changes all around this very popular lake. The hike was steep, but not so bad for me. Because I lingered taking pictures, I ended up with Samantha who had been rather uncooperative. I nudged her along and kept her from turning around. We had plenty of breaks so it wasn't a grueling thing for her. Still, I had to filter out the excuses. The hike climbed higher than Inspiration Point, and turned back downward to it. I would have been very tempted to go to the falls if I'd know how close we passed to them. The view were nice but we didn't stay long. We could see rain coming over the Tetons behind us. Fortunately it had been virga in the first sightings. As we got closer back to the the dock, it was clear that it was going to eventually reach the ground. It was light while we waited in line for a shuttle boat, but it did pour later.











We were able to get to a group of Mormon homesteads and take some pictures but as we got to the Snake River and Glacier View road stops later, our views and my chances for picture











We were really hungry when we reached Jackson and got checked-in. It took us a while to find an affordable restaurant that didn't have a long wait. We walked to Wendy' from our hotel later for Frosty's for dessert, so least our night in Jackson was good. The kids and adults enjoyed having Internet access and TV again.

Peggy and I weren't able to book horse riding in Colter Bay but the staff there directed us to a private outfitter with lots of horses, which needed no appointments. We rode along the Pacific Creek, crossing it twice, but most of the time we were in fields or forest. Some nice views were seen of the Tetons, from a hilltop. A chief concern was keeping Samantha on a horse. The outfitter got her a very tame horse that was good for her size. They also roped it to the guide for a while. Later the guide enlisted another paying rider to hold the rope to Samantha's horse. The ride was pretty easy though to do it smoothly, I felt I had to stand with my knees bent and flexed at odd angles. Eventually that made them a little sore, but not much. The creek and hills we crossed were fun. Max really enjoyed the riding and thought it was the best part of our vacation. Samantha was turned loose the last 2 miles; with no roping. She denied that she was ready for it but the guide thought she was and it worked. It boosted her confidence.

After finishing, the retired military couple who'd helped Samantha, needed help themselves. Their motorcycle had broke down so we gave one a ride to a station.









Eventually, with another stop at Colter Bay to clean-up, we left the Hole and went into Jackson. We were in-time to get a feel for things and see the mock gun fight. It came with a history lesson and Max, whom I'd tipped off earlier about it, remarked that it was not so lame as he'd thought it'd be. What I thought the highlight of the day was, came immediately after the gun fight. We saw the same troupe of actors who put on the gunfight, become our servers at the Jackson Hole Playhouse. After dinner, the actors did what's probably more natural to them, they put on a good production of The Unsinkable Molly Brown. I enjoyed it giving Samantha another good strong woman figure to think about but the play was just pretty funny and good all around. Peggy and I agreed that the best part was a slow motion mob fight scene which had a dutchess head butting a Coloradan socialite. It was all done in fine costume with live music.









We had to drive all the way back to Colter Bay to our cabin afterward. In the dark, speeds were slow for potential wildlife crossings. We saw none and there weren't many cars out either. I thought I might be shaking my cold sometimes, but it kept coming back.