Mesa Falls Marathon - Post Race

I immediately headed to the recovery table for some very, very cold water. It was wonderful. I then hobbled over to where Little Bro sat in the grass. He was surprised to see me since he had been looking for me at the finish. I explained that I didn’t have the energy to get his attention, so the race ended without any fanfare. I asked where everyone was, and he replied with an irritated “I don’t know.” Turns out that his wife got the keys to his truck from their hiding place and took off with them after the 5k. The phone was in the truck, and he had no cash to make a phone call. So, he had been sitting there at the park for three hours watching people cross the finish line that he had worked so hard to reach. Talk about getting kicked while down! And, there’s just something about getting beaten by your slow, fat, older sister…..

After a few minutes of resting with him, his wife, daughter, and the Brit approached us. Everyone was shocked that we would already be done even though I had clearly spelled out our finish time for them as between 1-1:30pm. A call to Bub telling her to stay at the cabin was in vain because she, the boys and dad were practically at the park anyway. Little Bro and his family couldn’t get out of there fast enough, so they were quickly on their way, him gingerly hobbling down the road to his truck. The boys wanted to play at the park (something that I thought they would have already been doing for a couple of hours), but I just wanted to get back to the cabin and get into that ice bath, so we just left. However, after about two minutes of listening to them cry, we stopped at the elementary school to play. Some things are just more important than an ice bath.

When we finally did make it back to the cabin, I sat in a cool bath (forget the ice – at this point I had come to my senses) and then took a shower. I followed that up with a couple of pain relievers and a couple of beers. But, I was TIRED! I just couldn’t stay awake. So, I quickly napped and then we had some dinner. I still couldn’t wake up, so I had another nap and then just gave in and went to bed early. I figured out the problem a couple of days later, though: PM pain relievers! I rarely take anything more than a vitamin, so ibuprofen is a stretch. Qnd I’m not sure that I’ve EVER taken a PM pill of any sort. Well, I’m here to attest that they work!

I was sore the next day, but nothing that I couldn’t tolerate. Stiff and sore hips, mostly. We went to Yellowstone that morning and drove around part of it. Yellowstone is an amazing place unless you’re two years old. We’ll go back someday when the boys are old enough to sit still and look for certain things. Right now, it’s just too hard. Imagine being strapped into a seat and riding around while essentially looking at the back of your mom’s head. Not thrilling. And the getting in and out and in and out is not fun when fighting over a car seat. So, we saw a couple of buffaloes and some elk and that was about it. It was disappointing not to see more especially when we found out later that everyone else saw a buffalo herd numbering somewhere around 200. Two of the buffalo were fighting and another swam across a river – like almost totally submerged swimming – like only it’s nose and mouth were above water – like I never thought a buffalo could do that. (Does it make me sound younger than 39 if I use “like” incessantly?) It was a great sight – if you were lucky enough to see it. We just drove back to the cabin and napped while the rain came down. Then we colored. Then we jumped on the bed. Then we ate our burgers. It rained all night long, and we loved it because we love those little boys – car seat tantrums and all….

The next day consisted of fishing at Island Park Dam (where Bub got skunked but I saw a cool bird that I haven’t identified yet), the boys perfected the art of casting their lines into the water – quite a feat for a toddler – and we threw many rocks into the water just to watch Lizzy try to catch them before they sank. Then, as Bub moved locations, I popped out the jog stroller and the boys and I walked the mile for a change of scenery. It was quiet and beautiful and I was a bit freaked out by the fact that a moose or bear could walk out at any second and trample/eat us alive. I really have no idea what to do, so I walked fast and talked loudly. Did I need to be overly concerned? Probably not. There were a decent number of cars passing, and it’s right off the highway. However, at the end of the walk, I DID see some moose tracks. Am I sure that it was a moose? Hell yes. I’ve never, ever, ever seen a deer or elk that could make at track that big. Pretty impressive, big, and unnerving.

After being skunked again, it was lunch and nap time, so we headed back to the cabin. The rest of the family went to a bear/wolf rehab place in West Yellowstone, so we had the cabin to ourselves. Bub even took a little nap with the boys while I started this report. Then, she went off to fish in Henry’s Fork Outlet. The boys woke about 30 seconds before the family returned, and we spent the rest of the afternoon playing and relaxing and doing things that toddlers love (like going down the slide, swinging, and throwing balls for the dogs).

When Bub hadn’t returned in a couple of hours, I started to worry. She’s not much of a hiker, and has been known to fall down, trip, slip, and biff it on a regular basis. So, when she finally arrived in soaking wet pants and shoes, I could only imagine the trouble that she had gotten herself into. As it happens, she was fishing (without a bunch of luck) from the shore. Well, all of the other fishermen were IN the water, so clearly, the fishing was better there. The trouble is that she didn’t bring her waders or even boots, and that water was DANG cold. She managed to catch a couple. She threw most of them back (we’ll call those the “big” ones). She couldn’t throw one back because the hook was too far down. She brought it back with her, and we razzed her about it all night long. It was pretty puny. But, none of us had the guts to wade out into frigid water for our supper (as if that little trout could even feed ONE of us)….. We finished off this fun day with ‘smores around the fire pit. The Meatball loved them. Peanut was more concerned with cleaning all of us up than with eating any smooshy marshmallows. He wandered around with a damp hand towel and wiped our faces, our hands, the picnic tables, and even an RV parked nearby.

Tuesday dawned with the possibility of more fishing and a long trip home. We got the cabin all cleaned up and everything packed away. Why is it so much harder to get everything and everyone re-packed? We took off to Big Springs as my co-worker had recommended seeing it and the fish in it. It was pretty cool. This is the starting point of the entire Henry’s Fork River. The crystal clear water comes bubbling up from the ground and supplies the whole river. And, it’s not just some little gurgling puddle – it’s the size of one of the Potter’s ponds, and it just comes up and makes a river. It’s pretty cool. There is no fishing there for various reasons, but it has paid off for a few of the fish. Everything we saw (and you can see everything through the water) was at least a foot long. There were 10-12 of them swimming below the bridge. The biggest was definitely two feet long if not more – probably more – and had to be at least 18 pounds. It was enormous. It’s quite rude, actually, to make fishermen look but not cast.

We stopped at a few other fishing spots, but everything was river fishing and Bub wasn’t into it, so we headed home. The drive to Island Park took six hours. The drive home took 700. Everyone was OVER it – especially when we hit a traffic jam in Ogden. Aye, aye, aye! But, we finally made it safe and sound. The boys were happy to get clean diapers and NO clothes. They ran around for hours.

In all, it was a good trip. Several disappointments, but some fun times anyway. I may try to sneak us away in January to do Yellowstone by snowmobile. It would be an interesting trip as we have never purposely vacationed IN the snow. But, it was so beautiful, and I would love to have a better visit to see the animals in the park, the many waterfalls among the snow, and just good to get away together (although I would hate to leave the boys, it would be too cold and they’re too young to snowmobile….).