SNOWBALL FIGHT!!!

I admit when I woke up this morning at 6AM heading for an epic 2.5 hour ride with the speedskaters I left the house a bit pissed off. Chris managed to get severely sunburned on his legs yesterday and couldn't muster putting on a pair of bike shorts.  His group was working out on their own today and was assigned a 2 hour hike or ride. The plan was for Chris to ride with the group I was with, and then head to the farmers market. When I arrived at the ride start I texted him telling him to get up and go skate a 40K. He didn't get up in time to do that either. Blowing off a workout this morning meant that we would have to figure something else out for later in the day. I stopped worrying about it and went out for my ride. We spent 2.5 hours riding some pretty interesting countryside, by farms, the airport, through typical suburban neighborhoods. Riding by the airport reminded me of Korea, not because of the way things looked, but because of the way they smelled, briney and salty. The HOT air smelled like KIMCHI!

After the ride Rebecca, Eric and I went to the farmers market for lunch and to buy produce. I had the best chicken tacos made with a blue corn tortilla and a green salsa. I also enjoyed some horchata, something I haven't had in ages. A great recovery drink, not too sweet, high in protein, cold...The market idea was perfect, though I did manage to loose 50. out of my jersey pocket. I just hope someone who REALLY needed it found it. Salt Lake City's farmers market reminds me of the one in Park Slope Brooklyn. Its quite large! 

I arrived back at the house with lots of stuff, raspberries, lavender, chard, chinese broccoli, kale, turnips, oregano, apricots, garlic, string beans, the best pumpernickel bread I have had in a long time and to Chris asking me if we could go for a hike. So while he made himself a salad for lunch I figured out where to go for a hike. We headed up Little Cottonwood Canyon to Alta. We were planning on heading up to Catherine's pass for starters, but the access road to the campground where the trail started was still not open so we decided to hoof it up to the trail head and decided on the way to alter our plans a bit and we climbed beyond the ski area boundary on a primitive trail. We covered some serious snow pack in places  as well as some fast moving run-off crossings. Of course we had a snowball fight, which Chris won with a cheap shot which hit me in the eye (I hope I don't have a shiner in the morning). As we were descending the trail we saw a coyote cut across the trail and through the meadow that was up ahead of us. It was an absolutely gorgeous 2.5 hour solution to Chris's workout predicament. Back at the house we dined on ribs, potatoes, sauteed greens, and pumpernickel served outside on the porch. A perfect ending to a tiring day! 

Tomorrow? Jordanelle State Park for a swim with the girls and a search for new tent poles!