I Play Dirty!

No, I am not referencing my basketball play, though my title applies there too. This morning I participated in the first Dirty Dash at Soldier Hollow ski resort. The Dirty Dash is a 10K, but no ordinary 10K. It’s more of an obstacle course for adults. Shortly after crossing the start line we were sprayed with a fire hose as we ascended the first hill. At 9AM on a Saturday morning in September, that will wake you up.

After getting soaked by that, we ran for a mile before we encountered a snow-making machine that sprayed icy cold water at us at hurricane speeds. The next part of the course is called ‘The Roller Coaster’ for reasons I don’t need to explain. Most of the uphill running was at the beginning of the race, which is a good thing. On the way down the hill we encountered a series of hay bales. I hurdled the first one easily enough, but misjudged the second. I had to step on top of it before jumping down. On the third row only my toe caught the bale. My leg collapsed and I landed on my shoulder on top of the bale. My legs flew over it, and I quickly found myself back on my feet, never missing a step.

We also encountered some giant tubes, which we had to crawl through. And of course no course would be complete without walls to scale. The ground leading up to the walls was soaked, and we sloshed through the mud to get to them before helping each other over. Further on down the course we had to run through a series of tires. I learned the hard way that you shouldn’t pass someone who is going too slow through the tires.

At one point we had to run out through a marsh and the ‘natural’ mud. People were walking through this area, because each step came with the threat of a lost shoe. (The girl I saw running with no shoes probably didn’t have this problem) But I found that if I kept running I was less likely to get bogged down.

Near the end we ran past the spectators, who could buy water balloons (proceeds donated to a local charity) and throw them at us. I only got hit by one balloon, thrown by a ten year old boy who got me right in the face.

The second to last obstacle was a giant inflatable water slide. It had five lanes, and we were doused with another fire hose as we went down. The woman in front of me was halfway down when I started, so I figured I wouldn’t hit her. I got a running start and shot down head first. The woman had stopped near the bottom, and I plowed into her. I won’t go into the details of what happened, but let’s just say I could get arrested for that I did to her. We might even be considered married after that.

After the water slide we ran down the hill and into the mud pit. Flags had been draped over it, and we had to crawl on our hands and knees to get across to the finish line.My time for the race was 70 minutes, 20 minutes slower than my usual 10K time. But really, I wasn’t concerned about the time. I just went for the fun, and there was a lot to be had. Next year I am going to get a team together to run it. Our team name will be the ‘Dirty Mudder Huggers'. Are you in?

The arrival of the ambulances before the run was a bit ominous...

Are You Yellow?

Over the Labor Day weekend I took the kids to visit my Grandmother in Rexburg, Idaho. We usually head up Friday night, find activities for the kids on Saturday and have a big barbecue (in the garage, due to rain) on Sunday afternoon. I thought about the fact that my kids had been so close to Yellowstone National Park so many times but had never been. So I decided to spend the day in the park on Saturday.

We drove up through Island Park and entered Yellowstone through the West gate. Since I was driving I put Whitney in charge of taking pictures. That decision yielded interesting results. As we approached the area of natural activity, the kids noted the steam rising from the geysers and thought the park was on fire. "Not this year." I replied.

My number one priority was seeing Old Faithful. Since it was a holiday weekend, there were plenty of other people who had the same idea. We timed it just right and got there 20 minutes before an eruption.





This was the best picture Whitney got of Old Faithful...

After Old Faithful I made for Mud Volcano. I had never heard of it before, and wanted to know what a 'mud volcano' was. I had my own ideas of what that means. The kids spent the whole time there walking around plugging their noses because of the 'rotten egg fart' smell.










After the Mud Volcano it was getting late, so I turned South again and made for Grandma's. Since the pass I bought for Yellowstone was good for Grand Teton National Park, I decided to drive through.







After passing the Grand Tetons we found ourselves in Jackson, Wyoming before cutting across back into Idaho. I found myself passing through tiny little towns like Victor and Driggs before returning to Rexburg. It was a lot of driving for one day. We left the hotel in Idaho Falls a little after 7AM and didn't get to Grandma's until almost 8PM. But I am really glad I took the kids. It was something I wanted them to see. I think next year I will leave a day early, and drive to Rapid City to see Mt. Rushmore, then up to Devil's Tower, Wyoming before heading back to Grandma's. Okay, maybe I'm not quite that ambitious.

Oh, and just so you know, we didn't have our barbecue in the garage due to rain this year. We had it in the garage due to high winds.