Weekend in Vermont

A few weekends ago we took a trip to Vermont with a bunch of our friends. After Irene hit we were afraid we might not be able to go due to flooding and washed out roads. But even after several road closures and more than a few detours we all made it to our cabin. We got there late friday night and had to be up early the next day for the race.

The whole reason for going on the trip was for people to run a race. Most did the 5k while 3 did the half marathon. The rest of us that did not run were on babysitting duty.

Mike ran his first 5K since we have been married. He didn't run at all to train but counted his biweekly basketball nights as his training. He actually did really well. You can kind of see him running in across the finish line at 26 minutes and 46 seconds. Not to shabby for no training.
He even got a nice little medal. Note to self: find a race that will give me a metal for finishing. I actually have been running a lot lately. I have been doing interval training on the treadmill. I am getting a lot faster and it is fun to see the progress. The only problem is my shin splints. I am learning to power through the pain, but some days I get off the treadmill and can barely walk. Even after I stretch I still limp a little. I really hate feeling limited.... blah.
Back to Vermont. Here are the runners. Ben, Camille and Tim were our 1/2 marathon runners. They all came in within 5 minutes of each other. It was a lot of fun to cheer everyone on and to be outside on a seriously beautiful fall saturday.

After the race the runners needed a little nourishment. We asked a local were a good place to eat was and they directed us to this great little diner. The food was delicious we shared onion rings, onion strings, mozzarella sticks and had some of the biggest burgers ever.
The only sad part was our group was to big to sit at the same table so half the group sat at one table...
and the other across the isle way...
After lunch the men were anxious to get back to the house to watch some college football and the women were anxious to hit the outlet stores in town. They had some fantastic stores but after some very costly trips to J. Crew and Ann Taylor we had to head home before we spent our husbands whole paycheck. It was a lot of fun to go shopping with the girls and get some awesome deals!

We divided three meals that we knew we would eat at the house up and assigned different couples to be in charge of them. We shared the responsibility of Saturday's dinner with the Johnsons and Elmores. We decided to do a crowd favorite, Cafe Rio Chicken/Pork salad with black beans, cilantro lime ranch dressing and rice. It was soooo delicious!! And we made the perfect amount.



After eating our dinner on the deck and watching the sunset we headed up to the game room and all crowded around the TV to watch the BYU vs Texas game. It was so much fun hanging out, playing ping-pong, chatting and cheering on BYU.
The ladies took a little break during half time and took a dip in the hot tub. It was quite the bonding experience but we ended up missing most of the second half of the game.
After staying up late playing games and visiting we got to sleep in the next morning. Well those of us without children got to sleep in. Some of us were even lucky enough to be feed breakfast in bed. Yes, that is my husband feeding Ben bacon in bed... strange.

After a delicious breakfast we went over the a ski resort called Stratton Mountain. It was a cute place but kind of deserted for a weekend.

We took a Gondola ride to the top of the ski slope which was really cool. Unfortunately it was a little foggy so the pictures don't do the breathtaking view justice.

A few of us went on a little hike (about a mile there and another mile back.) The trail I believe is apart of the Appellation trial and lead to a really cool fire look out tower. It was a little scary though when you climbed to the top and the wind would blow and you could feel the tower shake.. very scary. The view from the top made the whole hike worth it, even if I was against it at the beginning (I was not dressed properly for hiking.)

After the hike we went back to the house for a seriously amazing "farewell" lunch. It was kind of bittersweet to leave such a fun trip... but I have a feeling we'll be going back in the future.