Miles, Memories, and Mid-Afternoon Margaritas
This week was all about revisiting cherished memories, connecting with lifelong friends, and taking in the breathtaking beauty of the West. From fulfilling a childhood dream of seeing Crater Lake to navigating smoke-filled mountain passes, the journey was full of incredible views, nostalgic stops, and quick adjustments along the way.
As we made our way back through familiar ground in Logan and on to Park City, the days balanced simple outdoor exercise—crisp morning walks and clever bike loops—with plenty of rest, reunions, and classic road trip treats. Here’s a look back at a wonderfully full and relaxing week!
Overview of the Week
Before getting into each day’s workouts, here’s an overview of my workouts from this past week. Scroll beyond the infographic for daily details…
Sunday
Road trip: Day 15: Sisters, Oregon
Core: Peloton 5-Minute Core Strength with Emma Lovewell
I’ve been looking forward to visiting Crater Lake National Park ever since I was a little girl. I first learned about the park after confusing it with Claytor Lake State Park in Virginia, excitedly telling my mom one June that I’d heard on the radio it had snowed at what I thought was a park just two hours away!
The lake was absolutely gorgeous and more than satisfied a lifelong dream. While we did a few short hikes along dirt trails to catch higher viewpoints, I didn’t bother tracking them—the longest was maybe a mile roundtrip. It doubled as a great rest day, complete with a quick power nap on the drive back to our friends’ house!
Monday
Road trip: Day 16: Drive from Sisters, Oregon to Baker City, Oregon
Strength training: 54 minutes of total body
Core: Peloton 10-Minute Core Strength with Robin Arzón
We woke up to smoke-filled air outside our friends’ house and immediately checked the local fire reports. After speaking directly with a forest service manager, we learned that the pass was still open—even with recent fires right along the road. As we drove through, we could even see smoldering snags along the pass. We made it safely into Baker City, only to learn shortly after arriving that the pass had just been shut down due to new fire activity!
Although Baker City was blanketed in thick smoke, it was such a cute town that we couldn’t resist taking a short evening walk downtown after dinner to admire all the local art on display.
Tuesday
Road trip: Day 17: Drive from Baker City, Oregon to Logan, Utah
Stretching: Peloton 10-Minute Full Body Stretch with Andy Speer
It was mostly a travel day, breaking up the drive with a few scenic stops along the way—including the Lewis and Clark Museum, Malad Gorge, and Shoshone Falls as we made our way through Oregon and Idaho.
We arrived in late-afternoon in Logan, Utah—the town where we lived during the first two years of our marriage while my husband attended grad school at USU. A wildfire had broken out nearby on Saturday, but thankfully it was 100% contained by the time we arrived. We could see the charred ground near the Water Resources Lab where my husband spent so much of his time during his student days. Thanks to the swift response of Cache County emergency crews, nearby neighborhoods and campus facilities were kept safe, and thankfully, no one was injured.
Wednesday
Road trip: Day 18: Logan, Utah
Strength training: 1 hour of total body
Core: Peloton 10-Minute Barre: Core with Ally Love
Walking: 3.36 mile
• Average pace: 15:24 minute/mile
• Surface: paved with a short distance of gravel
• Elevation gain: 266 feet
• Start time: 10:22 AM
• Location: Logan, Utah
• Weather: 67° and sunny with low humidity, climbing to 73°
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and visor
After a delightful sleep-in until 7 AM, I headed down to our friends’ basement for a workout, making good use of my trusty bag of bands and resistance tubes. They also had an impressive weight machine setup waiting to be assembled, plus a Schwinn stationary bike and a cardio glider, though I stuck to my routine.
Later, before the heat of the day set in, I stepped outside for a walk—thoroughly enjoying the crisp, dry desert air and soaking up every minute of being back in my happy place.
Thursday
Road trip: Day 19: Logan, Utah
Cycling: 16.13 miles
• Bike: Salsa Warbird
• Average speed: 11.4 MPH
• Surface: paved
• Elevation gain: 771 feet
• Start time: 7:31 AM
• Location: Logan, Utah
• Weather: 59° and sunny with low humidity, climbing to 74°
• What I wore: bike shorts, s/s jersey, and fingerless gloves
Walking: 3.02 miles
• Average pace: 15:27 minute/mile
• Surface: paved
• Elevation gain: 245 feet
• Start time: 9:43 AM
• Location: Logan, Utah
• Weather: 74° and sunny with low humidity, climbing to 79°
• What I wore: shorts , s/s shirt, and visor
Stretching: Peloton 5-Minute Lower Body Stretch with Andy Speer
Preferring a shorter ride so I’d still have time for a walk, my husband designed a clever 16-mile loop. He dropped me off after our first lap so I could head out on foot while he completed a second loop. Once back from my walk, I finished off with a Peloton stretch and spent the rest of the day thoroughly chilling!
The absolute highlight of the day, though? Stopping by the Aggie Creamery on the USU campus after dinner for some Aggie Blue Mint—a non-negotiable must-have whenever we visit Logan!
Friday
Road trip: Day 20: Drive from Logan, Utah to Park City, Utah
Strength training: 1 hour of total body
Stretching: Peloton 5-Minute Lower Body Stretch with Matty Maggiacomo
Walking: 3.11 miles
• Average pace: 15:10 minute/mile
• Surface: paved
• Elevation gain: 165 feet
• Start time: 7:52 AM
• Location: Logan, Utah
• Weather: 66° and sunny with low humidity, climbing to 71°
• What I wore: shorts, tank top, and visor
Determined to soak up one last relaxing walk in my happy place before heading south to Park City, I stepped out early into the cool morning air. I took in every last view of the beautiful flowers blooming along the trail, both wild and planted. The crisp temperatures and low humidity gave me a fantastic burst of energy, resulting in a much faster pace than my recent walks!
Since it was a comparatively short drive day, we spent the rest of the morning relaxing at our friends’ house before hitting the road to our Airbnb. Once settled in, we kept the low-key vibe going until evening, when we met up with another set of grad school friends—marking three different reunions on this trip!
Together, we headed out to experience the 57th Annual Park City Kimball Arts Festival. Though “strolled” might be an understatement at first—we walked just over a mile straight up Main Street, climbing over 200 feet just to reach the upper festival entrance! Luckily, that meant an easy, leisurely stroll back down as we took in all the incredible high-end art. A major highlight was a stunning, hand-carved wooden bicycle that took “high art” to a whole new level. It was a wonderful, fun, and relaxing end to the day!
Saturday
Road trip: Day 21: Park City, Utah
Walking: 3.21 miles
• Average pace: 17:10 minute/mile
• Surface: paved
• Elevation gain: 148 feet
• Start time: 9:35 AM
• Location: Park City, Utah
• Weather: 72° and partly cloudy with low humidity, climbing to 80°
• What I wore: shorts, s/s shirt, and visor
Core: Peloton 5-Minute Core Strength with Emma Lovewell
Stretching: Peloton 10-Minute Full Body Stretch with Adrian Williams
We used Saturday as a much-needed, total chill day. My main exercise was a nice morning walk before the heat crept in – I even saw four huge turkeys along my walking route. Our friends from Salt Lake City joined us at our Airbnb for breakfast, and later that evening, we headed over to their place for dinner.
In between? We kicked back, relaxed, and enjoyed a mid-afternoon margarita. Hey, it was 5 PM somewhere… or at least back in Virginia! As an added bonus, we got to sip our drinks while taking in the view of the quaking aspens—our absolute favorite tree!
Garmin Badges Earned
Only one Garmin badges made its way to me this week…
Last Week’s Blog Posts
In case you skipped checking in on my blog this past week, here’s what you missed…
Questions:
- • What’s your all-time favorite ice cream flavor? ~ mint chocolate chip
- • Do you have a favorite tree or piece of nature you love taking in? ~ quaking aspen
- • How was your week in fitness? ~ very good
And that’s my rundown… Have a great week!
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I’m linking up with Deborah at Confessions of a Mother Runner and Kim from Running on the Fly for their Weekly Run Down. Be sure to check out not only the hosts’ posts, but those of the other great bloggers joining in on the fun!
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Ha my oldest 2 kids love mint chip – so that blue ice cream would be their jam! I prefer a vanilla based one with treats – like vanilla caramel fudge, or vanilla Heath bar crunch, or cookie dough!
What a week! Your travels sound amazing but tiring. Your walking scenery looks gorgeous!
Yes, your kiddos would love Aggie blue mint ice cream! 🙂
My favorite ice cream is espresso chocolate. There’s an ice cream shop in Madison called The Chocolate Shoppe, and they have a seasonal store on our lake! I love taking the boat there for a cone.
Your trip looks amazing–I definitely want to check out Crater Lake NP! How fun to drive it–to be able to take your time and savor it all!
Those local ice cream shops in special places are such a treat to visit! There’s a frozen custard store where I lived when I had my first teaching job. It’s on our way to the beach house and sometimes we stop there on our way to the beach house and it’s such a treat!
You would love visiting Crater Lake National Park, Wendy!
Wow another picturesque week of travel and fitness for you. Loving all your photos of the national parks. Your trip sounds amazing! My husband is mint chip I like regular chocolate chip or chocolate choc chip. Now I want some
It’s been amazing, Deborah!
What an epic road trip. This post made me finally look at a map of Oregon- my son was just there on his honeymoon but I only had a vague idea where they were in the state. They were on the coast, in Newport, and then spent a couple days in Portland.Crater Lake isn’t THAT far from where they were!
My mind is boggled with all the beautiful photos you’ve posted. It makes me REALLY want to explore all the places in this country that I’ve never been to! My husband keeps saying he wants to go back to Europe. NOPE. I want to stay right here! I mean not right here in Florida- I want to get away from Florida, but explore the rest of the country.
The United States is HUGE and beautiful! Back in about 2018 we decided to focus on the U.S. rather than planning trips abroad. We still want to do Croatia and Portugal, and I’d love to go back to Italy someday.
Oh, I’m sorry about the fires that seem to chase you wherever you go! But what a lovely week, travelling and seeing your old friends, and seeing all the places! That lake in the top photos looks so beautiful.
Nice to keep up your own strength routine while you’re away, bands are so underrated but can give some really hard workouts!
I’ve tried some mint chocolate ice cream but my favourite flavours are either fruity or the nutty chocolate type. My all-time favourite ice cream is Italian hazelnut or really dark chocolate.
The wildfires are really bad, but it is fire season and they had a very dry winter without the normal snowfall. Yesterday afternoon we were driving to dinner with friends and all of our phones started going off with an emergency alert: “Your residence has been placed in a ‘GO’ Status.EVACUATE NOW.” We were driving into an area where 13,000 acres were on fire and 0% contained (the fire had started the day before and we hadn’t heard about it). We could see the smoke over the mountain, but couldn’t smell it. Everything was fine where we were headed and I think we just happened to be in a little section near the evacuation area. This morning I heard that that fire has spread to 18,000 acres and is 27% contained. It’s so sad.
Oh wow, what a cool wooden bike!! With my son and daughter home, we now have TWELVE bikes in our garage! Each of us has a mountain bike and a road bike, but my son has several more in his collection. I do think it’s pretty cool how well he can work on bikes and likes to switch up stuff and sell / buy different ones.
I’ve been a bit worried about the smoke for our upcoming trip to Banff. The FB groups mention it in the area but hopefully it won’t be that bad when we arrive? Who knows.
Your trip looks wonderful. So fun to be in the old stomping grounds again!
Yes, isn’t that wooden bike cool? As my husband says, you can never have too many bikes! 😉 I have three: road, gravel, and a beach cruiser. My husband has the same plus a second gravel bike.
I’ve been seeing videos of Glacier these last couple of weeks and visibility from Going to the Sun Road was awful, especially in the last one I saw. I hope it clears up before you arrive – it’s been a terrible fire season.
Yes, we had a blast while up in Logan!
Your road trip continues to be quite amazing, and oh-so-active! The pics are beautiful, especially of that lake. And, of course, I love the artwork..those animals!
I need to go home to rest! LOL
The animals in Baker City, Oregon were really cool, and we only took pictures of a few of them.
Wait! I need to know more about this blue mint chip! Is it more peppermint? Spearmint? Regular mint? I need answers! I do love mint chocolate chip, but I also love coffee. Honestly, I love all ice creams.
This is such an epic trip, and I’m so glad you got to experience it with your favorite person! I’m also glad that you had such a wonderful time. All your photos are just so stunning, and it must have been so great to check out new and familiar locations!
The mint in Aggie blue mint ice cream tastes like regular mint chocolate chip, but instead of chocolate chips it has white chocolate chips and oreo cookie pieces. It’s delicious!
Our trip has been great so far, and we still have a few more days and a couple more adventures to look forward to!