A Short Break From the Project

November 28, 2023

I haven’t been as steady raking up the streets in the past month due to some other activities.  At the beginning of this month I traveled to Pittsburgh, PA and ran their 10-miler through downtown.  After that I had a short visit from Covid and now I am in Mesa, AZ for a week.  I did get a couple project runs in and plan to ramp back up in December.

All that said, a little bit about the Pittsburgh run….

We flew in a few days early and hung out with my son and his girlfriend, Krissy, and visited the Flight 93 Memorial and Frank Lloyd Wright’s famous Fallingwater house.  I did a sketch of the house when we were there and added watercolor later.

The next day my wife and went to packet pickup which was busy but well-organized.  After that we went to Point State Park, the confluence of two river that form the Ohio River.

This was followed by a hike in Frick Park with Dan, Krissy, and Daisy the Dog.  We found our way to a brewery and then got take-out at Noodleheads.

Race morning found us at Station Square from where Dan and I walked to the start of the 10-miler and Sarah and Krissy grabbed a train to the start of the 10K.  The 10-mile run was lots of fun.  4 bridge crossings and a huge crowd along the way.

After recovering with a shower and such we visited the National Aviary.

We found another brewery with great pizza off a food truck.

The rest of trip well not-so-well as we traveled home and I started feeling sick.  After a few days I was better and now, a few week later, I am in Mesa, AZ for the best part of a week.

Running in Mesa is very different from running in Pittsburgh or Billings.  I am in the east side of town and this is suburb after suburb, all apparently with HOAs demanding that houses only be painted beige.  And wall.  Lots of walls.   My morning run today took me through some neighborhoods on the way to the only open area that I knew of, a huge right-of-way for some power lines.  I’ve run here in the past but when I got there today I saw this:

Of course, I didn’t let that stop me because, what are they going to do?  This is the only non-paved place to run for many miles.  When I got to the far section it was fenced and, while hopping barbed wire something I’ve done in Montana, I decided not to here.

Instead I routed through the adjoining neighborhoods, all built behind walls, and all the same color.

I did see this cool Rambler.

Some big decorations.

And signs.  Lots of signs, all with some kind of “thou shalt not” message.

Some signs have mixed meanings.  Do you have to stop for adults?

And who gets dropped off?  Parents?

I like this one, advertising “Private Backyards.”  Look at the distance between the house and the fence.  Yep, that looks private.

I was running with my empty backpack and stopped at a mini-Walmart for provisions and then walked the 3/4-mile back to where I am staying giving me a 5-mile outing today.