Diana Ellefson. Travel. Write. Repeat.

I try to live by the following motto: Break a sweat every day.
Lately that has been easy just by doing nothing in the high heat and humidity in the city, but I try to break a sweat each day via some sort of physical activity.

I am obsessed with tennis and play 4-5 times a week, and my favorite sweat breaking activity is kickboxing. Punching and kicking real 100lb heavy bags brings on the sweat fest more than anything else I do.

Aside from these sports, I’d always thought it’d be amazing to do a multi-sport event, like a triathlon.
The running I could maybe handle. I do run because I like the results I see and it justifies my addiction of athletic shoes. I have done 5K’s and I can get through trail runs (treadmills make me crazy–so boring) but I am far from a natural runner. Due to this fact and that swimming for me really just means me laying on a floatie–my dream of participating in a triathlon is not really plausible.

Knowing this about myself has only made me work harder to find a multi-sport activity I can proudly participate in.
I don’t want to walk or push a stroller (besides, I’d have to borrow a kid for that) and stair climbing for charity is a great idea, but I want to combine some sort of running/biking with it.

In the mid 90′s I was introduced to what in another life just might be what I’d dedicate my life to: Adventure Racing. The extreme athletic image, the physical shape of the participants, running and biking in nature, teamwork–getting sponsored and therefore obtaining lots of swag…I was instantly obsessed.

It is very simple in theory. Adventure Racing combines adventure sport disciplines, usually including navigation, trekking, mountain biking, white water paddling, climbing, sea kayaking and swimming in order to cover a variety of outdoor terrain. In nearly all organized Adventure Races, teams are made up of four people and must include both men and women.

Adventure Races typically take between five and eleven days with no designated rest periods so it is up to the participants to choose when, or if, they rest. Check points are set up along the route and when there is to be a change of events such as canoeing to climbing, teams will exchange their equipment at these points, taking what they need for the next leg.

The first Adventure Race that really sucked me into this multi-sport lifestyle was Eco-Challenge. A multi-day expedition race, this was a Mark Burnett (pre-Survivor) production and it aired on the USA channel for 9 seasons. It consisted of seasoned professional adventure racers as well as the average “joe” that raced non-stop, 24 hours a day, over a 300 mile course. The locations over the years varied, including Borneo, Utah, British Colombia, Australia and Fiji. As awesome as this race was, the last year it ran was 2002 and that is why I cannot participate in it… (um yeah, thats why…).

photo credit here

photo courtesy of adventure.mountainzone.com

Perhaps the most famous and challenging Adventure Race in the world is the Patagonian Expedition Race in Chile.
Like Eco-Challenge, teams of 4 compete in treacherous natural terrain that very few, if any, humans have ever witnessed in person. The route is kept secret to the participating teams until the night before the race is to start which is when all maps and route instructions are supplied to the teams.

taking a look at the map courtesy of sportrock.ning.com

As the website states, the Patagonia Expedition Race is a true expedition. Racers receive minimal assistance as they traverse through the pristine southern Patagonia by means of trekking, climbing and related rope work, kayaking, mountain biking, and backcountry navigation. They often cover hundreds of kilometers without seeing a soul.

trekking Patagonia photo courtesy of www.mountain.ru

paddling Patagonia
photo courtesy of funsporting.com

OK, so its doubtful that I will make it into this race. The cutoff for registration has just passed. … maybe next year.

Primal Quest is another adventure race that follows the same pattern as Eco and Patagonia. Their latest race, covering 600 miles, took place in the Badlands of South Dakota in 2009.

The cost of entry to most high profile adventure races such as these three can vary, but will at least run $10,000 USD a team. Prizes though, especially in the more major races such as Patagonian, can exceed $150,000 in cash.
While the races are unsupported (meaning no-one there to bring you water or help carry your gear), medical personnel and volunteers are present to assist in emergency cases.

Check out this link showing a preview of the Badlands Race on DVD.

Primal Quest Badlands DVD Now Available!.

A 2010 race date/location for Primal Quest hasn’t been named yet due to lack of funding. Dammit. Just as I was about to register…

OK, so these three races seem just out of my reach. What can I do? In my search for more attainable races that wouldn’t cost me thousands of dollars (and tons of laughs at my expense), I discovered the Warrior Dash. This race covers nearly 3.3 miles and includes 13 obstacles that must be dominated by the participant, such as mud crawling, fire leaping, beer drinking… wait? What? Wow.

As the website says–this will be the “craziest freakin’ day of your life”!

Now I am not sure about that, but what I am sure about is that Warrior Dash has race routes all over the US including eight in 2010 and so far two already scheduled for 2011. I am participating in the North East route in Windham, NY this fall with my kickboxing instructors and friends. We will be a team of 30 and willing and ready to do whatever we need to do to fulfill our Warrior ambitions! Although we are a team, we compete individually and although it is a race, its more of an event.

Unlike the high costs to race in other Adventure Races, the Warrior Dash costs just $65 to register and all finishers get a Warrior Helmet, a medal to wear proudly around your neck and a t-shirt!

Here are some pictures from the Warrior website to give you an idea of the type of day I will likely have. Check the website for even more pictures and information on the races and where you can register yourself, unless of course you are already registered for one of the other races I have mentioned above…

Happy Adventure Racing!

Travel Tuesday is upon us again and this time I am taking us to the Oregon Coast; Cannon Beach to be exact.
This beach town is quiet and quaint with eccentric art and glass blowing galleries, surf shops and an extremely walkable beach, especially when the tide is out.

The Pacific Ocean is cold though — not much swimming goes on here, even on warm days, but its hard to resist wading in and looking for the many starfish and sand dollars.

Seaside and Astoria are nearby towns that cannot be missed if traveling the Oregon Coast. Seaside has the arcade games, the rides and tourist shops that don’t quite fit the higher end theme Cannon Beach represents. Astoria is a logging town, very blue collar, but touristy in its own right as it is where much of the movie Goonies was filmed.

Cannon Beach is recognized instantly by images of the picture I am attaching: Haystack Rock.
In the old days you could climb on it, or even in it when the tide was way out. Now climbing is prohibited but just getting close to the rock is an experience not easy to duplicate.

With Wimbledon still in full swing I can’t help but be excited that the US Open will be here before I know it!

The US Open occurs in Flushing Meadows, Queens each summer beginning in August and I can honestly say that it is THE best sporting event I have ever been to (and I have been to what I think are some epic sporting events in the past). It is extremely organized, clean, open and feels like a festival of sorts–often compared to an Olympic village atmosphere. Tickets to the day or night matches are available to see the main matches that take place in the Arthur Ashe stadium (the main arena there) but the tickets also allow free roaming ability to walk the grounds to shop, see tennis auctions, eat, visit and witness all of the constant action on the other 15 courts on the grounds. Aside from the “official” courts–there are practice courts on each side of the grounds and watching the tennis greats warm up up close is my favorite part of the Open.

At the practice courts, all of the players, ranked and unranked, practice for their matches side by side-like at a park or high-school. I am in awe for days after seeing Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Rafael Nadal (RAFFA!!!) and Venus practice from front row bleacher seats.

Tickets are available here for the 2010 season that runs August 30- September 12 and here is a tip: if you go a week prior to the Open starting, you get on the grounds for free and can watch (and maybe meet) all of the tennis greats practice up-close.

My friend Cora and me at the Open last year. Love that blue court!

me and Roger

Nadal up close at the practice courts

Venus & Roddick practicing

the globe outside Arthur Ashe Stadium. Originally constructed for the 1961 Worlds Fair.

some of the practice courts

NYC from Arthur Ashe

While away for the past week visiting my hometown of Seattle, WA, I labored daily on the sad fact that I had not posted much on my site in a while. My trips back home always keep me busy with seeing friends and family and visiting my old hangouts (the University of Washington district, Capitol Hill and this time up north in Bellingham, near the Canadian border, where my very adorable (and very loud) niece and nephew live).

Lake Washington near the U of Washington

At a beach in Bellingham, WA looking across to British Columbia, Canada

An old boat at the Semiahmoo Resort just outside Bellingham

Unlike most of my visits back home, not to mention like most days in general in Seattle, the weather was nice this time, yes–nice. It wasn’t the 90+ degrees that I have been used to the past couple weeks here in the NE, but it was in the low 70′s and not a drop of rain fell (I know, pinch me, right?) These “dry spells”–even the short ones– I think apply some sort of magical spell on the locals and expats like myself because during them, one questions why they would ever complain about Seattle. Surrounded by a natural fortress of mountains in every direction with the ocean and lakes populating the city and surrounding suburbs, the air is clean, the people are friendly and the atmosphere feels organic–as though you can’t imagine NOT buying your veggies, fruit and even meats fresh from the local markets while dressing in your Birkenstock’s and fleece (& I am so not making fun-this is a very comfortable attire, one I had to sort of give up when moving back east to save myself from the horrified looks and assumptions that I was some sort of modern day hippie–a label I was quite proud to have while living in Seattle).

view of Mt Rainier over Lake Union. Photo credit: Tim Knight

Of course, these moments of sun are short lived and even the most die-hard Seattlite will tell you that at times, the weather can be a real downer. Many of my friends have been inflicted with severe vitamin D deficiency requiring prescription level meds (and if you are reading this right now and finding yourself getting angry at this statement–don’t blame me, blame the lack of sun and get thee to a doctor for some prescription Vit-D pills) and large vacation bills to take them away from Seattle to seek sun (a Seattle local and friend of mine told me on this recent trip she wished her family could go geo-caching (a very popular hobby/sport in the Pacific NW) for Sun).

So–to celebrate the nice weather while I was there I felt it only necessary to broadcast that fact to help offset the common belief that the sun doesn’t come out much in my home town.
In fact– here is the weather forecast for the next few days. Is that partly sunny, or partly cloudy? I never did learn the difference of this common Seattle forecast.

well– this is a somber post.

As you know, I am a writer (well, an inspiring aspiring one, but actually calling myself a writer in a public forum is the right thing to do from a motivational standpoint) and as a writer, I pitch several ideas for articles to many different publications.

Recently I pitched an idea to a famous Newspaper that is read all around the world and makes its home in Manhattan. This publication shall remain unnamed in this post as the journalist society is a small one…

Anyway– my pitch, to this world famous newspaper (that makes its home in Manhattan and who everyone I am sure can guess its name) a few months ago, to the very specific regional section in the Weekend edition, centered on a specific artsy town near Princeton, NJ. My pitch, very concise yet detailed (which is possible), was sent to them in time for the Spring/pre-Summer rush for their readers to benefit from the small town community, historical sites, antique shops and art gallerys (as well as the best pet shop you’ll ever visit in the NE) before the Summer crowds take residence. I did not hear back from the editor (of whom I had his direct email address AND name) even after I pinged him a couple of times–which is how it sometimes goes in this “business”. I was not discouraged– I just assumed that this was not the time for this type of article.

Since then, I had gotten married, vacationed in paradise and worked very hard at my “real” job.
Upon returning back from a vacation, I was reading the above unnamed Sunday paper, as I always do on the weekend, and when my eye caught the front page of the local, regional specific section it felt as though my body forgot how to breathe. On the front page was an entire article featuring THE SAME TOWN I had pitched with the SAME EMPHASIS on the art galleries and town charm.

Now, I beg of you, please make your own call on this predicament that I find myself in:
Is she just being arrogant to think that it may be possible that her story idea was so perfect and so wonderful that it was bound to be “professonally borrowed” and given to a staff writer at this famous publication in order to save money in this dying newspaper print world?
or
Is she being naive to think that surely she can’t be the only person to have thought about this town and its artsy ways and that this is just bound to happen and that surely another person would have known the newspaper lead time and the editor’s info (which honestly–is very possible) and the draw this town has to all people in the NE region?

To be fair to myself, I have not yet made a decision on where I feel I stand on this issue. My friends and colleagues have been kind enough to throw their hands in the air and cry “thief” (thanks guys) and tell me that my idea was “stolen”… but I am not as quick to jump to that conclusion.

As it is, the only conclusion that matters is that the story has been written and I need to keep plugging away with other inspiring travel articles about areas both near and far to pitch to the many publications out there. Oh yeah, and maybe get an agent (I can dream).

Thanks for your sympathy in advance.

** the image appearing in this post is both fitting and also found on the blog Bits n Bytes of Life of from which I borrowed it…

Today’s Travel Tuesday photo takes me back to Belize… Caye Caulker to be exact. Here I happened upon some sort of unofficial cat hangout. Aside from the few cats you see in this shot, there were about 10 more lurking around. I love the one approaching the camera. The cats followed Caye (pronounced ‘key’) Caulker’s slogan of “go slow”. They, and everything else on this island off of mainland Belize-including me, operated on island time (read: slow motion).

Now is the perfect time to go to Caye Caulker as their Lobster Fest begins June 15th and runs through July. Lobster is abundant locally here so the prices are far less than you’d expect to pay.

If you need a place to stay, Amanda’s Place is one to look into. You will feel like you are staying at a friend’s house (a nice friend that is clean and considerate). The rooms are not too crowded nor too spacious and there is a pool just steps from your door.

Caye Caulker is 5 miles long and very pedestrian friendly–especially since there are no cars allowed and can only be reached by water taxi from Belize City or Ambergris Caye. It is situated 1 mile west of the 2nd largest reef in the World: the Belize Barrier Reef. Rent your diving or snorkeling gear at Frenchie’s- or even get certified here to scuba.

The reef is protected as a reserve and therefore is quite clean and full of colorful sea-life. While there, I swam with (and petted) Nurse sharks, friendly turtles and eagle rays.

Here is a pic of me with one of those friendly turtles.

Get there and be prepared to acclimate quick into relaxation mode!

This third Zion post (read one & two) brings the trip to a close, at least the documentation of it on this website; the memories of course will live on.

I mean really, three high-school buddies meet up and road trip for a long weekend? How could that not be a great time! I am so thankful for Rachel and Jean, for the laughs and hot tamales, for the wacky pictures and wackier people in some of the establishments we frequented, for the bonding time we had in that amazing scenery, and for Melissa; another dear friend who decided to get married in this gorgeous spot!

Below are the remaining pictures I’d like to share.

The Emerald Pools Hike
There are three pools reachable on this Hike: Upper, Middle & Lower.–each reached by a different trail that included waterfalls both large and small, narrow paths and sheer drop-offs.

Jean & Diana across the canyon at the Upper Emerald Pool–about to be hit by the waterfall spray.

the view when looking up

Diana at the middle pool

one of the stealth waterfalls

gorgeous views at every turn

After the Emerald Pools, we hiked through an area that was more desert than anywhere we had seen so far. Hardly any trees and not as many high peaks. The riverbeds were mostly dry (we were warned about flash floods though) and we were convinced that episodes of Star Trek or Land of the Lost were filmed in the exact spots we were standing!
side note: after getting home and looking up some of the areas we were in, I found that this area of Utah as well as the Eastern part of the state was used for many episodes in various Star Trek seasons.

Rachel’s glamour shot

Diana getting a little running in on the side of the mountain

Made it!

catching some rays

A nearby elk farm

and, the beautiful bride

Today’s Travel Tuesday picture is in honor of Memorial Day which occurred yesterday here in the States. It is a day of remembrance for all who have served or currently serve our country in the military. The focus of today’s post is more of a time-Travel Tuesday post that focuses on a man, instead of a place. This man is a military hero I never had the chance to meet: my grandfather, Grant Wahlquist.

Grant served in the Korean War and WWII where he received a Purple Heart among other medals. After his service he was a school principal in Washington State and a husband and father to 3 children (my dad being one).

Grant died of a heart attack at 45 when my dad was just 11. I have heard many stories about this man and my dad always spoke of him — making my siblings and I feel like we did know our grandfather–and we hoped, he knew us.

my grandfather back row, 2nd from left on his war time basketball team.

my grandfather with his kids, holding his new baby (my aunt Julie). My dad is the shorter boy standing in front of my uncle Jeff.

Twice, in as many months, I have heard the title of this post uttered and have now adopted it as an essential descriptive phrase to use when beholding beauty that nearly hurts my eyes.

I first heard it in the British Virgin Islands when the transparently blue/green water and the scores of rainbow fish got to be just too beautiful to see over and over again (yeah, I am really not complaining here…) and one of my travel partners on that trip longed to see “the grayness of Newark” (well, she said that, but of course no one longs to see Newark)… anyway… I uttered the same phrase again while in Zion.

I’d like to think I have visited epic locales– oceans, cities & mountains known for their beauty– but I had not yet seen anything like Zion National Park.
Let me tell you now, any pictures you see, even the professional ones do not capture, in the slightest, what you will witness in person.

The Park, that welcomes three million visitors a year, is divided into 4 sections–all with gorgeous views, scenic drives and hikes for every level of mountaineer.

1.Zion Canyon containing: the Emerald Pools (that Jean, Rachel and I hiked), Angels Landing (the steepest hike in the entire park and upon your completion, if you have the energy to to make it back down, can buy a t-shirt proclaiming your victory ascent and The Narrows which has been voted by National Geographic as in the top 10 of their best 100 hikes in the Nation.

2.Kolob Canyons known for the famous Kolob Arch that is shown in many Zion pamphlets.

picture courtesy of First Light Photographs

3.Kolob Terrace: with the well known, yet challenging Subway hike. Parts of this hike travel through naturally made mountain tunnels and in some parts require partial or depending on the time of year (like last week while I was in Zion) total submersion and swimming into cold water.

photo courtesy of zionnationalpark.com

4. Highway 9 that includes the Tunnel– a spectacular scenic drive that leads to the South side of the Park.

Zion is a massive area and my time there was for exploring the park, but also for my friend’s wedding (which was IN the park and was GORGEOUS) which did not allow me excess time to get all of the hikes in I had wanted. Next time I go back, the Subway hike is first on my list.

Now that you know a little bit about Zion, and my original purpose of the trip… let me display some of my favorite pictures and accompanying stories.

Hiking around various areas of the Canyon we found ourselves in dry river beds full of … sand? Yep. Some of the softest sand to ever have passed in between my toes! The mountain rocks are all Sandstone (some of the largest amount anywhere in the World actually) and the Virgin River, over time, has eroded parts down into, well, sand.

We came across a family of Mountain goats while hiking and I didn’t zoom on this shot–we were this close.

This was the lodge we stayed at, just outside of the Park. The views were incredible and a free shuttle ran every 10 minutes to take you either into town or into the Park (of course we had our stealth Hybrid (see part 1). Us 3 girls shared a giant room with 2 queen beds, a queen sleeper sofa a nearly full kitchen and a deck overlooking the heated pool.

On one of our hikes…

Scenery shot! Too much beauty!!!!

I swear– it was not easy to climb up here even though it looks like it’d be pretty easy…

This concludes part II of the Zion trip… but there is more to come… and take a read of part I if you haven’t yet.

Last Thursday I caught the early flight to Salt Lake City to meet up with two of my old high school buddies, Jean & Rachel. We three had a reunion road trip planned to Zion National Park via Park City to attend our friend Melissa’s wedding in Zion.

When I got into Salt Lake (an hour early–thank you Delta) I had some time to kill before Rachel flew into town. I had been to Salt Lake about 10 years ago for a Husky football game and had a chance to see some of the city and surrounding area. Salt Lake is small, but it is surrounded by mountains pretty much entirely which makes it look even smaller when viewing it from above–which is exactly what I did!

After picking up my hybrid rental car and taking like hours to start it [word to the wise—hybrids make NO noise --not even at point of ignition--until they are going like 25 mph. Who knew?] I drove to the highest point I could, within reason, and found a hike up to Ensign Peak. This place, as many places in Salt Lake, has religious significance to the large Mormon population, but to me it offered a spectacular view of the mountains and city.

After the hike and the wheezing, breathless reminder that Utah is at a much higher elevation than I have been used to on the East Coast, I caught my breath at a Starbucks then toured the city –drive by style–and saw the highlights.

Below is the Capitol building that lies at the foothills of the mountain I had just climbed–near the University of Utah.

After picking up Rachel, we headed north to Park City — the ski mecca of Utah. Of course, skiing wasn’t really going on while we were there, although snow was in the forecast. We were much more interested in gabbing and cruising the town–and what a cute town it is! The “Main Street” had art galleries, restaurants, shops and outrageously expensive pet clothing stores; needless to say–we were in heaven!

Rachel & Di hanging out on the lift chair

Main Street

Absurdly long staircases which have got to be damn near impossible to climb in the snow

One of 3 enormous resident Park City dogs at the doggie boutique

Rachel scoping out some night spots for when Jean meets up with us.

We drove back to Salt Lake to pick up Jean (only 30 minutes away) and then back to Park City to have some dinner and start our reunion! We ate at what we heard is THE hangout during the ski season: The No Name Saloon. The food was awesome and while we were outnumbered by like 75 to 3 in a men to women ratio — we had plenty of time for ourselves to visit and laugh before stopping off at Lindzee O’Michaels Mixologists (see above pic) for $2 Ladies Night. Did I mention that driving is not necessary in Park City? Everything is within walking distance to the hotels!

At the No Name Saloon we got our first taste of Polygamy Porter: Why have just one?

Relaxing at Mixologists. The place had some interesting people… & I don’t mean just us!

Rachel dancing to, what else? The Beastie Boys! Its as if the Girls Trip Reunion Gods were smiling on us!

to be continued…