I arrived the day before with my advisor and the two other students from Tech (Nicole and Meghan). Katie and Rob picked me up from Sacramento and drove me to Tahoe. We had a delicious lunch at the Evergreen, which had a cool view of Tahoe. After lunch, we went to the lake and then took a hike along the paved walking path. It was so nice to be able to spend time with them and catch up, even though it definitely wasn't long enough.
Rob wading in Lake TahoeSquaw was such an awesome venue. We were right outside Olympic Village, and the trails were literally only a few hundred meters away. I went for a run every day I was there! So excited.
View from our resortMeghan, Nicole, and I went to the Olympic Village for dinner on Tuesday night. We went to Mamasake. Whenever I get a chance to have good sushi, I can't pass it up! I had the Stop Drop and Roll nori, which was blasted with habenero and serrano peppers and habenero oil! It was surprisingly not burn-your-mouth-off spicy, and was probably the best roll I have ever had. It was cool to walk around the Village and see where the 1960 Olympics were. Squaw is also the spot where the Western States 100 ultramarathon starts!
Olympic Village, where the Western States 100 starts
Our nori! My stop drop and roll is at the bottom.Wednesday, the first full day we were in Squaw, there wasn't a whole lot going on for the conference. I went for a run with a student from Dr Haut's lab at Michigan State, and when I got back, Meghan, Nicole, and I took the rental car to the Glen Alpine Trail. We drove some pretty crazy roads to get there. The trail was awesome. I was wearing my new Montrail flippy-floppies because my blisters were so bad from the weekend's triathlon, and the run didn't help them. We weren't sure quite how far we made it, because after we passed Lake Gilmore, the trail disappeared... but we were perfectly content with that. This was such a beautiful trail to hike! I would be in for running it, too. We had the trail completely to ourselves the entire way up, and on the way back down started passing people. It was a very peaceful and quiet hike with great views and climbs.
The start of the hike
Proof we were there :-D
Rockin' my Mountain Hardwear gear!
At Lake GilmoreAfter the hike, it was time to get serious. We enjoyed the welcoming banquet and socialized with our peers. The following day, sessions started, and it was time to get our learning on! Of course, I was still able to squeeze in a run everyday- and the trails were awesome. I found the actual Western States Trail, and did a lot of longer runs. A few runs in particular included 3000+ft climbs to scenic overlooks, and I mastered it all on singletrack. Gotta love it!!
Nicole and I both had poster presentations on Thursday. I didn't get too many questions, but Nicole was in the Bachelor Student Poster Competition.
There were some really good sessions, networking, socializing, and entertainment the whole week. Meghan and I were in the PhD Student Paper Competition. I got honorable mention (top 5) and she took home 2nd place. Pretty awesome showing for Michigan Tech!
Me and my poster!It was a long week, and I was excited to get home. But before I left, I got to hang out with the one and only- Robin! She and I had an exciting time catching up in the car ride from Sac to Santa Cruz. We went over the San Francisco Bridge, had ice cream at Baskin Robbins, got stuck in a traffic jam (to be expected, right?), and took a nap (well, at least I did). We saw some windsurfers, and then met up with Brandon at their apartment.
Of course, one can't go to Santa Cruz without going to the wharf! So we had a delicious dinner at a little mexican restaurant overlooking Monterrey Bay. Sweet! It was so great to see Robin and Brandon! How cool is it that I got to see Katie and Robin in the same trip?!
All in all, it was an eventful and awesome week! Now I have to get back to the real world...
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment