Summertime is upon us! We've had some truly great weather recently, with temperatures generally peaking at or below 80 degrees. Really a blessing compared with years past when it wasn't uncommon to see several days in the 90's during May. I have been taking full advantage; keeping my windows open during the day and enjoying long walks with Barkley in the evening.
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| Mr. Barkley, out enjoying the nice weather |
Meanwhile, my summer calendar is really filling up quick. We've gotten our summer vacation plans squared away - Curacao was the winner from my
previous post, so looking forward to that in early July. We'll be staying on the western end of the island, in
Westpunt, which is about 40 minutes away from the capital of
Willemstad and considered the "quiet" side of the island. Apparently all the best beaches are located here, and it's supposed to have a very "small town" vibe, with only a hand-full of restaurants and limited lodging options, most of which are apartment-style vacation rentals. The place we're staying at,
Marazul Dive Resort, was rated #1 on TripAdvisor for places to stay in Curacao. Marazul is a collection of individually owned seaside villas perched atop a small cliff, with stairs leading down to the ocean for easy access to snorkeling and diving. We rented ours through Vacation Rental By Owner (www.vrbo.com) - a website I had seen in passing while looking for a ski condo this past winter, but never really taken seriously. However, I must say I have been quite impressed with our rental experience thus far. I received a response to my initial inquiry from the owner within the hour, along with with a detailed description of the condo and pricing for our stay. I followed up with a phone call the following night, which resulted in a nice chat about the condo and logistics for our arrival. The owner then sent me a detailed "Arriving in Curacao" packet, with helpful information about All Things Curacao; on par with the advice you'd find in a guidebook, but much more personalized. Needless to say, I am a bit excited for our next adventure!
In other news, I signed up for my first half marathon - the
Woodrow Wilson Bridge Half Marathon on October 7th! The route follows the capital area greenway along the Potomac River near Washington, DC area, starting at
Mt. Vernon Estates in Virginia, and ending at
National Harbor, Maryland. I still need to finalize my training plan, but am thinking I'll need to start training in early July after our vacation to Curacao. Not really looking forward to the 7am (6am?) wake-up calls that will be required to "beat the heat" for my long runs in July & August, but I am looking forward to having a goal to train towards, and to push myself to do something new. Unlike the 5k runs I've done in the past, I know I won't be able to "wing-it" for 13.1 miles, so it sounds like I will be spending quite a bit of my time in late summer running in the shade of
Umstead Park. BRING IT!
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