Weekend In NYC - September

I found out in mid-August that I needed to be in the NJ office for work from September 18-20th. There was a noon EST meeting Monday that I needed to be present for, so I would have had to fly on Sunday to make it to the east coast in time for the meeting. So, rather than flying on Sunday I flew on Friday afternoon and spent the weekend in NYC. I stayed at Hotel 32|32, which has been a favorite place of mine to stay in the city for the last two years.

Saturday morning I got up and went to a class at Crunch, and then came back and got ready to go for the day. I walked through Madison Square Park, 

to the Union Square Farmer's Market,

and then had lunch at Hu Kitchen. This is a grain free egg bagel sandwich.

I then walked to Times Square to go to the TKTS booth and get a ticket to a Broadway show on Saturday night.

I hopped on the Subway from Times Square to head to the UES to walk around. I had wanted to get a Pressed Freeze, but when I got to the Pressed Juicery that was on the UES I found out they did not have a freeze machine. So, decided on a coffee from the Hu Kitchen that is on the UES.

I walked to Carl Schurz Park and sat by the East River for a while and watched the dogs at the dog park. This was only a few blocks from my apartment and somewhere I went often on the weekends.

Saturday night was Kinky Boots - I had considered seeing this show the last few times I was in NYC and it was a fun show for sure.

Given I only bought one ticket I had a great seat. 

Sunday morning I got up and tried a boutique gym in NYC called Solace. It is a lot like BODI and given it is directly across the street from the hotel I had seen the gym on past trips. It was a good workout and a fun time.

Sunday got my coffee at Stumptown and then walked 5th Ave to the park.

There is a new Lulu store that is huge.

And I got detoured at the Trump Tower - I think it is always blocked off like this now, but there was extra security given the U.N. sessions were beginning the next day.

I walked through Central Park and it was showing the first signs of fall. Will be back in early November, so am hoping it is peak fall in Central Park at that time.

Sunday night I went to the new Church of the City NY and then to dinner at Bareburger by my hotel. I always enjoy getting back to the city and it is good for me to be there every so often. When I am in AZ, I sometimes miss my NYC life and all the fun times I had living there. But, when I get back there for a few days, I remember all the reasons why I decided not to make NYC a forever home - the difficulty of getting anywhere, the increased alone time, the small spaces, walking with luggage on a rainy Monday morning during rush hour to the train station and all the cabs being taken and Uber being on surge pricing. All that being said, if I had to make the decision all over again that I did in 2008 I would make the same decision. I love NYC.

Granite Mountain Labor Day Hike

For Labor Day 2017 Dave and I took a day trip to Prescott to hike Granite Mountain.

The first mile or so of the hike was pretty well shaded so it was nice and cool.

Trail No. 261 to the summit of Granite Mountain.

The total mileage to the top was right at about 4 miles. It was a warm day in Prescott (about 90 degrees) and there was no shade for the majority of the trail. There was a fire on this mountain about 2 weeks before the Yarnell fire that killed the 19 Hotshots. That same group actually fought the fire on this mountain. Due to the fire, there was no shade on this trail. As we got closer to the top, we were taking advantage of any shade given by the large boulders (which was not much).

Made it to the top in a little under 2 hours.

Individual photos at the top :)

And a selfie.

We stayed at the top for about 15 minutes and then started heading back down. There were some trees with shade not far from the top so we stopped there on the way down and had a snack to refuel for the 4 miles back to the car.

This was an enjoyable hike. If I had it to do over again, I think I would wait a month or so to do this. The hike and elevation gain was not too difficult (this hike is just rated as moderate), however, the sun made it pretty tough on this day. I was thankful I remembered a hat but was wishing I was not wearing black leggings.

Even though it was hot day and 8ish miles round trip, it was truly a great day of rest and rejuvenation for mind, body and soul.

Signing out when we finished so no one needed to come looking for us.

I always enjoy getting out in nature and spending some time with DH.