Toto, We're Not in Maine Anymore

Work remains busy. Started the running week off on Wednesday 😂 with a Highland Green run at 6:20 am. Overcast with slippy sloppy slightly snowy conditions underfoot. (6.0 miles)

Didn't manage to get out on Thursday, so was up REALLY early on Friday for a quick Highland Green run before Mom and Dad picked me up at 6:30 am for the drive down to Boston to catch our flight to El Paso for Morgan's graduation. Started at 4:50 am. Too early 😴 and my headlamp died.🤪 Good thing there are a lot of street lights! (6.0 miles)

Thankfully travel went smoothly all day and we arrived on time. I will admit that by the time we got to the restaurant for dinner after Kristen and Morgan got us at the airport, I was wiped out though! Did rally for a short walk with Kristen, Morgan and Cutter around their apartment complex at 8:30 before heading to bed! (0.33 miles walked)

Got a bit of work done in the quiet of the morning on Saturday and then headed out for a run around 7:15. Ran down the main drag and into some of the neighborhoods. 38 degrees, bright and calm. The mountains were very pretty in the distance but otherwise, honestly not the best running. Their idea of parks is a little square of grass with a paved path around it 😂, nothing is green and it was all concrete. Definitely not Maine! There were some flowers and cacti in bloom though, so those were nice. (6.0 miles)

After I got home and took a quick shower, Kristen, Cutter and I went out for a walk and to stop at the coffee shop for a drink. Cutter got a pup cup! (0.47 miles walked)

Then around 10:00, Mom and Dad came over from their hotel and we drove to one of the pocket parks for a walk (1.27 miles) before heading back to Kristen's for lunch and to relax for a bit until Morgan's graduation later in the day.

Morgan bedazzled her cap, Kristen ordered an amazing cake, and we all enjoyed the ceremony at UTEP. It is a huge school and despite being a December graduation, there were still 4 sessions of graduations! Wow. They did a nice job though and it went by quickly but with enough pomp and circumstance that it felt special. It was nice to be there to celebrate Morgan and her achievement! 🎉🎉

Morgan's boyfriend Alex was kind enough to join me on Sunday morning for a run. We had fun chatting away as we ran out to the sports complex and back, with our route looking like a perfect square with a little string attached 😂 Still a lot of concrete but we did run along a few stretches of red dirt/rock by the side of the road. (6.0 miles)

Then at 10:30, we loaded up the car with Cutter too and headed over to sports complex for a family walk. Walked the loop around the exterior of the complex. Breezy, and a zillion kids playing in a soccer tournament! (1.47 miles)

We stopped for a delicous lunch of pizza on the way back and then did a gift open extravaganza for Morgan of graduation, Christmas and birthday presents all at once 😂 followed up by an early dinner.

After dinner, Kristen dropped us at the airport hotel where we hit the hay early for a 4:30 am wakeup on Monday! Travel went relatively smoothly again, with only one minor delay, and thankfully even the traffic driving home on Monday afternoon wasn't terrible. It was a short trip, but great to see Kristen and Morgan 💗💗