Welcome to Issue #283
by Rachel Brandes
National Black Cat Day
Quote of the Week
“Black cats were created to give everyone the opportunity to be owned by a mini-panther.”
– Unknown
Feline Tomfoolery
with Brady & Belichick
Dear Humans,
I’m a mini panther… Even though I look like a pathetic alien cat in this photo. I did include an oldie at the bottom because nobody should ever forget what the human did to us on our first Halloween. Turtlenecks, really?
Much Love, Brady
Brady & Belichick are Rachel’s adorable felines. These two cute boys turned two on May 4, 2025.
Random Photos of the Week
Happy Halloween… Photos by Rachel.
RunDay FunDay
with
Salty Star Run Club
Saturday was another fun meet up with Salty Star Run Club. This week was a costume run and collaboration with Sauna Public in Salt Lake City, Utah. Rachel thought this was going to be a mobile sauna/cold plunge situation but was pleasantly surprised to find out it was an actual store front.
After the run and costume contest, a good deal of attendees went inside to enjoy the sauna and cold plunge experience. Rachel walked in to take a look but did not feel comfortable taking pictures of all of the young people enjoying themselves. Click the link below to take a look inside the establishment.
Click here to learn more about Sauna Public
Saturday has a great turnout with plenty of familiar faces. Rachel also had the opportunity to meet a couple of new people.
DJ Afrolicious aka James Jessie provided great music for the event. Does this name sound familiar? If you read Issue #278, you will have seen him providing his fantastic sounds for the 3rd Annual Namastadium event. You can click the issue number to link to that story.
James is a member of the run club and opted not to run this week in order to DJ for all.
Click here to learn more about DJ Afrolicious
The costume contest was fun to watch with the caterpillar girls who Rachel also got to see at her recent 5k. There were quite a few fun costumes and not all of them lined up for the contest. It was quite entertaining to see everyone running in costumes.
And the winner is… although she did not catch his name, this fun guy actually ran in his heels (ouch). Rachel isn’t sure how far he ran, but she saw him in one of the Instagram videos running. Rachel can’t wait to see what the club has in store for November.
Blake is on the move…
Blake, Rachel’s eldest son, makes another appearance this week while adventuring in Jerusalem. He was recently reassigned (USAF) from Qatar to Israel. He’s been bouncing back and forth between the two a bit in the past year.
Thank you to Ahna and Blake for sharing these photos from Jerusalem.
Sunrise at Ensign Peak
Rachel is a lover of sunrises and can’t believe it took her almost two months in Utah before enjoying one properly. She found Ensign Peak Nature Park, which is only a few miles from her home in Salt Lake City, Utah, and made a plan.
It should be pointed out that all photos shared in this story are in their original form and have not been edited. The beauty you see is the beauty Rachel saw as she experienced the sunrise that morning.
She will admit, she was a little bit nervous about this hike. It would be very dark when the hike began and would be unknown terrain. The trail is an in-and-out and only .9 of a mile in distance. There is a 374 feet elevation gain, making that nearly half of a mile up fairly steep.
When she parked and began walking towards the trailhead in complete darkness, she was happy to see three young ladies right in front of her. When in need, the universe provides. The girls were using their cell phone lights but Rachel had a decent flashlight, which lit up the path even for the girls ahead of her.
Boy, was she glad she went when she took a pause in an attempt to regain control of her breathing and saw the view. She was only about .1 miles up and wow, just look at that view in the below picture.
Rachel and the girls traded positions a few times along the way up and she reached the peak just before them. The girls sat along a rail and cuddled together (it was chilly and a bit windy). Rachel was happy to see young people enjoying this advantage of their environment.
At the peak is an 18-foot tall rock monument that was built in 1934, it was massive. There are a good number of signs, too, but it was too dark to bother with those on this trip. The following pictures are a progression of the view as first light became the sunrise.
Below is the view on the way down the mountain. You will see the 18-foot monument at the top at the right of the photo below. Below that you will see a closer photo of the monument with a couple enjoying the view of Salt Lake City in the distance.
After experiencing both the view from the peak and the view on the way down as the sun was still hidden, Rachel thinks she is more fond of the photos from the trip down. The views were simply breathtaking.
The final photo taken was that of a trail sign pointing to the end of the trail on the way down. Rachel is sure she will visit this spot more often. A daytime trip is in order, as she expects the fall colors will only get more beautiful as the season continues. Happy fall to all, and until next time, be well.
