All Aboard The Disney Wonder!!

Today Everley, Maribeth, and I boarded the Disney Wonder. Eventually …

 

Please let us board!!!

We started with breakfast at the hotel. Then we packed up and headed to the hotel lobby with the intention of calling a cab to take us to the port. While in the lobby, we noticed another group with the same bag tags as we had. I asked them if they were going on the Disney cruise and they said yes. I asked them if they were going to take a taxi and they proceeded to tell me that they got a big limo to take them. They then said they knew of a taxi that was the cheapest. Of course did they tell me the telephone number? Nope, but the desk had already given me the number of one they recommended. Meanwhile, the other group had relocated outside, presumably to get away from us, just in case we asked to go with them. I called the orange cab company, and in about two minutes the cab was in front, waiting to pick us up. Meanwhile, the snooty group stood there and watched as we loaded up. And left.

Our cab driver was quite jolly and chatty as we headed toward the ship. Once we got there though, dropping us off proved to be a problem. For one thing, everywhere he tried to drop us off, there was a policeman that told him he couldn’t drop us off. Finally he took us about two blocks down the road and unloaded us – two women, a toddler, a stroller, one big suitcase, two medium suitcases, one small suitcase, a duffle, a tote, and a backpack. In the parking lot. He pointed us in the right direction and said, “Just follow the sidewalk down to the port.” And so we did – Maribeth wearing the backpack and pushing the stoller and pulling a suitcase. Me wearing the duffle and the tote and wheeling two other suitcases down the sidewalk. We finally arrived at the port and managed to dump our bags with the bag people and waited in the line to check in, which we did, and then waited to board, which we did, and then ate. Let the cruise begin!

After the mandatory safety drill, a nap, and some playtime, we left San Diego. At dinner we met our tablemates – a couple with a three-year-old daughter and a mom with a five-year-old daughter. The mom and five-year-old left dinner early so the daughter could go to the kids club and the mom could eat in her room. After some initial trepidation, Everley and the other little girl hit it off and ate Mickey Bars together. All in all, a nice first day on the boat!!

One of the best things about cruising!!

A whole different kind of cruising ...

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Today was a great day because:  breakfast with Everley and MB; taxi driver/ride and leaving the other group at the hotel; walking to the port; checking in/getting on ship; lunch and post-lunch nap; meeting table mates; on the cruise!!

From Bay to Breakers and San Francisco to San Diego

Race Day!  Since the race didn't start until 8am and was about a block away from our hotel, Molly and I managed to sleep in.  Even though we were probably asleep by 9pm last night.  Anyhow, we got up and were soon out the door and waiting in our corral.  Rather than attempt to write a dissertation on the race, I'll just list the bullet points:

• The race started 30 minutes late.  We found out later it was because the race people were trying to erect a banner at the top of Hayes Street Hill and didn't get it done before the start of the race.  Waiting around for 30 minutes is no fun, even with the flying tacos.  Which brings me to ...
• The Flying Tacos.  Basically, at the beginning of the race in the corrals, people get soft tacos and sling them around like Frisbees.  It's as fun as it sounds.
• There are 4 (or maybe 5) corrals.  For 45,000 people.  In comparison, Nashville's Country Music Marathon had 35 corrals for 35,000 people.  I'm not sure who's math is correct.
• This is a party race, and I mean party.  There are drunk people running and drunk people lining the streets.  Speaking of people lining the streets ...
• This is probably the most crowd-friendly race I've ever done.  From the start until you get into the park for the last two miles, there are crowds lining the streets.  A great majority of these people are dressed in some sort of costume.  And consuming liquid from juice bottles (like Sunny Delight) although I think it may be more of a juice "mix".  And they are cheering and partying.  I had one random stranger shake my hand and another one tell me he was proud of me.  The party runner people and the party crowd people would often join together for one big party.  Speaking of which ...
• Runners and their groups (the majority of which who were in costume) would stop right in the middle of the street.  Sometimes to chat, sometimes to drink, sometimes to chant.  Which would have been adorable if you didn't have to swerve to avoid them.  Because you never knew when the group might stop.  And speaking of groups ...
• There would also be large groups of people on the sidelines.  Sometimes blocking another part of the course.  There was also the cheering group that was throwing out beads like Mardi Gras.  Which was great fun unless you were trying to get through that group.  Because it was nearly impossible because people were trying to get these beads like they were straight from Tiffany's.
• There were nekkid people, but not as many as I was expecting.  There were far more men in snug body suits showcasing their business.  And I didn't see any nekkid women.
• Hayes Street Hill, if you've never been up it, is basically a mountain disguised as a street.  There was a contest for the fastest person to run up the hill.  I won the prize for getting up the hill and not having a heart attack.
• At the finish, the water choice was Propel, which was a welcome change from the usual plain water.  And the bus to take us back to the hotel was a party bus - complete with tables!
• Due to the late start and the long bus ride, Molly and I got back to the hotel with around 15 minutes to pack our bags and get out before check-out time of noon.  Which we accomplished, meeting the housekeeping lady at our door.  We also managed to get on Bart and to our gates for our separate flights to out new locations (Molly was headed home while I was headed to San Diego).  Unfortunately, both flights were delayed for a variety of reasons.  I got to San Diego only an hour late.  Molly got to Nashville around 2 hours late - like around 2am.

Anyhow, it was a fun race.  It's certainly not a race one would necessarily do for a PR (like I do any race for that), but it's definitely a race if you want to party with your friends. 

And who is today's race for?  It's for my Udderly Pink teammate and bud, Sharon.  For one thing, she's from California.  And for another thing, she was part of our San Francisco Udderly Pink team.  It was her first 3-Day, and the last day she had just about had it (along with the rest of us) and we nearly had to keep her from walking out in traffic toward the end.  And as for the other reason - let's just say it has to do with Columbo and a story she told us during that walk.  Sharon did the DC walk with us, and signed up for Philly, too.  She's done a couple of 5Ks, and is usually willing to do whatever we talk her into doing.  She's also funny and kind and just a nice person to hang with.  For at least 60 miles!!  So Sharon - this one's for you!

And with that, I'll leave you with some pictures...

The back side - I'll leave the front side open to your imagination ...

My two besties ...

I wonder if they were running for breast cancer ...

8 miles with this on?

A flying taco.  Landed on my back.



Flying tacos in action

Salmon swimming upstream - they start at the finish and head to the start.

Molly.  Headed up Hayes Street Hill.  With determination.



The bottom of Hayes Street Hill

A man and his dog.  For 8 miles.

 

A man and his dots ...

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Today was a great day because:  finishing the Bay to Breakers; sights along the race route and nice people; checking out on time; Bart and lunch and late planes; getting to San Diego and van driver; meeting up with Everley and Maribeth; Molly finally getting home

I Left My Feet ... In San Francisco

Well, at least I will have by this time tomorrow.  Of course, two years ago I really left my feet in San Francisco when Udderly Pink did the 3-Day here.  But that's another story ...

Anyhow, after a full night's sleep, I managed to roust Molly from the bed to go for breakfast.  Steve and I had eaten at Dotties a few years ago, so we decided to try that again.  It was only a little over a mile away, so we decided to walk on down there.  It's good we left when we did, because by the time we got there, the line was forming.  Since it had just opened for the morning, we did get a seat - albeit at a table for 8, so we got to eat with 6 random strangers.  But nobody seemed to care, and each group managed to carry on their own conversations.  And of course, once the food arrived, all conversation ceased.  Molly and I had the following:

Molly's breakfast sammie of prosciutto, avocado, provolone, and fried egg

My scramble of pulled pork, egg, cheese, and onions

And yes, it was as good as it looks - and as much as it looks!! By the time we left, the line was out the door and around the corner of people waiting their turn. 

We decided to walk off our breakfast and head for the race expo.  Molly and google maps led us down the correct streets - another mile or so - and we picked up our race packets.  And decided to walk back to the hotel - another few miles.  The weather was great - sometimes cool and sometimes windy, but beautiful.  After a stop at Walgreen's for supplies and Starbucks for refreshment, we headed back to the room for a siesta.

We got out of the room once more for dinner and walked around three miles down to Fisherman's Wharf and Ghiradelli Square.  Mainly so Molly could have her pre-race milkshake.  By this time, our feet decided they needed a break before tomorrow, so we cabbed it back to the hotel, which by car doesn't seem like such a long haul.

Anyhow, now it's time to call it a day and head to bed.  Tomorrow we get to run with the nekkids!!

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Today was a great day because:  breakfast at Dotties; walking to places; shopping here and there; cab dude; seeing places we walked on the 3-Day

Westward Ho!!

So it's time for my extended vacay.  I know, I seem to vacay a lot.   But it's all in the name of family.  Really.  I would stay at home and clean house and bake bread and knit if I didn't have to accompany my by-blood and by-marriage relations to various places.  Mostly to keep them out of trouble.  This time it's with Molly.  Who is going to run with nekkid people on Sunday.  Of course I have to accompany her there, too.  Only we're not going to run nekkid.  For realz.

Molly picked me up and headed to the airport.  She drove because she's leaving her car for her return at midnight on Sunday (and decided not to call in favors for somebody to pick her up - she's saves her favors for the really big stuff).  We get to the airport and find the line for security way longer than anything we've ever seen at BNA.  Of course, since I paid big bucks for TSA Pre, I sail right through.  Meanwhile, A-List Molly, while she doesn't have to get at the end of this line, finds her special line gets her through quicker, sort of.  Eventually she gets through and joins me at Gate 16, where I've already had breakfast.

Even though I checked in two minutes after I was legally able to, I still got a B boarding pass (in Southwest terms).  Since I really wanted a window seat (and the ability to carry on my luggage - yes, I packed for 14 days in a carry-on), I decided to see if I could upgrade at the desk.  Which I could for $40 - totally worth it for a four hour window seat.  And soon we're on our way.

 Of course, I am not a super fan of flying.  And after about two hours, it seems this flight will never end.  I look out the window, read magazines, attempt to get on the internet, attempt to nap, and eat my pretzels and peanuts.  My middle-seat mate (not Molly, who is A List and gets a window seat, in this case it was behind me), wasn't too much into conversation except for her travelling companion who was sitting next to Molly (sure, we could have done a seat switcheroo, but we didn't).  Eventually, we arrived at our destination - LAX - which wasn't our final destination, but since there are no longer any nonstop flights to San Francisco from Nashville, this was the best we could do. 

We snacked in the airport and waited for our next quick flight to San Fran.  We sat on the left side of the plane, as Steve suggested, again with window seats (I got an A boarding pass this time), again one behind the other.  This flight is only an hour, so even I could manage it.  This time my middle-seatmate was exhausted and slept the whole time, and I managed to complete two Sudoku's in flight.  And soon we were in San Francisco, where we managed to board the Bart and get to our hotel with only a few hiccups - it didn't help that there is massive street work going on around the hotel, so it was a puzzle to find the front of the building.

Anyhow, we checked into our room on the 12th floor, with a pretty nice view.  We ventured out to eat, since we were hungry, and ended up at Super Duper Burgers, even though we probably would have been content to eat at Merely Okay Burgers.  But our food was good, we made it back to the hotel, and pretty much called it a night.  We do live an exciting life ...

Until tomorrow ...

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Today was a great day because:  TSA Pre quick line; upgrading to A; safe, smooth flight; sights from the air along the way; Starbucks cup and treats at LAX; riding the Bart and finding our hotel with Molly; Super Duper Burgers; sleep!!

Just The Facts ...

1.  My house is sorta clean.  By that I mean the toilets are clean and you generally will not be falling over stuff trying to get to the bathroom.

2.  Molly's early birthday party is in the books.  Even though I bought smoked turkey instead of chicken and Molly had to go get chicken to remedy the situation and therefore prepare her own birthday dinner.

3.  I am leaving town tomorrow for a series of trips.  I haven't packed yet.  I don't know what to pack.  I do have a pile of 6 shirts sitting on the bed.  I have yet to take the suitcase out of the closet.

4.  I will not be back in town until June 2.  I will be visiting in some way or another, the cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Vancouver, Sitka, Juneau, Ketchikan, and Skagway.  I'm taking a swimsuit.

5.  My goal is to pack everything in a carry-on suitcase.  Including washer/dryer combo sheets that are probably at least three years old.

6.  My flight leaves at 9:10 am tomorrow morning.  I have plenty of time to unload the dishwasher and dryer and put away their contents.  And then finish packing.  Before or after I get a shower and wash my hair and then dry it and then flat iron it.

7.  I think I'll just go to bed now ...

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Today was a great day because:  Molly's family birthday party; picking up Everley at school; Lindley and Everley time