Yeah, I knew I couldn't stay away. I ended up bringing my computer with me, because I couldn't stand the thought of
not writing a blog.
I had to get up at 4:30 this morning to shower and get ready to head to the airport. The kids stayed the night with my parents, so Jerry was able to drive us. We picked up Renee at 5:30, and got to the airport at about 6:00. I didn't have much hope of getting on the first flight--last night, Brian told me it would be a very close call. I printed out our boarding passes and we went through security and to our gate.
At the gate, we had to watch the monitor to see if our names were on the "cleared" list, meaning we were able to make it on the flight. The entire plane boarded, and all of us stand-by passengers were waiting for our names. There were just three seats left, and Renee and I got two of them! So we made the first flight, at 7:25.
I was terrified to fly, per usual. I opted not to have the wine before the flight, because I didn't know if I would make this particular flight or not. I was super relieved to see that I was in the front of the plane (because of my fear of flying, I am very picky about where I sit--ideally, I would have a window seat just over the wing). My biggest fear was having to sit in the back, where it is most turbulent. But anyway, I was in row 5, which made me happy. I was in a middle seat, which I really didn't like, but beggars can't be choosers, right?
I swallowed two Xanax right away, and hoped it would kick in fast. I felt like my heart was going to pound out of my chest when we we took off, and then it was a little bumpy right away. The Xanax didn't even kick in until halfway through the 1 hr 45 minute flight. Thankfully, the flight was uneventful. My favorite part? Biscoff cookies!!
My brother Brian picked us up, and we went to his house for a little while before the race expo opened. The Xanax had made me super sleepy, unfortunately, so I ended up taking a 30 minute nap. Then we headed to the expo. Brian dropped us off there.
We saw a fireman right as we walked in...
We picked up our bibs and our jackets (instead of t-shirts, we got jackets--I wish I could say they are awesome, but they're pretty cheap nylon fabric. I don't know if I'll ever wear it. But again, beggars can't be choosers. I bought a couple of Gu's to have for the race tomorrow. The expo was really small, which surprised me. It's a women's race, so I thought they'd have lots of stuff to buy! ;)
We had a quick lunch at a little cafe--I got a chicken basil pesto panini, which was pretty good. Brian picked us up, and we drove him back to his house, then took his truck to the Mall of America. It was so funny, while we were driving, the car next to us kept looking over at us, and hitting the break, looking at us, then trying to get ahead of us--just acting very strangely. Then they were sticking their arms out the window with their cell phones, taking pictures of the front of Brian's truck! Why? Well...
It was so funny! I actually hadn't even noticed the moustache when he picked us up at the airport. (And in case you're wondering you can get one at
www.carstache.com).
We didn't spend a whole lot of time at the mall. We walked around the first two floors. I went into Teavana, and we sampled some tea. HOLY COW, it was soooo good. I don't even remember what it was, but I bought a cup of it (it was $5, which I would never normally pay for a cup of tea, but it was
that good). Renee tried a chai one, and she loved it as well. I'm going to have to look into buying some tea from their website.
We just spent some time browsing some of the funner stores. Renee got a chair massage at Brookstone:
On the way out, we got a frozen yogurt. I should have taken pictures: Renee got a small vanilla topped with fruit; I got a regular sized vanilla with cookie dough, Oreos, and Reese's Pieces. My only justification is that it was fro-yo instead of ice cream ;)
Brian made dinner for us, and it was delicious! It was penne with a chicken pesto cream sauce, and sauteed kale. The perfect pre-race dinner.
All-in-all, it was a great day. I can't WAIT for the race to be over tomorrow, so we can really relax and enjoy the time away from home!
