Illinois Warrior Dash

Another summer weekend, another quick trip to meet up with Scott.

This time, Chicago.  To camp with his family, celebrate his sisters birthday,  and watch all the cousins do the Warrior Dash.  (Because my foot still isn't cooperating enough for me to do it, too.)

Sunset somewhere between Kansas City and Chicago

After a stop at a little Mexican restaurant for some burritos in Chicago (that leaked all over Scott's jeans), we made the two hour drive to Hickory Hollow Campground outside of Utica, IL.

Most everyone was asleep by the time we made it, but I did get to meet some of the family -- in the dark. :)

First thing Saturday morning:  another training run (or bike)

And I got to meet these two cuties as soon as we got back :

My niece sent a My Little Pony for Scott's niece.  And then they FaceTimed!  

Cutest little girls ever, if you ask me.

We spent some time playing with the kids, eating breakfast, packing lunch... 

Then it was time to get geared up for the Warrior Dash and head to the course, about an hour away.

The whole gang:

 The plan was for Scott to stay back with me, since I couldn't run it.  But after finding a wristband on the ground and tying it on his wrist, we convinced him to do the race, too -- but with all of his camera gear!

There was a storm moving in, but none of us thought it was going to be that severe.  

Boy were we wrong.

About 30 minutes after the group took off (and left me with all the backpacks and keys and water bottles), the sky started to turn black, the thunder rolled and the lightning struck.  

And they announced that they were closing the course  so very one had to leave immediately to take shelter.  

Ummm, excuse me, what?  What am I supposed to do with my whole group out ON the course somewhere?  I refused to leave, even after being asked several times by different race workers.

As soon as they announced they were closing, I noticed the t-shirt people closing up shop.  No one had grabbed their shirts yet and left all their tickets with me.  So I ran over there as fast as I could and started being slightly pushy to make sure we all got shirts.  And by "we all" I mean I got one for Scott and I, too -- even though we didn't pay.  They were all in such a hurry to get out of there, they were basically just throwing whatever I asked at me.  

So now I had backpacks and keys and waterbottles AND 10 t-shirts to stand there and hold -- while I searched the finishing area for anyone that looked familiar.

Eventually, Scott came.  He ran to the car to drop off his cameras, and then came back to help me with everything esle.  A few minutes later, the rest of the gang showed up.

It hadn't started raining yet, but it was certainly thundering and lightning.  And about 5 seconds after we all made it to the car and took this picture (below), the wind picked up and the rain came fast and heavy.  There might have been some slight rotation in the clouds, too...but nothing touched down.

Since they were some of the last off the course, there was no where for them to rinse off.  Everything had been completely shut down. (Including the t-shirt tent!)

Insert Mother Nature to save the day.  Nothing like a cold rain shower -- in the lightning!

All cleaned off (well, as clean as the rain can get you) and drying off back in the car:

Back at the campsite, we all hung out and played games in the big camper.  It continued to rain most of the night - which meant the fan wouldn't stay open/on.  It has a rain sensor that make it automatically shut off and close when it's wet.  So that made for one hot and loud (rain and thunder) night of sleeping!

______________________________________

Sunday morning we cleaned up, packed up, and hit the road back to Chicago.  We both had flights to catch out of O'Hare.  But not without some drama...

I got a text saying my flight was cancelled that evening.  So I got on line, got on the phone, got re-booked and thought I had adverted disaster.  

Road trip selfie!

We made it to O'Hare, through security, and to our gates, which happened to be just a few apart.  Considering how big O'hare is, that worked out nice!

What didn't work out nice is this:

Delayed, delayed...delayed, delayed again.  Oh let's just make that cancelled.  

Ugh.

I was SO mad, considering this had just happened to me the previous weekend!  Nothing like two unplanned (and unwelcomed) nights in Chicago in two weeks!

After doing all I could -- talking to everyone, calling everyone, exhausting all efforts, I had to just settle for a Motel 6 down the road.  I even tried getting a rental car and just driving home over night so I didn't have to miss any more work, but even that didn't work out.  There were NO one-way rentals available from anyone I called.

I got to the room, showered, and went straight to bed.  Too tired to even eat dinner.  Up early and right back to the airport to try and make a Stand-By flight, to not avail.  I did eventually make it to work for a half-day.

The funny thing?  Scott made it to London before I made it back home to Kansas City!

United and O'Hare will not be seeing any more of me for awhile after this...

Boston -> Bristol (Vermont) -> NYC

The summer travels continue:

Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, New Jersey, New York.  In 4 days.

Just a typical weekend, right?

After leaving Scott in Jacksonville, FL, I flew in to Boston two weeks later for our next rendezvous.
(He drove all that way by himself.)

As I got on the plane that evening, I noticed my face feeling hot.  And when I looked in the mirror, I saw this:

Red Cheeks

I was having an allergic reaction to ... 

I couldn't tell Scott at the time, but it was from trying on scuba masks that afternoon.  Something in/on the masks was not agreeing with my sensitive skin.

I had him googling all sorts of things trying to figure out what it was from, and I think I had him convinced it was from the salad I ate for lunch.  HA!  

It actually got worse before it got better, and there wasn't a thing I could do about it since I was already on the airplane for a 2.5 hour flight to Boston.

Once I landed and got off, he assured me it didn't look THAT bad...

His friend, Ryan, arranged his flight to land about the same time, so we picked him up, set up a camper chair in the back of the van, and took off for a quick night time tour of Boston.

Ended up at a little sushi place around midnight for some food, and then crashed, oddly enough, about two blocks from my friends Angie and Luke's house.  What are the odds!?

Saturday morning, bright and early, we hit the road from Boston to Ryan's hometown of Bristol, Vermont.  

Stopped in small-town New Hampshire for an amazing brunch, and had to get a picture of the little local farmers market, complete with "yarn bombed" trees!

We were following Ryan - through New Hampshire, in to Vermont - went he turned on to this dirt road:

And then stopped and got out.  We were going on "just a little walk" - and assured us that flip-flops would be fine.

It started out okay.  Like this:

But soon the dirt turned in to thick, slippery mud.  

And then there were a couple of water crossings.  

And hills and tree branches sticking out of the ground.

And flip-flops were definitely not okay.

It was worth it when we got to his family's cabin - a one room cabin they built on a small piece of land surrounded by national forest.

On the way back:

"Forget this again.  I'll take a piggy-back ride now."

I gave Ryan a hard time the rest of the weekend.

  What makes you think this is okay to hike in leather sandals?  

Sliding through mud.

Sticks poking you everywhere...  

Come on! ;)

We made it to Ryan's house in small-town Bristol, Vermont, and it was just gorgeous.  I hadn't ever been anywhere in the north-east, and was soon wondering why I hadn't put that on the list sooner!

We had a chill night at the house with Ryan's family and friends, grilling out, playing with the kids, and dominating the guys in a mean game of charades/taboo.

Scott and I slept in the van that night - even though Ryan and Annie had a room for us in the house.  I was excited to try out the new mattress (finally not a deflating air mattress).  Plus I knew we would more than likely be woke up by one, if not two, crying kids at some point in the night if we stayed inside. ;)

_____________________________________________________

Sunday morning, after Scott ran up this mountain, he came back to get me and we walked up again.  

(I won't mention how tired and worn out I was from just the walking part.)

The view of Bristol from the top:

Checking me for ticks once we got back - after finding one on his leg:

Later that day, after running some errands, we made a quick stop at a small waterfall along the river.

It wasn't a particularly warm day, and water was run-off from a mountain, so obviously just a little chilly.  

But the waterfall.  It was calling Scot's name -- to jump off of. 

I really wanted to do it, but the thought of being THAT cold and having no towel or warm clothes was just enough to push me towards staying on dry land.

So off Scott went, with my brand new GoPro in hand to film his jump.

GoPro in right hand:

GoPro NOT in right hand:

He dropped it as soon as he hit.  And it was gone, despite his best efforts of braving the cold water (in his underwear!) to try and find it.

Ryan and I stayed warm and dry perched above the water on the cliffs.

Sunday afternoon, Ryand and I hung out with the kids - including two nephews and some neighbor kids we picked up - at a park while Scott and Annie went for a run.  

Next up for afternoon entertainment:  the slack line

Me, who can't get more than two steps on that thing:

And Scott, who never falls off:

That night, we made homemade pizzas and had a relaxing night re-telling old travel stories. (Ryan and Annie went on an around the world one year trip, and I pretty  much think they're the coolest people ever for it.)

______________________________________________________________

Ryan and Annie both had to work on Monday, so Scott and I got the kids fed and dropped them off at daycare, which was just a quick walk down the street.

Scot was still not happy about losing my new GoPro, so he got his goggles, and we went back to the waterfall to look again.

He had higher hopes than I did.  I thought there was basically no chance of finding it.  It surely was long gone down the fast flowing river by then (almost 24 hours later) - but he wanted to look anyways.

The search didn't last too long, as the frigid water was just too cold for him without a wetsuit on.  He was turning colors in a matter of minutes and had to abort the mission.

Warmed up and back at the house, we cleaned up, showered, packed up, and hit the road towards New York City.

We stopped at some outlet malls in New York for lunch (Applebees), and I couldn't help but notice how green and tree-filled New York was.  The only "New York" I' had ever known was the cement jungle of the city, which is a stark contrast from what we drove through for hours.

Of course we had to make a stop for a picture outside the Big Apple:

NYC in the background!

It was...interesting...getting the van through New York City.  And it didn't help that I was pretty  much the worst map reading navigator that day.  (Insert a few u-turns and we were right back on track!)

Scott dropped me off at La Guardia right around rush hour -- so he had one heck of a time navigating the van out of the city on his own.  And I also had one heck of a time actually making it home!

Delay after delay in New York...and finally, by the time I actually  made it to Chicago around midnight, they had cancelled my second flight all together.  So I, along with hundreds of other stranded passengers, were directed to 500 cots they had set up in the terminal.  Since the cancellations were weather related, they weren't giving out hotel vouchers, and all the rooms within 20 miles of O'Hare were booked up.  

I was on stand-by for a flight the next day - and not an early one.  Ugh.  

Sometimes (okay, most of the time) raveling is super fun, but sometimes it's just super annoying.