Memphis Trip Recap Part 1

We had, what felt like, a very long travel day to get to Memphis. In reality it wasn't, but it sure felt that way. We were on the way to the airport at 5am for our 7am flight, with a long layover in Dallas. 

I coped with cute snapchat filters, as one does.

We finally arrived around 1:30pm and were ready for FOOD. There were a few breweries I wanted to visit, so we headed to Memphis Made Brewing Co. for some beers, with plans to order Aldo pizza from next door. 

When we walked in the door, I was super excited to see pinball machines. My dad is a pinball master, and when I was in Kindergarten, he would pick me up every day at lunchtime (we had half day K), and take me to a little lunch spot where I had a grilled cheese sandwich and then we played a couple of dollars worth of pinball. And by that I mean, 5 year old Jerbear would get to shoot one or two of big Jerbear's pinballs and immediately lose the turn, because she was barely tall enough to see over the glass.

Starting at 4pm, it was $7 for all you can play pinball for 3 hours. SIGN. ME. UP. I had so much fun that I only got around to drinking one beer. ONE BEER! ME! AT A BREWERY! And Kyle had to go pick up our pizza because they wouldn't deliver and I didn't even notice he had left, because, PINBALL. I racked up two high scores before we left and have been subtly hinting to Kyle the rest of the trip how badly we need a machine at home.

Additional note: Monday afternoon I started having some horrific pain and soreness in my hands, forearms, wrists, etc. I assumed it was from carting around my carry on through the airport, etc. NOPE. It was from the hours of pinball. I was sore from playing pinball. I think I just hit the Mecca of nerd status.

One of Kyle's business associates took us out for dinner at Soul Fish Cafe, and it was probably the best meal I had the entire trip. Fried green tomatoes, fried catfish, mmmmmm.

Monday morning I woke up with a full day ahead of me as Kyle had convention stuff until supper time. I ran to target for some forgotten items, picked up a latte that was so terrible I threw it away, and then finally set out for my run. The plan: to end up at the local running store via a beautiful running path north of where we stayed. The actual run: I took a super beautiful road with no sidewalks, no shoulder, and some super steep ditches for 1.5 miles while traffic was zipping by me at 40+ mph. It was gorgeous, so I was fine with it. Then I reached the running path and I was psyched not to have to be dodging traffic and could finally shut down my google maps to conserve phone battery. Until I ended up at the end of the path, at a landfill which seemed like a really great place to ditch a dead runner's body. Somewhere along the way, I had taken a wrong term,  and my phone battery was rapidly dwindling. I opted to turn around and hope that I could find my way back in the instance that my phone died completely.

The traffic was even heavier on my way back, but it was so beautiful I almost didn't care. Almost.

After the run I headed out for some sushi at Sakura. It was good, not great, and despite the website saying their hours were 11am-10pm, they greeted me at the door with "we close at 2m to get ready for dinner." So I felt super welcome and inhaled my food to get out of there.

My next stop was the Memphis Botanic Gardens, which was just a mile and a half from the sushi spot. Except that again, no sidewalks. So I took the loooooooong way and that helped contribute to my million step count for the day. Once I finally got to the gardens, the last thing I wanted to do was walk around some more. Eeps. I found some nice shade to sit in and cool off, until the sprinklers turned on to drench me. I'm starting to think that maybe Memphis doesn't love me so much.....

I was super excited to check out the Big Bugs traveling exhibit. I really love bugs, minus mosquitos, and the sculptures were just amazing. There were 7 in total.

Daddy long legs

praying mantis

Spider, which I couldn't get a good picture of for the life of me.

Ahhhhh another bench. No sprinklers this time!

grasshopper

assassin bug

dragonfly

damselfly (which looks just like a dragon fly to me, but I learned that they differ in how they hold their wings when they're at rest. Dragonfly = open, damselfly = wings together).

And the ant. One of 3. There was also a picnic basket. So clever.

Flight Folly

The scene: Tuesday at the Airport 5:30am.
The characters: Jeri bright eyed and bushy tailed. Kyle half asleep and grumpy.

We arrive at the airport at 5:30am for our 7am flight. I'm a nervous flyer/traveler, and have only recently been okay with not arriving at our small little airport the suggested 2 hours early. We get in line to check in only to realize that I do not have my wallet. My wallet which contains my ID, credit card, debit card, etc.

Cue--wide spread panic and tears.

We live 30 minutes away from the airport. I quickly do the math and realize, I will not be making this flight. I expect Kyle to jump in and offer to save the day. He does not. This is a work trip for him, so he can not miss this flight. Shit

Shit.

Shit.

I quickly remember that I had just given a spare key to my running BFF on Sunday. Without thinking twice, I dial her number. She answers and sounds like she's as tearful as I am, until I realize that it's 5:37am and she just got woken out of her beauty sleep. I ask her to do the biggest favor of all time and rush to the airport and save me. She says yes and hangs up.

We sit and wait.

6 a.m.

I approach the ticket counter and explain that I tried to check in online but the website won't let me, presumably because I booked mine and Kyle's tickets together and he's already checked in. They reiterate that they can't do anything without my ID. I finally sweet talk them into just checking me in for the flight, but they keep my boarding pass. Fine. As long as I have a seat, I can fly through security if necessary.

We wait.

And wait.

6:30 a.m.

My anxiety is through the roof and my other running bestie is texting me in an effort to keep me calm. It's working. Sort of. Not really.

I assume because I haven't heard from BRF #1 that she has found my wallet and is on the way. Finally, she texts me at a stoplight to say she's 3 minutes away. She lets me know she'll have her window rolled down for a speedy hand off. It's like she's done this before or something! I dance around at the doors hoping that every vehicle that drives up is her matching Subie to mine. It's not.

While I'm dancing the ticket counter guy comes up and sneakily gives me my ticket, saying that he's "sure he saw my ID" and accidentally still had it at the counter. Thank you dude. You just saved me 90 seconds this morning!

Moments later Toni comes roaring through the drop off lane, I grab my wallet and fly to security. And there's no one in line and we're through in under 2 minutes.

Just in time to board our plane.

Phew.

Did I mention that when we got in the vehicle to the airport I confirmed with Kyle that he had his ID and methods of payment? And that I had two separate packing sheets because I'm that kind of prepared packer/traveler?

Yeah.

House key = in case of emergencies, including those where I'm just a moron.

Wild West Relay Report: Getting There

It all started a couple months ago when Kristin at ChasRunner posted on her blog about the Wild West Relay she had signed up for. I commented that I had wished I had signed up when I saw people posting about it on their blogs. She responded back that they had a teammate back out and had an opening, and that I SHOULD DO IT!

Now if any of you know me in real life, you know that going on a trip to Colorado with literally 11 strangers is out of my comfort zone. I'm sure Kristin can attest to that in the 1,200 emails I sent her with a gazillion ?s and me changing my mind about going at least a dozen times (a dangerous dozen times, ha!) Finally, I signed up for good and didn't look back.

I flew out of the Sioux Falls airport around noon on Thursday and was somehow put aboard the geriatric flight. Seriously, I was the only person on board who did not have to use a cane/walker/wheelchair to get on or off the plane. Must be on their way to the Denver old people convention, right? Sweet.

Once I landed I knew that Cynthia at AMBER had already landed and was at our rental car place. After going up and down countless escalators, I finally found my bag. Then after circling where I thought I should exit at least another hundred times, I finally figured out where I was going. The shuttle driver almost got me to my puke threshold on the way to the car rental place, so 5 stars go to him. This immediately reminded me that I should've packed Dramamine for the trip. Whoops!

I finally made it to the car rental place to see beautiful Cynthia waiting for me!!! :) We inhaled my pretzel then decided to head to the airport to pick up another of our teammates. But first we had to lose our rental slip, park the wrong way in a shuttle-only parking spot, and giggle like school girls.

We took turns calling our next teammate, Amanda at Run to Finish to see if she had landed and got yelled at numerous times by the "cop" patrolling the area. After finally realizing she was on the OTHER side of the airport, we picked her up and were off!

We ended up stopping outside of Greeley, CO where one of my BESTEST friends used to live, for dinner at Panera. I had the usual pre-race meal of a turkey sandwich with some delicious spicy mayo and potato soup. Nom nom. Then it was back on the road. Sadly I had to wave goodbye to the Nike outlet store before I even got a chance to meet it. Sniffle. :(

When we finally got to Ft. Collins, I was in awe of the beauty of the city. I think I would move there in a heart beat. Part of our team and our volunteers were already there! After driving 15 (??) hours from Cali, they had gotten in around 10am, and were also starving. Dinner #2, here we come. We loaded back into our sweet minivan along with Bobbi from N Her Shoes and Melissa from Trying to Heal. The pizza place we ended up at made me SUPER upset that we ate at Panera. It looked amazing. Luckily for me, they had Skinny Dip beer on top at happy hour prices. Mmmm that's the kind of dessert I was looking for. It was then that I realized that the brewery for New Belgium (maker of Fat Tire & Skinny Dip my two FAVE beers) was in Ft. Collins!!! Why oh why do I have to run a relay tomorrow!?!?!

It was right around this time that we learned that one of our teammate, Alesha's, flight had been re-routed to Amarillo, TX because of the storms in Denver, and we had no idea when she was going to get in. Uh oh. Once we learned that she was on her way to Denver, and that the second van's ETA was after midnight, we decided we would meet them in the morning and called it a night! 5:30am was going to come very quickly, especially after a full day of flying.

I settled into bed with my soon to be footsie/snuggle partner, Melissa, and fell into a fitfull/restless slumber.......

Stay tuned for Day 2 of our adventure. :)

25 Random Things

I was tagged to do this post by my old co-worker extraordinaire: Gina. Here goes....

1. I love cats. All cats. Any kitty who will purr. But I'm a snob when it comes to dogs. I hate little dogs. I hate annoying dogs. I hate dogs who still think they're "puppies." Pretty much, I only like golden retrievers because I feel like they're the only dogs who have true intelligence.

2. I cheered in college for 2 football seasons and .15 seasons of women's and men's basketball. I tried out because I've always sucked at making girl friends, and quit before my senior year because being able to see my buddies play was way more important then being thrown in the air. Gooooooooooooooooo Vikes!

3. When I was in grade school, we lived out in the country in the middle of nowhere. In the summer, I would grab a backpack of books and my dog and head out to a secret tree hideaway near Frog Creek with my dog to read. I would do this all day everyday and loved it. My dog was my best friend.

4. I'm pretty much sick of SF, but afraid that I'll never leave. I'm just a big wuss. It's nice to go out somewhere and run into someone you know. I'm afraid if I leave I'll just become an unknown.

5. I love love love the feeling that you have when you're done running. However, I dread actually running. Once I start running I'm fine, but it's a battle to get started, that's for sure.

6. I have a super sweet nephew who is 2 that I'm afraid will never know his aunt because he lives down in TX. That sucks. Maybe I'll just have to be Richie Rich so I can go visit a lot more often.

7. I always have to hold the remote for the tv and control the radio stations in a car.

8. I have this intense urge to explore the world. A few years ago I was deathly afraid of flying, but now that I've gotten over that (for the most part) I just want to go, go, go. Make up for lost time. There's so much out there that I need to see and be a part of.

9. I think I recently grew up. Ohhh the horror. I've always thought that I was very immature for my age, but at some point over the last year I think I became my age. I'd much rather sit around with a group of friends playing a board game and drinking wine then taking shots at the bar.

10. I feel sexy in my Chucks. I feel awkward in my heels.

11. My favorite foods are ice cream and cheese. Unfortunately, I'm lactose intolerant. Most of the time I don't take my lactaid pills because they're so expensive. Whoops.

12. As lame as it sounds, I miss college. I loved having all my best friends within walking distance. I loved to learn something new everyday, whether it was in the class room or just about life in general.

13. I also miss high school, but not nearly as much. Technically, I only miss high school sports. I would love to go back in time and spend even more time in the gym because those were my glory days. :)

14. My dad and I have the exact same name, except he is Jerald and goes by Jerry. For the longest time (until probably 7 years old) I thought my name was also Jerald because my mom always told me I was named exactly after my dad. I'm dumb.

15. I'm obsessed with MTV's Gauntlet/Challenge/Inferno crap. I wish I was a real world/road rules alum because I would be on every challenge. And I would totally befriend Evlyn because the two of us combined could win any and every challenge.

16. I dream very vividly. Sometimes I know I'm dreaming and other times I think it's real and then I freak out because it's so real.

17. I don't have cable or internet at my new apartment and I'm not sure if I will get it. I DVR the shows I want to watch at Taylor's, so I end up watching less tv because he FREAKS if his DVR gets more then 2% full. Plus it's an extra $80-100 I can put into savings each month.

18. I admire dancers. I'm athletic but I could never ever be a dancer. I'm amazed by them, I'm in awe of them, and I love to watch them.

19. I would probably be 900 pounds if I didn't work out. I love food soooooo much and tend to eat even when I'm not hungry. Plus the food I crave is the worst possible for you. Oh well. :)

20. I buy one new pair of jeans a year. I only buy expensive jeans, so that's all I can afford. Hah.

21. I would love to be a librarian. Maybe I'll just marry someone really rich, so I can just volunteer my time to reading to children.

22. I own over 20 bikinis. I think it's the old lifeguard in me but I buy at least one new suit a year. I love them.

23. I love argyle. If I could wear argyle from head to toe, I would. And I would be mocked mercilessly.

24. I got diamond earrings from Taylor for my birthday and I think I've taken them out only twice since then. Safe to say that I loooooooooooove them.

25. I hate the smell of fake cinnamon. Cinnamon gum, red hots, anything that is face cinnamon. It literally makes me feel like vomiting.