April 09, 2014

Ragnar SoCal, Part 4

On Monday, Colleen woke up at 7:00 and went for a 6-mile run! I wasn't feeling so ambitious. I'd finally gotten a good night's sleep, though, so I was grateful for that. John had to work; Dean and Thomas headed to the Midway; and us girls (Martha, Bonnie, Cat, Colleen, and me) decided to head to the beach for a walk.

Bonnie had never been in the Pacific Ocean before (and I couldn't remember if I had or not when I was in San Diego over 10 years ago), so she wanted to step foot in the ocean. Bonnie is absolutely adorable, and I took a bunch of pictures of her. Then we wrote "Strangers to Sole Mates" in the sand, and asked someone to take our picture. I love it!


I hadn't had breakfast yet, and I was starving! We stopped in a little bar called Sandbar, and ordered a few appetizers to share and a round of margaritas--a nice breakfast ;)  It was 11:00, so I guess it wasn't really breakfast by then.


After that, we went for a long walk along the boardwalk, all the way to the pier. I couldn't believe how many people were out walking, running, skate boarding, and bike riding! It was a Monday afternoon, and there were SO many people out. I came across more runners in a few hours than I do in about a year where I live!

Dean and Thomas told us they'd meet up with us for lunch after the Midway, so we started looking for a place to eat. We found a place called FatFish, and that looked good. So we had another round of margaritas while we waited for the guys. I wasn't very hungry, because we'd eaten the appetizers just a few hours prior, so I ordered lobster-stuffed mushrooms. It was only three mushrooms, plus a few crostini. They were really good!

After lunch, we (sadly) had to say good-bye to Thomas, because Dean was going to drive him to the airport. Saying good-bye to each person was so hard, because there were so many things I wanted to say, but they just couldn't really be put into words. Cat and I walked to a little clothing shop, because we wanted to buy the same shirts that Bonnie and Martha had just bought. They were super cozy!

As if we hadn't eaten enough in the past few hours, we all went to Yogurtland and got self-serve fro-yo. For the first time (in my entire life, probably), I ended up throwing a third of mine away, because I was just too full to eat it. It had sounded SO good the whole time we were in San Diego, but I should have gotten it when I was hungry.

Dean met us again after taking Thomas to the airport, and we went to a souvenir shop. I looked around to try and find something for Jerry (I'd gotten the kids something at the zoo--paper made out of panda poop!) but I couldn't find anything. Dean still hadn't stepped foot in the ocean, so we went back out to the beach and took a bunch of pictures.


We played around for a little bit, and then it was time to take Colleen to the airport. Again, with the good-byes... so hard! We had plans to meet up with John and his Aunt Sue after he got done working, so we went to one of John's favorite bars called Gossip Grill. We sat outside, and it was so nice out! I ordered a caprese panini, but only picked at it, because I felt like I'd done nothing but eat all day, and I wasn't even close to hungry. But I was still in the mood for margaritas, and Bonnie and I got talked into ordered an "Ass Kicker"... it wasn't nearly as strong as the name made me think it'd be. But it was pretty!


We sat and chatted for a few hours, because it was the last time we'd all be together. Everyone had morning flights.

With Colleen and Thomas gone, I had the hotel room all to myself Monday night. It was pretty lonely! I went to bed at around 11. On Tuesday morning, I had some time to kill, so I FaceTimed Jerry and talked to him for a while. Then I packed and got ready for Dean to pick me up for the airport.

There were good-byes all around, and Bonnie and I discovered our gates were just a couple apart, so we got to hang out until our flights (11:00 & 11:15). We had our matching shirts on that we'd bought, and we sat and ordered a beer while we waited. I was actually in the mood for a beer instead of my usual pre-flight wine.


Bonnie is SO very sweet, with the cutest southern accent, and she's fun to chat with. The time flew by, and soon, we were heading our separate ways.

I'm a super nervous flyer, and I am very particular about where I sit on a plane. It has to be on the left side of the plane, a window seat, and just in front of the wing. I got my ticket early and my favorite spot was available, so I was very relieved to have selected my window seat.

Delta apparently defines "window" a little differently than I do:


It was literally the ONLY "window" seat on the plane that didn't have a window! I could see just a tiny sliver of the window in the row in front of me, and could only see a sliver of the wing out of the window in the row behind me. I felt claustrophobic and a little panicky, but there was nothing I could do.

Thankfully, the take-off was super smooth (that's the part that causes the most anxiety for me). The rest of the flight was uneventful, and I even started nodding off a few times. My eyes would close and then my head jerked up. I watched a couple of movies, and the flight didn't drag on as long as it had on the way there.

I was so happy to land in Detroit. I missed Jerry and the kids a lot! The three of them picked me up, and I wasn't home until almost 8:00. The day went by so fast. But it felt really good to be home again.

I had the BEST time with my new Sole Mates! I wish we'd have had more time together, but I have a feeling we'll be getting together again. I ate terribly, and drank like a fish, but I don't feel the least bit guilty. However, it's back to counting points today!

10 comments:

  1. Sounds like the trip of a lifetime! Reminds me of my recent trip to FL for a race. I was going by myself but reached out and made friends w a nice gal, and we, along with her group of friends were inseparable the whole weekend. Now we're already planning to get together next month! Funny how we can just click w some people so fast :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I would write to Delta about the "window" seat!! not cool delta, not cool. For us flyers with anxiety the window is important. I HAVE to have a window seat when I fly. I'm glad your trip was fantastic and you had a great time.

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a fabulous trip!! We don't travel very often, so I am living vicariously through you :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. This all sounds like so much fun! Reading about this has made up my mind that I definitely want to do a Ragnar one day. It sounds like a great opportunity to meet amazing people and visit places I might not otherwise go. I'm glad you had an awesome time and made it home safely!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sounds like a wonderful trip. Thanks for sharing it with all of us.

    ReplyDelete
  6. What an amazing trip! Hope you all can get together again and make more memories. Thank you for sharing. You inspire so many! Have a great weekend!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank you for letting me "armchair" travel with you! It was great and I am glad you had so much fun. It seems to me that you did a really good job getting out of your comfort zone. I apologize in advance if I am wrong about that!
    I hope it's going well counting your points today!
    -Kim

    ReplyDelete
  8. So much fun to read about this great adventure. I loved reading about the run, but I have to admit - reading about the new friendships was even better. Thanks for sharing it with us.

    ReplyDelete
  9. As others have said, thanks for letting us live vicariously through you on this trip! Sounds like a trip of a lifetime - with lifelong friends to go with it!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I LOVE the picture on the beach!!

    What a great trip... So glad you had the chance to do it!!

    ReplyDelete

I used to publish ALL comments (even the mean ones) but I recently chose not to publish those. I always welcome constructive comments/criticism, but there is no need for unnecessary rudeness/hate. But please--I love reading what you have to say! (This comment form is super finicky, so I apologize if you're unable to comment)

Featured Posts

Blog Archive