It was great!

Category: Holidays | Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2006 3:10 am

I got Christmas and my birthday rolled into one gift. It was great. No pictures yet because I just can't resize them tonight. Dan is going to help me sort them out and fix a couple of them tomorrow. We had a great time with Tom and Erin and Kirsten and Courtney and Aaron. Courtney and Aaron are friends of Tom and Kirsten from when they both worked at Beringers. Aaron and Kirsten are the support team because they don't run. Aaron and Courtney got engaged on the trip over from California so it was a happy time for them.

Now, where do I start. I did get the right motel, so that was good. It wouldn't have been as much fun if we had been five miles away. We left home at 9 am, and 9:05 am and 9:15am because you never remember everything the first time. I forgot my padded shirt first and then we stopped at the post office and there was a package that we brought home and then, we were on our way. We wanted to have breakfast at the Cracker Barrel but we couldn't find the entrance. It wasn't on the frontage road so we went around a BIG block and back to the next street but it wasn't there either. So, we stopped at the waffle house. That was okay, but I want to find the Cracker Barrel next time. Instead of getting back on the freeway we took surface streets. It takes much longer but saves some sanity. We found the motel with no problems, but they weren't there. It's a good thing I remembered to ask Tom for his cell phone number when we talked last time. They had gone to the bank and they came back for us. They had rented a mini van which was big enough to hold all seven of us so we were off to Scottsdale to find the Dollar Rental Car place so they could add Courtney and Aaron to the driver's list so they could also drive going back to California.
The race is on the southwest side of Phoenix and the rental car place is on the northwest side of Phoenix.
It's a good thing Tom is used to driving in California and doesn't mind driving of freeways. After we left the car rental place we wanted to have lunch. They wanted to go to PFChangs. A Chinese place of renown in Phoenix. But, no parking to be found for "miles" around. So we went to Old Town Scottsdale and walked around and found a Japanese place where we ate. I'm not fond of Japanese food and Erin wasn't either but we found some chicken that wasn't too bad. Courtney had Udon noodles which she shared with Erin.
We went back to the motel and Courtney and Aaron went out by themselves to have a romantic dinner to celebrate their engagement. Kirsten went to take a nap. Tom and Erin showed up at our door with a Yatchzee game so I played with them. DR had a snooze or tried too. We played kind of noisy to say the least. Kirsten came and played a game with us and we sat a spell trying to decide what to do for supper. Since Aaron and Courtney took the van and our truck only seats three it was a hard decision. We ended up ordering Italian takeout and Tom, Erin and I went to pick it up. We wound up eating at 8:30 pm. They went back to their room as they had to be at the race sight by 8 am. We overslept because we didn't sleep well at all and we missed the race start by 10 minutes. Of course, it didn't help that I took surface streets instead of the freeway and ran into construction in a couple of places. We watched Tom and Courtney go around a few times and then we took Erin and went shopping. That was a fun day and I'll blog more about that later. We did find out one thing about Erin. She is obsessed with office supplies. She wanted to go to Office Max shopping for her Christmas present. So, being a good grandma and grandpa, we went to Office Max. She picked out pencils (looked like pens, but used lead), erasers because she makes BIG mistakes, a pencil box and some post it notes. She loves post it notes. Kristen said she showed up one weekend with a briefcase and it was filled with all different kind of postit notes. So, that's what they put in her stocking. Strange child! No, she was loving and polite and kind to everyone. We made a few other stops and went to lunch. It was a sandwich place so DR had a pattymelt, I had a grilled sandwich with turkey, ham and cheese and Erin wanted a plain hamburger on a bun without all the junk. DR ordered a strawberry banana shake and I ordered iced tea. She was looking at the list of drinks and DR told her she could order a shake too. She had a cookies and cream shake. It was big so the waitress put the rest of it in a takeout box. We went back to the race track. It's a beautiful place. DR took a couple or two pictures of it. We went back to the motel about five thirty. Kirsten, Erin and Aaron stayed until about nine. Then, they went back to the motel. But they got up and was back at the track by 6:30 am. We didn't get there until 8:30. Their 24 hours ended at 9 am. There was another group starting either 24 or 48 hour races today and ther 48 and 72 hour people that started yesterday kept going. The person in the lead had run 132 miles in 24 hours. Tom ran 74.56 miles and Courtney ran 50.02 miles. Courtney's goal was to run 50 miles and she just made it. Tom just wanted to beat his fastest time which was 73.5 miles. So, they were both very happy. The race that started yesterday had about 76 runners. I'd say about a third of them was over 60. Some would run, some would only walk, but this morning no one had under 45 miles. There were about 20 women or girls running. One was just 14. Of the 20 or so new ones that started today, there were two boys under 12 and one girl that just turned 12. The oldest runner/walker was signed up for the 72 hour race. At the end of 72 hours, he will get a special prize of a race jacket because he will have completed 1,000 miles at this particular track over the last few years. He was in his 70's and he liked DR's beard. Mainly because it matched his own. He ran and walked and ran and walked and that is what most of them were doing. But the two or three that had over 100 miles ran the whole time. Not fast, but steady. You never saw them break pace. They were true runners dedicated to the sport. I'd better stop here and blow my nose. I've been sneezing since sometime yesterday and my nose hasn't stopped running. Dooley

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wannabe wrote on Sun Dec 31, 2006 3:24 am:

You packed a lot of activities in just two days. Wannabe

pondlady wrote on Sun Dec 31, 2006 3:31 am:

Sounds like the greatest time ever!! I can't imagine running for 72 hours.

glendann wrote on Sun Dec 31, 2006 4:20 am:

I'm glad you had such a great time.It had to pretty fast to get all you did in, in such a short time.I'm so glad you made a safe trip.Hope your not taking the crud.Take a heavy dose of vitamin c.Stay well.

cajunbelle wrote on Sun Dec 31, 2006 4:24 am:

Erin sounds perfectly normal to me. My oldest, Regina, wanted writing supplies on year for Christmas, pens and pencils and notebooks and notepads and such. How old is Erin.

eileen wrote on Sun Dec 31, 2006 10:21 am:

Gee Dooley I'm tired just trying to keep up with your blog. You really did squeeze an awful lot into just two days. Erin sounds a lot like how my David used to be. We used to have to buy him pencils, erasers and maths books for his Christmas!!!
So glad you enjooyed yourselves and it's lovely to have you both back.