I survived!

Whew! What a weekend that was! I flew to San Fran on morning and met up with Jon. We were picked up by his long-time friend Brian and went back to his brother-in-law's place to meet up with him (Rick) and Brian's wife Chris. Oh yeah, and their adorable 11-month old daughter, Maya. We had a nice little lunch in Golden Gate Park and then went to their cousin's house to stay for the night. After a wonderful pasta dinner, we settled in and went to bed. We got up early and headed for our campsite. It was a 2 hour drive south into the middle of nowhere.

Most of the crew was already at the site so we didn't have much to really do except set up a couple of tents. Easy enough. The temperature rose pretty quickly as the day went on and I was kicking myself for not bringing shorts! This was desert and we were lucky enough to have a campsite with several big trees for shade...most campers were not so lucky! I met a bunch of absolutely great people this weekend! The other campers were: Justing & Quinn, and their 18 month old son, Logan. Justin's brother Brian H. & his partner Ryan. Glenn & Laura and their 22 month old daughter, Rachel. And of course, me, Jon, Brian S., Chris, Rick & Maya. There isn't a whole lot to do when camping except talk to everyone and eat! I'm pretty sure I gained a few pounds out there!

When night time came, the temps dropped quickly! By bedtime, I'm sure it was only in the high 30s to low 40s. I barely slept that first night because I was so cold and could not get warm. One of my pinky toes even went numb and I couldn't feel it until about 9am! Brutal!!!

Saturday was the Wildflower. Jon, Brian S., Rick & Brian H. were all doing the long course. This is essentially a half ironman. And with how hot it got that day, I don't know how they all did it! We only had 2 of the 4 finish :( Jon went down to injury and Brian S. got 3 flats on the bike course and didn't make his checkpoint in time. Huge bummer! Our campsite was bordered by the running course just after the 8 mile marker and it was awesome to watch the runners come by all day long. Although, it was also a little heart breaking to watch those that were struggling to make those last 5 miles. I was a cheerleader the whole time and tried to yell something to every single runner that went by :) Justin did the Mountain bike course which was a 1/2 mile swim, 10 mile bike & 2 mile run. He obviously finished with no problems! Ryan was doing the Olympic course which was 1 mile swim, 26 mile bike & 6 mile run. That was on Sunday so we didn't get to see how he did, but I'm sure he did great!

After all the boys were done, we ate a nice big dinner and chatted the night away in front of a HUGE fire we built in an attempt to use all the wood we brought. That second night, I made sure I gathered up a couple more sleeping bags and I was toasty! I did have my sweatshirt hood up and closed over my face so only my nose was out to breath though :p That cold air was freezing my face off!

Sunday morning, we packed it up with a quickness because they closed the roads at 9am for the Olympic course and we wouldn't be able to get out. We all met up at a McDonalds in the first little town we came too and had a greasy breakfast. We parted ways with half the crew and drove back up to San Fran. After a long-awaited shower, I was dropped off at the airport and on my way back to Chicago.

I have to say this trip was so amazingly fun! Not only was it fun to meet new people and see Jon reach for his triathlon goal, but it also opened my eyes to the importance of taking a break from our daily routine once in awhile. There was zero cell phone reception, no mirrors to do your make up in or check your hair, no shower to get into every morning, no email access...just good people and good times. And I wouldn't trade any of those regular life conveniences for those couple of days out there without them! I think my friends and I need to come up with an annual expedition just like this to just be together and have a good time!