I Am Here - Spud Run 5k Race Report 2024

After a less-than-stellar "running season" over the past few months, I knew it was time to get my running shoes back on and hit the course. 

When I checked the weather the night before, it looked... okay. Like, overcast, a nice temp, but no rain in the forecast until 10am or so, definitely after I finished and got my medal. But that was not to be the case. I got a few drizzles on the way there, nothing more than spittle. 

I parked and went in to get my bib, then got in line for the potties, behind two women who brought their little toe nipper dogs - not service animals, just pets - into the ladies' room. The dogs felt that it was fine to stick their heads under the stalls every chance they got, and yet barked loudly and annoyingly when it was their owner's turn in the stalls! Ooh, it's just a peeve I have... dogs are not children!!! They don't need to go everywhere with you, like inside libraries, inside library bathrooms, or inside library bathroom stalls. When it was my turn in a stall, a huge boom of thunder announced the incoming deluge of rain that had just begun. It was pouring out there! Oh well... Sugar melts, but spicy sticks around, so I went over and got my potatoes and took them back to the car, getting absolutely drenched. I chilled out in the car for a bit (I'm always either way early or way late!), watching the raindrops on the window. 

Still Life, Car Park, Water on Glass 

It seemed to abate when it was time to head to the start line, and the sky actually looked like it was clearing, so I debated bringing my rain jacket, or just get wet if it started again, but I decided to wear the jacket. It was 70º when I left the car, but a wet 70º is much different from a sunny 70º! 

Deep enough to get my ankles wet if I stepped in it

And it turned out to be a smart decision because within two minutes of starting the race, the downpour came back. It felt delicious, honestly, warm and welcoming on my face. I heard random people nearby who were complaining about the weather, but whatever... it's just water! I put my headphones in and just walked. Oh, yeah, I'm just walking now. I'm still dealing with some leftover bullshit from February/March, so my goal was to walk this entire thing and see how I felt at the end. 

Honest confession... I don't know what's up with my camera settings, lol

The first two miles of the race were uneventful, just wet. I was happy to be back at it, happy to have some time to myself with my thoughts (it's been a hard two weeks since we got back from Arkansas), and happy to be able to move relatively pain-free. 

At one point, the rain was just pounding us, the heaviest it had been all morning, and the song I Am Here by P!nk came on my playlist, and y'all... I'm not usually that person who heavily identifies with music, like at ALL, but for some reason a few lines really just hit me in the right way...

I can think of 1,000 places

Much worse than this

But I am here, I am here

My face is also a potato

Like, yeah, it's raining, and I'm tired, and my legs are hurting now, and I'd much rather be in my nice, warm bed, with my nice, warm hubby, but damn... it could be so much worse! It made me realize how blessed I am to be happy, healthy, and here. 

The last mile was rain-free, and warmer, so I took off my jacket and wrestled with it for the entire time (it's slippery and didn't want to stay tied around my waist). I finished with a chip time of 57:49, which wasn't terrible, given my lack of training, plethora of pains, and the weather. Though we all know at this point, I'm not doing this for PRs... I'm never gonna get faster. I was 252nd finisher out of 272 (even though only 411 people registered for this run... I have a feeling the weather kept a lot of people home this morning!), 148th out of 165 females, and 10th out of 11 in my age group. The last finisher came in at 1:23:17. 

I was able to score another bag of potatoes on my way back to the car, and then made my way over to Race-Trac to change and get a Pepsi, before driving up to IKEA to pick up some shelves I needed for the living room. And then (logic be damned), I drove all the way back to St. Augustine to get some maple fudge (IYKYK) from Savannah Sweets, hit up Buc-ee's and then drive home. 

What's a Heel Spur? (March 2024)

If this were a TV show, I'd have a cool little Previously on The Lazy Lady montage, but alas, this is only the printed word... 

In January, I was unable to complete the Celebration Half-Marathon, quitting at Mile 6 due to some gnarly Plantar Fasciitis and leg pain. I had a little mental breakdown, but I feel much better now (mentally anyway). 

In February, I was able to complete both races during Gasparilla. I think that the heavy-handed massages, tons of cardio, and lots of stretching my calves had something to do with it. 

In March, I pushed my luck, and did Gate River Run. I completed it, but at what cost? My foot hurt the entire time (not like bad bad, but enough), and I think the final downhill portion really screwed something up. By the time I got to a local convenience store to change my clothes, I literally couldn't put any weight on my left foot. All the way home, and the rest of the weekend, I babied my foot, but I knew that something was fucky, and I needed to see a doctor. Thoughts of sprains, strains, tears, and even fractures crossed my mind. When I made an appointment with my doctor, I told them I suggested a stress fracture. 

At the appointment, Doc poked and prodded my foot, pointing out how swollen both of my feet and legs were. She took an x-ray of my left foot and told me that she didn't see any breaks or fractures, but there was a possible heel spur on my left heel. Okay, what the hell is a heel spur?

Well, it's a calcium deposit causing a bony protrusion on the underside of the heel bone, and they are frequently associated with plantar fasciitis. Treatment includes exercise, orthotics, pain meds, and cortisone shots (if necessary). Heel spurs are caused by strains of foot muscles, stretching of the planta fascia, and repeated tearing of the membrane that covers the heel bone. They are especially common among athletes who run or jump. Other risk factors include abnormal gait (walking 'funny'), poorly fitting shoes, increasing age, flat feet, (and everyone's favorite...) obesity. Heel spurs themselves don't hurt, but rather the soft tissue injury and inflammation associated with it.  Doc said that because my spur was super-tiny, there was no need to do much for it (though she did give me a bottle of high-strength Aleve, which worked well), but she did suggest referring me to a Podiatrist, both for the foot pain as well as the swelling. 

Over the next few weeks (the appointment was almost two months later), my swelling lessened, and the pain abated somewhat, and by the time I saw the Podiatrist, I was second-guessing myself as to whether or not I even needed to see this guy. I mean, by this point, I'd dealt with it for weeks, ran though an airport, and even hiked a mountain valley! But I figured I'd go through with it, because at the very least, he could give me some tips on how to keep it from happening again, right? Right?

Nope. Not this guy. When I got to his office, he was running almost an hour late. When he finally came into my exam room, he rolled in on his little stool and immediately asked me why I was here. No bedside manner at all, almost interrogatory demeanor. Very off-putting. I tried to give him the history (January to now) of why I was here, but he kept looking at me like, shut up and give me a quicker answer. He asked what I was currently doing to ease the pain, and I told him that I'd been doing all the stretches, rolling the ball, etc. He made a dismissive noise at this and spent about 15 seconds looking at my feet. Looking. I honestly don't remember him even touching my feet! If he did, it was so inconsequential that I missed it. 

He leaned back on his little rolley stool and asked me what I wanted... He said well, so what do you want me to do? All I can offer you are pills and shots, but you're obviously not into traditional western medicine since you're doing all the holistic hippie stuff. Yes, he called years and years of traditional flexibility methods holistic hippie stuff. I agreed with him that I didn't need any of that, but asked him what else I could do to fix this issue. He never suggested more of that holistic hippie stuff; instead he offered me a pair of insoles and a prescription for Meloxicam - a med primarily used to treat arthritis. It's a drug that needs to be taken every day so that a level amount of the drug stays in your system. Rather than a one-and-done like Advil or Aleve. And with that, he deemed the appointment over and walked me to the cashier. 

I have never been treated so shittily (yes it's a word now) by a doctor in my life! He didn't listen to what I had to say, he didn't care about prior history that contributed to my ongoing foot pain, and all he wanted to do was pump me full of pills and shots... When I got home and told Hubby about the whole... adventure... he was so frustrated and angry for me; he said he was glad that he didn't go with me because he would have given that guy a piece of his mind. During my story, I said the phrase Pills and Shots so much that this guy will forever be known as Dr. Pillzenshotz when I speak of him. I imagine a little cartoon man, similar to Dr. Doofenshmirtz, running around with pockets full of drugs and syringes.

So where does that leave me now? Well, in the same place I've been for a while. I have feet that hurt me, and I need to baby them and treat them well and stretch them out. I know that my lower leg muscles contribute to this pain, so I need to treat them and stretch them too. (I gotta say, I'm not looking forward to the next few massages, because I know she's gonna make me miserable, in a beneficial way). 

Total Eclipse Vacation: Day 3 (Extremely Pissapointed)

We had an early start today because I wanted as much time as possible in the city. We were out of bed and on the road before 7am. We stopped halfway, in Poplar Bluff, for soda and gas, then drove over to Delmar Loop. And I gotta say... St. Louis (at least the way we drove in), was really much nicer than I was expecting! There lots of gorgeous old buildings, and the Washington University campus. Our first stop was an early lunch at Fitz's in The Loop. I got the St. Louis BBQ Burger, Hubby got the River City Burger. 

It tasted a lot better than it looks in this photo, I promise!

Both of us got some Root Beer, of course! OMG, Fitz's was so much tastier than Lambert's yesterday! The flavor was jacked up to 150% and I ate so much I had to practically be rolled down the stairs. We walked around The Loop area, a small district of shops and restaurants, to let our food settle a bit. 

 

I wanted to save the bottle, but it got too dented to keep

Our next stop was in a part of town that just seemed like a very old part of St. Louis (looking at Google Maps, the area is called "Old North St Louis," so I guess I was right), to visit Crown Candy Kitchen, St. Louis' oldest Soda Fountain. 

Crown Candy Kitchen was opened in 1913 by Harry Karandzieff and his best friend Pete Jugaloff. They brought their confectionary skills from Greece, along with a dream of providing a friendly family environment to enjoy their delicious creations. During the early 50’s Harry’s son George took the business over and built the business into what it is today. Now George’s three sons - Andy, Tommy and Mike - run the business, with a little help from the 4th generation.

{Lazy from the future here... As I was working on editing the Crown Candy video that I linked below, I realized something... Crown Candy Kitchen is the location where Man v Food and Adam Richman failed the Five Malt Challenge, way back in the first season of the show in 2009! I was looking at Crown Candy Kitchen's website, and they mention the challenge, and it tickled a little memory from almost 20 years ago... Another thing to note, is that on CCKs menu, they have something called a Heart-Stopping BLT, which was created for Adam after his failed attempt at the challenge. It's a BLT that has 14 pieces of bacon! Yes, please!}

There was a huge line out the door to eat-in, but since we just wanted candy, we were able to go right in. There was this huge shelf and table full of leftover Easter candy that immediately caught my eye. The top shelf was full of molded chocolate bunnies (some of them were huge), but there also tons of smaller bite-size candy. You can watch a local Fox 2 St. Louis news story about their Easter candy business (and even see the huge shelf and table I referenced! This story was reported about 3 weeks before we were there). 

We ended up getting some Vanilla Creme eggs, Maple Creme Eggs, Peanut Butter Eggs, Solid White Chocolate Eggs, Solid Milk Chocolate Eggs, and a dozen butter caramels (six dark and six milk). We tried all of these when we got home, and let me tell you, I so, so, so wish that we'd tried them while we were still in St. Louis, because I would have run back in for more of those Peanut Butter Eggs and solid eggs - they were amazing. You can watch that video at YouTube, or below. 

Finally, though, it was time to go to the Gateway Arch! One of the main reasons we're in St. Louis, and one of the main reasons we decided on this geographical area for the eclipse, really... Hubby thought the idea of going up in the arch was a great idea, and of course, I've always wanted to do it (even before reading The Rift). 

We parked on the other side of Laclede's Landing and walked over. It was another cold and blustery day, but not as bad as it's been. I didn't take a ton of photos, because my plan was to get inside and buy tickets for the tram first, and then shoot my way out. 

But as we made our way closer to the arch, there was a huge sign announcing that tickets were SOLD OUT FOR THE DAY!!! 

Sold out?!?! As in, Lazy & Hubby can't go to the top of the Arch and look down on the Mississippi River and enjoy the claustrophobic elevator/tram cars? Dammit!!! I was spicy about it, but not angry... I was Pissappointed™ (pissed off and disappointed). So we went inside and walked around the museum for a bit, then headed back out, taking photos all the way back to the car. It kind of put a damper on the afternoon, and since we still kind of felt like ass from being sick, we just decided to head home. 

First, though, was a detour to a place called Wally's. Self-described as the Home of the Great American Road Trip, they seemed to be a very close knock-off of Buc-ee's. They state that they have great service, tasty food, clean restrooms, and unexpected necessities. Similar to Buc-ee's, they tout the cleanliness of their restrooms, large numbers of gas pumps, ample branded souvenirs, and lots of food options. 

They currently only have two locations, and we went to the one in Fenton, Missouri. Now, y'all know that I'm a Buc-ee's gal through and through, but I'll say this... If you've never been to a Buc-ee's, Wally's is amazing. It's big and bright and airy, and was practically deserted when we were there, so no crazy crowds to deal with. Bathrooms, yes, were nice and clean. There's a decent amount of branded items, though they did seem to skew more toward an alcohol-forward lifestyle ("It's Beer O'Clock" type stuff, which isn't for me). Lots of tee shirts, hats, plushies, that kind of thing. I didn't get any (I was still grumpy because of the Arch, and it kind of ruined my day... I do wish I'd gotten some quirky souvenirs). 

There's a bakery, a canteen (with fresh foods), a coffee and tea station; there's a wall of jerky and a BBQ island (similar to Buc-ee's). But they do have a few things that are different than Buc-ee's... They have a cafe, for speciality coffee drinks, hand-dipped ice cream, you can order some things online, and my favorite, a Popcorn Bar! They were giving out free samples of the Flavor of the Day, and so there were a handful of young kids around smacking on some popcorn; I asked one of them for their recommendation, and he said to not get the flavor of the day, because it was disgusting, lol. I decided that White Cheddar was the way to go, and they absolutely stuffed the bag full of popcorn! I also picked up some store-brand Pepper Jack chips, and some Teriyaki beef jerky to try when we got home. We made a video tasting all of those goodies (and more that I'll reference later), and you can watch that video on YouTube, or below. 

Back on the open road, my sinus congestion was just getting worse and worse so I decided to throw in the towel and stop at Walmart for some real, full of pseudoephedrine Sudafed... yeah, the good stuff. I used the voice control feature to set the Garmin up (you know, "Hey Garmin, find place... Walmart") and I was so stuffed up it sounded like Hey Garbid, fide pace... Wamard and both Hubby and I lost our shit in a fit of giggles... I sounded so bad! It found what turned out to be a Walmart Neighborhood Market and I was so foggy, I never even thought to look for a regular Walmart. There turned out to be a huge line at the pharmacy, and bless that staff, they were just trying to get everyone served before they had to close at 7pm. 

I popped two Sudafed when I got in the car, and I think it took a good 2-3 hours to fully kick in (I felt better once we got back to the house). Tonight was another night of chips and Little Debbies for dinner, as neither one of us felt 100%, and food would be wasted on us, with our malfunctioning senses of taste... I hope this clears up soon, though! The best part of vacation is all the food! 

Hopefully tomorrow we can finally go over to Petit Jean State Park and Mount Magazine to do some of the trails I've been looking forward to. 

Total Eclipse Vacation: Day 2 (That's Not a Fort!)

Yesterday was a long travel day and even though we were exhausted, we only slept okay, because the bed was harder than we prefer. As I laid there, I began to realize that I might have gotten whatever cold Hubby has... I had a sore throat, I was kind of phlegmy, but nothing was coming out when I tried to cough or "suck it out" (you know what I mean). My whole body hurt, but was that due to being sick, a stiff bed, flying in comfortable seats, or all three? 

We were up for good around 8am, and while Hubby was feeling better, he wasn't up for a full day in St. Louis (plus it was really too late, since it was a 4-hour drive from here to there anyway). We moved some things around on the itinerary and decided to explore Fort Defiance, Cairo, and then have lunch in Sikeston. 

People who live in the area are laughing, I'm sure, at the idea of exploring Fort Defiance and Cairo, but I had a reason for wanting to go... Many years ago, I read a book called The Rift by Walter Jon Williams. Written in 1999, it's a fictional story about a devastating 8.9 earthquake along the New Madrid Fault, and what happens to civilization in the Mississippi area of Illinois to the Gulf in the aftermath. While the majority of the plot focuses on two people, there are multiple plot lines that knit together to form an amazing story - a preacher who believes this is End Times; a Klansman sheriff who begins a program of genocide; a nuclear power plant technician struggling to keep the plant from melting down; and an Army Corp of Engineers trying to put everything back together. In the beginning of the story, before the earthquake happens, we learn about young Jason, who is miserable in his new home of Cairo, Illinois. It was supposedly a boring, run-down, desolate place. And for some odd reason, I got a vision in my head of what Cairo looked like, and when I saw that we were going to be in the area, I wanted to go see what it looked like. And as for Fort Defiance? I'm a sucker for a historical fort, it stands at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, and damned if I didn't want to stick my feet in that water! 

So I drank some OJ and downed a full bottle of water, then we headed out to get donuts at Shipley Do-Nuts (with a side quest to McDonald's for sausage biscuits, The Official Breakfast of Adventures™). The employee at Shipley was super-nice! We told him that we'd never been there before and he looked at us like we had two heads. He said that we should definitely come back on another day, but much earlier when there's a much bigger variety of donuts. We picked out two glazed donuts, a blueberry cake, and a white cream Long John (eclair, bar, whatever you call it). The glazed was chewy and perfect, but not a lot of flavor. I saved my long john for later in the day. 

I set Garmin to take us to Fort Defiance, still set to avoid highways (I hate Interstate driving) again. And again, instead of only avoiding interstates, it avoided basically everything... it took us down tiny country roads and farm roads between fields... it took three hours to get near where we wanted to go, and as we passed Interstate 57, there was a huge sign that said the bridge to Illinois was closed, and we should take I-57 to US-51 instead. I said heck no, and continued down the road we were on. I don't know what I was expecting, honestly... I think I was hoping that Fort Defiance would be before the closure, but no dice. When we got to US-62 and Levee Road, the road was completely blocked (and mostly gone!) So we turned around and went the other way (luckily, the countryside was beautiful and traffic was non-existent, lol). 

We hopped on I-57 to US-51 (like we should have done in the first place), then drove south through Cairo and wow... this was NOT what I envisioned in my head... It wasn't just a tiny, sleepy town; it was a Dead Town. According to Wikipedia, Cairo was once a busy river boat town, on the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. As a river port, it was eventually bypassed by transportation changes to avoid the large expanses of low-lying land, wetland, and water. It's population peaked in the 1920s (at 15,203 people) but by 2020, the population fell 89%, with a mere 1,733 people. Some of this population loss may also have been due to the Mississippi River Floods in 2011, after the Ohio River rose over 80 feet, and there was the possibility of over 15 feet in Cairo itself. Currently, the community and region are working to stop the abandonment of the city. They are restoring some architectural landmarks, and plan to develop heritage tourism to focus on the city's history and relationship with the two rivers. 

Random StreetView from Google, in Cairo's "Historic District"

Once past Cairo - and before the other side of the bridge closure - was Fort Defiance State Park. We drove down, braved the chilly, blustery day, and found this tiny, sad, little tugboat-looking building... Wait? Where's the FORT? This isn't a FORT! (Later research on Great River Road states that there used to be a fort there, but it's gone now; in its place is the Boatman's Memorial, installed by the Youth Conservation Corps). This writer at the Chicago Tribune had a lot to say about it when he visited in 2021. 

We found a trashed and graffitied two-story tower that overlooked the two rivers, with a small memorial placard in front of it. There were no beautiful waterfront trails or railings; instead there were tons of broken rocks and chunks of concrete and washed-up driftwood; my hopes of getting a foot in the water was dashed (though honestly, it was very cold, so the thought taking my warm foot out of my warm shoe and touching that water didn't sound refreshing anyway). I took some photos, went as far down toward the water as possible, picked up a few rocks to bring home, and then we went back to the car. That was it... that was what we drove 3 hours to see. None of this was awesome... 

Our next stop (with "avoid highways" now turned OFF) was Lambert's, over in Sikeston. Once inside, I realized that this was, like, a whole thing... It was loud, there were employees going up and down the rows of tables with dutch ovens full of food... Hubby wasn't happy with the menu - he said it was too Southern for him, and after really looking at it, it was too Southern for me too. It didn't seem to be the same menu that I looked up on line. We honestly should have just left, but we settled (I think he thought that I really wanted to eat here, so he kept quiet, bless his heart). He ordered a burger with a side of cottage cheese - there wasn't even an option to order french fries! How can you not have fries? I got a half-rack of ribs with mashed potatoes and a baked potato. Servers came by with rolls - though they didn't throw them at us, which is what they're famous for - and yes, those were fresh, hot, delicious, and smelled like elementary school cafeterias. The servers with dutch ovens had "pass arounds" of fried okra, fried potatoes & onions, apple butter, and molasses (we passed up on all of that). 

I could have eaten a dozen of these (and regretted it later!)

His burger was sad as hell, with no cheese or condiments or anything, and reminded me of the Where's the Beef commercial. 

My ribs were tough, with a fakey-fake smokey flavor. The sauce looked like it was brushed on right before it was put on the plate; no caramelizing or gooiness at all. The baked potato was tiny and plain, with one package of sour cream, while the mash was chunky but institutional, and served with powder mix gravy. 

The only saving grace of this place (besides the rolls), was that they served big-ass sodas in old-school insulated mugs, like what you used to buy at Circle K in the 80s. Hubby was very grumpy and didn't eat much of his meal at all; he said it was bland and he couldn't taste any of it... it just had no flavor! I agreed - everything tasted like the volume was turned down 50%. Back in the car, we headed home, defeated. This was a day where Adventure didn't pan out to something cool; it was just a shitty day of too much driving with a sad payoff, a pathetic dinner that cost way too much for what we got, and to top it off... I'm pretty sure I've gotten whatever Hubby has. My face is so full of sinus pressure, I can't breathe out of my nose, it just sucks!!! Back at the house (many hours later), we both ended up eating chips and Little Debbie snacks for dinner. We talked about the itinerary and decided that tomorrow, we both felt fine enough to finally head north to St. Louis. I can't wait to finally go up in the Gateway Arch! 

Total Eclipse Vacation: Day 1 (Flying for the First Time)

It's finally time!!!!!!

If you're new here, howdy! Last year, we decided to fly for the very first time, to go on vacation to view the Total Eclipse in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Stick around to read all about our adventure in the northern Southern US and the Midwest! 

For the past few days, Hubby's been fighting some sort of cold (hell, could have been Covid for all we knew...). Because of this, he'd been sleeping badly the past few days, too. Also because of this, we'd not been eating healthy dinners, and last night was no exception! I was going to make scrambled eggs, but the eggs were too old to use, so we ended up with a super-healthy dinner of ice cream and chocolate milk... On the bright side, it's full of calcium and protein!  

I was fully packed, showered, and in bed by 8:15pm, watching some TV until I had to force myself to go to sleep. I set my watch alarm for 4:45am, and was out of bed by 5:15am. I set about doing all the typical morning tasks (brushing teeth, doing hair), then drank some OJ and took Dramamine. I woke up Hubby and we were out of the house at 5:55am for our 7:05am flight, via our small, local airport that was 3 miles away. 

The parking lot was pretty full when we got there; we parked about 6-7 rows from the front door, and when we got inside, there were probably 10-15 people already in line for TSA - with only one TSA agent checking people in. I took out all of my stuff like liquids, electronics, and was then chastised by the TSA agent that I didn't need to do that (hey, how about telling us this somehow, like posters or announcements?) I made it through the scanner, but Hubby got flagged because he forgot to take his wallet out of his pocket. I got flagged for my stainless steel water bottle that I'd frozen the night before (3/4 of it was a solid mass of ice), and also for the small bags of Epsom Salts in my toiletry case. They had to take those out and test them for, well, whatever they test them for. Whoops! 

• Lesson Learned - Don't bring frozen water in an opaque bottle
• Lesson Learned - Don't bring Epsom Salts in your carry on

All in all, it took about 30 minutes to go through TSA, and we were already facing Last Call for Boarding when we got to our gate (there were only 2 other parties behind us to get on). And of course, by this point, there was no overhead bin space left, so after all of my planning and packing, we had to gate check our carry-on suitcases anyway... 

On the bright side, we did save $100 for not paying to check them beforehand, so I got that goin' for me. 

• Lesson Learned -  Boarding Time is much more important than Departure Time
• Lesson Learned - Gate-Checking is a smart way to save money (if you want to check small bags)

This plane had about 30 rows of seats - 2 on one side, 3 on the other - and those seats were tiny! Okay, maybe they were smaller than normal and I'm bigger than normal. But they were small enough that I couldn't maneuver my body to get anything out of my Personal Item bag that was stuffed under the seat in front of me, so it was a good thing I had my tiny Baggallini cross-body with my most urgent personal items (glasses, phone, etc). 

• Lesson Learned -  have an easily accessible small bag for your most urgent personal items

We started taxiing down the runway, but got stopped at the end because of heavy traffic in Atlanta, as well as some bad weather, so we had to camp out for about 15 minutes before we finally started take off. I was curious how Hubby would handle it and how terrible I would feel. Thankfully, he did great and I didn't get too sick - it kind of felt like an unfamiliar roller coaster... I didn't know when the dips or rises would happen, so I was at the mercy of the track. If I looked at the wing, I was fine, but if I looked anywhere in the cabin AND I could see out the window (via my peripheral vision), my vertigo issues would kick in, and I'd have to close my eyes a few minutes to 'reset' myself. 

Once we got settled, I was just enthralled with watching the clouds and they were so freakin' beautiful when we got above them, like cotton candy below us. I spent way too much time looking at - and photographing - the clouds, which really was a great way to distract myself from turbulence. Oh, speaking of turbulence; someone a long time ago described turbulence as Sky Potholes, and it really stuck in my brain... The plane was fine, it just hit a pothole! There was no WiFi or seat-back entertainment, so I spent the entire flight (when I wasn't taking photos) playing Free Cell on my phone. 

We got into Atlanta about 20 minutes late, with an additional 20 minutes to deplane everyone. Using the Plane Trane to get from our gate to Concourse A was very fast and easy. Our connecting flight was loading Main 2 when we got there (we were Main 3), but I had to pee! Luckily, this gate was right next to a restroom, I I peed the fastest pee I ever peed, and by the time I got back, it was our turn to load. The cabin was mostly full at this point, but I was able to find a place for my carry on (well, my Personal Item that became my Carry On), but Hubby had to shove his under the seat again. 

We attempted The Middle Seat Game, where you book the window and aisle and hope that the middle seat stays empty, but we lost... We ended up with a young man between us, but he just slept for the entire flight, so maybe we won? 

This plane was bigger, with better overhead fans, and a little more legroom than the other, which was nice, since we had to wait in a long line of planes before we took off. It was cool to watch them all just line up like cars, to take off one after the next. I think we were about 20th in line, with another 10 that I could see behind me. Takeoff was much more powerful, since it was a bigger plane, too. I was able to get WiFi on this plane, but still no seat-back entertainment, so I stuck with FreeCell again. The Tiny Snack Lady came by and I got a tiny bottle of water and a tiny bag of tiny SunChips in Garden Salsa. They were meh. 

We landed on time and, because the Memphis airport is so small, it didn't take long for us to 'park' and deplane. Since we gate-checked our suitcases, we had to go down to Baggage Claim, and then trek over quite a ways to the Rental Car area. As we stepped outside, we were hit with chilly weather! It was about 55º outside! It was 70º when we left north Florida at 7am! 

Avis assigns a car to you in the app so that you can go right to it (no need for employees and check-in desks), but also gives you a few options. We were assigned a Mitsubishi Outlander, but could also have chosen a Chrysler 300 or a Buick Enclave. We didn't even think to go check out the other options (they were in other random parking spots), and just stuck with the Outlander, but in hindsight, I wish we'd gone with the Buick. On the upside, this Outlander is brand new, like It Only Has 5 Miles on the Odometer new, which was nice. Didn't have to worry about any previous scratches or smells.  

• Lesson Learned - Check out all of the rental car options before choosing one

We pointed the Garmin to our lunch destination and headed out of the garage. Oddly, the Garmin said it would take two hours to get to where we were going; that seemed... really wrong. But we got on the road and followed the directions. However, when we got to the Mississippi State Line, we knew that something was fucky. 

{hushed whisper} - The part of Garmin will be played by Google Maps

I'd left the Garmin on "Avoid Highways," and the current route was a lot of tiny local streets and farm roads! Even now, in Google Maps, the route is smarter than what Garmin did (no state-line crossing).  I pulled over to the side of the road and used the Outlander's Nav system to take us to lunch (with highways!) Included the backtracking, it only took an hour to get us back to where we needed to go originally. 

The "normal" way to get to where we were going

• Lesson Learned - Check your Garmin settings before getting on the road!

Finally at Tacker's Shake Shack, Hubby got a club sandwich with potato wedges, and I got a Bacon Pepper Jack cheeseburger with Tots. Hubby still wasn't feeling well and could only eat about half of his sandwich and a few wedges. Mine was tasty, but bacon and pepper jack cheese don't really mesh well together as well as I'd hoped. 

Our next stop was a nearby Walmart to get our grocery pickup (I did an online grocery pickup order last night before we left) then finally get ourselves over to the VRBO and unpack. Hubby just went and face-planted into bed once the car was unpacked - he's really not feeling well at all (fever, stuffy, sneezing, etc). I turned up the heater to warm up the house, and threw a few extra blankets over him once I realized he was dead to the world. I set about putting all of the groceries away, setting things out to charge, and chilling our sodas. I curled up in bed with him around 5pm or so as he dozed on and off. At this point, it felt like I'd read all of Twitter, so I played more FreeCell. Had some truly random and incoherent discussions with Hubby during those times when he was awake. 

Dinner ended up being two bags of lunch-box-size chips, two Little Debbie snacks, and two bottles of Ozarka water. By the time 'dinner' was over, I was assuming that going to St. Louis was out of the question for tomorrow... But that's okay; we'll play tomorrow by ear and do St. Louis on Friday. Him getting better is most important, because otherwise this entire vacation will suck for both of us. 

*Sadly, I cannot find the SD Card with all of my photos, so all I can share are my phone pix! If I find my SD Card, I'll update this post*