I Guess I Didn't Want that Camera Anyway - Run with the Flock 5k Race Report

After dropping Hubby off at work super early, I booked it to Jacksonville. My ETA was 7:11, and that is cutting it really close for a race that starts at 7:30. Luckily, traffic was very light, and I got there about 7am or a few minutes after. Parking was super easy (thank God), with it's own dedicated parking lot.

Packet pickup was downstairs, in a grassy area on the bank of the river. My brain said I'd regret it, but I barreled down to get my stuff without gearing up first. Again, luckily, it worked out for me, and I was able to bring my goody bag up to my car and gear up before I headed back downstairs to the starting area, with about 5 minutes to spare before the beginning of the race.

After Whitney's version of the National Anthem, we all took off. So far, the weather is very nice - I mean, it's over 80º, but it wasn't crazy humid. We ran down Riverside Avenue, which in my head is known as Gate River Run, Mile 2. We also ran along River Road before returning back towards River Walk.

Halfway into this race, the heat and humidity really kicked into high gear! All I could think of, at this point, was please God, don't make me have to do the Riverwalk Ramp! Luckily, we headed towards the finish line before we got that far. I was coming up on the finish line, but then realized that we had to go past it, then turn around and double-back. I hate teases like that...

My time, as usual, was shitty.  My official time was 57:26 (pace 18:29). I was 55th in my age group out of 59 total F40-44 runners, and I beat 44 people. My medal is super cute, though!

I grabbed a bottle of water and headed upstairs to ungear at the car. I also grabbed my shirt so I could swap it out for a 2XL. 

After I did that, I snagged a free snow cone and walked around the few tents and picked up some goodies (pens, notepads, a few lip balms). I debated waiting for a free massage, but there were too many people in line. I took a few fun photos, then headed back to the car again to finish emptying out my pockets.

I headed to the nearby Publix to change my clothes, and picked up a half-gallon of OJ to boost my blood sugar, then I was off to IKEA - I had a $15 off coupon to use for my birthday.

I got there before the store was open, so I treated myself to a Swedish American Breakfast, with scrambled eggs, chicken sausage, potatoes, and waffles (instead of crepes). With a soda on the side, it was a whopping $3.21. Wow!  Oh... yeah, that tastes like $3 food. Nevermind.

It's pretty at least...

GRONO Table Lamp - $9.99

Once the store was open, I found some fun things to treat myself with. I picked up a set of KALAS bowls, a SOCKERKAKA baking mat, and a really cool GRONO table lamp (for my office at work), as well as picking up some new batteries to restock my hoard. After my coupon, I only paid $16!

I went down the road and wandered The Christian Glitter Capital of the World - Hobby Lobby! Lord, I love Hobby Lobby! I found a super-cute Halloween fascinator-style headband hat, and some socks that say "boo" on them (sadly, they don't fit, and I have to return them).

My final stop was to gas up the car and grab snacks at Wawa. I also used my Free Fountain Beverage reward for my birthday (I love free!) I wanted something easy for lunch, since I'd have to eat in the car, but St. John's Town Center really only has that "classy" fast-food, like Chick-fil-A and PDQ... nothing that's easy to eat in the car. I decided to get on the interstate and check out the exit signs for inspiration. 

I ended up going to Hardee's. It was one of those Hardee's connected to a Red Burrito, so I got a Little Thickburger and a single Red Burrito Taco. I wasn't impressed with the taco... the shell was stale, and it tasted just like Taco Bell.

I picked up both Hubby and The Kiddo from work then we all headed home. I unpacked my stuff and realized that there was something missing... where was my camera? I know I had it. I took stupid photos of flamingos and stuff... Where the hell is my $250 camera!?!

Fuck, you guys, I lost my camera....

And I lost all my race photos, my hotel photos and Disney photos from my birthday trip last week...

... heavy sigh... 

I posted on the Running with the Flock Facebook page to see if anyone had seen it. I also emailed Ronda at Running with the Flock Foundation to see if anyone turned it in, but as of September 17th, nothing has been found...

So, my camera is gone. I've never felt like such a failure... 

You know the irony of this whole situation? When we were at Disney last week, I kept bitching about how I didn't like the camera because of the stupid WiFi issue... the camera had a touch-screen and a dedicated WiFi button, so it would often attempt to turn on and upload photos... Guess Fate heard that and decided to teach me a lesson. I like to think that some Jacksonville Hobos found my camera and are out there living their best supermodel lives... at least until the battery died and they pawned it for crack.

So, for now, I'll go back to using my tiny Purple CoolPix until I can find a good replacement. Maybe there will be some good Black Friday sales in a few months... 

Where's my Wifi? - Labor Day Birthday Trip to Disney

Last year, we spent my 40th birthday at Disney World. We brought my mom along, to experience Disney "our way," and it was a great trip that was cut short by Hurricane Irma. I decided a few months ago that I wanted a "re-do" of sorts, but with only Hubby and me. I booked a great King Suite at Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham Gateway Kissimmee for 2 nights (for only $150!).

The weekend before this trip... I can't believe it... a tropical storm was heading straight for Florida again! I mean, I'm used to it by now, living in Florida for over 4 decades, but still... come ON!

I can hear this in his voice

We decided to go anyway (because a rainy day at Disney is still a day at Disney!), so we packed up and hit the road. We stopped by the gas station and got gas and snacks, as well as some nuggets from Wendy's before we hit the road.

I think we hit rain before we were 30 minutes away from home. People on Interstate 75 don't know how to drive. And they really don't know how to drive in rain. It was a long drive, before we got to the Turnpike (a.k.a. The Less Stressway, which it totally is). As we got to US192, the road to the hotel looked janky. It went between a 7-eleven and a tacky gift shop, and there were a bunch of buildings fenced off, doing construction. We powered by, and found a beautiful hotel at the other side of the fences.

Front of Hawthorn Suites by Wyndham Kissimmee Gateway

I checked in, and reminded the clerk that I'd booked a King room. She said that I'd booked a 2Q room, and they had no Kings they could upgrade me into. Uh, no sweetie... I know for certain I booked a King room (oh, look, I found my original booking from Hotels.com and I did, in fact, book a King room.).  I decided to let it go and not let it spoil my vacation.

You're a liar, Susan... I booked a KING room

We at least got a ground-floor room, near the corner of the building, and there was parking directly in front of the room. Always good for packing/unpacking! The room was really nice, but unfortunately, all the photos I took are gone because (spoiler alert) I lost my camera the next weekend... So, here's some photos from their website. 

View from front door of living room, full kitchen, and hallway to bedroom

Separate bedroom with 2 Queens and patio

As pretty as it looked (and it was a brand-new hotel), I wasn't all that impressed.  The floors were all laminate, so they got dusty really quick, and walking on the floor barefoot was icky. The door off the kitchen held the AC unit, and it had an open drain in the floor for the AC to drip into. Yeah... it dripped ALL. NIGHT. LONG. Loudly. 

But the worst thing? The most first-world problem? There was no WiFi available. 

We decided to unpack and chill, and called down to the front desk a few hours later, trying to figure out how to get onto the WiFi. We were told that it was broken, but should be fixed the next day (on Tuesday). This place is losing points with me very quickly. 

We got dressed and headed over to Epcot for dinner. We got a great parking spot, since it was so late in the evening, and we stopped by Guest Services to pick up Birthday and Anniversary Pins to wear for our trip.Then we headed over to the Wonders of Life Pavilion to pick up our AP Magnets.

The line looks longer than it actually was

Inside the little theatre, down the stairs to get a magnet, then out the other door

If we come back to Epcot 2 or 3 more times, we'll get a cool cutting board or something, too!

Anyway, next we made our way back to Italy for our favoritest pizza in The World - Via Napoli.

True Via fans know where we are just seeing this light!

One large pie to split between us and two sodas (some of the best mixed fountain sodas on property!) came up to $44. Not a bad price for an Anniversary dinner!

And I even got a birthday treat! I have no idea what it was, but it was tasty!

The candle was lit and they all sang Happy Birthday to me!

We stepped out of Italy and found a good spot to watch Illuminations. I took a lot (as I always do), but here's a few that didn't suck (I was shooting on the fly, without a tripod). 

We wandered around til around 11pm, him playing Pokemon GO! and me shooting more photos. We even asked a CM to take our photo at a few different locations. This is the best we could do...

It's high praise when I see a photo of me and think "Hey, I don't look half bad!"

We eventually headed back to the hotel to... celebrate... our anniversary, then went to sleep. About 3am, I discovered that the AC didn't get very chilly in the bedroom area of the suite. Maybe it was on a motion sensor? Either way, it was a hot night of sleeping. 

On Tuesday, we slept in til 9, and completely missed the complementary hot breakfast. I enjoyed what I did a lot better than I would some powdered eggs!

We hit up Wawa and Krispy Kreme, then came back to the hotel to eat breakfast in bed. There's still no Wifi. Frustrated, we finished eating and headed to Hollywood Studios. Because of all the new roadwork, we missed the turn, then got all confused as to where to go, so we ended up leaving and coming back in again!

Also, because of a lot of work inside the DHS parking area, there was a LONG walk from the trams to the bag check area. I felt like I needed a nap after that!

We headed over to Star Tours, which I thought was our first FastPass+. Turned out it was our LAST FP+, so we hopped into the Stand By line. We were put in the back row, and wow... can't do that again without Dramamine!

Preparing to board!

Next, we headed over to Muppets Courtyard and snuck upstairs to chill out on the PizzaRizzo balcony. We've not yet been to PizzaRizzo, but the balcony is nice with a mix of tables and counters, and lots of fans, which were definitely welcomed!

I never come back here... I didn't even know there was a Christmas store!

Anyone get the Abe Moskowitz reference?

The PizzaRizzo patio

We headed down after a while to get to our next FastPass+, which was Muppets 3D. Yes, we FastPass+ed the Muppets show. It's cute, I like it, and it has AC!

Pepe - starring in PRAWN

By now, it was time for lunch, so we actually just turned right around and went back to PizzaRizzo. After eating there, I think people shit on this place.WDW News Today has a very in-depth review on the interior of PizzaRizzo, and EasyWDW has a review of the interior and the food from the opening in 2016. Is it Via Napoli? No. Is it chewy, doughy, frozen pizza? Yes! And sometimes, that's exactly what you want. Hubby and I were both happy with the meal, and we'd eat there again.

Chip & Dale decided to steal some children

Finally, though, it was time to head over to the all-new Toy Story Land.

Wow... I've never seen a Woody that big!

Our first stop was our last FastPass+, Toy Story Mania. As is tradition (and I don't even try to make it happen), I got a Beaver.

He only beat me by 20,000 this time!

Our next stop was ASS - Alien Swirling Saucers. The queue is fun, but all outside, so we were all sweaty and icky. The music is fun and upbeat mixes of Toy Story music. The ride itself is similar to Mater's Junkyard ride at Disneyland. It was a pleasant ride, but nothing we'd do again. The design of the ride didn't lend to getting the cars REALLY swirling, so it was kind of a letdown.

Artsy ASS

Action Selfie!

We hit up the potties and then went to the centerpiece of the land - Slinky Dog Dash. The line was even longer than ASS, but we persevered! The seating is tight for two adults who are at or above 200 pounds. I would have preferred to be alone in the row, with Hubby in another row, but logistically, that's stupid, when there are thousands of people in line. It was thrill-ier than I expected, with lots of hills and bumps. Nothing upside-down, and no huge drops, but still really cool, because a lot of the ride is very high off the ground to begin with, it tricks your brain into thinking it's scarier than it actually is (kind of like how the dark makes Space Mountain even scarier).

Headed to Slinky Dog Dash

I hope "James Industries" is a tribute to Jim Varney, the voice of Slinky Dog

Uh, woof!

Sweaty and wilted, we thought about heading over to Epcot, but after seeing the friendship boat line, we decided to head back to the hotel to cool off, and then go to Epcot once the sun went down.

Back at the hotel, I tried to use the huge jetted tub, but either that didn't work either, or I was just too stupid to figure out how to use it (I'm thinking it was the first one).

Oh, and there's still no WiFi. 

While I was boiling myself in the tub, Hubby found a FastPass for Illuminations (he knows I love shooting fireworks), so we got dressed and headed over to Epcot. We spent some time in MouseGears, trying to find a fun new shirt for Hubby (he's able to wear cool t-shirts to work, so he's always looking for something new). He didn't find anything he liked, though. We did Test Track as single riders. 

Single Rider means we all make friends!

Boom!

Bang!

Ooooooooh!

Before Illuminations, I wanted to find a snack, and my brain said, oooooooh, get some popcorn, bitch! so I went on the hunt for popcorn. It seems like popcorn is everywhere, right? Well, not when you're looking for it! MyDisneyExperience™ said I could find some popcorn over in Canada... they only had maple available... Oh well. No popcorn for me. 

We checked in and found somewhere to sit and shoot Illuminations. Again, I sure wish I had my tripod... I guess this trashcan will have to do.

Once Illuminations was over, we headed out with the mass of bodies (rather than hanging out some more) and drove over to Disney Springs for dinner. We wanted to check out Guy Fieri's Chicken Guy restaurant. I had a bunch of cool photos, but like I said before, my small camera got lost, so here's some generic ones from the internet. 

Chicken Tenders, French Fries, Triple Mint Milkshake, obscure LOST meme

We each got a 3-pc tender meal with fries and a soda for about $11.50 each. Hubby also got the Triple Mint Milkshake, and I swear to God, his "wow this milkshake is good!" face is very similar to other "OMG this is so good!" faces he makes. He usually just makes them only for me... wink.

Slowly, full of chicken, we headed back to our hotel. Surprise, there was still no WiFi. As you can imagine, after all that food, hubby had an upset stomach, and fell asleep before I did; I read my book for a while. 

Wednesday was our last day, but we made the most of it. 

I packed up the room while hubby scanned MDE for lunch reservations. Check-out was easy at least; we did so by phone, so we didn't have to go back to the front.

Our plan for the day was to hit up Magic Kingdom, Epcot, and Boardwalk. In some sort of order. But what would be the smartest, and most logistical way to do that? We actually had to pull over into a gas station and pull out some paper to draw diagrams! We didn't want to move the car, so the car had to be at the last stop so we could go straight to the car when we were ready to leave. We settled on this:

Park at Epcot ➽
Take the Monorail to Magic Kingdom; do Magic Kingdom activities ➽
Take Bus from Magic Kingdom to Boardwalk, stop at Bakery for snacks to bring home ➽
Walk through Epcot to Parking Lot ➽
Leave directly from Epcot 🏡

It was convoluted, but made the most sense! Could we have driven? Yeah... Did I want to? No. I love Disney transportation, and the longer I can stay on property, soaking up the atmosphere, the happier I am.

Plenty of room if you don't travel at peak times!

So, we parked at Epcot and made our way over to Magic Kingdom. Because we took so long, um, celebrating again, we missed our first FastPass (but we changed it to Haunted Mansion for later). We shopped around the Emporium and finally found some new shirts. Each of us ended up picking up two each, for around $100 total. Hubby picked up these two shirts (each $24.99).

While I got these two shirts (there's two photos of the white shirt because I wanted to show the cool back detail). I'm so happy that Disney is finally making more Big Girl size shirts. XL does not work for me. XXL is okay, if it's a dude shirt, but dude shirts are uncomfortable, and too long. (Blue was $29.99, white was $36.99)

Next up, we rode Pirates, then headed over to Big Thunder Mountain. We were able to ride with only a 10 minute stand-by wait, and then used our FastPass+. (Without Dramamine, I can't do more than two times; that stupid circle at the end kills me). 

Horribly BASIC map of BTMRR

Peek from the Peak

We stopped for lunch at Columbia Harbor House (upstairs, of course!) to cool down and relax, as well as to pass time before our Haunted Mansion FastPass+. 

So GREASY!

After the Haunted Mansion, we caught part of the Muppets history show. It was cute, but I'm wondering if we missed a lot of it, or if it was a really short show? (Also, can Miss Piggy go die in a fire already? She's not funny... don't @ me).
 

Sam is the best

We caught the bus to Yacht & Beach Clubs, then walked around the lake to the Boardwalk Bakery, where we picked up each a slice of Peanut Butter Cake and a Cheesecake Brownie, as well as cups of ice water. Then we walked over to the International Gateway, and had to go through bag check (because of our tasty treats). We walked up to the front of the park, and trammed to the car.

We did decide to grab dinner before heading home, and we ended up at McDonald's where we split a chicken mcnugget meal, and I got a caramel sundae. It was just the right amount of food. Plus, as always, we hit up Wawa for gas and snacks before getting out of town. 

There was barely any traffic, which was great (it was a Wednesday, so most people weren't in vacation mode), and I have to say, my new Altima's fancy Zero-Gravity seats, and my heated seat pad made for a fabulously comfy drive home. I felt really good! We got home around 9, and I was unpacked and asleep by 10:30!

If we do this next year, I should really take the whole week off... work is gonna suck tomorrow!