Where the Hell Did I Park? - Sangria Dash 5k Race Report

Registration opens June 1, 2020 - click the photo for details

I did a new race yesterday, a race that called itself a "trail race," simply because I really wanted the medal. But, with all my complaints, it was a great race!

I'd already done packet pickup the day before at the mall, so I didn't have to worry about that.

Random swag (Keychain, pen, race sticker)

Awesome black race shirt that ACTUALLY FITS ME!

When I woke up, hoo boy, it was a lot colder than I was expecting. I think it was about 49º when I rolled out of bed at 5:45. Assuming it would warm up a little, I did layers - I ended up in a skirt, Zensah leg sleeves, tee, quarter-zip long sleeve, a Gasparilla Challenge jacket I rescued from the trunk, a Bondi Band to keep my ears warm, a hat, and a pair of handwarmers. I left around 6:30, telling hubby I'd be back in a few hours, and by then it had "warmed up" to 52 degrees.

What? Who doesn't listen to ragtime versions of Disney music?

I thought the race was in Hawthorne, but it ended up being much closer to Cross Creek. It was an adventure, because I had no idea where I was, and soon, we actually ended up on dirt roads... shit, we're way out in the country!

The prevalence of brake lights showed me how many people aren't familiar driving on dirt roads!

It reminded me a lot of where my grandmother lived, and I was feeling very peaceful, and a bit homesick. Once we got through the gates of Island Grove Wine Company there were a lot of volunteers on hand to direct traffic to parking locations.

Blueberry fields on the left (also, part of the course)

I got parked way out in BFE, and tried my damnedest to remember how to get back to my car. I even turned around to take a photo of where the parking lot was, in relation to the starting area.

Remember this... it's important later!

I had plenty of time to gear up at the car - where it was warm - and that's when I decided that the Gasparilla jacket was a good idea. It was cold. It was overcast. And, shit, it was getting misty, too. This is going to be a hard race, mentally speaking.

When I got up to the starting area, there were loads of people and lots of tents to check out, so that kept my mind preoccupied and not thinking about the weather.

Truly a dreary, drizzly day

LOTS of people here to run!

Eventually, it was time to go to our corrals... but there weren't any... Despite the email saying that there'd be some corrals, it was just an open area full of bodies (most bodies were not prepared for the weather, either...).

Yep, that's a Running Mickey tattoo

As we all froze, waiting to start, we did the National Anthem and then took off, around the pond, and into the woods behind it.
 

Still more people coming

Most of the trails were really just hard-packed grass lining the blueberry fields, so I was feeling much more sure-footed than I was expecting.

This is a pretty good representation of the whole race... dirt and grass

There was a water stop at the 1.25 mile mark. I was very upset to see that Jesus hadn't shown up yet (water... wine... get it? Shut up, it's funny).

Excuse me... this is a winery? You gave me water?

After the water stop, we starting some patches of dirt roads. For those of you don't aren't familiar with dirt roads...when they get damp, the top layer turns to mud, but the bottom layer is still dirt, so little by little it sticks to your shoes in chunks.

I was always with a good chunk of people... never really alone back here

There wasn't a lot of dirt roads, though, by 2 miles, we were back on grass.

More grass, super-slippery

And that's how the remainder of the race went, until we got to the big open field... To add distance, they had this weird open loopy thing happening, which was a little "cross-country"-esque. Not a fan. 

I was more interested in the huge field full of archery equipment when I got here

Then back into the woods for another half-mile or so.

This was maybe the most "wooded" part of the race

Finally, we came out of the woods and it was the finish line.  I was so freaking cold!!!
 

I "warmed up" enough to pull down the zipper, that's it!

Getting this awesome medal? SO WORTH IT!!

My official time was 55:26 (pace 17:52), which, honestly, isn't that bad for a trail race in this weather. I came in 787th out of 912 total finishers, and finished 76th out of 84 runners in my age group. 

I walked around to get some funk out of my legs, and spied IGWC's awesome beautifully restored International Harvester Truck, so I kind of snuck behind it to peek into the windows and take a photo with it. I got busted by one of the Winery's owners - or did I? - and he volunteered to take a few photos of me IN the truck! How cool!
 

Trying so hard to be cool

...and failing so miserably

Race entry included wine tastings and a free glass of wine. I am not a drinker, but I decided to give it a go. I tasted their Blueberry Moscato, the sweetest one they had, and their most popular wine. I know nothing about wine, but this wine was just as "winey" as any other wine I've tried, so after 2 sips, I chucked it into the trash.

Yeah, no...

There were HUGE lines for the free glass of wine (which I never got; the ticket is floating around the trunk of my car, actually). I wandered around, looking at all the vendors, then hung out waiting for the awards and raffle, all the while wondering... Is it getting colder???

These two were adorable. He kept rubbing her arms and legs, swaying back and forth to keep her warm

Shocker, I won no award, and I won nothing in the raffle, and I packed it in around 10:30...

Now, where was my car?

When I looked at the photo I took, and compared it to where I was, I could make heads nor tails of where the hell I was.

I walked down one area for a little bit, but then turned around because it wasn't that one.

So it had to be this second one! I ended up chatting with another runner who'd asked about my Gasparilla jacket, and after 5 minutes I realized, nope, it wasn't this parking area either...

So, I backtracked back to the start area and watched where people were walking... Okay, I haven't gone down that way yet, my car must be down that way!

Oh, thank God, this is the right way!!!

See the red lines? I went to probably half of those lots before I ended up in the right place (the Star)

I didn't have a lot of speed left in me but once I realized I was going in the right direction, I took off in a fast walk, threw myself in the car and cranked the heater! Jear Deezus, it was still only 52º outside, but I was an ice cube!

You got it, Ray! I'm outta here!!

I drove into Hawthorne, and changed clothes at Love's Truck Stop, then picked up a sausage biscuit from McDonald's and I was home by noon.

Hubby - holy shit I love this man - had taken the space heater out of storage and set it up so that I could change into my jammies in a warm area as soon as I got home (because he knows I hate to be cold). I greatly appreciated the gesture, but I actually needed to keep the jeans on so I could take the Kiddo to work and then have my tire looked at. When I got home again, I spent the rest of the day in aforementioned jammies, and vegged out on the computer.

No Wine, No Dine, No Race, Just Disney! … or How Sweetums Got His Groove Back

Ugh, the last few weeks have been hell. At some point, around mid-October, I came down with a horrendous respiratory infection (I called it Bronchitis, but I never went to see the doctor about it...), all the while having to deal with helping my mother and aunt move into a new house, two large work meetings to plan, a huge 100+ employee retreat to plan and execute, and the annual County-Employee-wide potluck luncheon, that I had to cook for the night before, and then act as photographer for, the day of.

Needless to say, by Thursday night, I was fucking exhausted.

I got up around 8am, hopped in the shower, paid some bills, and washed all the dishes I dirtied from yesterday's luncheon.

We packed up and were out the door around 11, with a pit stop for lunch at Steak & Shake, before getting on the road. We hit up Wawa in Ocala for a bathroom break, which ended up being fortuitous, since near exit 329, we hit a huge traffic backup, that we were stuck in for over an hour. Once we got on the turnpike it was much better, and soon we checked in to our room at Red Lion and unpacked for some well-needed SexyTime™. Later, we went to the newly-opened Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen. Hubby had chicken fingers, I had fried shrimp, and while I wasn't blown away, I'd give it another shot.

After dinner, we wanted to head over to Hollywood Studios, and we were so sure of ourselves, we skipped using the Garmin... and got lost. We kept turning in the wrong places, and went in circles for about 20 minutes before we finally got to where we were going. Once parked, we detoured over to the Skyliner for our inaugural trip.

Any time I can put my feet on a seat!

We took the Skyliner to the Hub, where we had to disembark, then we got on a second Skyliner to Pop Century. We returned back to the Hub, hopped back on the first Skyliner to DHS.

Inside DHS, we hightailed it over to Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge for our first encounter with the new land.

The transition tunnel between Grand Avenue and Galaxy's Edge

Smuggler's Run, at 9:30 at night, had only a 25 minute wait, so we hopped right in line.

Wait Time for Smuggler's Run

This bucket of bolts's never gonna get us past that blockade.

When you see it...

Waiting to be chosen for our mission

The theming of the queue, is of course, amazing. I'm sure it would be more amazing if I gave any craps about Star Wars. Soon, we were called and 'recruited' to be gunners, with another group who where the pilots and engineers. (Those two folks had the air of nerds who'd been riding this nonstop since it opened).

Learning about our Mission

The job of the Gunner was to sit in the back and push any button that turned green. Ostensibly, we were shooting people or things that got in our way, but the ride itself was just pushing a button.

Unfortunately, since the buttons were on the side of the cockpit, we spent more time paying attention to buttons than paying attention to the screen of the ride, so I feel like I missed 75% of the ride by focusing on stupid buttons. It was a cool ride - not mind-blowing - but I'd ride it again if it were under an hour wait.

We spent the rest of the night soaking in the evening air, me taking way too many photos, and Hubby playing Pokemon Go.

Young Jedis fight in the shadow of a TIE Fighter

Old Jedis need to use the ladies' room

Wash your hands, you must

Good night, Galaxy's Edge

After a long day, we hit Wawa for snacks, and headed back to the hotel for the night.

At this point, I bet you're wondering... Wait... Isn't this a blog about Wine & Dine? Didn't you volunteer? Nope! I kind of forgot about sign-up day, so we were wait-listed for everything, and never ended up getting called to volunteer. But since we'd already taken the time off, and we already had the hotel reservation, and since we're Passholders, it was a no-brainer! So, this is basically a well-needed Disney vacation weekend. 

Saturday, we slept in late, enjoyed each other's company and I took a bubble bath before vegging out in bed.

Later, as we were getting ready to go to lunch, Hubby came out of the bathroom laughing heartily... he said it sounded like Sweetums (the Muppet) was in the room next to us, either puking or orgasming... he couldn't tell which, but the visuals alone was disturbing, which we laughed about for the rest of the trip.

Mahna Mahna!

We drove over to Disney Springs for our early dinner reservation at The Boathouse. Last time we were here, Hubby got the steak, while I got fish. I decided on steak this time. 

Daniel, our server (who reminded me of RuPaul's Drag Race Season 2 almost-winner Raven, but out of drag), was amazing.
 

Ooooh, gurl

Even though we ordered sodas (neither one of us drink alcohol, in case you're new here), he brought out a little bowl of lemons for me, a full carafe of ice water and kept us topped off throughout the entire meal. He also brought us delicious rolls, and then a roll refill before our steak came out.

Photo: TripAdvisor

The steak was just so freaking good! I kept eating and eating, though I was getting very full (yes, I know I shouldn't fill up on bread...). I had about 5 or 6 bites left when Daniel came by and kind of chided me, daring me to finish, as did Hubby. With yet another water refill, I was on a mission now... and I'm happy to say that I finished the whole thing. I was stuffed, and you had to roll me out of there, but I hate the whole thing!

We wandered around World of Disney for some new tee shirts, but nothing tickled our fancy, so we headed over to Epcot, but by way of Caribbean Beach Resort Skyliner.
 

Caribbean Beach Skyliner Hub at Sunset

We did Single Rider on TestTrack, then checked out the Epcot Experience, in the Odyssey Pavilion, which is a sneak peek into the changes happening to Epcot.

Smile!

DisNerds

Inside Odyssey, they had 4 fun photo-ops set up, which of course we took advantage of!

Cherry Lane Backdrop, with Mary Poppins and balloons

Looking over the edge of Spaceship Earth

Riding Guardians of the Galaxy (not yet open)

Attempting to look like we're having fun on Guardians of the Galaxy

A Photoshoot in 4 Parts: Part 1, look cute

Part 2: Act like rats

Part 3: Look confused (um, why exactly did we do this?)

Part 4: Take a "bite" out of the food and laugh so hard we fart

While I took a quick snack break (with some sad, stale popcorn and a bottle of soda), Hubby picked up a cool new Epcot tee (he bought the blue one). 

Photo Credit: WDWNT.com

After that, we found a great spot to shoot Epcot Forever fireworks. I ran up to MouseGears to do a little shopping; I was still on the hunt for a new tee for me. I hustled back to our fireworks spot, and then when they didn't start by 9pm (which is basically always the time for Epcot fireworks), I checked MyDisneyExperience, and the fireworks weren't supposed to start until 10pm. So I went back to MouseGear and tried on the few tees I was leaning towards, and ended up a cute pink tee, and some cotton candy for snacking later. The shirt is a really nicely heathered pink, and the icons are character-themed Ear hats.

Cute Pink Tee

Back at the water, we watched Epcot Forever, which I think is a good show to bridge the gap between Illuminations and HarmoniUS. Pyrotechnics, fire, lasers, and light-up kites. I which could have gotten much better shots, but I'm sure we'll be back in January and I can shoot them then.

We left with the crowds after the fireworks, and by then I was hungry, so I wanted to go to Chick-fil-A, but they were closed! What?!? Bummer. We went to Wawa for drinks and snacks, then stayed in line at Wendy's for way too long, for nuggets and fries, all of which we ate back at the hotel. And probably for the first time in my life, actually, that I watched the clock go from 1:59am to 1:00am, since it was the end of Daylight Savings Time.

I sure hate TikTok, though

On Sunday, we slept in until 10 or so, enjoyed each other's company, then I took a bubble bath and finished the eBook I was reading.

We decided to try lunch at The Fountain at the Dolphin, so we drove to DHS and parked, then took a Friendship Boat to the Swan & Dolphin.

Hubs and I split a cheeseburger & fries, and when they brought it to us, they nicely cut it in half for us, and split the meal onto two plates, which I thought was a great touch. Unfortunately, I wasn't all that impressed. It was passable, but honestly, we were really just here for ice cream. 

Follow him on Twitter... go do it right now.

Vanilla with Caramel, Reese's Pieces, and Whipped Cream          Chocolate with Peanut Butter and Hot Fudge

For $50, I felt it was very overpriced for two sundaes and one entree (the burger meal was $17!!!)

After lunch, we walked some of it off heading over to the Boardwalk, then chilled out in their lobby for an hour or so (I love relaxing in any of the Epcot resorts; they're so posh and beautiful). Then we walked over to Epcot to catch the Skyliner to DHS.

From there, we went and played mini-golf at Winter Summerland. With our AP discount, the first round was $25 for both of us, and when we came back to play the other side of the course, the attendant gave us an extra 10% off and a free game to be used at any time in the future! Score!

We played Winter first, which was cute, then played Summer. (Winter was definitely better). At one point, Hubby's ball got stuck in the South Pole hole, and when he tried to get it out, a second ball came out; I put it in my pocket to return it at the end, and then totally forgot about it, so.... yay, now I have a souvenir, I guess!

We drove out to Disney Springs, picking up some snacks at Goofy's Candy Company, and also found a cool shirt at Tren-D of all places...

One large reason I keep coming to Disney, to be honest

We picked up a Wawa sandwich for Hubby, and I tried Pollo Tropical for the first time, for dinner. I'd give it a 3 out of 5. It works in a pinch, if you're tired of burgers and fries, but because I'm such a picky eater, I think it's not catered towards people like me (my meal was basically chicken and white rice, with some barbecue sauce).

Monday, sadly, was our last day here. When I woke up, I could tell immediately that Hubby had come down with The Funk that I had in October. We checked out and picked up Chick-fil-A (finally!) then headed into Orlando proper to go to IKEA. Hubby was hoping to get some supplies to make a monitor riser, like the one I made. Unfortunately, he didn't find anything he liked, but I was able to pick up the cool silver deer canvas that The Kiddo drools over every time we go to IKEA. I'm going to set it aside for Christmas (ETA: You guys! When I got home, I tucked it under the treadmill so she wouldn't see it, and I completely forgot about it! She actually ended up getting it as a birthday present... in January.)

After that, we drove back to DHS, then took a bus over to the Magic Kingdom... simply to ride the PeopleMover. (Yep, we're those kind of people.)

 

Again, feet on the seat!

Lines at the Magic Kingdom were crazy, and multiple times, the ride shut down, and after 30 minutes, we ended up bailing and headed up to the TTC to grab a monorail to Epcot. At the TTC, there was a huge line too, which added 10-20 more minutes of lateness to our day. 

We should all have an awesome job where we blow bubbles all day!

Oh my... this is quite the line

At Epcot, we had to fight our way through the drunken hordes of Food and Wine idiots, and just minutes from the safety of our destination, the sky opened up in Norway and it began to pour.  

Look at the drunks hide from the rain!

Because of all the speed bumps (which were pretty much all self-inflicted), we checked in for our 3:05 ADR at Via Napoli at 3:45, and we were still seated soon after we arrived. As always, we devoured a large pizza between us, and two sodas. 

With the day starting to unwind, it was time to head home. We took the Skyliner back to DHS, hit up the Wawa one more time, and headed home. 

Back to the Skyliner!

Hey... how you doin'?

Once home, I was greeted with a very sick Kiddo... All three of us, within a month, got The Funk. Lovely.