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?

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 - Quick Recap

Okay guys, so now that I've had some time to relax and get all of the blog posts written and videos made and photos edited, how about a recap? 

• Day 1 - Flying from our city to Jonesboro, Arkansas
• Day 2 - Exploring Cairo, Ft. Defiance State Park, and dining at Lambert's 
• Day 3 - Fitz's, Crown Candy Kitchen, and The Gateway Arch 
• Day 4 - Rocky Valley Hike and a Brush with the Law
• Day 5 - Enjoying a Lazy Day at Home
• Day 6 - The Entire Reason We're Here: the Eclipse
• Day 7 - Uranus Fudge Factory & Redmon's Candy Factory 
• Day 8 - Memphis, Flying Home, and Air Sickness

This vacation was certainly not the one I planned... I had a ton more activities that I wanted to do, but thanks to that cold/sinus infection/whatever it was, we both had to scale back on what we could get done. 

What we didn't get to do:

• Take the tram to the top of the Gateway Arch
• Ride the St. Louis Light Rail from one end to the other
• View the Arch from the Mississippi Overlook across the river
• Visit St. Louis Union Station and ride the Ferris Wheel
• Walk across the Mississippi River in Memphis via Big River Crossing pedestrian Bridge
• Hike in Mount Magazine State Park or Petit Jean State Park
• Drive more of Route 66
• Spend more time in Little Rock, Arkansas

Yeah, I'm bummed about some of these (like the Arch, and the hiking), but all in all, this was still a good vacation, and frankly, I'd take a crappy day on vacation over a great day in the office every single time. I think we spent much more time driving than I first expected, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, because I love the open road, but I think that Garmin being a bitch about avoiding highways added way too much extra time that could have been spent elsewhere. 

What did we love or hate?

I was thoroughly surprised by two things... how much Hubby loved hiking, and how well he tolerated the flying. He was positively giddy about getting on a trail, and cool as a cucumber during the entire flight process. Personally, I also loved the hiking, though maybe not that specific trail, and definitely not while sick! I was really wanting to do a hike that was pretty and had a great view or payoff at the end, and this wasn't the one. But that's okay. 

Neither of us were impressed with Lambert's... it's one of those places that seem so cool when you see it on TV, but when you get there, it's blah and unappealing. Although, if I could get a dozen rolls to go, that would be amazing. 

Cairo & Fort Defiance was probably the biggest bust of the whole trip. I was expecting a cool fort and the opportunity to touch two rivers, but I got a sad tugboat and a failing Union town. There's a great YouTube video that details why Cairo has fallen, you can watch it here. 

I wish we'd tried all of the treats from Crown Candy Kitchen while we were still there. You'll see in our video (Day 3) how delicious everything was... I would have stuffed my suitcase full of those peanut butter eggs if I'd known they were that amazing. 

The weather was great - highs in the 60s kept us sweat-free and gave us reasons to cuddle together!

I, of course, hated that I forgot my freakin' Dramamine and was miserable for four hours! 

What would we do again? 

• Go to the Gateway Arch - this time with pre-purchased online reservation in hand!
• Buy more candy at Crown Candy Kitchen
• Hike at more locations
• Fly! Now that flying is a possibility, there are so many places we can explore! 

What did I learn from this trip? 

• Reservations are important! I had made a note to reserve Arch tram tickets before we left, and I forgot. And that came back to bite me in the butt. 
• Research is important! I need to review restaurant menus more closely so we don't end up in a restaurant that doesn't have food we don't really want to eat. 
• Bring the good Sudafed all the time! At home, I use generic pseudoephedrine when I'm stuffed up because I'm just chillin', not out livin' my life, so I can be a little more stuffed up and miserable. But if I'm on vacation, I don't want to be miserable! 
• Take. The. Dramamine... 'nuff said. 

Total Eclipse Vacation Day 8 (Stone Cold Donut Catcher)

If you missed Day 7 of our Total Eclipse Vacation, you can catch up HERE

I woke up this morning sad... Today is the day we leave and go home. While this vacation wasn't quite what I had planned (I mean, who plans for sinus headaches and congestion?), it was worth every single annoyance and aggravation for the experience we were able to have, viewing a total solar eclipse. 

Last night, as we drove back from Redmon's, I told Hubby that I wanted to do most of the packing because I had a plan to spread everything around (combine my leftovers and his leftovers into a single suitcase, put the dirty laundry into the other suitcase, and pack the personal bags carefully so that nothing gets lost or spilled). 

Yeah, that didn't happen. As soon as he got out of bed, he went into overdrive and started stuffing everything willy-nilly into the suitcases and personal items... Well, so much for that idea (we're lucky he didn't pop any freakin' seams with how much he stuffed into the freakin' bags!). Once the bags were 'packed' I realized that you can take the girl out of the road trip, but you can never take the road trip out of the girl... We had too many snacks and souvenirs, and not enough room to pack them! We left behind a lot of the chips and Little Debbies, I chugged down the last 20oz of orange juice in the fridge, and still ended up with 4-5 bottles of soda and water that we brought with us (we drank a few, but gave the rest to the Avis staff when we turned in the SUV). Hubby shoved the Crown Candy purchases into his bag (some didn't survive as well as we'd hoped). I shoved the popcorn and Wally's chips into my personal item (those got smashed by the TSA gal). 

Check out wasn't until 10am, but we were ready to go by 9:45 (again, we would have had plenty of time to be slower in packing, darling). The weather for today looked questionable - lots of grey skies all the way to Memphis. Plus, the flight home was supposed to be pretty rough, so I'll definitely need the Dramamine tonight!

We drove over to Memphis (this time on the interstate, stupid Garmin) and our first stop of the day: Gibson Donuts. I was expecting something like an old diner, or a dingy Mr. Donut kind of place, and yeah, it was kind of dingy, but in a well-loved, been-there-forever kind of way. It was run by a staff of people young enough to be my children, and seemed to serve every demographic imaginable. Seeing him looking overwhelmed, many different patrons suggested to Hubby that we try a maple bacon donut. We each got two - he got a Maple Bacon and a Cream Puff (yeast donut filled with buttercream, frosted with chocolate, more cream on top, and glitter!). I went with a Maple Bacon and a Cinnamon-Sugar raised. 

Cream Puff

Maple Bacon

Cinnamon Sugar

As we were at the register, one of the staff members asked if we'd ever been there before. We said no, and the next thing I knew, they were getting ready to throw donuts at us! Apparently, they throw glazed donuts at newbies. 

Now, I am usually a pretty low-profile, laid-back kinda gal. I don't showboat, or brag about myself or toot my own horn, but y'all... They threw a donut at me and without even flinching, I just raised my RIGHT HAND and caught it like the badass that I am. (For those who don't know, I am left-handed). It was just amazing, and everyone went crazy (I don't think they expected me to catch it). So then, the guy looked over my shoulder at Hubby, tossed his in the air, and I CAUGHT THAT ONE TOO! Like just left hand, up in the air, bitch that's my donut kind of catch. The entire staff went wild! Someone said I snatched that MF out of the air like Stone Cold Steve Austin. I won't lie... I felt so cool, hehe. 

I think Hubby fell in love with me all over again that day, he was so impressed! They threw another one at him (I let him catch that one), while I cleaned off my hands and paid for our donuts - under $8 for four donuts and a can of root beer! Although the glazed ones were free, so really six donuts. 

A little worse for wear, after being caught by a badass!

The Maple Bacon was good, with a light chewy dough and supple maple flavor; I think the bacon was out of a bag, but it was still really good. The Cinnamon Sugar donut messed with me, because I'd take a bite expecting a 'regular' sugar donut (Sugar Raised, if you're an old school Dunkin' Donut fan); the cinnamon threw it out of whack. The squished and decimated glazed donut was delicious, with something different in the glaze... maybe honey? His Cream Puff was delicious as well. 

As we sat there, we just people-watched, and my goodness... they were never not busy. You saw everyone from beloved "old man" regulars, to teachers, to rich women, to everyone in between. Many people had called in orders and were seen carrying out at least a dozen or more donuts. None of the people we saw only got one donut. 

They also had many tee-shirts for sale, and I really wish I'd picked one up. I love specialty tee shirts, and what a great way to add to my collection and support this place that I'll probably never go to again, right? 

Stuffed to the gills with three donuts and a can of root beer in my belly, Hubby had to roll me outta there, but our next stop was a good old-fashioned game or two of putt-putt golf. 

As you can imagine, it wasn't all that busy on a Wednesday morning with rain in the forecast. There was only one other family when we got there (and of course, we ended up getting stuck behind them!) We asked the cashier what was the most economical way to play at least 2 rounds of golf, and she gave us the Wacky Wednesday Special - Unlimited mini-golf plus a box of popcorn plus a soda plus a $5 arcade credit... all for $15 each! Oh hell yeah, what a deal! 

We got our balls and clubs and played the first course (the Easy course) - not a lot of "Goofy" here, just a plain course with some hills and basic obstacles. Although, because of recent rains, the AstroTurf was saturated and slow. I spent way too much time randomly jumping up and down on the green to make splashes! We never keep track of strokes, so no idea who won any of the rounds (it was probably me, though... wink wink). 

We moved on to the second course (the Medium course), and it started to sprinkle while we were on the first hole, then began to really start raining when we were about halfway through. We debated quitting, but it's just rain, and most of this course was under tree canopy anyway. 

When we finished, we headed inside to use up our arcade credits. I'm sad to say that my Skee-Ball skills have disappeared since I was a kid, and every round, Hubby got more points than I did. Maybe it had something to do with my changing vision, due to the Lasik I had last year... At the Prize Counter, we pooled our tickets (I think we ended up with about 300), to get me a weird little squishy toy, a few Cow Tales, and two Dum-Dums. That little squishy toy now hangs from my bedroom lamp and he makes me smile every time I see him. 

He's supposed to be a lion, I think

At this point it was pouring outside, so we picked up our two boxes of popcorn and two sodas (and she gave us the cool souvenir cups, even though the "deal" was for the smaller Styrofoam cups... Unfortunately, no room in the luggage for the souvenir cups, so they had to be trashed, unfortunately). The popcorn was delicious, fresh, and super-salty. We sat in the little snack area and watched this absolute jackwagon out back on the "real golf" driving range just absolutely suck at what he was doing. He wasn't being spatially aware of others around him, he was swinging badly, not taking turns when others next to him wanted to drive... I think we saw 7 different people leave while we were watching. 

The rain let up so we took the soda cups to the car, then came back to do Course 3 (the Hard course), where I got a Hole in One on the very first hole. Oh yeah! Obnoxiously goofy Hole in One dance had to happen, and I'm sure the traffic driving by got a kick out of it. I got Holes in One on two other holes, for a total of three. He got none. Not on any of the courses. One more dance with an added butt wiggle, just for him. 

We chose not to play any more since it was still raining, and I headed to our next stop: Lunch at Cook-Out. In a pretty sketchy part of town, really... and a pretty sketchy Cook-Out, to be honest. The entire floor was an ice skating rink from tiles mopped with a greasy mop. We were the only ones inside, except for one staff member on their lunch break. Hubby got a Burger tray with double fries. I got a Corn Dog with cheese bites & Cajun fries (which, sadly was just regular fries with seasoning... I thought they'd be more like Checker's fries). The cheese bites were bomb, though (yes, I said bomb). Though, to be honest, we should have waited a while... between the donuts and the popcorn, neither of us were super-hungry, which meant that we had no room for milkshakes. 

While we ate, we tried to think of something else to do, to fill the time between lunch and getting to the airport, but because of the weather, we thought it a better idea to just gas up the SUV and get to the airport early. It would give us plenty of time to turn in the car and make sure it's all cleaned out. We can relax through TSA, then find somewhere quiet to sit (like an out of the way corner or lounge) and then move over to our gate as we got closer to our departure time. 

I have to say, returning the SUV was super-easy! I just had to pull in to the Return Area and leave the keys in it. As we were unpacking, someone came over to check the mileage and do a body check. We gave the Avis employees all of our leftover bottles of water and soda, then headed in to the airport. 

Because Memphis doesn't have a lot of pre-TSA seating areas, we went ahead through, and both of us got dinged again! After we flew in last week, he'd tucked the tiny bottle of water into his carry on and apparently forgot about it (and of course, it's more than 3oz). My personal item was pulled out for my laptop - she ran a weird little wand over the entire thing, and it made me wonder what in the world she was testing for? What did my laptop touch that it was registering as something potentially unsafe? Is this normal? Thanks to her pawing through my bag (which I'd packed very well), my bag of Wally's chips were completely crushed by the time I got home. The popcorn survived better. 

On the other side of TSA, we looked for a quiet place to chill. Originally, I thought that we could go over to the other side of the terminal, where the international departures were, but it looked pretty deserted, and I didn't want to get in trouble. So instead, we stayed in our side of the terminal, and I found what seemed to be an empty and quiet gate (I read the board and I thought that this flight had already departed, and it would be a while before the next batch of travelers trickled over). But man, I was wrong! Soon, we were surrounded by a group called Sojourn Project (who were returning home after an amazing-looking journey through Civil Rights history, according to their website), with tons of high schoolers and their chaperones. Imagine, 100 free-range, driving-age teenagers just being kids, and all of the noise and energy that entails. Not that they were rowdy or overly rambunctious, but it was just... more tiresome... than I wanted to deal with. I was hoping for a quiet hour or so with my book and few distractions. Instead, it was crowded and loud. Everyone was eating something, so there was this weird odor of Chinese Chick-fil-A Pizza Coffee in the air. Standing up, sitting down, hollering to their friends, running over to where their friend is, talking on the phone, all the things that teenagers typically do... I just wanted a little peace, but I didn't want to look like a douche and leave (like, I don't like being near you so I'm moving seats). We only had to deal with them for an hour or so, so it wasn't terrible. 

Once they all departed, we moved closer to our gate (over in a corner). I moved some things around in my suitcase to make more room in my personal item bag. I took two Dramamine and put them in my pocket, then tucked the container in my suitcase - I planned to take them about 30 minutes before we got on the plane. A few minutes later, the gate agent offered free gate-checking since the plane was full, and you know I took advantage of that! No having to worry about overhead bin space or rolling them through Atlanta? And saving almost $100 to boot? Yes please! 

Eventually it was time to board, me at the window, and Hubby in the middle seat, with an aisle seatmate who (I learned later) was also a first-time flyer and having a few issues. I was curious if this flight would be better or worse. We flew in first thing in the morning, no issues. Will it be worse to fly at night? More delays? Worse weather? More nausea? Knowing this info will help me plan future flights. On both ATL-MEM flights, we were on the same plane, in the same area (Row 32 vs Row 33). I was on the left on the way up, and on the right on the way home. Both planes had the same shitty overhead fans that didn't do squat, that's for damn sure! 

Take-off was powerful, and at first I was feeling confident, no issues. It was cool to see the ground below us, all lit up with headlights and streetlights. But after about 10 minutes, I began to feel... off. I wondered if this was due to all the junk I ate today? Was I dehydrated? Lingering effects of my cold/sinus infections? Whatever it was, it was hitting me hard. I was sweating, it felt so hot on the plane - I'd brought a thick Shacket with me to wear on the plane both times, but I certainly didn't need it right now... Hubby had his jacket on too, so I was just surrounded by HOT. And bless his heart, he kept trying to show me funny memes and videos from Imgur (to distract me), but after the millionth half-hearted "heh" from me, he gave up. The attendant came by with snacks, and I got water and Sunchips. Sadly, at some point, I dropped the chips on the floor, never to be seen again. I tried to drink the water, but it didn't do much for me. Guess it's not dehydration. Also, Hubby was holding on to my water bottle that was full of ice cold water for me. By the time the attendant passed by, I had the safety card out and I was just fanning myself like a whore in church... I could feel... things... bubbling in my gut. Oh no... please, for the love of all that is good and holy, please please PLEASE do not allow me to vomit on this plane. There is no bag (though I found it later, and it was nasty), and I didn't want to vomit on my shirt or on the floor. No, please god, NO!

The fanning intensified as the weather - and the nausea - continued to get worse. Finally - finally - as I began to feel things rising in my chest, about bra band level, we touched down on the ground, and sweet Jesus of mercy, things began to drop back down in my throat. Honestly, I feel like I was about 2 minutes away from vomiting all over the floor! I was exhausted. I felt like I'd just run a marathon. I was sweaty and everything was spinning and all I could do was just sit there and exist in the space for a while. 

And bless his heart, Hubby was offering me my water, asking if I was okay, and being the best husband a girl could ever ask for. I just closed my eyes and laid my head on the side of the plane, fanning for my life. 

Once we got to our gate, our seatmate (who had a hard time himself, according to Hubby) jumped out into the aisle to stand up, and there was enough wiggle room for me to ask Hubby to help me take my shacket off, and dear lord, it was like twenty degrees cooler once I did that! I still felt woozy but not nearly as bad. Eventually, it was cleared enough that we could deplane, and I felt like an invalid, walking slowly out of the gate, and slowly over to the Plane Trane to catch our next flight. We only had 50 minute layover, but thankfully our second plane was delayed by 10 minutes or so. 

Once at our gate, I hauled ass across the walkway to the bathroom and then to the store next to it to pick up some ginger ale. I gave absolutely no fucks about how expensive it might be... It could have been ten bucks for all I cared! I gladly would have paid that, but surprisingly, it was only $3.29, and honestly? That's cheaper than at Disney World! I sipped on the ginger ale while we waited for our next plane, taking deep cleansing breaths, hoping like hell that things would be better on the next flight, trying to figure out why the heck this flight was so bad this time?!

Because we were there before our plane was, we were able to get on at the normal time, so it was easier to find our seat, get situated, find overhead space, etc. I had my ginger ale and bottle of water. I had my phone. I had NO jacket on (but kept in on my lap). I had the best husband ever. I could do this! The pilot came over the speakers and basically said, "...so, uh, yeah... there's some serious weather up there, so this flight is gonna suck, folks. Just so you know. Hunker down." Okay, maybe not exactly what he said, but that's the gist of it. So I hunkered down. Closed my eyes. Fan on full blast. sipped on ginger ale. Told myself over and over, I got this. 

And you know what?

I did. 

It was a terrible flight. I had to squeeze Hubby's hand a lot (he told me later it was like I was in labor again). I kept my eyes closed and tried to just rest, using my shacket as a pillow against the window. 

But I never got sweaty. I never got dizzy. And I never got the "Oh, puke's coming!" feeling, like I did on the first one. The ATL-GNV flight, despite the weather, seemed easier than the MEM-ATL flight, and I'm so thankful for that! And god bless these flight attendants... They held it together during some nasty weather, and were still smiling as we all deplaned. We let everyone else off the plane first so I wasn't holding anyone up, and then limped my way down the aisle. One of the attendants wished me a good night and asked if I'd seen the lightning during the flight? No, I didn't see the lightning, Mary... I was trying not to puke. But damn, I sure wish I HAD seen it! 

That was one of my greatest regrets... I was so shaken up that I couldn't look out the window at any time to see if I could see the ground, or watch the plane slowly lower in the air, or bank, or any of that. I wanted to see the rivers of taillights as we came into Atlanta over the beltway, and I wanted to see The Swamp, if we flew over UF campus... Instead I got furrowed brows and hand cramps. Oh well... I didn't puke on my shoes, so it's still a win.

As we walked toward baggage claim, I mumbled again about how I wanted to figure out what was so different between the two days (like a Pro and Con list kind of thing). Hubby propped me up against a wall to watch the two Personal Item bags then went to wait for our suitcases.  

As I stood there, breathing deeply, I put my hands in my pockets to make sure that I had all my random stuff and...

What is that...?

Are. You. Fucking. KIDDING ME!!???!!??!?!

I pulled out two beautifully perfect little Dramamine pills, just waiting for me. I just laughed internally and put them back in my pocket until Hubby came back. I said to him, "remember how I wanted to figure out what was so different between the two days?" and then pulled out the pills to show him. 

 

Okay, but let's put a spin on this... I survived and didn't puke on two separate flights that flew through some nasty turbulence, at night, with no Dramamine. It's a win, right? Like, yay for me, but I never want to do that again. 

With a big sigh, we gathered up our belongings and rolled our way to the car (which seemed a lot further away than it did when we parked last week). Back at home, hubby unpacked the car and we both just crashed in bed. I think I was asleep in 5 minutes! We joke about how we love our (generic) TempurPedic mattress and MyPillow pillows, but my god, it was like sinking into a cloud tonight. 

What an adventure! 

When's the next one?

Total Eclipse Vacation Day 7 (Your Fudge Factory Sucks)

If you missed Day 6 of our Total Eclipse Vacation, you can catch up HERE

Today was another day that I was looking forward to that ended up not being what I was expecting. 

I set my watch for 6am to give us plenty of time to wake up and get on the road, but apparently Hubby's body had other plans... Every time I tried to wake him up, he'd roll over, or clutch his pillow tighter, or burrow deeper into the blankets. Every 10 minutes my watch went off, I'd try again with no luck. I gave up by 8am (a full 90 minutes after I started), and just read a book and waited for him to wake up. He got up to pee around 10am and as he shuffled back, he saw that it was so late and demanded to know why I let him sleep so late!? Bro... don't blame me on this, it's all on you. So we got a three-hour late start on a trip that takes four hours to get there... This place better be worth it.

We stopped in West Plains for lunch, but nothing looked appetizing... Ugh, the curse of good taste and fast food. We hit Casey's for soda and restrooms, and just ended up with some prepackaged ham sliders, and a slice of pizza. Hubby loved the sliders. The pizza was meh+ (though to be fair, I think my sinus issues are still affecting my ability to fully taste things, so for all I know, this could have been amazing pizza). 

Two hours later, we arrived at Uranus Fudge Factory, and boy oh boy... this was what I was expecting. For some reason, I was expecting a huge tourist trap with lots of things to do and a gift shop. Instead, it was lots and lots of gift shop... with not much to do. The massive gift shop was full of every jokey thing you could think of, lots of Uranus things like hats and shirts of course, but also tin signs, shot glasses, mugs, hunting stuff, 'redneck' gag gifts, funny candy, etc. I picked up a tee-shirt and a sticker. 

I'll give 'em this, there was a lot of stuff to buy... But not a lot of candy or fudge! If your name is Uranus FUDGE FACTORY, I truly expect you to have a massive variety of fudge. I think they had the same typical 10-15 flavors that every other fudge place makes, with no maple no-nut fudge to be found. They also had a typical Pick-a-Mix section with bushels of candy, but was all regular candy that can be purchased at Walmart or online (such as Taffy Town). We each picked up some taffy, but that was about it. 

As we checked out, we asked where the mini-golf course was and how to pay for a few rounds, but we were told that the mini-golf was closed until May. Oh, that sucks. Well, let's just walk around and see what else they have? They had a sideshow museum, but it was $20 and neither of us were really that excited to check it out, so we skipped it. Online, they show that they have an Escape Room, but we never saw that anywhere. The hot dog stand was closed. The ice cream stand was closed. The double-decker bus was shut, so we couldn't even go inside of it at all. We took a silly photo with the World's Biggest Belt Buckle, then turned around to return back to the car. 

We stopped to take a photo with one of those stick your head through the hole cutouts, and there was another family there. I asked the mom if she wanted me to take a photo of the two of them, and she balked at the idea. As she finished taking the photo of her son, her son immediately handed me his phone and asked if I'd take a photo of both of them, then kind of (nicely) pushed her over there... Good son! I hope he liked his photo of a fun time with his mother. In turn, he returned the favor, and took a photo of us. 

Back in the car, my plan was to follow Route 66 all the way to Redmon's Candy Factory, but at one point, Garmin wanted to divert us a different way. Hubby swore that we should follow what Garmin said, and even though I knew he was wrong, I was just too tired to argue so we diverted onto some tiny local road called "N" and followed similar tiny roads all the way to Redmon's. 

The course we should have taken

The course we actually took

There was an additional store in the back, claiming to be the World's Largest Gift Store, but alas, it was closed (although reading some of the reviews, it looked kind of like an indoor flea market and may have been a good thing that we skipped it...). We got gas then went inside Redmon's Candy Factory to see what candy they had. 

Ugh, again, it was just buckets of "normal" stuff! Seriously, I could see bags of candy under the tables that looked like retail bags that I can buy (and have bought) from Walmart. They also carried bushels of Taffy Town taffy, so we picked up a few flavors that Uranus didn't have. Again, there was no nutless maple fudge, so I didn't buy any fudge at all. 

Over at the Wall of Popcorn, I debated too long, but eventually picked up two bags of Ozark Mountain Popcorn, in Garlic Parmesan and Jalapeno Cheddar. We brought it home with us, and it was just okay. Tasted stale (debate having a month left on the shelf life), and didn't have a lot of oomph in terms of flavor. If you watched our video in the other post, you'll have seen our reaction to that popcorn.  The bathrooms were gorgeous and over the top, with tile and chandeliers; seemed a little crazy for such a laid-back location. 

All in all, today just felt like a bust. We drove hours and hours to be disappointed multiple times. We got on the interstate (screw Route 66), hit some roadwork, then exited back on to windy mountain roads... in the dark... with torn up roads, because of more road work. Talk about white knuckle driving! At one point, around dusk, we saw a bunch of Amish buggies out, full of family, on their way to who knows where. It feels silly to think of it this way, but it was kind of like spotting Bigfoot... I don't live in a place where Amish people live, and when we travel, we usually only see those roadside warning signs, but never actually see buggies. Well, now I've seen a bunch! They all looked so happy to be out for the evening, just enjoying their ride to wherever they were going. I hope they had fun, whatever they were doing!

Stuck behind multiple semis, we had plenty of time for pointless conversation, and we had some fun discussions about where we wanted to travel to, now that we know that flying doesn't bother us. He asked where I wanted to go, and I immediately said Iceland, the Scandinavian Peninsula (Sweden, Norway, Finland), the Bavarian area of Switzerland, Austria, and Germany. He said that he would love to visit Japan, especially Tokyo. We talked about where we'd like to travel domestically, such as Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, or going northeast to Maine or Vermont... Basically any place that isn't Florida. 

My body, feeling a little better after a shitty week, decided that it wanted Hardee's - and only Hardee's - for dinner, so we found ourselves in a real sketchy part of West Plains so I could get chicken tenders. Hubby got a Hot Ham & Cheese (drool, so good), and we ate while we continued to drive home. 

Sadly, this was our last night of vacation, and this seemed like a very anticlimactic way to end it. Back at the house, we really should have packed up a bit, but I was exhausted from so much driving that we just conked out for the night!

Total Eclipse Vacation Day 6 (The Most Beautiful Experience I've Ever Had in My Life)

If you missed Day 5 of our Total Eclipse Vacation, you can catch up HERE

One of the things I told hubby early on in this vacation was that I didn't want to go insane about trying to photograph the Eclipse. I said that I'd be happy with what I got, and I wanted to enjoy the experience of seeing it just to see it.... 

Yeah, you all know me... 

We slept in again this morning; I think we got up around 9:30 or so. My first stop was to check the sky in the backyard, and I was greeted with some wispy clouds across most of the sky... Not cool, Arkansas! It looked almost rainy, too, though I knew that this type of cloud doesn't carry water. 

I started setting everything out on the dining room table (all the lenses, batteries, cameras, tripods, etc) and did lots of Googling to make sure that I knew what settings I needed for what. I felt myself going into Spaz Mode but couldn't get myself out of there. 

I set the camera up on the tripod to get a good spot, but I couldn't figure out how to focus it with the solar filter on, and I couldn't see the camera screen, because the lens was pointed up at the sky. I put it up on some chairs, but I couldn't see the screen and I was getting more irritated, until I remembered... this new camera has a flip-out screen! So, I put the tripod back on solid ground, flipped out the screen, and all was well. 

By lunch time, the sky was still slightly cloudy, but clearing up. The eclipse officially started at 12:37pm, and of course, I wasn't ready for it... I was still futzing around with settings and f-stops and apertures and all that technical stuff! I think I finally got the hang of all the technical jargon after about 20 minutes, so my early photos are just big fuzzy orange spots, but they seemed to get much clearer as the eclipse progressed. 

About halfway into the partial, the sky had completely cleared up, giving us a cloud-free view of the sun being devoured by the moon's shadow. I plugged in the little shutter remote so that I wouldn't have to continue to touch the camera (so, no shaking), and just watched the sun disappear (behind stylish solar glasses, of course), knocking out a photo every minute or so. 

Shout out to Nathan Pyle for his I Crave Star Damage tee-shirt

Also, before the partial started, I set out the vlog camera, but just pointed it at the back yard. I wanted to get footage of what was happening on the ground, and what we were saying (but I didn't want us to be on camera). Watching that footage, it didn't seem like it got "night time dark" but really just "Florida thunderstorm dark." 

With nothing else to do, Hubby spent a lot of the partial on Twitter, looking at other peoples'  posts about the eclipse, and what they were seeing and experiencing, while also watching our eclipse. 

When you need Solar Glasses *and* Reading Glasses

Around 1:40ish, the sky really started to darken, and the sun was really disappearing... it seemed to speed up. And here is my huge lesson learned... I should have spent more time setting up to shoot the FULL ECLIPSE part instead of trying to capture the very last sliver before the full eclipse, because the first 10 seconds of totality, I was just fucking around. 

As the sliver disappeared, I heard Hubby say he couldn't see it (meaning the eclipse), then he took off his glasses and exclaimed Oh my god, there it IS! in this out-of-character, awestruck voice. When the sliver disappears, you can't see anything through the glasses, which is so weird, so you can only see the totality without them. 

So I took off my glasses, and there it was...

What I saw in that two minutes is practically indescribable, but I'm going to try. You're going to read this and think I'm off my rocker, that it couldn't have possibly been that amazing, and you'd be WRONG. It was this amazing, it was MORE than amazing... But here goes...

During Totality, the sky became dark grey, like it's night. There is a glowing light in the sky, with a darker circle on top of it, like someone is blocking a flashlight. The light that is escaping the edges of that circle is the brightest, purest, whitest light I have ever - EVER - experienced in my life. Any light you have ever seen.... it's not that. That's not bright enough. That's not white enough. That's not pure enough. This light was the epitome of what Bright Light would be. It was ethereal. It was pure. It was perfectly spectacular, and I was in deep awe of what I was seeing in only the way that a human being can be humbled by the power of our solar system and the grace of God. 

Yes, God. 

I felt seen. 

It was more than just hey look at the pretty light in the sky. I can't explain why, but there was a beauty there than only felt divine. I was absolutely speechless and in tears for about 30-45 seconds, just unblinkingly staring at the light in the sky. I was within moments of having tears just running down my face, from the beauty of what I was looking at, and how perfect and peaceful I felt. I felt so privileged to be able to experience this. 

Yes, I know that I sound so over the top but I promise... I'm not bloviating for the blog. It was, without a doubt, the most amazingly beautiful experience I have ever had in my life. 

I missed seeing Bailey's Beads, but I was able to see The Diamond Ring. At that moment, I didn't care how much time I'd spent setting up my camera and all of my expensive gear. I didn't care if the photos came out like trash. Frankly, there is absolutely no way that a camera could capture what I saw anyway... Over the following few days, I saw some professional, amazingly shot photos, and they are still only 1/100th of the glory and awesomeness that I saw with my own eyes. I'll link to some gorgeous shots from other photographers, but remember that they edited the hell out of those things, so even though they're cool photos, they don't do the actual eclipse any justice at all. 

Straight Out of the Camera, No Editing (still working on that...)

If you ever get the chance to view a Total Solar Eclipse (Total, not just Annular, there's a difference), DO IT. 

Don't even think about it. Get in the car and drive. Get on a plane and fly. Just see one. You can see in the table below that there will be a Total Solar Eclipse in 2026, but mostly in Europe (what I would give to view it from Iceland!) There will be another one in 2045 that crosses across the United States again, so I have a chance to see it again... when I'm 68! 

The next Total Solar Eclipse is August 2026

While it's cool that it's in Florida,
we'll probably be RV'ing somewhere out west by then!

Anyway, Totality only lasted for about two minutes, and then it was time for the shadow to move away from the sun. I stayed outside to shoot as much as possible, but finally went back inside when it was about 75% uncovered. Hubby and I both just kind of sat there and talked about it and how amazing it was and how (again) photos will never do it justice... we just existed in the moment of what we experienced. I've lived 46 years on this earth without ever seeing that, and I may live another 46 and never see it again. My life is now Before Eclipse and After Eclipse, and again, I'm so thankful that I was able to have this experience, and share it with the man I love more than anything. 

I repacked all of my camera gear, recharged some batteries, while we hung out on the couch, trying to decide on what to do for dinner. We headed to Andy's Custard because we thought that they had cheeseburgers (could have sworn that we'd seen one with a big neon sign advertising a deal on cheeseburgers). The Andy's by the house was out of hot fudge, and had nothing other than desserts, so we left to go find the other one that had cheeseburgers. 

When we got there, we discovered that the big neon sign was actually for Hardee's, not Andy's. We picked up two cheeseburgers from Hardee's, then swung through the drive-thru at Andy's; I got a Reese's Pieces Concrete (like a Blizzard), and hubby got a James Brownie Funky Jackhammer (a custard blended with peanut butter and brownies, then filled with hot fudge in the center). 

The cheeseburgers were about what you'd expect, and the custard would probably have been better if we'd eaten it there (instead of driving it home for 10 minutes), but I'd eat another treat from Andy's. 

Full and sufficiently awed, I took a hot bath and chilled for the night. 

Total Eclipse Vacation Day 5 (Enjoying a Lazy Sunday)

If you missed Day 4 of our Total Eclipse Vacation, you can catch up HERE

Thanks to the strenuous hike yesterday, I slept like the dead! I think I got up once to pee, but I didn't have my watch on so no idea what time it was. When I woke up, it was around 9ish, and Hubby was already up on his tablet. Again, I was super-stuffy, but no headache. I took more Sudafed and an Aleve. Thankfully, no I just hiked yesterday aches or pains, which seems illogical. We lazed around in bed until noon or so, which just felt delicious, since there are so few times we ever get to be this lazy, before I got out of bed to start fiddling with my camera gear. I wanted to make sure that every single battery was charged, every SD card was cleared, and every lens was ready to go. I scoped out the backyard to double-check that I'd have a clear shot of the sun tomorrow, and thanked the Internet Gods for finding this VRBO for me.

I came back in and gave my sinuses a good steaming, which may have been the grossest thing I've ever done... there was drippage and productive blows that made me wonder what was going on in there! I took a super-hot bath for more steam power, and because I felt like dirty ass after that hike yesterday (and to use up the last of those contraband Epsom salts, too!)

After that, we lazed around on the couch, talking about a whole lot of nothing, then trying to make plans for our half-day in Memphis before we had to go to the airport. I got a lovely foot rub from Hubby (he never does that stuff), and I took his ass back to bed! 

Having worked up an appetite, we decided on Fat City Steak and Grill for dinner, but when we got outside, the poor SUV looked like an entire flock of birds decided to shit all over the car! It was disgusting! Like don't touch the door handle disgusting! We had to find a car wash, but apparently there's not many gas station drive thru car washes in Jonesboro...? We drove over to Tommy's Car Wash, but it was closed. Then we drove over to Rhyno Car Wash, which was also closed. Wat the hell, Jonesboro? You guys roll up your sidewalks at 7pm on Sundays? Everything was so quiet and closed! I was just about ready to give up when we saw a Take 5 Car Wash across the intersection that was still open. We dropped $20 on a basic wash, then got the remaining little poops off with their free cleaner and rags. 

Okay, now we can go to dinner! Fat City was very quiet inside, with only a few tables occupied with families or seniors... Huh. Craighead County is a Dry County, I wonder if that has something to do with why Sundays are so quiet everywhere... Anyway, hubby got his new love, a Club Sandwich, on a croissant, with no fries, while I got a plate of chicken fingers (so adventurous, right?) He loved his sandwich, while mine was just okay. They tasted exactly like the nuggets I make at home, with a basic flour dredge, and the fries were mid. Who knows, maybe my taste buds are still broken... 

Back at the house (and parked a little further away from the tree canopy), it was time to relax and Twitter and sleep, for tomorrow is THE DAY that this whole vacation was planned around. Is it an eclipse, the apocalypse, a rapture, or just a cool scientific and planetary feature that happens? Depends on who you ask!

Total Eclipse Vacation: Day 4 (I'm Married to a Mountain Goat)

If you missed Day 3 of our Total Eclipse Vacation, you can catch up HERE

I slept a bit better last night, full of real Sudafed! I'm still extremely stuffed up, but no sinus headaches or migraines, thank God. I won't gross you out, but there's mucus now, which indicates possible sinus infection... I slept until about 8:30, then read for a bit until Hubby woke up. I took stock of myself and decided that I felt well enough to do the Rocky Valley Trail at Pinnacle Mountain, one of the trails I was looking forward to hiking on this vacation. I drugged up with Sudafed, plus Aleve and a Xyzal before we left. 

We found an existing Guthrie's for lunch, which was one of our favorites many decades ago, when there was one near home, and it was just as tasty as I remember! 

Ain't nothin' like a 3pc and cheese for your fries!

We drove south toward Little Rock and discovered a tiny town called Weiner. Yes, of course we stopped for photos! 

Congrats to Kyra!

Everyone loves an all-American Weiner

Weiner seemed to be really tiny, with not a lot of "everyday" businesses, but looking it up on Google Maps, they have lots of "Weiner" places, such as Weiner City Hall, Weiner Gym, and Weiner Library. This Weiner must be a grower.  

It's so quaint and cute!

Pulling out of Weiner, I began noticing that there were a lot of Arkansas sheriffs on the road, and duh... probably because of the massive influx of people for the eclipse... I reined in my (typically speedy) driving; I certainly don't need to be pulled over while we're on vacation! We got to Pinnacle Mountain around three, and I kept looking at the specific park signs to ensure that I parked in the correct parking lot.

Pinnacle Mountain (this isn't what we climbed)

Hubby, who had no idea why I was doing that, seemed grumpy and kept telling me to just pick one! He told me later that he wasn't grumpy, but excited! He was ready to get hiking and thought that all of the parking lots were the same, and he just wanted to get out of the car and start! There is a beautiful Quarry Pond at the beginning of the park that was amazing, and then the trail devolved into nothing but, well, a rocky valley. 

Instead of a typical v-shaped valley, though, you go down, then up, then down, then up again, like a very shallow w. The downhills had grades of -10 to 13% and the inclines went up to almost 15% climb. You start at 482ft of elevation, drop to 266ft, then climb back up to 525sf, before returning to the start at 482ft. For the most part, we had the trail to ourselves, except for passing two other couples. Both of them looked like they were breathing heavy, so I didn't feel quite so bad. 

Trail Map from AllTrails

Needless to say, this trail that was listed as "Moderately Challenging" was extremely challenging for me, as I recovered from sinus blockage on top of being fat and out of shape!! 

AllTrails info about the Rocky Valley Trail

We had to stop multiple times for me to catch my breath, and for the entire time, I was behind Hubby, who was traipsing across the rocks and boulders like a damn mountain goat (but he was having so much fun that this entire hike was 1000% worth it!)

Unfortunately, because I was having a hard time, I had to skip the connecting East Quarry Spur and the Maumelle River Overlook. I'm not super-sad that we didn't do it, but disappointed in myself for being sick and unable to do a lot of what I wanted to do on this trip so far. It took about two hours to complete just the Rocky Valley Trail, so in the long run, it may have been better that we skipped the Quarry Trail, because we might have been caught in the valley after the sun set. 

Exhausted, in a good way, we headed home. In Jonesboro, we cruised around, looking for something for dinner, and noticed a lot of people being pulled over by cops. I was giving lots of the Southern "two finger wave" each time I saw one on the road, before finally Hubby asked what I was doing. I said I was trying to 'earn cop karma' by waving at every officer I saw. 

Didn't work. 

We got pulled over, too. 

The officer who pulled us over said he ran our plates and there was no car insurance attached to the vehicle (how do we do that with a rental). I realized that the printed copy of insurance - that I printed just for vacation - was still over at the house in my big purse (women, you know what I mean). I tried to pull up Progressive via my email, but that link was expired. I searched my phone and there was no PDF there... Finally, I was able to pull up the Avis rental agreement, which had my name and driver's license on it, which he matched to my physical license, and it was satisfactory - he told me to carry the hard copy from now on. 

After that, fearful that we were going to get pulled over again at any minute, by a much less nice cop, we settled on take-out from Freddy's Steakburgers. Hubby got a burger meal, and I got a kid's chicken tender meal. I can't taste them, of course, since I'm still so damn stuffy... I only ate one before I gave up. Maybe I'll have it for breakfast (spoiler alert... I didn't). As soon as dinner was done, I moved the printed insurance card to my quick wallet, then downloaded and saved a digital version on my phone (and "favorited" it so I can find it again!) Exhausted, I conked out immediately!