San Diego

For spring break, we spent a few days in San Diego!  The first day we spent at Sea World.  The kids just loved it!

I've spent a lot of effort to make sure they like water.  So of course the first thing we did was go on a water ride where you get wet!



We saw lots of neat sea life.



Including our friends from Nemo.



We also went to the show to watch Shamu - the killer whales.  We sat way down low in the "soak section".  We even got in line early to make sure we could get a seat down there.  When the show was starting, we noticed the soak section wasn't very full.  We looked behind us and noticed that everywhere else in the stadium was jam packed.  I suppose people don't like getting wet?

Well, we got VERY wet!  The whales are "trained" to splash water on those in front - and we sure did get wet!  I don't think everyone appreciated it very much - but it was still neat to be so close to the whales.



The next morning we went to Old Town San Diego and visited the Mormon Battalion site.  I had no idea that the Mormon Battalion had such a huge influence on early California history!  The kids even had activities, like panning for gold and washing clothes!  The tour was amazing and very well done!





We also went to the beach off of Coronado Island.  This would be where the Ragnar relay would finish.  We found some sand dollars.



We went to the Tide Pools on Point Loma.  We saw anemones, crabs, and other creatures.



We also went the light house on Point Loma and had a great view of San Diego and the bay.





We also saw some Navy activity - including some rotary wing activity at sea and a submarine leaving port.



One our way out, we also stopped by the San Diego temple, one of the most amazing looking buildings.

Emma Donates Her Hair

Emma chose to donate her hair to a program that makes wigs and gives them to cancer patients.  It was a self-less decision.  In part, she was doing it because she has a connection:  her grandmother has been battling cancer and she herself has a wig to cover her bald head.

She had nice long hair.



When the moment came, they chopped it off!



I think she was a bit nervous.

Now she has short hair!  At first she was a bit self conscience about her hair being so short, but she is used to it now.

Way to go!



 

Father & Son's Campout

Each year we have a Church Father & Son's campout.  While the purpose is to commemorate the restoration of the Priesthood, it also gives us guys a chance to get together with our sons and have a bonding experience.  The campout is usually pretty well attended, although this year was a little low - I counted around 40 guys this time.

One of the great things about this particular campout is great food!  We usually do a lot of dutch oven cooking.



Rachel also made us a desert to put on the hot coals.  It was a sugar cone filled with marshmallows, chocolate, and banana chunks - wrapped in aluminum foil.  It was a hit with the kids!



There was also a fireside - complete with silly camp songs, skits, and talks.  It concluded with some s'mores.



We were also next to a nice little creek.  There is something about boys (little and big) that we like to throw things into the water and make dams.  It kept many occupied for hours.

In the morning we were treated to an awesome eggs & french toast breakfast.  After packing up, we went to some natural water slides.  We encountered this guy on our hike:



We think he is a non-poisonous king snake, because the orange stripes don't touch the white ones.

The natural slides were pretty neat.  We didn't come prepared to get wet, so we just checked them out.  It was extremely slippery!  I even slid down once without my consent.



We also spent some time finding some geocaches.  It is a new hobby of ours.  The kids really like it and so I take them on hunts to find caches.  There were a few near the slides and near our camp.



We had a great time in the great outdoors!

Run. Drive. Sleep? Repeat! – Part IV

Note:  This is a continuation of my Ragnar Relay series blog posts – “Run. Drive. Sleep? Repeat!”

Saturday was interesting.  In the morning there was dense fog.  We were kept awake by that lawn mower and port-a-potty doors continuously slamming shut.  We had logged maybe 1 1/2 hrs of sleep - split before and after our midnight runs.

I was having "the runs" and was super worried:  "how am I suppose to run like this?" I kept thinking.  When the moment came, at precisely 8:11am, my teammate came running out of the dense fog to pass the baton to me.

[caption id="attachment_1352" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="Our running is in yellow behind the lady running in.  That is me on the left in the blue & white shirt ready to go!"][/caption]

As usually, as soon as I got running - I felt great!  I was running so fast that my team couldn't even get a picture of me running!  All they caught was my foot - and just barely:)

[caption id="attachment_1353" align="alignnone" width="600" caption="See my foot?"][/caption]

I had a nice big downhill near the start of my leg.  Cousin warned me ahead of time not to run down too fast or I would ruin my quads and not be able to tackle the big hills at the end of this 7.2 mile leg.  I completely ignored Cousin, and ran for nearly a mile at a sub-6 minute-mile pace.  Oh yeah!

The run was absolutely beautiful!  The downhill led me right down onto the sandy beach on the Pacific Ocean.  I ran along the water watching hundreds of surfers in wetsuits taking on the waves in a dense fog.  After a short uphill, I was greeted by my cheering van-mates as I made my way to a trail along a cliff overlooking the ocean where I had views of hundreds of seals and birds hanging out among sharp rocks in the shallow waters.  I continued to run through well maintained beach-side parks with grass and fantastic views.

This whole time, over some 5 miles or so, I kept getting glimpses of Ragnar runners ahead of me.  They were the same runners - about 4 of them - who must have been going my exact pace because I was always a few hundred yards behind them and never gaining on them.  I followed them for at least half an hour.  I wondered if I could catch up.  Soon, we had some pretty good steep uphill.  I guess my training in the hills started to payoff, because I actually started to catch up on the hill.  When I caught up to the first guy, with only a mile left, I told him I had been following him for the past 5 miles - and he was going a great pace!  He said back that he would follow me the last mile into the exchange.  I took off even harder and passed two more of those guys I had been chasing - on a steep hill with the exchange even in sight!  I sprinted the last 100 feet into the exchange, but I couldn't catch the guy in front of the pack.

As I came into the exchange, I couldn't see J.  The Rangar worker kept yelling our team number:  "105, 105, 105..."  The other 3 guys I had passed also came in and made their exchanges.  The Ragnar worker sent somebody up the hill to see if my teammate - J - was near the parking lot.  Then I saw J and Cousin WALKING down the hill towards the exchange!  I waved my arms frantically to get their attention.  Eventually I got their attention and J started running down the hill.  We made the exchange and off he went.  We only lost a minute, but I couldn't believe it had happened to me - coming into the exchange and not have my team there!  Here I am walking back with Cousin after passing the baton to J.



Well - I had done it!  I ran all 3 of my legs of the SoCal Ragnar!  Ashby & Ashby were waiting at the parking lot - smiling & giggling of course - using my phone to check Facebook.  And they got that last photo of me.

From there, Ashby-B took the steering wheel and took us to the next exchange.  Since our chauffeur- J - wasn't driving (he was out running), and we were - well - not coherent - we took THE LONG way!  Is it any wonder given the way we look?



I think Ashby-B actually fell asleep on the steering wheel seconds after parking the van into the parking spot!  Ashby-A is also asleep in the bottom-left picture:  she always smiles and giggles - even when she is asleep:)  THAT takes talent!

We stopped mid-way in Jason's leg to cheer him on.  When he came by, he was hurting pretty bad with a calf injury.  But he was going to do whatever it took to finish his leg off!

At the exchange, Cousin got all pumped up to run!  I was somewhat jealous of her as she had the longest leg of the race - at 11 miles - and she was going to run by SeaWorld (sort of) and along the north side of San Diego bay right by all the expensive yachts and in views of aircraft carriers in port.

[caption id="attachment_1356" align="alignnone" width="600" caption="Ashby-A, Ashby-B, me, and Cousin"][/caption]

The four of us in that picture above are probably all actually related.  Think about it - we have the Ashby twins, then everyone is always confusing Ashby-B's family with my family (boy, could I tell you story after story about people confusing us and our spouses!), and of course Cousin - is my cousin.  At least that is the story I'm sticking with.

Here is Cousin just a moment after the exchange from J to Cousin.  What a great smile she has!

[caption id="attachment_1357" align="alignnone" width="600" caption="J exchanges with Cousin"][/caption]

After letting J cool down - and boy did was he hurt with a nasty calf injury - we safely headed out now that J was driving once again.  It is such a good thing that J could drive with an injured leg, or we would have never found any of our exchanges!   We stop after a few miles to intercept Cousin in the middle of her long route to get her a refill on water and cheer her on.

We waited and waited.  And waited...  We kept re-doing our math, which was atrociously bad with such little sleep, wondering if we had miscalculated what time Cousin should have reached this spot on her leg.  Sooner or later it became apparent that something was wrong.  We sent J to drop off Ashby-B at the next exchange (in case we had just missed her) and I insisted on waiting for Cousin with Ashby-A.  I felt responsible for getting Cousin into this race - so I needed to know she was OK.  I was really worried!

We waited and waited - and finally she came running up.

[caption id="attachment_1358" align="alignnone" width="600" caption="Cousin mid-route"][/caption]

We refilled her water and she filled us in that she had gotten lost - and had added a couple miles to her route in the unwanted detour.  I was relieved that she was OK.  In the end, she had run a half-marathon instead of the planned 11 miles for this leg.

I sent the other van messages to let them know about Cousin's extra mileage.  I have no idea what they are doing at this moment, but it probably has something to with food and sleep.

J had to come back to pick Ashby-A and me up.  It took J such a long time to come get us that we almost hitchhiked to the next exchange (not kidding).  We were more than willing to get into some stranger's van who offered us a ride.

Once back in our own van, we noticed that Ashby-B had not taken her meds (they were in the van) and we knew she was suppose to take them around this time; the meds have something to do with Ashby-B's energy levels and she was going to need all her energy for her run!  By the time we were approaching the exchange from Cousin to Ashby-B - we saw that Ashby-B had already started her leg (we watched her run by).  I jumped out of the van and chased after Ashby-B on foot (she didn't know I was chasing her down - she hadn't seen or heard us). I'm sure she was startled to see me run up beside her!

Next we headed to the exchange.  Ashby-A is excited for a quick little run!

[caption id="attachment_1361" align="alignnone" width="600" caption="Waiting for Ashby-B to come in. Ashby-A is all ready to go!"][/caption]

Cousin and I get photos of each other at the exact same moment.



Ashby-B came running into that exchange faster than lighting and Ashby-A flies out with a smile!

[caption id="attachment_1363" align="alignnone" width="600" caption="Ashby Exchange"][/caption]

After allowing Ashby-B to cool down, we left the exchange to await for Ashby-A and cheer her on at her 3-mile mark - a little over halfway through her leg.

After a while, we noticed that no other runners were coming by.  Soon, there was a collection of other teams awaiting their teammate runners - but no runners were to be seen.  It was quite strange.  We were sure we were on the route - there was even a well-marked Ragnar sign at the corner where we waited.

I recalculated what time she should have arrived at this spot - getting a different result each time - so I gave up completely on trying to do anymore math because I needed a calculator.

Just in case, J drove K8 to the next exchange while we waited for Ashby-A.

Eventually one of the teams got word that a biker had found a bunch of Ragnar runners way off-course and was directing them back to the proper route.

After another long wait, some runners started to come by.  Ashby-B took off in search of her twin.  Ashby-A was eventually back on course and here she is approaching us with Ashby-B on her tail.

[caption id="attachment_1364" align="alignnone" width="600" caption="Ashby-A is found!"][/caption]

Even after running a couple extra miles and getting lost, Ashby-A remains in good spirits.  See below - she smiles and giggles as she passes us by.  What a great, positive attitude, and great example to us all!  Most of us would have been at least a little upset at getting lost like that, but not Ashby!



Meanwhile, K8 is trying to get motivated for the last leg of the entire race by staying awake!

[caption id="attachment_1366" align="alignnone" width="450" caption="K8 awaits her last leg"][/caption]

Then, at last, Ashby-A arrives at the exchange and here we can see the sweat drip down off of the slap-bracelet baton as they make the exchange!



Off goes K8 at another amazing pace on the last leg of the entire race!

One of the really neat things about the race is that the entire team meets up with the last runner as we cross the finish line together as a team.

After arriving, we find the other teammates from the other van and we wait for K8.  But not too long, because she is FAST! K8's husband awaits on the other side of the finish line to record the event.

In no time at all, K8 comes flying out of the pedestrian tunnel!   We join her and jog the next couple hundred feet to cross the finish line together!!  K8's older brother was actually the official Ragnar announcer who announced our arrival at 4:00pm exactly.  What an awesome way to conclude a 33 hour (nearly)-sleepless relay race!

[caption id="attachment_1368" align="alignnone" width="458" caption="Crossing the finish line!"][/caption]

We got some pretty cool medals and we gather round for some finish line photos.



This is one of those experiences that you never forget.  It becomes a part of you.  It seems like a dream.  Probably in part because of the lack of sleep.  But also a dream because it was such an uplifting, team-building, physically challenging experience for me.  It was great to spend some 33 hours with such great people and get to know them better.  Having such great, positive, up-beat teammates makes an experience like this just marvelous!  Words and pictures just don't do this justice!

I'm also grateful I was able to convince Cousin to come be a part of that experience - coming all the way from New York City!  I'm even more grateful for my wonderful wife who put up with my training and absence so I could do this.  She truly is the world's greatest wife!  As a perk, she did get to see her Cousin after the race:)

[caption id="attachment_1381" align="alignnone" width="600" caption="Cousin & I at the finish"][/caption]

Who's up for round 2?!?  Ragnar SoCal 2013 is only a year away!

Links to the other entries in the Ragnar Relay blog series: Run. Drive. Sleep? Repeat!

• Run. Drive. Sleep? Repeat! - Part 1


• Run. Drive. Sleep? Repeat! – Part II


• Ragnar Relay Awkward Moment: Men’s Briefs


• Run. Drive. Sleep? Repeat! – Part III

Happy Mother's Day!

Almost 10 years ago my wife became a mother.



And then again a couple years later.



And again after that.



And again.



You have to be the world's best mom to take care of these crazy 4 children and this immature husband.  Mom is the heart of our home.  We love our mommy!

Run. Drive. Sleep? Repeat! - Part III

This may be a good time to say I'm grateful for my van-mates.  I'm positive that the only way one could find a 33 hour relay race enjoyable is if you are with some great people who are positive, up-beet, and get along well.  Humor also helps!  And everyone in our van - and our team - had such a great attitude.  It made this experience so uplifting and fun!

During the Ragnar, I regularly sent messages from my phone to Brandon's phone to let the other van know exactly what time the exchanges were occurring.  In fact, it was one of the first things I always did right after each exchange.  He was doing the same back to me, so I always had a good idea of what was going on and if we were behind or ahead of predicted times.  I also was trying to post info back onto our Facebook page with pictures to let people know and see what we were doing.

As we arrived at our next major exchange around 8pm, we had estimated I would start my next run from this point near 11:30pm.  We proceeded to get out our required night-gear, which includes a reflective vest, a headlamp, and a butt-LED blinking light on our rear for safety purposes.



I was trying to figure out how to attach the red blinking LED to my behind.  I tried clipping it to the waistband on my shorts, but I was concerned it might bounce off.  So to find out if it would bounce off or stay snug, I decided I should jog around a little and have someone watch to see if it looks like that would work or not.  I asked out loud "could someone watch my behind while I try the LED out?".  Of course, the immediate response was giggles mixed with "no way!" by the ladies.  So I clarified "Jason - could you watch my butt while I run around...".  Well, there just wasn't going to be a good way of making this request...

We decided it was time to get some sleep if possible, so we pulled out our sleeping bags and made our way to the designated sleeping area - on a golf course.



There weren't too many sleeping bags out on the grass, so we just found a more-empty spot.  It was really nice just to lay down and relax in cool weather after so much excitement and activity in the heat all day long.  However I had a really hard time getting some sleep because I was so anxious!  I was running next from our van!  It was one of those times when I'm thinking "I really really need to get some sleep" - and because I really want to fall asleep I can't. Then my phone bleeped with a message from Brandon about an exchange, so I had to check that.  When I finally calmed down and was about to actually fall asleep - sprinklers start to come on in the golf course only some 100 feet away!  Great (sarcastic tone)!  I laid there waiting for them to turn off and see if we would all of a sudden get drenched by the next sprinklers in the cycle.  Alas - they just went off and we stayed dry.

It felt like I practically blinked my eyes once, then all of a sudden I noticed that the parking lot near us that was completely empty was now completely full of vans!  I remember thinking - "that was weird!"  And then, I looked around me.  When we were previously nearly by ourselves - we were now among what looked like thousands of sleeping bags all over the golf course!  I checked my watch and only some 30 minutes had actually passed.  But I got some sleep!  About 10:30pm or so we all got up for good.

It was absolutely amazing how quiet all these runners were - there must have been thousands all over this golf course and it was very quiet!

We got all packed and ready for some night running!

[caption id="attachment_1345" align="alignnone" width="600" caption="Ready for some night running!"][/caption]

And then our van 1 teammates arrived at the exchange!  Yay!  We all wait for our runner to come in.



Here I am waiting at the actual exchange, utterly anxious!



Just after midnight, we make the exchange and I get going!  It felt so good to run again!  All the anxiousness left!  It was really neat to run in pitch-black darkness.  There was heavy brush & trees to the side and I could hear all the crickets and coyotes and I ran by.  The temperature was nice and cool - near 55 degrees from what I recall.  Just perfect temperature for a night run and amazing after such a hot day!

I only saw a few runners on this shorter leg of mine - almost 4 miles long - and all uphill once again.  I of course passed them all - until I arrived at an overpass over the freeway.  There was a traffic light, and I waited for my signal (there was traffic here too) - when I see this runner from behind me just run right through the intersection around the cars driving by!  I was so upset that he "killed" me - and had done it illegally - that as soon as I could safely cross the street I sprinted after him as fast as I could and I "killed" (passed) him back!  I didn't want him to be able to catch back up to me no matter what, so I kept sprinting as long as I could - which meant I had a slower finish into my exchange, but worth it if you ask me:)

That was the only time I was every passed the entire time - and I publicly admit I'm wicked proud of that!  I'm even more proud that I passed that one guy back and buried him from the dust in my wake:)

The rest of the night runs were rather uneventful and enjoyable for everyone else in the van.  We kept seeing the same Ragnar teams over and over again at each exchange. We also really started loosing the ability to do math.  We were always trying to calculate how long it would take someone to run a given distance at a given pace.  I knew it was getting bad when I was saying things like "what is 30 minus 10?" and I seriously didn't know the answer!

As we finished up our van's runs - we had to decide if we would go to K8's husband's hotel and get a shower - or go straight to the next exchange and get a few moments of sleep.  Since stench no longer mattered to any of us - and we were now used to the salty flakes on our skin - we choose sleep over showers.

We arrived in a fog-ridden field at the next major exchange - I believe around 4:00am.  When we asked where the sleeping area was, we were told anywhere in the field, but don't go over the cliff.  I don't think I could see more than 10 feet in front of me.  So we just walked out a little bit, not falling off a cliff, and set out our bags.

[caption id="attachment_1348" align="alignnone" width="600" caption="Sleeping field in La Jolla"][/caption]

There was this strange noise when we got there.  I thought it was a generator.  Until I woke up as the sun started to light up the world and I could see it was someone mowing the grass in the field next to us.  Seriously- who mows a field in thick fog at 4:00 in the morning?

We were also hounded by the constant sound of latrine doors slamming shut.  "Bang... bang bang.... bang"  - non-stop banging (there were a lot of port-a-potties).  Ashby-A and J couldn't stop talking about how much they loved that noise.

When we started actually getting out of our sleeping bags after some 1 1/2 hrs of sleep - max total that night - I was thoroughly impressed with Ashby-A's hairdo.  I told her this all reminded me of camping: - stinking - sweaty - salty - grimy - and awesome hair!  I tried, but wasn't able to capture a picture of the hair:(

As it turns out, there were showers at this exchange.  I didn't know that until I heard some lady say "hey dude, the showers are not for getting nude - you need to wear something".  There wasn't much more than a see-through tarp to give somebody privacy while using the outdoor shower.  None of us showered - it just wasn't important to us anymore:)

As we got ready to run again, I was even more anxious than before my previous two runs!  Which was giving me the runs!  Not cool!!  And right before my last leg of the Ragnar Relay!

TO BE CONTINUED!!!

Sorry to keep deferring stories, but I'm sure I will eventually tell you why 203 miles wasn't enough for our Ragnar team!

Ragnar Relay Awkward Moment: Men's Briefs

Early in the race I realized I forgot to pack a pair of men's briefs (underwear) for my next run.  I told J, and we agreed we would stop by a department store to pick some up.  So when I mentioned to our van (which includes 4 ladies and 1 other guy - J) that we needed to stop by Costco, of course there were inquiring minds about what I could possibly need.  After some pestering, I just blurt out "OK, OK, OK! -- I"m going to buy underwear!" which of course is answered by a bunch of giggles.  Brilliant as I am - I combat the giggles with: "OK, let's just say 'underwear' like a whole bunch of times so we can get it out of our system - underwear, underwear, underwear, underwear, underwear ...".   Just to be smart I ask if anyone is coming with me.  Fortunately nobody agrees to accompany me on my quest to buy underwear, but they do demand I take a photo of me buying it and then post it to Facebook.

AWKWARD!

Oh, and I never even used the package of underwear I bought.

DOUBLE AWKWARD!

No, there are no photos.

Apparently my view of things are somewhat skewed, so I'm interested in what the "other" side of the story is:)

This post is related to my Rangar post here.

Run. Drive. Sleep? Repeat! - Part II

Note:  This is a continuation of my last blog post - "Run. Drive. Sleep? Repeat!" located here.

Another note:  Due to confusion regarding "Ashby", I've edited this post.

Next to run in the hottest part of the day was "Ashby"-A and "Ashby"-B.

I suppose now is the time to explain that as time went on, I kept mixing up two of the ladies in our van.  I've known them both for years, but for some reason I just couldn't get their names straight.  It may have been because they were rather inseparable during the race.  Or maybe their giggles sound about the same.  And there were LOTS of giggles coming from those two!  Nonstop giggling.  At least that is what I remember most about "Ashby".  As exhaustion sets in, everything becomes funny.  This is why I refer to these two ladies as "Ashby".  Oh, and because it is a combination of their names.  To distinguish when needed, and to protect the innocent, there will be Ashby-A and Ashby-B.

While the first Ashby (Ashby-B) was out running, we went out ahead to meet her part-way into her leg.  The heat was torturing all the runners.  Especially Ashby-B.  As we waited for Ashby-B, we saw lots of walking runners in bad shape.  One even completely lost it and was taken out of the race completely.  Someone gave that lady some ice to help her cool down.  When Ashby-B arrived at our cheering spot, she was not doing well.  Ashby-B forgot to take her medication and was obviously suffering from the heat.  We fixed her up best we could and she continued on her way.



K8 made these ice cups for us, so we sucked on these to keep us cool.



I was licking mine as we drove up the road to meet Ashby-B again.  She still didn't look well.  I asked if she wanted some ice, and she nodded yes.  So without thinking I gave her my ice cup that I had been sucking on and just plopped it into her water bottle and sent her on her way.  Oops!

Well, she did survive, and we sent the other "Ashby" (Ashby-A) on her way.  While the Ashby-A was out running, we decided we had to buy a bag of ice and get some water & Gatorade.  So we quickly headed to a store and bought some supplies - and then rushed over to greet Ashby-A's arrival.  Unfortunately, we were only able to honk at Ashby-A as she ran and as we drive by.

Here we are waiting for Ashby-A's return.



And here we have Ashby-A back and cooling down.  She was also VERY insistent that I take a picture of her blister :)



K8 took off like lightning.  She was very fast.  After Ashby-A cooled down, we drove up to the next exchange, which was a major exchange to pass the baton from van 2 back to van 1 (Brandon).  As we drove up, we were astonished at how close to the exchange K8 was already.  Panicked, I called up Rob in van 1 and basically said "K8 is going to be there in like 2 minutes - be ready!"  Fortunately Brandon was ready before K8 arrived.  K8 came in at lightning speed and made the exchange.

After a couple seconds, this random runner grabs K8 from behind.  I was taken back a little, then realized he was keeping her from falling over.  She was obviously very dizzy from that crazy heat!  But she was still smiling and proud of her great speed!  I took over to keep her steady.



K8 adds tick-marks for her "kills" onto our tally count on the van.



We had a few moments with the rest of van 1 while Brandon was out running a 10 mile leg.  It turned out that the heat also took it's toll on Brandon.  Later, as we were getting stats on van 1, I kept thinking something was wrong.  Brandon doesn't run that slow - I kept saying.  But I guess even he isn't immune to heat exhaustion.

Here we catch up as out team (minus Brandon) at Exchange 12.

[caption id="attachment_1324" align="alignnone" width="600" caption="While Brandon runs, we enjoy our time as a team at Exchange 12"][/caption]



We also had a few "stalkers" in the race.  We kept seeing the "Don't wanna be's" team, also from our small town.  We saw them at almost every exchange.  I took this photo of Lorie and I, so I could prove to her father (the Bishop) that we were in the same crazy race!  That's her newlywed husband in the background.



The other "stalker" was K8's husband and young child.  They stalked us the whole time - earning K8's husband the "most awesome husband" award as he would bring the baby to be nursed, and helping us with pictures taking, etc.  They were very welcome stalkers.

Oddly enough, our van didn't stink as badly as you might think after carrying 6 stinky slimy runners throughout the heat of the day.  Or maybe I just can't smell.



J became the obvious designated driver after a while.  He also became the designated navigator when it became clear that the rest of us were rather incapable of navigating or driving.  I don't know how many times I would see him driving the steering wheel with his knees while holding a binder of maps in his lap and programming a GPS simultaneously.  But that was probably the safest option:)

Our van now had a long, well needed break from 4:30pm until about midnight while the runners in van 1 ran their legs.  We stopped at Panera in Temecula.  I treated Cousin and myself to dinner on a gift card I got from my mother-in-law, Cristel.



I think we spent almost 2 hours in Panera.  It was great to just relax and get some good food into our system.

Before heading to the next major exchange, we made a pit-stop at Costco so I could get some underwear (I forgot to pack enough for the whole race).  As it turns out, the use of the word "underwear" produced quite a few giggles from certain ladies in our van (this is a story all by itself).  Maybe they had never heard a member of the Bishopric use that word before.  I tried to convince Ashby-A that even though I'm currently serving as a counselor to the Bishop at Church, I am still a normal person.  That produced even more giggles.

Heat exhaustion wasn't quite over yet.  Ashby-B struggled to get some food down at Panera.  As we arrived at the next major exchange, Ashby-B lost her dinner:(

TO BE CONTINUED...

In my next post, find out how much sleep we really got and what we gave up to get that sleep, how we lost our ability to perform simple arithmetic, and why 203 miles wasn't enough for this Ragnar team!

Previous post in this series about the Ragnar