So we woke up Friday morning in Fairbanks with a plan… to go find MOOSE!!!

There was a workshop “Meet & Greet” Potluck Dinner planned for later that night. So we had a good day to go see some nature, do some hiking, get some photos & hopefully find some MOOSE!!!

Theresa’s plan was to drive us down Chena Hot Springs Road to see what we could along the way. There are so many ponds, creeks, rivers, swamps, forests, moss, mushrooms… all of them ideal for a moose to be hanging out in. It was slightly overcast, misty & rainy at times, but so beautiful! This was more of the Alaska I expected. But I will say… I was surprised by all of the flowers everywhere??? Again, as an unknowing Midwesterner, I must admit I kinda thought Alaska was always cold & frequently covered with snow!!! Who knew is was no nice in the summer with flowers everywhere??? Not me.

And the wildlife scorecard?…
two scrawny squirrels, some ducks… and still NO MOOSE!!

Okay, so we didn’t see any moose… as “promised.”
But we did see some musk ox!!!

Apparently these are “a thing” up in Fairbanks…
penned on the side of the road at an animal research facility.
Close.. but still no moose!!

As part of my Alaskan search for wildlife… I was on a constant look-out for moose, bears & eagles. My host, tour guide & workshop organizer Theresa had a great plan. Her daytime job is at the local landfill. And apparently that’s where all of the eagles & ravens go to eat?! So after hours, we drove up into the landfill area, up on top of the mounds… surrounded by bald eagles, younger eaglets & ravens! So cool to see so many up close… but a weird being on top of a landfill??? I learned so much…

Continuing on our Fairbanks tour… we stopped by Pioneer Park. A charming collection of Fairbanks history with old log cabins, a paddlewheel boat, a carousel, a small chapel, plenty of crafty shops & small food venues. They even had a very nice history museum… which was even cooler as some of Theresa’s family were shown in the museum as her roots take her back to being a native Alaskan!

Continuing my “Welcome to Fairbanks Tour”… we also stopped by the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS). We’ve all heard about the Alaskan Pipeline… but who knew parts of it were above ground? Not me!!! As a Midwesterner, I guess I assumed it was all underground. Even crazier, it is built with these support beams that allow the actual tube to “slide” around throughout the seasons. Wait, what?… it moves??? And oh, but wait there’s more… the weird “tuning fork” pylons are there to help keep the ground under the pipeline cold enough all year long so it doesn’t sink into the melting ground. And, the weird “missle” thing is used to run up & down inside the tube to clean it out!!! So much going on here… I had no idea!!!

After Theresa picked my up at the Fairbanks Airport, we went out to lunch and then North Pole, Alaska. Okay, so it might not be the “real” North Pole… but this cute little town is all decked out for Christmas year-round!

This gift shop seemed to be the main attraction. Complete with a huge Santa Clause, oversized Christmas Tree, reindeer & some painted tiles around the store. Cute… quaint… thematic… but it all looks like it coulda used a nice re-hab a few decades ago!

Gotta love a good roadtrip! Even if it is just down to St. Louis for the day…
and then right back that same night!!!

We woke up early somewhere in the middle of Ohio.
Broke into the second Amish pie… showered and got ready to go.
Repack the car… gear, bike, bags. It’s amazing how much stuff the two of us had
with us for just a week’s trip! And some pie…

In the morning light, we could see that the Day’s Inn was pretty old & tired. But it didn’t matter all that much. I slept well in the bed and that’s really all that mattered. But you could see that the town it was in was kind of closing down, and parts of the hotel obviously were too. Like the pool that looks like it’s been closed for quite awhile… and I’m guessing will never open again!

But the shining morning bright spot was the complimentary breakfast…
and let me just say, I think Aunt Jemima and I are dating now!!!

I mean really, who doesn’t LOVE freshly homemade waffles?!
And after race day you feel like you can eat ANYTHING!!! So I did… twice…
hot fluffy waffles with peanut butter & syrup! Yum!

As we were leaving the little town, Chris decided that this shot might “compensate” for her lack of “Welcome” signs in Pennsylvania & Ohio. Sure, this is a welcome sign, but it’s more fun to keep saying she just missed the other ones!!!

And then the storm clouds moved in again… again, so glad this weather didn’t hit us in Lake Placid. We totally lucked out with AMAZING weather in Lake Placid!!!

At some point, the drive is just that… a drive. And you just drive, and drive, and drive…
Chris is a trooper. And lucky for me, she would rather drive than be the passenger!
And I was more than welcome to oblige!

We did find it funny in Ohio that they are so big into their directional highway arrows!
Like they REALLY want to make sure you’re staying on the right path!!!

And then finally we made it to Cleveland… the “Mistake On The Lake.”

Oh look… the sun was coming back out… and so did the Amish pies!!!

Beautiful blue skies and plenty of farm fields as we were smack dab in the Midwest!
Gotta love good cornfields, soy fields, orchards & vineyards!!!

“Holy Toledo Batman!”

And then more farms… more fields… more clouds & blue skies!

Soon enough we were running out of gas… and we didn’t quite notice it until it was getting REALLY close. Chris has been so good the whole trip to try and refuel whenever we got close to a 1/4 tank. But somehow this time… the “range” of how far you can still go on the gas you have left in the tank went to NOTHING!!! Uh oh…

Luckily, the Service Center was pretty close… pretty sure we could roll in on fumes if we had to! But we didn’t – all good. Made it in easily, re-fueled… and re-filled with more food for lunch!!!

And then more farms… more fun.

Soon enough I had to rub it in… and “prove to Chris” and rub it in a bit more…
that you can indeed get a photo of the Welcome Sign!!!

We were group texting with our friends and one of them pointed out that we were going to cross the time change soon… giving us an “extra” hour… thanks Nancy! We were kind of on a mission to get home as I needed to teach my Tuesday night class at 7:00pm. But the “extra” hour gave us a few options… like searching for Amish pies in Goshen, Indiana. Huge thanks to Rose for dropping that hint… AMISH… PIE!!!

We searched through Goshen, but didn’t find much in the way of Amish. No horse. No buggy. No pie. So we followed some signs and ended up in Shipshewana. Much better right away as the horse & buggies were all around!

And even better… Amish bakery… with LOTS of homemade PIES!!!
If all goes well, this big cherry pie will make it’s way to share with my pottery class tonight!

But it wasn’t just about PIE… as Chris couldn’t resist a package of sugar cookies!
This feeding frenzy has GOT TO STOP!!! But when we get home… not now…

Soon enough… we started seeing signs for Chicago!!! YIPPEE!!!

And in true Chicago fashion.. Welcome to Illinois…. Welcome to Construction!
Even worse, all of these pylon cones and NO construction anywhere to be seen!!!

Then we made it to Gary, Indiana… “The Armpit of the Midwest.”
All too soon the beauty of the rural farms was gone!!!

Back over the Skyway Toll Bridge… and back towards Chicago!!!

Okay, Gary, Indiana might not be too nice, but some of the industrial pieces, parts & architecture are pretty darn cool.

We finally made it back to my place. We unpacked my stuff out of Chris’ car…
and put her stuff back in . Still a LOT of gear. Especially when you need to shlep it all
up THREE FLIGHTS OF STAIRS… just two days after running a full IRONMAN!!!

I got everything upstairs… ran through the shower…
and then I was off to teach my 7:000pm Pottery Class!!! No rest for the weary!
And yes, of course I had to wear my Finisher’s shirt to class. Who wouldn’t?!

So I made it to my Pottery Class in time… with the cherry pie from Amishland Indiana!
Such a great way to finish off the Lake Placid Adventure!!! Sharing my stories & my accomplishments with my pottery class… most of who didn’t know I was even going for it again!

And here’s my other Lake Placid t-shirt…
and the one where they print everybody’s name on the back! Pretty cool…
almost 3,000 athletes listed alphabetically!!!

And yes, there I am in the top left corner of the M… see it?… there I am…

 

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What a difference a day makes…
We set the alarm for 10:00am… as we needed to pick-up our bikes and gear bags from TriBike Transport by 11:00am. We went to bed expecting to be sore in the mornig, but I was feeling surprisingly well… okay, except for that blister the size of Guatemala!!! Oh yeah, and did I mention that toenail on my right foot that was falling off too?! My feet were hurting… but everything else was surprisingly good.

So good that I actually woke up about and hour and half BEFORE the alarm went off. What?!!!… crazy talk. Chris was still sleeping soundly so I took my shower, packed my clothes, did the dishes and started cleaning up the place. Chris finally got up and we headed own to collect our bikes & gear bags from TriBike Transport. Such a wonderful service… well worth the extra cash!

We came back to the room, finished packing up all of our stuff… and then started to pack the car one more time! It was a LOT tougher getting all of our bags, gear and bikes back down to the car… as we had to take them down a set of stairs that didn’t seem to be such a big deal before the race?! We met a few of our neighbors doing the same thing packing up their cars as well. Some of them had some “horror stories” to share as some didn’t finish the race but instead ended up in the hospital. Sad stories, but it made me appreciate my race so much more!

Chris and I finished packing and we were on the road!!! Homeward bound…
and hopefully NOT through Canada this time!

The drive was nice… seeing the beautiful sights again and NOT needing to bike or run to see them. Like the ski slope towers from the Winter Olympics!

It was kind of fun driving on the same route that we had just raced on the day before – like returning to the scene of the crime. You definitely had a new admiration and appreciation after spending the day out there up-close & personal.

As Chris was driving, and I once again “assumed” the pivotal role as trip photographer…
I just had to document the foot injuries… CAUTION : GRAPHIC PHOTOS AHEAD!!!

So here’s the toe that was losing the toenail…
no band-aids, so a bit of toilet paper and duct tape worked well to keep it protected.

And then here’s my left foot… and the blister the size of Guatemala!!!
Yep, she’s a beaut. About as wide as three toes, and covering a good portion of my foot.
Just imagine running on that baby!!!… for a full MARATHON!!!

Such beautiful scenery… as seen from the front seat of the car. Like this AMAZING downhill that we pedaled down yesterday!!! This huge downhill section was literally about six miles long… smooth roads… good viewpoint… so good that you could “safely” let it rip and go for speed! I was speeding down around 50 miles per hour at times! So much fun… just a bit scary!

Zooming down the hill with one lane closed for us… while the other lane was being used cautiously by cars timed & spaced out by the cops at each end. Flying down the road with such amazing beauty on the right side… with just a small barricade separating us!

We didn’t get all that far… down the big downhill section and into the town of Keene. Not surprisingly, Chris and I were both hungry… and at this point, you totally feel like you DESERVE to eat whatever you want! So we did!!! We pulled over at a cute little roadside cafe’… half expecting to have breakfast. But of course we had missed that and we were onto lunch.

We started with these amazing bread rolls & handmade potato chips. The rolls were made with duck-fat… but it was the blue-cheese butter spread that really took it over the top!!! SO YUMMY… so good that we actually asked if they package up the butter for sale. Sadly no.

Then the real food arrive… pulled pork for me, and a chicken salad for Chris.
Kind of healthy, right?! I’m sure we’ll compensate for that somewhere
along the long road trip home!

Chris continued driving for most of the way… as I was the photographer.
When we first started the trip, we sent a few photos to her training teammates at home.
Little did I know that I would get so into it… and continued this group-text photo journalism project for the ENTIRE trip!!! So much fun for all of us! But there I was capturing every sight along the way… bridge after bridge… field after field… clouds… trees… whatever… PIE!!!… everything!

At one of the rest stops in New York, we stopped for gas and found a little Amish tent at the entrance… and look, they were selling handmade pies! We couldn’t decide which flavor… so we GOT BOTH!!!

More bridges, more sights… like this shot of the historic Erie Canal…

And then the rain clouds came back. We had such amazing weather all weekend long for the IRONMAN race… so glad that the stronger storm clouds stayed away from Lake Placid. I’m okay with rain on the expressway… so much better than on the race course!

Soon enough, the storm dissipated and the clouds cleared up… back to blue skies!

We kept driving on out of New York, through Pennsylvania and into Ohio. It was during that time that I was taking a turn driving… and Chris had to take on the challenge of photographer! Needless to say, she missed the “Welcome” signs for both Pennsylvania AND Ohio!!! She had a simple task.. and she missed the opportunity!

Okay, in full transparency… there was no Welcome sign in Ohio….
but my story is still that she missed both states!!!    HA!!!

It started getting dark, and we were getting tired. We need to get gas…
and it all added up to the same thing. Time to stop for the night, find a hotel and sleep it off. We found this Days Inn in the middle of nowhere… we had hoped to make it to Cleveland, but we didn’t quite make it. Just a little more mileage tomorrow, but a good place to stop for tonight.

We unpacked all of our gear, our bikes and our bags into the hotel room…
and crashed.                           Okay, maybe after a few bites of Amish pie!!!

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Much of getting ready for race day is organizing all of your gear. Deciding what you’re going to need & what you’re going to want. IRONMAN does a great job of organizing & planning the event. They need to keep everything organized to keep the race running smoothly – especially with all of the gear and special needs of the two thousand athletes!

When you check-in, they give you a set of color-coded bags. Each bag will get packed ahead of time with all of the gear you’re going to need for each stage of the race. You start the day with your Swim gear in hand. All of the clothing you’ll need for the Bike portion is stored in the BLUE bag. Everything for the Run is in the RED bag. The ORANGE bag is your “special needs” bag that will be waiting for you at the halfway point of the bike ride. And the BLACK bag is the “special needs” bag that is waiting for you at the halfway point of the marathon. And just as an added twist… you’ll get back all of the gear in the red & blue bags… but anything left over in the orange or black bags will not be returned. So you want to pack enough food & extras so you have some options… but not too much that you’re throwing away good things you’ll miss after the race!

Once we had our color-coded bags packed, we took our bikes and gear bags to the Transition Area. These are placed there the day before and will be waiting there for you on race day. We also stayed there to do the Athlete Briefing Meeting where they cover course specifics, rules & regulations and a lot more!

Here’s my trusty steed… racked in the center grassy area of the Olympic Speed Skating Rink!!! We were there pretty early…. so it was easy to find my rack & parking space as they are all pre-numbered. Keep in mind, these entire field will eventually be completely PACKED with BIKES!!!

And here’s Chris’ teeny-tiny racing Tri bike. So cute, right?!

After racking your bike, you then drop off your bags at the bag racks off to the side of the bike area. They will both hang on racks right next to the huge changing tents.

And again, we were pretty early… so here’s the bag racks as they start to get filled up. Keep in mind, these racks will be PACKED with bags!!! And when you come running in after the swim… or after the bike… you’ll need to navigate your way through these bags & racks to find your pre-numbered bags!!!

We had brought all four of our gear bags with us… only to find out that the Special Needs bags don’t get placed until Race Morning… oh well, back to the room!

Once we had taken care of our bikes, bags & athlete briefing… we figured we were still at IRONMAN Village… so we decided to “try out” the compression legs again! Why not, right?!!! We were there… they were still giving free demos… and they feel AMAZING!!!

And then there were also cold water bath legs! Kinda like sitting in a cold ice bath after an intense workout. But totally dry?! It’s an odd feeling to feel the cold water coursing through the legs “freezing” your legs to relieve the muscle aches, pains & tensions. Not a big fan… I preferred the compression pants!

And if compression pant-legs are AMAZING… why not try another version!
They were there… Rapid Reboot… and we wouldn’t want them to feel left-out, right?!

Of the three recovery pants… I think I preferred the Rapid Reboot brand!!!

After the Expo, we went for a little drive… to buy a few last-minute things and some lunch. Chris was sporting her new copper bracelet from her training friend Rose! Inside the cuff it is inscribed.. “YOU FUCKING GOT THIS!”… which is SO Rose!!!

We stopped at a nice local deli for lunch…
and loved seeing them all prepared for race weekend in the bakery area!

We behaved ourselves… as we have been eating FAR TOO MUCH over the past couple days. And we had “promised” ourselves that we would stay focused and eat much better today. The day before the big race. Eyes on the prize…. and not the decorated cookies & fruit tarts!

Also loved the cleverness of this license plate we found in the parking lot of the deli.

We finally made it to an early dinner… and I was looking for some good protein. My steak was amazing! And Chris went for a nice burger and homemade chips. It was early as we wanted to digest the food and get to bed early… as the alarm was going to go off EARLY tomorrow for Race Morning!!!

After dinner, we still had an hour or so to hang out… as it was still a bit too early to go to bed yet. So we walked back down to IRONMAN Village and the transition area… both of which are right next to the Olympic Training Center.

And by now, the racks for the gear bags were starting to fill up. Gotta try to remember where your bags are… keeping in mind that you will have just finished one leg of the race, running in along with a lot of other athletes… and you’re all looking for your bags. It gets a bit confusing & congested.

And the bike racks were filling in nicely too. I would LOVE to know how much “money” is sitting her in the Transition Area. As a LOT of these bikes are VERY expensive… and very impressive!!!

When we got back to the room…. a bit nervous knowing that when we wake up next it will be RACE DAY!!! And doesn’t everyone know that a good piece of apple pie will calm your nerves?!!!

And then it was time for bed… so we settled in, set a couple alarms for VERY early!!!
Going to be very early because tomorrow was going to be a VERY long & arduous day!

 

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