It's been awhile since I've seen your smile, but now you've come back again... Anyone know the song?

I haven't written in awhile and to fight my boredom at work, I've decided to write a new and extremely exciting post, reminiscent of my school days, about my summer vacation! After a few years of jetting off to exotic locations - sailing in Greece, hiking in the Alps, sipping cocktails and monkey watching in Costa Rica, I decided to trek back to the homelands - the Midwest. Part of this was due to the fact that I was planning the 10-year reunion, seemingly by myself. The other catalyst was the Chicago triathlon that I signed up to participate in with my friend Melissa.

So I flew off to the exotic location of Columbus Ohio. I spent several days observing the habits of the mysterious newborn species... Then it was up the 23 in my rented minivan to beautiful and scenic Tiffin for my 10-year reunion. Drinking free drinks on an empty stomach is not recommended! After another brief stint in Columbus, I was on my way to Michigan for a visit with my Dad and stepmom. The week was spent relaxing by the lake. I also took a short and sweet trip to MSU to relive my days as a young coed. It happened to be freshman move-in day and I couldn't resist sneaking into Bailey Hall to check out my old floor :) Ah memories! Also, made a brief stop at Sparty and the engineering building where I saw Vangie. I was very happy that she remembered me after all of the hours I spent samping poo for her. We also had lunch at Harpers - one of my favorite spots in East Lansing :-) Good times!

The week went by fast and before I knew it my Dad was dropping me off at the Megabus stop in Ann Arbor. The Megabus trip was quite eventful. After picking us up only 30 minutes late, we made it as far as Dexter before we had to pull over because of a storm (for those of you not familiar with the geography of the mighty mitten state, Dexter is just down the road a few miles from Ann Arbor). The rain finally let up and we continued on. We stopped at a truck stop in Niles, MI just outside the IN border. I texted Melissa that I would be there shortly. Then, as we were pulling out of the truck stop, the Megabus sideswiped an SUV pumping gas. Another hour, a few cigarettes and police cars later, we were on our way! Then we reached flooding on the 94. More fun!! Finally we got into Chi-town, just before midnight. Melissa and Jason picked me up and took me straight to the bar - Southporte.

Chicago was a blast. On Saturday we rode bikes to downtown to pickup our race packets. After a little confusion of where the pickup location actually was, we found our way. Melissa's neighbor cooked up the most amazing pasta dinner that night to carb load for Sunday's race. We headed to bed early since we had to get up at 4:30 on Sunday morning.

4:30 came way too soon - We grabbed all of our gear and headed down the LakeShore bike path to the Chicago yacht club. I was lucky enough to use one of Melissa's friend's brand new (and super nice) road bike. You see, I hadn't shipped the Lemond due to a bit of "drama". We got to the transition area and I set up my gear pretty quickly - They were eager to boot us out of there and not let us back in! Then we waited. My wave didn't start until 9:17. Melissa and Colette started at 6:50 so I got to watch their whole race. Both did great!

Finally I started - in a men's heat, I might add. For whatever reason - there was an overflow of women in my age group so they made a few of us (me included) start in a men's heat. Fabulous. After jumping into cold Lake Michigan we were off. The water tasted of boat gasoline. I hung to the back to avoid getting clobbered by the boys. But, alas, another heat of men started just a few minutes after us and soon caught up. I had one jerk in a white swim cap give me a purposeful blow to the back of the head with his elbow. I wish I knew who he was. What an ass. Anyways, survived the swim, and headed off to find Matt's brand new Trek. Had a fabulous 25 mile ride down Lakeshore Drive. IT was a perfect day at this point - probably high 70's and sunny! :) After the bike, I started to crash a bit or hit the wall if you will, most likely due to my lack of training and preparation for this race. However, crawled through the 10k run by Soldier Field in a pathetic pace and finished to a great party in downtown Chicago. I had a blast. I would do that race many times over! I probably wouldn't be singing the same song, had it been normal August weather of 90's and 90% humidity!! But we were oh so lucky.

After the race, Melissa and I biked back to Wrigleyville where a fabulous party/BBQ awaited our return :-) Had a great rest of the day eating and visiting with long lost friends from my past!

My last day of my fabulous midwestern getaway included a great lunch and a wonderful swirly pedicure :-) Then I was off to OHare for my trip back to San Diego!! Good times. ALL in all a wonderful trip. I really enjoyed visiting with everyone and had a fabulous time!

NOW I am back to the grind. Good times. 

Ta Ta for now!!