The Best Goodbye

Well, we're back from Georgia. This was one of those long weekends that just flew by. Every moment was bittersweet; while we had a blast, we were all too aware that the entire purpose of our get-together was to say goodbye to Todd. He'll be serving in Kuwait for the next nine months.

He promises that after his tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, this will be cake. But it's never easy to send a friend off to the unknown like that.

Our long goodbye began Friday when Rob, Todd, Cayla, Jeff, Oden, Matt and I arrived in the Georgia mountains. We immediately stocked up on the most important provisions...

The sad thing is that we had to make a second beer run Saturday night...It was like College 2.0 for the guys.

...explored the ginormous cabin...

Three words: Not enough bears.

A rousing game of ping-pong started the evening.

Oden and Cayla playing some air hockey.

The cabin boasted four huge bedrooms, a hot tub, a game room, and TV room...among other amenities.

...and enjoyed the view before having dinner and playing some Cards Against Humanity.

Gorgeousness as far as the eye can see.

The boys immediately got to work catching up and reliving old times.

CAH is always good for some gut-busting laughter.

Saturday started with a run. I convinced Matt, Todd, and Oden to go with me. Little did we know, our Florida legs were about to be humbled. I love hills, but the Blue Ridge mountains make Florida bridges look like anthills.

The boys ascending.

Me, descending.

 After we ran, we had a wonderful breakfast courtesy of Cayla. We ate on the balcony, enjoying our view.

The boys put on the Rocky theme and completed their run with a victorious pose.

Rob enjoying bacon, eggs, coffee, and mountain views.

After breakfast, Mark and Shane joined the party! They were just in time, because we had plans for Saturday. We hiked up to a waterfall...and, true to form, went off the trail and made our own path.

Beginning our hike.

The boys at the waterfall.

And we three ladies, rocking pink and yellow. We didn't even plan this!

Then, we went tubing down the Toccoa River. The water was freezing so we chose not to do whitewater rafting; instead, we linked up our tubes (and one kayak, and one paddleboard) and floating leisurely down the river.

Cayla and Jeff chose to kayak to avoid getting wet.

Foreground back: Mark, Shane, Rob, me, Todd, Oden, Jeff, and Cayla.

Super adorable.

We restocked our supplies for the evening, had a wonderful family-style dinner, and finished the night around the campfire.

All smiles at dinnertime.

Our gorgeous evening view.

Not pictured: how the boys put out the fire. Use the gross side of your imagination.

Sunday we got to sleep in. The day called for rain, but luckily it held off long enough for us to have our ziplining tour!

I'm such a creeper.

Oden, Rob, and Mark.

All nine of us in our gear.

My final zipline...1100 feet of awesomeness.

Todd, Shane, and me...all done!

The rain came down after we finished, so some of us (ahem...myself included) chose to nap a bit while the others played pool and ping pong in the game room. Then we watched Delivery Man, which was actually really sweet, and called it a night.

It was a really fantastic weekend, and I hope we gave Todd the farewell he deserved and some warm memories to take with him to Kuwait. 

I can't think of a better way to have spent Memorial Day weekend.

Have you ever ziplined?

How did you spend the long weekend?

What is your favorite mountain-related activity?

ABK

RW Run Streak Day 1

I don't plan to do a running update for each of the days of the running streak, but as today was the big kickoff, I felt a post was due.

I got up at 6:15, the first time in months I've successfully pulled myself out of bed early for the sake of running. But I knew that if I tried to wait until later, I'd be too likely to miss the run. Matt and I have plans this evening for a barbecue with friends to observe Memorial Day.

I have a lot of family and friends who were (and still are) military, and I have a lot of respect for people who sign up for that life. It can't possibly be easy to decide to sign up for a life of service, to be willing to put your life on the line, knowing that so many people will never understand what you experience. It's not that Americans are ungrateful for our service men and women, but I think we're so removed from the wars being fought these days that we almost come off as unconcerned. I don't say it enough; I am in awe of those who go into service, and am saddened that so many have lost their lives fighting in the name of our country.

I kept my run short this morning. The streak calls for at least a mile a day for 39 days; because there are no rest days, it makes sense to run shorter and slower for some of them.

As my feet hit the pavement, I thought about those who run into the arms of their loved ones after months of deployment; I thought of those who suffered injuries and amputations in battle and had to relearn how to take even the simplest steps; I thought of those who will never run again.

The moon was still out, the air cooler than I had expected. The sun wasn't quite up yet, and there were only a few cars on the road. It was a nice run; tomorrow I'll go longer. I felt like lead today, but still wish I'd done more than just a mile.

38 days to go...by the end, I should be all set to begin my marathon training schedule without any hangups.

How do you observe Memorial Day?

Are you doing the RW Run Summer Streak?

ABK