Wow! What a great trip this has been so far!
Here is PART 2:
Here is PART 2:
The SISTAS!
I had five friends fly from Utah to cheer me on. They arrived on Sunday morning and so I didn't see them until after the marathon. Another friend, Shauna, lives in Maine and she offered her home to all of us while we were here. She is really the reason this all happened. Years ago she told me, "Hey if you come and run the Boston Marathon I will be there to cheer you on!" I told her that it wasn't quite that simple and that running Boston means I would have to qualify first and that isn't exactly an easy thing to do. She also said she would let whoever came stay at her house in Maine. That one comment really helped fuel me to want to set the goal to qualify. In the back of my head (when I wanted to give up and quit trying to get there), I would envision her and my friends at the finish line. When I DID finally qualify, it took a few years, she was one of the first ones I told. She was ecstatic! We told the Sista's the plan and right off the bat several said they wanted to go, but deep down, I honestly did NOT think any of them would actually go when it came right down to it. Boy, was I wrong! I could not have been more surprised when these five ↓all made plans to come and actually did! |
| This is Shauna picking them up at the airport in Boston. She sent me this photo and said, "They're here!" I was so happy! |
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| They had some fun without me the first day in town. I was with my family still. |
The first time I saw them was after I crossed the finish line. (That is me doing my jump that the close camera man missed and so I look like an ant.) Happily, they DID see me cross the finish line with the exception of Patti. She had gone to find Kathy. Kathy made it back, but Patti was still looking for her. They had all actually left BEFORE I got there because Shauna got an update saying I was at the 40 K mark and she thought that meant I had already finished. Luckily, she text Dave and he told her that no, I still was running. So they all went back through security again so they could watch. They yelled at me, but I couldn't hear them. The crowd was deafening! They did see me stop before the finish line and take some photos and turn on my video. That was a joke for the rest of the trip! haha
Yep, only moi would STOP after running 26 miles to video and document the finish!
But I picked it back up again!
On the jumbo tron! (Bottom left corner)
OH. WHAT. A. FEELING!
It was so good to see all of my friends! It made me SO happy to know they came all this way to watch me do this. I have the best friends. A couple of them I wasn't even friends with in high school, but they joined our Sista group on Facebook and so we have gotten to know each other. I feel so blessed! The post of the race is HERE and the post of the first part of the trip with my family is HERE.
Look at the cute shirts they wore to support me! So cute! Sole Sista's! Cute! They gathered with my family and we took lots of pictures and then they headed to eat and we went to our hotel to get our stuff. We had already checked out but they let us check our bags until the flight left. Which means, I did not get a shower! They let me us a bathroom to change in and luckily I had lots of wet wipes. Dave and the boys were flying out that night and so we met the Sistas at the airport. I told my family goodbye and the Sista's hi!
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| Here they are waiting for me to join them at the airport. We took the van Shauna had rented from the airport to a cottage we had rented in Maine. It was pretty late when we arrived. We had to wait until morning to see the gorgeous views! |
And.....wouldn't you know it! PERFECT race conditions the next day! Ugh!!!
Our adorable cottage on the beach!
THIS ↑ is my little souvenir from Boston! Yeah! This was on my thigh thanks to my phone being in my pocket! It continued to get worse and very painful. When Dave saw the photo (I will spare you the really bad one a day later) he called me in some antibiotics and told me to get on them right away. Who gets a staph infection from running! Me, that's who! Oh well, not everyone can say that after running the Boston Marathon! Haha
We had THEE BEST time at Buck's Naked BBQ! Of course, the name provided us with a lot of entertainment as well! Waiter photo bomber was on point.
I was in one silly mood and I think it was contagious! We had some serious laughs!
So many photo opps!
This ↓ one is my favorite!
We spent a lot of time driving and while driving we spent a lot of time speaking in Bahstan-ease.
We are definitely having an advencha heeya in gawgiss Maine while riding in the cah!
This was our view at our little cottage! Gawgess!
I saw SO many purple houses!
We went to Portland to check out the amazing and famous Portland lighthouse! I was SO SO SO excited!
This photo looks like it is from a postcard! But I took it!
Oh, I can't believe I am here!
It was very windy and cold! We didn't hang around too long because we were all freezing!
This little guy is called BUG LIGHT. How cute is that?
We were VERY squished in the back of the van. Somehow I was lucky enough to ALWAYS sit in the back and everyone else rotated. They said it was because I was the smallest one. Maybe I should have carb loaded more!
MORE purple houses!
We stopped at L.L. Bean and took some fun photos!
We were 'mainly' having a great time in Maine!
We arrived back at Shauna's lovely home! She is out in the boondocks! She has so much privacy! We all found our rooms and settled in for the night.
We hit Mickey D's in the morning but it was the cutest Mickey D's on the planet!
We then traveled and stopped at a lot of sights she was anxious to show us. Some of them were closed.
But the beach was always open. Kathy had us all DYING with laughter because she leaned over on the shore (just why I am not shore sure), but she fell right in head first! Yep! Oh. My. Gosh. We were almost peeing our pants!
We continued on our journey and stopped at some fun gift shops along the way!
More photo opps!
So many fun sights to see. A lot of lobstah boats out there.
We stopped to eat at Cook's Lobstah House. There wasn't much on the menu for non fish lovers but I managed to find something.
Posing with the giant Lobstah!
That night we went to see the BOSTON DOCUMENTARY!
I was a little worried the others might not be as interested in it as I was, but I was very surprised how much they all loved it. It was SO amazing! I think it's because they now felt a part of the Boston Marathon.
You will have to click to enlarge what is on the screen. It gives some good info.
We headed back to Shauna's to sleep. We didn't spend much time there because we were always on the road. The next day we decided we all wanted to head back into Boston for one more day! I am so glad we did! We had so much fun and saw so many amazing sights!
There is such incredible architecture in this town!
We went into the running store and read all about the history of the marathon which was even more interesting after seeing the movie the night before.
We saw the place of the bombings and saw a lot of memorials.
Only 360 more days (marathon countdown) until I am back! At least I hope!
I can't wait!!!
Wow! There are some grand churches and the library is unreal! I could look at this stuff all day!
The library ↑
We saw the Trinity church and it was spectacular. We saw the South Church and it was sublime as well!
We then went to the Prudential Center and ate lunch and some did the Sky Walk.
We shopped a bit in the mall there. We kept losing Kathy. She wandered off several times.
Most of us took the Duck Tour. It was great. It actually went into the water!
Boston is so loaded with history and amazing stories! I should have listened better in school!
Check out the purple polka dotted Duck Tour trolley!
I met up with Robin and Grant for a super quick visit! They were eating lunch and we had only a few minutes before heading off. I was super happy I got to see them for a bit! We talked about the marathon and it was great to see them. It was so fun to see everyone wearing their Boston jackets around town!
We stopped by the Finish Line for a bit.
And, of course, we had to hit Mike's Pastries! Holy Cannoli! Those things are good! I personally like their almond or pistachio cookies even better! We loaded up for the ride home!
We ate at a good place in Little Italy
We rode the T back to our car.
We spent the night at Shauna's and in the morning we had fun chatting for quite a while before we headed out. Jody and Bonzo wanted a picture wearing my medal.
We took off for our last "advencha" before heading to the airport.
It was pouring rain all day. Check out the penny I found!
We ate at another lobstah place (can't remember the name!) and I just had a salad and so did Bonzo.
We shopped at some cute stores and we all bought the same Lobstah book. Robin read it to us on our drive to the 'ehport'. I found the most delicious of all deliciousness M&M's! They are strawberry flavor! Oh man! SO SO SO good!
Then the advencha was ovah and we had to say goodbye to Shauna and boad ah plane. I'm gonna miss this place. But I think the Bahston lingo will stick for awhile!
We were sad to leave! I think Shauna was sad to see us go. It was still raining.
After a little meltdown between a couple, we were off for home!
Bye-bye Bahston!
I am in love with you forevah!
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