Cherry Blossom 10-Miler

This post should be titled, "The Opposite of That," after my last panic stricken post about simplifying life. I am sitting in first class coming home from the fourth 2015 trip in as many months. I do thrive on being overbooked and just don't know how to, or if I really want to slow it down. Maybe I should return to journal blogging to keep track of the madness? 

I left for Dallas at 6 AM on Tuesday, landed in DC at 11 PM on Friday, and haven't stopped moving since. It was a phenomenal week. 

Fri, 11:50 PM:

Shower, Ubër to Hanks where I caught John, Jeff, Eddie, & Tara for last call. Eddie and I meandered home by way of JR's and The Green Lantern. You really can do some damage in two hours. 

Sat, 9:00 AM:

Shower, taxi to Ben's Chili Bowl for breakfast with Rita Jean, Gladys, & Jim. The greasy food was a perfect anecdote to Friday night shenanigans but probably not the best choice less than 24 hours before a race. I walked back to Eddie's and then to the National Building Museum for race check in. This, of course, included a mandatory shopping spree at the Expo. I got out with a cheap pair of running glasses and a Hipster. Yes, it sounds ridiculous but is my favorite phone carrying device to date. Now I just need to figure out ehich Bluetooth headphones to purchase. The Fox something or another would go nicely with the Hipster of the same brand but research is necessary. 

Sat, 1 PM

Lunch outside at Matchbox in Chinatown with Eddie and Steve. Did I mention the weather was perfect? Despite the fact I should have remained outside, a two hour deep sleep nap followed. 

Sat, 5 PM

Shower, then Cocktails with Emily, Kara, and Heather at Em's new pad. Super cute with an enormous DC kitchen. My cocktail was H2O. There may or may not have been a fire but that's a completely separate story!

Sat 7 PM

Dinner at DuPont Italian Kitchen to carb load! Tammy, Michael, Catrina, Eddie, and new friends David and Mark made it a great experience. While this should be where Saturday ended, we apparently had social expectations to maintain! The peeps committed to a beer at three stops. While I stuck to water, let's just say they didn't keep their word. We met Hector, Jaime, and three new friends at a new place in North DuPont. Stop two was friends of friends from Boston and Richmond at JR's. Stop three was a birthday party for Sweetness and I also got to see Dr Delicious and Nic at Satelite Room. It was tempting to cave for a boozy milkshake but I knew that would spoil my race results! When midnight slapped me in the face I left the peeps behind and went to bed!

Sun 6:00 AM

This is when the alarm was supposed to wake me. Thankfully it was a big gay slumber party and the boys woke me by 6:30. At 6:45 we were out the door with Mary and headed to the Mall. This was undoubtedly the most beautiful Cherry Blossom race weekend I can ever remember. The temperature was appropriately cool in the AM but the sun was bright. My unofficial race time came in at 29 seconds under target. While still not great, it was better than expected. Apparently some "incident" on the course caused a last minute re-route so they still have to re-measure to determine the actual course length. 

Sun, noon

Shower and eat...do you see a theme to this weekend? My friends Tara, Tammy and Anna joined the runners including my DC wifey Elizabeth for a delicious brunch at The Coop. Despite the slow kitchen time, we had a delicious meal. Their hash brown brick and Brussels sprouts are the bomb. Thanks to the tattooed hottie from Massilon for buying a round of drinks for our wait time! Thanks also to Tara for the hangry runner bags to help us out during the wait to be seated. Mine was a beautiful glitter pink and became my handbag for the afternoon. 

A few of us met the amazing Peyton at KBC for a round on the patio. The orange vodka drink was a perfect sunny Sunday patio drink for Spring. We then walked down 11th St., past my old trailer, to Sollys where the owner and friend served up some tasty cocktails while we visited with Lateef and some other repeat offenders from the weekend. 

Thanks to the Ubër driver for whisking me to DCA despite the ridiculous tourist traffic. Thanks to American for the first class upgrade. It is a fancy ending to a perfect weekend. My Timmy should be returning from a long weekend in Florida with girlfriends at about the same time. I can't wait for him to pick me up at the airport!

One night in my own bed and then back in the road tomorrow...

Overwhelmed

Sometimes life gets so complicated it is no longer fun. Sometimes it's so complicated you can't even find time to simplify it. Perhaps I can find some way to replace plane time with plain time. 

I might do a little talking to nobody. It can help. 

JTM & VIP

Broken ATM

Mohawk Ballin'

Cascada Fallin'

Lunch Extraordinaire 

Swimmin' hole

Power Out

Jose Enrique

Pickup Truck

Baller Man

Drunken Van

Pizza Pan

Jew Spew

Purple Net

Tomorrow yet

Good night. 

(Wed night/early Thu am)

Real World Nicaragua

I originally thought calling this trip, "Real World," would date us and then found out the show is still in production. It turns out a knock on the door circa 3 AM lured Ed and I up to Juan's suite where the six newcomers were enjoying their beverages. I also learned that Juan's two friends from NY didn't know each other and were only aquaintances with him. We are truly a band of strangers besides the people traveling with Juan and with me. Our ages range from 27 to undisclosed and at 41, I'm not the oldest! An early morning drinking game of mushroom was followed with a Timmy chat as he got ready for work back home, then I went to bed again. 

Juan's dad picked us up in a tourist van after an amazing buffet breakfast at Barceló Managua. We're now on our way to Cascada Blanca, the waterfall and eco-lodge he owns in Matagalpa. 

Now There Are Nine?

Summary of day one; Flor de Caña Rum is better than I expected but does not eliminate insomnia!

The three of us arrived 30 minutes early at Augusto C Sandino (MGA) in Managua. I expected a small airport but was surprised that this very large city of nearly two million people had a single runway with a u-turn at the end of it. The experience was not quite like that of our Mexican emergency landing several years back but wasn't the most pleasant. I was even more surprised at the broken down planes littering the side of the runway. 

The three of us had a free day to explore Managua but after a delicious lunch and several margaritas decided to relax for the day. We chose a few lounge chairs by the pool and relaxed the day away. At around 5:30, while Erin was enjoying a massage at the spa, Eddie and I decided to get showered for happy hour. Our timing was impeccable as the sky turned black and the torrential rains of the Summer rainy season rolled in.

We contemplated naps as the rest of our group was to arrive at around 1 AM but Erin insisted we power through. This didn't happen and we threw in the towel around 9 when the band took a break. With tummies full of delicious food, wine, beer, and rum, we went to bed. I just awoke at around 2 AM to find the others had arrived and went out to find some beverages. Since I missed them, and can't go back to sleep, I decided to summarize the day. I think there are now nine of us and I'm looking forward to meeting up for breakfast to start the group adventures.  

A New Travel Chapter

I haven't posted for quite some time. After so many work posts, I simply took a break. There are no journal entries from our epic Spring Vacation to Florida, several weekend getaways, #NOTS24, Camp Chimney over the 4th of July, or this year's scooter rally trips to WKRP, Band Camp 15, or Motor City Shakedown 10. The last few trips were made in our new rally transport vehicle, Vanastasia! She's a nice-as-new 1994 Teal Green Aerostar; what a riot!

Today marks a new form of travel with a trip to Nicaragua. It isn't that adventure travel or Central America is new, but it's the first real vacation I've taken outside of the states without my boyfriend of 16+ years. Work is great but I needed to stamp the passport and turn off the work email. Timmy is back in school, working on his BSN, and travel time is limited. With him working full time, and taking classes, Spring Break was the only long vacation we took this year. I had to get away!

A quick Faceyplace shout out a few months back yielded five great friends with a similar hankering to travel before Fall. My friend, and old colleague, Juan, frequently organizes trips to Nicaragua. With my friends, and a few of his, we'll ultimately make a band of nine for this five night adventure! It should be interesting as I am about the only common thread in this group of virtual strangers. My good friend, Erin, and I departed CMH at 6:00 AM for Miami where we'll meet up with Eddie from DC! The three of us will then have a free day until the others arrive tonight. 

I'm looking forward to a new adventure and will attempt to log the trip. This time it won't just be for myself, but also for Timmy to vicariously experience Nicaragua too!

Just Plane Jay

Life is good. No, life is real good! I haven't had time to blog my trips lately but it has been a fun experiment. This will likely be the last of the series. While still traveling for work, my role is expanding. Ohio Chapter 2 seems like a logical time to stop; I may return to vacation or event blogging or I might just go back to the Instagram. 

Off to Dallas for work, as usual. The airport smells like Axe body spray and there are orange muscly men everywhere. The Arnold must be over. Winter, however, continues in full force. I'm quite ready for Spring!