Holy Smokes!!! Day Two

That rock bed was not fun to sleep on! At first we tried to put both of our sleeping bags down to sleep on top of. But then in the middle of the night, it got very chilly!!! So we ended up sleeping in our own sleeping bag. That was the first campsite we've ever had to sleep on a rock bed, everywhere else we've had grass to sleep on.

We got up around 7:30, going on restless sleep and aching backs. We drove back into "town" to get some gas and some breakfast. The gas station was interesting, very "hickish". Breakfast was amazing! I think they made their own cider and grew their own vegetables. And the view was amazing with the Smokies right there. Joshua had a slab of ham which he thought was salty and when he thinks it's salty, it's really salty. I had an omelet with cheese and mushrooms. The best part of breakfast probably was the cider, apple fritters and apple butter. They were so good that we stopped by the farm store attached to the restaurant and bought cider and apple butter to take back with us. And in that store, Joshua found a new best friend...a dipper gourd.

Old school gas fillers

At Carvers Applehouse Restaurant.
Check out that view!

Joshua with his dipper gourd which he broke a few days later.
Restaurant on right...farm store on left

Now that we got some food in us, it was time for some hiking. I had planned a 15 mile hike which was a loop by our campsite. Joshua thought it was only 7 miles. Oops! He didn't know it was 15 miles total til halfway into the hike. So the hike was 7.5 miles on the Lower Mt. Cammerer Trail, 4.5 miles on the Appalachian Trail and 2.5 miles on the Lower Gap Trail.

We were all smiles on the start of the hike at 10AM. Joshua even found some walking sticks for us and he was so ecstatic about using the Swiss Army knife to carve the end of his stick to a really sharp point to use as a weapon. About 2 miles into the hike, there was a .5 mile trail that led up to Sutton Ridge overlook. We decided to go for it and check it out. I'm glad we did because it was so incredibly beautiful up there. We even made our mark there, so maybe it'll still be there if we go back there someday.

Thumbs up for the hike...and some redbull

Carving his stick

Joshua etched on the bench

Our initials on the bench

View from Sutton Ridge Overlook

The amazing view

After Sutton Ridge Overlook, we continued hiking. We were still up and cheery, telling stories, hiking in peace and enjoying nature. We passed by a backpacking campsite with notes posted all over "Campsite closed due to aggressive bear activity". Uhhhh, so do we turn around and go back or do we continue on? Ah, what the heck...let's keep going. We saw a bunch of caterpillars and butterflies which was pretty cool and ran into a bunch of spiderwebs which was not so cool. Ahh, nature.

Caterpillar

Snail that actually peeked out of his shell

Random pic in the woods

We were getting crabby just walking on the trail in the woods. To make it even worse, we saw bear poop on the trail, not off the trail but actually on it! We poked at it and it was kinda hard so we knew the bears could be long gone already. But we kept alert and made some plans in case we encountered a bear or two. See a cub, run far away from it as possible because mama bear will be close by and not happy. Around 1:30 PM, we get to a clearing on the trail. It was so gorgeous that we had to stop and take some pictures. We had been walking in the woods that we couldn't even see the Smokies beyond us nor the sky really. The trees were that tall. So when we saw the clearing, we had to stop and take it all in.

The amazing view!!!

Me and the Smokies behind me

Joshua and the Smokies

After stopping to see the gorgeous view, we were happy again and got some energy. Shortly after stopping for that view, we actually passed two people going the other way. This entire time, we had not seen anyone at all. For parts of the hike, I was kinda scared that we missed a path to switch trails because there weren't any markers at all. I was glad to have seen those other hikers. Then a few minutes after passing the people, we get to another clearing except this time it was blocked by rocks. So, we ended up climbing up the rocks to get a better view. It was a bit dangerous but well worth it. The view was again incredible!

The amazing view once on top of the rocks

All smiles after seeing this

Joshua and the Smokies in the back

Back to the hike. We were now about 5 miles away from the campsite. However, we get to an intersection where we could continue to the campsite or walk .5 miles to Mt. Cammerer. We were so exhausted at this point and we weren't sure what we would see once up to Mt. Cammerer. We decided that since we hiked all this way, we might as well go for it. I got a bit worried that it wasn't going to be much because the first part of that trail was going downhill...not a good sign. However, once we got to it, we saw a house of some sort that kinda looked like a lighthouse. Joshua read about it and it was once a fire watch tower to spot any forest fires. Pretty cool. What's even better was the view. Breathtaking!!!

Joshua at the top of Mt. Cammerer

Me at the top of Mt. Cammerer

View from top of Mt. Cammerer

Joshua chilling on the railing of the firehouse tower

Joshua and the Smokies

Gorgeous view of us and the Smokies

We leave Mt. Cammerer and finally head back to the campsite. 5 more miles to go. We stumbled up and down the hills, tripped over tree roots and drank the rest of our liquids. Worst part of the hike...my toes were KILLING me! With the running and stubbing my toes on the tree roots, they were in so much pain. A few times when we were walking downhill, I had to stop to rest my toes since they were rubbing against the front of my shoes. But we were so close. We managed to get back to the campsite and by that time it was about 4:30...6 1/2 hours later and starving!

When we got back to our site, the first thing we did was to start a fire to cook some food. Joshua went to the gas station to pick up some ice cold drinks. And we fixed our tent so then it was more taut and with the door facing the car and not the woods. We drank some brewskis and had Cup of Noodle and Chicken a la King soup. Who knew crappy food could taste so good? After some eats, we played some card games til it got too dark then it was time for bed.

Really enjoying the drinks after not drinking
since March to train for running 

Our awesome fire!

Joshua keeping the fire going

Me playing with fire...me likey

Our campsite

Holy Smokes!!! Day One

Ahhhhhh yes!....finally!.....a vacation!!! Our first vacay together since our honeymoon in Hawaii last year in June. The plan was to camp out in the Smoky Mountains the first 3 nights then hotel it the next 2 nights. After my long exhausting first day of school, we decided to head out Tuesday morning...earlier the better. We woke up at 6AM, finished packing and headed out but not before stopping at the gas station for gas and coffee. By the time we were actually on the road, it was about 7:45...according to Google maps, we should get to our campsite 13 hours later.

Joshua filling the trunk with golf bags, tent,
sleeping bags, pillows, suitcase and food

Bright and early and smiling

We ended up stopping in Bloomington-Normal, Il to visit a Marriott Hotel where Joshua helped out a few times. I met some of the people he worked with. But we couldn't stay long so off we went, continuing our drive.

Everything went smoothly, we drove through Bloomington-Normal to avoid the rush hour in Chicago. There was construction on the highways so we had to slow down a bit but never got stuck in a bad traffic jam like it did to the other side. And then we hit Louisville, KY. We were on one highway about to get onto a different highway when Joshua noticed a news helicopter flying above, circling...weird. Then we realized why. The highway we needed to get on was closed...crap.

We went the only way we could and got stuck in Louisville's rush hour. The other was even worse and I thought, crap that's the way we need to go too. We tried to get off at the first exit but cars were backed up trying to get off. Then we went to the next exit and same thing. Finally at the third exit, we had a chance to get off and now we're in Louisville's downtown. We now are roaming through the downtown trying to find the entryway back on the highway but every time we saw one it was way backed up and we remembered how packed the highway was earlier. So we continued east on the Louisville roads going through the downtown then some shady areas and finally we saw a highway...whether or not it was the right one was up for debate. We left it up to our GPS to get us back on track.

One hour delay later, we were back on track. We made it to our campsite around 11 PM EDT. Not bad for a pit stop and an hour delay. We quietly grabbed our camping gear and went to the tent area. We had to set our tent on a bed of rocks, the designated tent area...seriously??? And we forgot our flashlights??? Luckily, as we were leaving, I had in my hand a spare tire inflator that had a flashlight and Joshua told me to bring it just in case when I wanted to leave it in our apartment. Even with that one flashlight, it was pitch dark out. We couldn't even see the stars as were we surrounded by trees.

Setting up tent was quite interesting. We hadn't camped out in two years and it was dark. We were in the process of putting the tent together when I felt some wet drops on my arms. Oh no! We hurriedly finished pitching our tent and of course it never rained. The tent ended up backwards...we wanted the door to face our car and not the woods. Oh well, we'll just fix it the next day. Time for sleep.

First Day Of School

First day at Madison Area Technical College or Madison College or whatever they're changing it to. I have classes on Monday and Wednesdays, the days I used to work at the TV station but I quit that after going back to school. Mondays are going to be my long days. Wednesdays are going to be long as well. So that Monday, I got up at 8AM to get ready for the day. Leave the apartment at 8:50. 20 minutes later, I'm in the student parking lot...the back of the parking lot. I walk the what feels like a mile to the building. The building has 3 levels and each level is confusing. All my classes are on the third floor. I walk around like a rat in a maze to find my first classroom. Phew, made it to my 9:30 class with 5 minutes to spare. I feel like it takes just as long to walk from my car to the seat of my classroom as it does to drive there.

My 9:30 class...Math of Finance with David Peterson. Walk into class and on the projection screen says Intro to Philosophy. Hmmm, interesting. I look around and see others have a Math of Finance book. Okay, weird. Whatever. He starts the class off saying welcome to Intro to Philosophy and then finally someone speaks up saying this room should be the Math of Finance class. Peterson stops, ponders then says 'Well maybe I have a slide for that...I could probably teach that'. And instantly I knew this guy was WEIRD. As are 80% of math teachers out there, no offense to those that are reading this. One of my good friends is going to be a math teacher and she isn't weird...yet. But I told her to try her best to not turn out weird in the future.

We spent that hour fifteen minutes doing almost nothing. Peterson talked about his life which is fine and dandy because I do like to know what my teacher's credentials are. But for 45 minutes? Come on, you can do that easily in 15 or less. Then the last 15 minutes, he gave us a quiz on what we'll be working on in the next few months. I talked to one of my regular customers when I was bartending earlier this Tuesday and found out he knew this Peterson guy from when he used to teach at MATC. He said Peterson was an interesting fellow. I did end up finding out some weird stuff about Peterson from this regular and everything makes sense now. As I was sitting in class yesterday, I finally figured out who this Peterson guy reminded me of. Woody Allen...the weird, craziness, stuttering, mumbling guy. Just watch Hollywood Ending. This class should be interesting, not for the topic but this guy's personality.

After my 9:30 class, I had an hour and half break but that won't be for long. I'll have a class right after my 9:30 one but that doesn't start til October. I like the break but I'll be glad when I just have class straight through.

My next class started at 12:30. Business management and organization with Keith Clark. This guy scared me when I first saw him but he's like a teddy bear. He looks like Mr. Clean. Just like the other class, he told us his story on how he got into teaching at MATC but unlike the other guy, Clark was A LOT more interesting and spent 15 minutes doing that. He is hilarious, sarcastic and very laid back. From what it seems, he won't be teaching what's in the book because he doesn't want to teach us what we can read. He uses examples from money.cnn.com and ties it together with the subjects in the book that we read which is what I like because I agree, I can read and learn from the book. I like examples to go along with what's being taught. This class isn't what I want to learn inside and out, it's more of a supplement class to get a general overview on businesses and how they work. But it's going to be an interesting class because of Clark.

Another break...3 1/2 hours. On Wednesdays I'll be done and going to work after that class but on Mondays, I have another class at 5:30. On my break that first day, I went back to the TV station because they were taping a Mayor's Report and on my last few days there, people were saying how I should say goodbye to the Mayor after putting make up on him and mic-ing him up for the last 4 years. I made it in time before the show started and the Assistant Director asked me if I wanted to AD for the last time and I said sure why not. The mayor was surprised to see me because he thought I was done and technically I was. At the end of the show, he gave me a shout-out for all the years of being the floor director and taking the shine off his forehead. I'll just pretend he said my last name correctly. After the show, he wished me good luck and I was about to shake his hand when he said no, and gave me a hug. How nice of him! Even if I don't agree with him all the time, he is the nicest guy I've ever met.

After the show, I went back to MATC for my last class. A 3 1/2 hour class. Accounting I with Linda Brown. She seemed off standish but not for long. She is extremely nice and is a CFO with Kaiser Automotive, so she knows her accounting stuff. We actually did stuff in this class, mainly because  it's a once a week class so if we would've done nothing, we would be way behind when others have this class 4 times a week. It seems long but she gives us a 5 minute break an hour into it or so and then lets us go early at 8:30 instead of staying all the way til 9. This class seems like it's going to be easy breezy for me since I've taken accounting in HS and at UW. It's like never forgetting how to ride a bicycle. You may be rusty at it at first but it comes back to ya.

Trying to balance class and work will be interesting. Sunday nights I close at Old Chicago...Mondays are class all day and night...Tuesdays I open bar then go home to study or do homework...Wednesdays class all day then most likely straight to work...Thursdays, more likely to work during the day...Fridays working...Saturdays working then back to Sunday. Joshua works nights usually 5 days a week. So the only time I'll see Joshua is if he's off on Tuesdays then I'll see him at night but I'll be studying and Sunday mornings for sure. Looks like any free time we have together will be well spent this semester!

Madison Mini Marathon

The big day, what I've been training for! I woke up at 5AM and got ready for the half marathon run. I made sure I filled all my water bottles for my belt pack, packed some snacks for during and after the run, had my iPod fully charged, got my ID for the beer after the run, grabbed my knee strap and woke Joshua up to take me downtown.

I was in the groove, concentrating and focusing to stay calm and not let the adrenaline overtake my body. We get into the downtown area and get stuck waiting to turn to get to the parking lot when...SH*T!!! I forgot my bib number!!! What to do?!? It's 6:35 and the race starts promptly at 7. Joshua tells me to get out of the car and talk to the race officials to see if there's anything I could do and he goes back to our apt which is about 20 minutes away to get my bib. 

One person I talked to said there was nothing she could do for me, that maybe I could run unofficially but I could be pulled off the course if someone saw me running without a bib number. She kindly lets me use her phone to call Joshua to get an update of where he was and he was just getting to our apartment and it was 6:45. There was no way he was going to make it back in time. Now I'm freaking out! I made sure to have everything that morning except for the bib number. I'm such a dummy!

The woman calls me over to her after she had been on the phone with someone and she tells me that the timing officials by the finish line may have extra bibs. I run over there and find that others are getting an "extra" bib number. I tell the official that I was an idiot and forgot my bib number and she nonchalantly took my information down and handed me a bib number. Just like that. Phew!

I run back to get into my time group and on the way there, I ran into a softball teammate who was there watching his girlfriend run the 5k. I use his phone to tell Joshua what happened so he wouldn't worry. 2 minutes to start time. I run down the street looking for my time group when the gun goes off. Crap...I'm stuck in the 2:40 pack (how long you think it will take you to run) when I was shooting to start with the 2:15 group. So not only am I in the wrong pack, I never got to stretch my body out. And during races, I like to stretch for at least 20 minutes if not more.

Let's backtrack to 3 weeks ago. As you know, my knee acts up due to an old injury. Well, 3 weeks prior to the race, I tripped up the stairs and re-injured my knee. Because of that, I wasn't able to run as much nor as far as I wanted to during those last few training weeks. I was not as prepared as I wanted to be for the half marathon.

However much my knee was killing me, the first 5 miles were AMAZING! We ran down Langdon Street aka frat row to the Capitol down State Street aka the main street of Madison then to the Arboretum. The Arboretum was lonnnnnnng. And that's when I started seeing people down on the ground. And that's when I had to stop and walk. I wanted to reach 6 miles before walking but only made it to 5. Miles 5 through 8 are a bit hazy. All I remember was that Joshua was at mile 8 to cheer me on!!! That brought a smile to my face and I got a burst of energy after that.

My energy came back down 1 mile later. After the Arb, we ran towards Picnic Point. This was where the turnaround was. Let me tell you, watching people run the other way when you still have to reach the turnaround point IS NOT FUN!! I think it was only a 3/4 mile to the turnaround point but it was the longest 3/4 of a mile I've ever ran. Then when we got to the turnaround point, we had to run the 3/4 miles back again. But now we knew the end was in sight. Only 2 miles to go. We got to run the Lake Shore path by the college dorms. That was bittersweet because I used to walk/run that path when I was in college and living in the those dorms.

There was this older guy that I ended up running with on the Lake Shore path which was nice. I would run in front of him then he would and this went back and forth for awhile then finally he slowed his pace way down and then I didn't see him with a 1/2 mile left. I knew how close I was just by looking to see what building was on my right. I knew that when I saw the library building, the finish line would be right around the corner. When I finally saw the library, I picked up my pace. Oh goodie, just in time to round the corner and go up an incline and I guess that was where Joshua was to cheer me on again but I never saw him. I was focused on the incline then rounding another corner to sprint to the finish line.

2 blocks away from the finish, I was discouraged because I saw the time at 2:16 or something like that and I wanted to finish in less then 2:15. I then look down to my watch and saw 2:13;15. Oh yeah, I did start a few minutes later than the actual gun time. I can still make my goal. I sprinted like I never sprinted before and crossed the finish line at 2:13;42...13.1 miles later. Ahhhh....I feel like throwing up.

Great job Cindy! Aw crap, I never got a meeting spot with Joshua because of the whole fiasco earlier that day. I walked around in hopes of randomly seeing him. I ended up borrowing someone's phone and got ahold of Joshua. He was inside the building, the one place I didn't check. We reunited and he gave me a big kiss and a hug.

After the race, we were suppose to meet a friend who was also running in the race but got the meeting place wrong. But we still hung around the Terrace by the lake. I got my free beer...yay! But I couldn't even drink it. I had 4 sips and that was it. I was starving but same thing, I couldn't eat. I forced myself to eat a burger that Joshua had bought just because I knew I was in the negative for calories after running.

All in all, it was a great day. A bit humid for running but it was cloudy all morning so at least the sun wasn't out to make it even hotter. I did the best I could with a bum knee and even accomplished my under 2:15 goal. I definitely want to do this again next year and I'm hoping that I'll be 100% better to beat my time. If so, I'll be shooting for under 2 hours to finish.

Walking out of the apartment

There I am at Mile 8

Joshua misses a pic op

Leaving Mile 8

Only 5 more to go

Going up the incline near the end of the race

The finish line!!!

Extremely tired and happy even if you can't tell

All cheery again after rest and rehydration

By the lake

Mallards Game

Joshua and I went to our first Mallards game of the year tonight which was the last game of the season before playoffs. The Mallards is a collegiate summer baseball team in Madison. The best part of the Mallards is the Duck Blind tickets which was what we had. For $26 on the weekdays or  $31 on the weekends, it's all you can drink and eat plus admission to the game.

Originally, we had these tickets from a friend's birthday bash in June but the game was rained out before it even started. So finally, with Joshua working mainly nights and I working randomly each week, we finally had a night off together when the Mallards had a home game. The tickets were not wasted!

The Duck Blind was pretty busy and surprisingly we were able to grab some bleacher seats. Usually, especially on weekend nights, it is so packed that you can only stand in the Duck Blind and have no idea what's going on in the game. But since it was Monday, not many people wanted to get drunk.

I had a beer and sipped occasionally out of Joshua's cup since I was the DD but Joshua on the other hand made up for the lack of drinking I did. And between the two of us, we scarfed down a burger, bbq pork sandwich, brat, fries and potato salad. 

The game was pretty fun. Mini Kiss performed. Luckily, I couldn't see them since I am scared of people in costumes/makeup. The Mallards played awesome that night. So awesome that they scored at least 5 runs giving the crowd a coupon for free ice cream at Culver's. And someone hit a triple which gave the crowd a coupon for a 99 cent movie from Charter which is the cable service we have. So two free scoops of ice cream and two 99 cent movies from charter...all for attending the game, not too shabby.

At the Duck Blind

Joshua didn't like the previous pic

Joshua getting his eats and drinks on

Maynard Mallard getting ready to go down the zip line

There he goes!