Saturday, April 23, 2011

Baggage Claim

I was in Austin for a sales meeting this week. Unfortunately my flight in to Austin was plagued by weather delays and I barely made the last flight from DFW to Austin Tuesday night. I was #30 on the standby list and was lucky enough to get one of the last 4 seats on the flight.





Even though I only had a very small carry with my clothes and my computer backpack there was no overhead space by the time I boarded the very full flight. My bag of clothes had to be checked. As I was waiting for my luggage at the baggage claim I noticed this large odd drum sitting on the belt - left from a previous arrival.





As it circled by and I read the contents label I was really surprised . The guy next to me immediately got out his camera and I knew I needed to follow suit.....be sure to read the yellow label on the drum as it rolls by, definitely something you don't see every day!












Sunday, April 17, 2011

A 5K Day

We couldn't let Chris have all the fun running the streets of Boston. Michael and his sister and I ran the Boston 5K this morning. was pretty darn cold, windy, and raining when we started. Even though he is smiling for the photos Michael was not pleased!



He made sure and did some pre-race stretching. And literally this was the extent of his training.





Well that training paid off when he finished just a minute behind Jenn and under 40 minutes total. I brought up the rear about 6 minutes behind them.






We took this picture right as the race started - what a sea of humanity. I can't imagine what the racers look like on marathon day.





After the race we walked through the Fitness Expo to see what kind of free stuff we could get. There were tons of samples and free goodies. We ate so much we cancelled our brunch reservation.


Everything was coming up Michael as he was the big winner in our group. Success rice had a prize wheel. I won a pencil, Jenn won branded emery boards, and Michael cleaned up with the box of rice! Success indeed.








And somehow I think we have him convinced we should all run the relay Disney World Wine and Dine Half Marathon. The race starts at 10:30pm and goes through Animal Kingdom, MGM Studios, and ends in Epcot. Once you finish the race you go to a food and wine festival in Epcot. The park is closed to everyone but the racers and the party goes on until 3am. We're targeting 2012 - I think I need to start training now.

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!











We're in Boston to cheer Chris when he runs the marathon on Monday.








As an unexpected treat we were able to go to Fenway Park and watch a Red Sox game. We did no planning (really, not one single idea of where to eat or what to do) for this trip and just booked the same hotel and Chris and the other runners. As it turns out, our hotel is right behind Fenway Park. Michael and I have a "Fenway" view room ( we didn't ask for it, just got lucky). The picture below is Michael looking out our hotel window - he opened the drapes and thought we had a view of some warehouse, before he quickly realized it was Fenway.









The Red Sox are playing at home this weekend and we decided we needed to try and get tickets to the Sunday game.






Anyone who has watched 'Fever Pitch' knows it is impossible to get a seat at Fenway. We found out they sell the unused players and executive tickets an hour and a half before the game begins. We waited in line and ended up getting tickets behind home plate about 30 rows back. They were great seats - you can see our view below. It was fun to watch the pitches flying right at the batters.









Pre-game we toured the park






caught a birds eye view of Yawkey Way (I love how they shut the street down during the game),






enjoyed a beer,




And had hot dog served on top split buns, of course!








Jenn and Chris were able to get tickets as well. Their seats were the front row of the bleachers right over the Red Sox Bull Pen. We met up during the 5th inning for a quick photo op.







I wanted to be back in our seats before 'Sweet Caroline' - it was great. I was able to get a little video, with the audio you can hear how loud the crowd is during the song. This was my favorite part of the game.








Of course Red Sox fans would probably say their favorite part of the game was the final score...Red Sox win!