Jackie's Second Visit and Ragnar Relay

So after a week of being away, Jackie drove back up to Corvallis (all in one day, might I add) and helped me to prepare for Ragnar. In the days leading up to the relay, I didn't have much to worry about but getting everyone together and hitting the road (I set it up this way... I have anxiety about leaving on time and being places on time...) The day of our departure finally came, and, thank goodness, I had volunteered to work a short morning shift at work. Had I not worked, I probably would have been having a heart attack by the time we finally left.

Annie, Dave's baby sister, came down the night before. Jackie was there. Sarah came over. Lissa drove up early. Kasie and Justin came and got coffee from me, then came over later. Schwartz, Persons, and little Persons all showed up (with minutes to spare). Everything seemed to be going to plan. When we arrived in Salem to meet Romo and John Wulf, the stressful bits began to bear their teeth. Romo, Schwartz and Wulf all wanted to drive their own cars up so that they could part with us after the race to go to various parts of Washington. Well did that turn out to be a fiasco or what?! A caravan 5 cars long on I-5 though Portland, Olympia, Tacoma AND Seattle is a tricky thing. By the time we got to Everett, where we were leaving the spare vehicles, Dave and I were both so frustrated with the situation that we were yelling at each other. Not to worry, 5 minutes later we had kissed and made up... per standard procedure. :)

So we got the campsite by 10pm, set up, had a snack and hit the hay. Of course, I could only sleep in until 5am. I was really tired. As I emerged from my tent, I found that Lissa was missing. Only to find her asleep in her car, because she had been up all night throwing up. Food poisoning. Awesome. We packed up quickly and set off to the starting line.


There's Dave at the start in the white shirt, pulled up black shorts and stylish head band. By 9:30am, we were off! We didn't run into any problems until the second van's night run. Lissa was feverish and unable to run... So they had to shuffle runners around in order to complete their legs. Well Kasie got hurt in the process and they fell 2 hours behind schedule. When I woke up at 5am on the grass at Deception State Park, and no phone call from the other van, I panicked. We were far enough behind that the clean up crew for the exchange set ups would be catching up quickly. I had to make a quick decision and have Sarah skip her leg, and have Dave start straight away, so as to make up for lost time. The other van was hurting so bad that they skipped a few of their third legs as well... unfortunate but we finished in a timely manner.


Team Photos at the finish :)


I am still recovering. Have yet to run... I attempted a run a few days ago... only to find that it hurt REALLY bad. For all Ragnar pictures, good and bad, check Facebook ;)

Dad then came up to visit us on the Friday after... it was good to see him! I miss him lots and lots. We are constantly attempting to talk him into moving up here closer to Dave and I, because when Jackie leaves, he is going to be really lonely. Hopefully, Dave and I can get a bigger place and maybe he can come up for Christmas and all that. Hopefully.

So now, without even blinking, we are moving on the final event of the Summer of 2010. Adam, one of Dave's good friends, is getting married this weekend in the Bend, Oregon area. We are all REALLY excited to get the WHOLE gang together and celebrate our bro tying the knot with an AMAZING girl. Lots of pictures and stories to come. :)