Bobby Doyle Summer Classic

Yesterday I ran the Bobby Doyle Summer Classic in Narragansett, RI.

I've run this race the past 2 years. I wasn't sure if I would go and run this one again, but after I completed a training run I signed up. I knew going into this run that I wasn't in the same shape I was last year. I also knew it was going to be hot and humid. I went into the run knowing I was going to take it as easy as I needed to and wasn't expecting anything special. I ended up finishing in 58:49! I was surprised and happy. It wasn't better than last year, but better than the first year I did it.

So what would I tell you about this race?

Distance:
5 mile run
3k walk

Start Time:
9 am

Price:
Before June 1: $24
June 1-August 12: $28
Race Day Sign Ups: $34
*Proceeds support the Bobby Doyle Scholarships and Youth Running Fund

Organization:
There is very little communication leading up to this race. The good thing though is that all the information is on their website. The race start time, the course, general info, etc. The race starts and ends at the Narragansett Pier Middle School. The school is open to get your bib or sign up for the race if you have not already. (This is also a great time to use a REAL bathroom! They also have porta potties if you prefer.) All registered runners get a tech t-shirt as well. They have music playing. There is parking at the middle school or the high school, which is directly behind the middle school. (I have never seen a problem with parking in the 3 years I have run this race.) When you finish the race you get a cold bottle of water and your medal. They also had a table with cups of water and gatorade if you needed it. They had a lot of pizza, fruit, doughnuts, and bagels for the runners right off to the side of the finish. They post finish times fairly quickly so you can see your official time before you leave.

Course:
The course starts and ends at the Narragansett Pier Middle School. You will take a right out of the school and take a run through a neighborhood before heading back towards the school. The 5-mile runners will go by the school and head to the end of the road. At the end of the road you will take a left before turning right to head to Ocean Drive. You will run along the water for this stretch of the race. You will soon be back in a neighborhood before heading back towards the school. There are some hills, but none that is too hard.

There are some areas that you will pass other runners. By the time I hit just after 2-miles, the pack leaders are coming through. They are fast! It's a great time to cheer on fellow runners. The course has volunteers directing you on which was to go. They also put green arrows on the ground, as well as big signage with arrows. I also noticed that the course map above was posted on telephones throughout the course.

Swag:
Everyone who completes the 5-mile run will receive a medal. This years medal was a shamrock with a removable Bobby Doyle bottle opener. All runners receive a tech t-shirt. Plenty of water is available on the course. There is also plenty of water, gatorade, and food at the end of the race.

Would I recommend this race?
Absolutely! You will run with all different levels of runners which can be inspiring. The course is nice and there are great volunteers throughout. You don't have to worry about getting lost along the way. I love having the option to use a real bathroom before and after the race. If you are questioning doing this race, I would tell you that you should.

From California to Massachusetts

The day had come to travel home. With Carrick flying out we left early the next morning and headed up to Cupertino. I mean if we're going to be in California, we might as well go to corporate. I told Carrick that I was going to go slightly off the grid. I didn't want the world to know when I was going to be home. I just kind of wanted to show back up to work. 

Day One: California

California is huge. So day one we never left the state! We headed up to Cupertino. This was a time to stop in at corporate and take the typical picture outside of the sign.

Typical employee photo.

From Cupertino we headed over to San Jose. I wanted to tour the Winchester Mystery House. I've always wanted to go here and if I was that close I was going! We did the Grand Estate Tour. This is actually two tours: the Mansion Tour and the Behind-the-Scenes Tour. All together you will spend about 2 1/2 hours going through this home. I highly recommend seeing this home if you are in the San Jose area!

Winchester Mystery House

 Day Two: California-Wyoming

From our night in northern California, we headed out towards Nevada. We had to go through Tahoe National Forest. This place was incredible! We were above clouds and in tons of pine trees. (I was missing the trees!) It was about 34 degrees outside when I took this picture!

Tahoe National Forest

 One of the places I really wanted to see on the way home was the Bonneville Salt Flats. This place is wild! It is huge. There are mountains around the area (I promise there are some in the background of this picture) and you could see the rain up on them. You may not believe it, but behind me in the distance is I-80. There is a highway right in the middle! I probably could have just looked at this place for hours, but Massachusetts is pretty far from Utah!

Bonneville Salt Flats, Utah

 I always thought of Utah being full of snow and a place I never wanted to go. While driving through the state I only want to go back! The state is beautiful. You can just pull off the highway and be surrounded by mountains and lakes.

Echo Reservoir, Coalville, UT

We made it into Wyoming that day. We have GoPro videos to prove it. We drove towards a storm. Somehow we never made it into the storm though.

 Day Three: Wyoming-Iowa

After getting out of Wyoming we were in Nebraska. If you've never been to Nebraska, never fear! It's flat and full of cows. You don't need to go there. It's okay.

Nebraska. This is part of the Oregon Trail.

 I did see that you could go to a Pony Express Station and we stopped. It was a quite place, but it was cool to see where people would stop on their way out west.

Pony Express Station, Gothenburg, Nebraska

I pretty much said we were not stopping until we got to Iowa. We made it to Iowa and stayed the night.

Day Four: Iowa-New York

There wasn't much to report over the next few states. We didn't stop anywhere special except at a few rest areas. This photo is from a rest area explaining Iowa's part in the Underground Railroad. I had no idea that Iowa played such a role in the Underground Railroad.

From Iowa, we went into Illinois, Indiana (where the Indy 500 was happening), Ohio (where we saw the first real city in days: Cleveland), Pennsylvania, and into New York. We stopped just outside of Buffalo for our final rest before heading home.

Day Five: New York-Massachusetts 

We were almost home. We drove through a lot of trees. Saw some silly signs from the State Police in Massachusetts. I dropped Carrick off at his car with a promise we'd see each other in a couple weeks. (This was an easy promise. We had to work together again!) From there I had about an hour drive back home. It was weird to drive back through places I had been out of for so long. I noticed some signs changed. I pulled into my driveway and ran into the house to see Thor. I had missed him a ton. He was not too happy that I had been gone, but after a few days he warmed back up to me. 

I'm glad I took this opportunity to work in a different state and step out of my comfort zone. I'm glad I took this time to see the country. I'm glad Carrick drove back with me. I know I always have another home to go to with new friends to take adventures with. 

If you ever get the chance to take a road trip, long or short, you should. You never know what you may come across.

The End Is Coming

The Tinker Bell Half Marathon Weekend was the beginning of the end of my time in California. I was in my final weeks of living out there.

My mom flew out to spend the week with me during the race weekend. We spent 2 days in Disney enjoying each park. She had never been to Disneyland, just to California Adventure. We took a few fun shots that they had set up for the 60th Anniversary Celebration.

California Screaming' was a fun set up.

You can see everything from Paradise Pier!

Spending time with the  ghosts at Haunted Mansion was a must do!

We got to go on the Jungle Cruise! 

They were doing a soft open so we 

were lucky to go through this when

 we did! We had great time with the 

skippers! And their bad jokes!

My mom met Kylo Ren for the first time.
She thinks he was scary. I was not impressed.

We were lucky enough to get into the

Blue Bayou for dinner! The food was

incredible. The menus light up for easier

reading due to the ambiance. We did  the

Paint the Night package and think it was

the best option for the cost! 

We also met Chewbacca. He liked my mom's

hair. He was nice enough to take a selfie with me.

After the 5k on Friday, we headed up to LA with my mom's friend and her family. 

The end of Route 66!

We had a great time going to Santa Monica. We walked along the pier, went of the ferris wheel, and went to the aquarium. The aquarium only has animals that are living in the waters around the pier. This is a cool way to learn about the area you are in for adults and children.

Santa Monica Pier

There's great photo ops along the pier.

If you want to get the whole pier in 

a photo, take a walk along the street.

You can turn back and take a lot of photos.

View of LA from Griffith's Observatory.

From Santa Monica, we headed into LA to Griffith's Observatory. You can amazing views of LA from up here. You will be able to see the Hollywood sign from up here too. There's a lot to learn here about astronomy. It's really amazing!

After the weekend of running, we went to the San Diego Zoo. The zoo is celebrating their 100 year anniversary! We had never been to this zoo before and we were excited to go.










I was excited to see the pandas. I have seen pandas in DC, but it's not common to see pandas. I refused to leave until we saw these cute guys. This is the baby that was born there in 2012.














I was excited to see a koala! I have never seen one before and for some reason had no idea that they had some at the zoo. They are just really cute!

The last day my mom was in California we headed into Palm Springs to do the Palm Springs Ariel Tramway. This is the world's largest rotating tramcar. You start your journey at 2.645 feet above sea level.









By the time you get to the top you are at 8.516 feet! You are now surrounded by trees and even snow! It was really crazy to see the desert below you and snow around you.

Pano from the top of the Tramway

We also stopped by Cabazon Dinosaurs on the way home. Right next to a Burger King you will find these guys. You may recognize these guys from the movie, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure.









After my mom left I went back to work. Leaving that store was really emotional, but I knew I had to go home.

The next day Carrick flew into San Diego.

Before we picked him up we made a pit stop in La Jolla. You can go snorkeling here, shop, eat, or just hang out with some seals. I wish I spent more time in this area, but I'll be back one day!

Once we picked up Carrick at the airport we headed down to the USS Midway. 

From there we headed over to Coronado. We went into the Hotel Del and walked along the beach. We grabbed a late lunch and walked over to Ferry Landing. This gave up the opportunity to see the San Diego skyline beautifully.

Sandcastle in front of the Hotel Del.

View from Ferry Landing.

I had a great time in California. I was ready to go back home though. I can't wait to go back and see my new friends soon though!

The End Is Coming

The Tinker Bell Half Marathon Weekend was the beginning of the end of my time in California. I was in my final weeks of living out there.

My mom flew out to spend the week with me during the race weekend. We spent 2 days in Disney enjoying each park. She had never been to Disneyland, just to California Adventure. We took a few fun shots that they had set up for the 60th Anniversary Celebration.

California Screaming' was a fun set up.

You can see everything from Paradise Pier!

Spending time with the  ghosts at Haunted Mansion was a must do!

We got to go on the Jungle Cruise! 

They were doing a soft open so we 

were lucky to go through this when

 we did! We had great time with the 

skippers! And their bad jokes!

My mom met Kylo Ren for the first time.
She thinks he was scary. I was not impressed.

We were lucky enough to get into the

Blue Bayou for dinner! The food was

incredible. The menus light up for easier

reading due to the ambiance. We did  the

Paint the Night package and think it was

the best option for the cost! 

We also met Chewbacca. He liked my mom's

hair. He was nice enough to take a selfie with me.

After the 5k on Friday, we headed up to LA with my mom's friend and her family. 

The end of Route 66!

We had a great time going to Santa Monica. We walked along the pier, went of the ferris wheel, and went to the aquarium. The aquarium only has animals that are living in the waters around the pier. This is a cool way to learn about the area you are in for adults and children.

Santa Monica Pier

There's great photo ops along the pier.

If you want to get the whole pier in 

a photo, take a walk along the street.

You can turn back and take a lot of photos.

View of LA from Griffith's Observatory.

From Santa Monica, we headed into LA to Griffith's Observatory. You can amazing views of LA from up here. You will be able to see the Hollywood sign from up here too. There's a lot to learn here about astronomy. It's really amazing!

After the weekend of running, we went to the San Diego Zoo. The zoo is celebrating their 100 year anniversary! We had never been to this zoo before and we were excited to go.










I was excited to see the pandas. I have seen pandas in DC, but it's not common to see pandas. I refused to leave until we saw these cute guys. This is the baby that was born there in 2012.














I was excited to see a koala! I have never seen one before and for some reason had no idea that they had some at the zoo. They are just really cute!

The last day my mom was in California we headed into Palm Springs to do the Palm Springs Ariel Tramway. This is the world's largest rotating tramcar. You start your journey at 2.645 feet above sea level.









By the time you get to the top you are at 8.516 feet! You are now surrounded by trees and even snow! It was really crazy to see the desert below you and snow around you.

Pano from the top of the Tramway

We also stopped by Cabazon Dinosaurs on the way home. Right next to a Burger King you will find these guys. You may recognize these guys from the movie, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure.









After my mom left I went back to work. Leaving that store was really emotional, but I knew I had to go home.

The next day Carrick flew into San Diego.

Before we picked him up we made a pit stop in La Jolla. You can go snorkeling here, shop, eat, or just hang out with some seals. I wish I spent more time in this area, but I'll be back one day!

Once we picked up Carrick at the airport we headed down to the USS Midway. 

From there we headed over to Coronado. We went into the Hotel Del and walked along the beach. We grabbed a late lunch and walked over to Ferry Landing. This gave up the opportunity to see the San Diego skyline beautifully.

Sandcastle in front of the Hotel Del.

View from Ferry Landing.

I had a great time in California. I was ready to go back home though. I can't wait to go back and see my new friends soon though!