Wolverines and Hoosiers

I can hardly believe this weekend has come and gone. All summer we have been preparing for this first triathlon and I am so glad that it is over. The drive to Michigan was boring at times because we were on the Ohio and Indiana turnpikes, but once we arrived in St. Joseph, we found a quirky little community that turned out to have plenty for us to do.

Our rooms at the Econo Lodge left something to be desired, but beggars can't be choosers and we were not the only people from the race staying there. It appears that most of the hotels/motels sold out due to the race. Not surprising when about 3,000 people descend on a town of 8,700. Once we unpacked, Matt and I took off for the race expo at the finish line. While he had a rules meeting, I went for a walk on the beach. It took me a little more than an 30 minutes to walk to the starting location of the swim. The races began at the North Pier Lighthouse where Matt jumped off the pier 10 feet down into Lake Michigan. The water was choppy on my walk, and he told me that it had not changed on Saturday morning. I found out a little too late that I had done some trespassing on my walk. I saw a sign towards the end that stated I had walked through private property, but it only extended to the water's edge, so I rationalized since I walked through the water the entire time, I was on government property.

After I committed my misdemeanor, I found Matt and we walked around the downtown area, then picked up his mother at the hotel and had dinner. If you ever make it to St. Joe's, I suggest a visit to the Pump House Grille. We had some great food and were stuffed by the time we left. A quick trip to the local grocery and it was 8:00 and time to go to bed.

Why so early, you may ask? Because Matt had to be at the race site around 5:00 the next morning and I had to drive him there. When three alarms went off at 4:30 Saturday morning, it was easy to wake up, but torture to get out of bed.

Cindy and I were able to catch up with Matt after the swim where he delivered the news that he had cramps in his calves, so I knew this was not going to go well. He did not have anything to help relieve the pain and I could not give him anything for risk of getting him disqualified, so he made the most of it and was able to finish. He was not happy with the results, but he finished and that is all that matters. The rest of the day was spent relaxing, eating and going to a winery where we nearly crashed a wedding.

Sunday morning was spent packing, going to the beach one last time and deciding on a detour home. We stopped on our way home in South Bend, Indiana and visited the campus of Notre Dame. Matt said that we had to find Touchdown Jesus which made me a little nervous. I had to laugh when I realized it was a mural on the side of the library. I thought it was appropriate to go to the library for salvation. As soon as I found the library, Matt located the ice rink and took off to see if he could get in. He called me and asked that I take his picture on the bench. This was a very interesting experience since I stood in the middle of the rink to take the shot. Instead of ice, I was on a concrete slab. This was the first time I had ever seen what was below the ice. It was pretty cool.

I would show you all of these pictures, but Blogger seems to not want to load any no matter which computer I use, so you will have to see the rest of the highlights here. Select the Steelhead album.

We were all glad to pull into the driveway and unload the car. It had been a long weekend and 6 hours each way. Goliath was thrilled to see us and it took him almost 30 minutes to be able to sit still. I missed him, my bed, and my quite neighborhood. I think I fell asleep by 8:00 and did not budge until the alarm went off at 5:30 this morning.

It is good to be home.