{05/12/2016} Two Half Marathons In Two States In Two Days Road Trip...Day 2

Find out the first day of our journey here: Crazy Road Trip...Day 1


{The Events of this Blog Entry Happened on 05/05/2016 - Happy Cinco De Mayo}
Okay so here we are day two of the crazy ass idea I had to drive all over the place so I could run two half marathons and we are waking up in Simi Valley...zombie-like and with 4 hours of sleeping am waking up to head down to the Disneyland Hotel to get the packet pick up for the Tinkerbell Half Marathon underway as the next day I would be heading over to the Grand Canyon to run the half marathon through the Grand Canyon itself!

I was not looking forward to this packet pickup because the Wine & Dine Packet Pickup/Expo was a total flop and lord it took me forever to just get my Bib...and I didn't even attempt to go shopping for some RunDisney gear so I was dreading the idea of showing up for chaos again, but I was SHOCKED that it wasn't anything like the dreaded event I made it out to be in my head {and yes now that you are getting to know me better I would agree with you that it is entirely possible that I make things worse in my head than they actually are...but hey it is at least highly comical!}.

2016 Tinkerbell Half Marathon!!

10k Starting Line on Disneyland Dr

It was exciting driving up to the Disneyland Hotel because the starting line for the 10k was up and getting ready for the day before...and that is a site that I love to see.  Starting lines...those means that there are finish lines to be had, bling and new goals to crush. {If you look at them any other way then they become dreaded and they lose their excitement...so no matter what you have to do to love the look of a starting line then do it - I personally dance and sing and jump in place...kinda looking like an idiot but I own looking like a smiling idiot who can't wait to get her BLING!}

Probably the hardest part about the expo was that there were lack of clear signs on where to park...we knew that we were going to the Disneyland Hotel but lord I hadn't been to Disney since they redid the streets and built a parking garage...so I got lost a few times! {And I'm not going to point any fingers but a certain Apple GPS talking lady *cough* Siri *cough* didn't help me much either}  However, once we parked we started walking towards the Disneyland Hotel my excitement started growing more and more and more!!!  OMG I WAS GOING TO RUN TWO HALF MARATHONS IN TWO DAYS AND I WASN'T GOING TO DIE!!! {...Or so I kept telling myself}

There is one thing that you can't deny when you head to any event at Disney and that is the fact that

At The Disneyland Hotel

The Green Carpet

everything will be over the top and magical...and this Expo thing was no different.  So after we passed under the Mickey Mouse house of Magic it was a slight jaunt to find the exact place that we were supposed to be...which we heard was not a red carpet nooooo it was a pixie green carpet!! {You know being the Tinkerbell half and all...}

Now, here is where everything changed and got super exciting for me because my mind was blown...THERE WAS NO ONE AT THE EXPO! Apparently going on a Thursday morning at 1000AM on the dot was the best idea that I've had in many many years...because we waited in line for oh I don't know 1 minute to get my bib! Now, while it only took me one minute to get my bib and another one minute to get my shirt it was when I turned the corner that I found out where everyone was...they were in line to get their Dooney & Burke hand bags and other Tinkerbell Merch!!! {Call me crazy but fighting through thousands of women to get a Tinkerbell Wine Glass is not my thing...but I'm not saying if you bought an extra one that I don't want it! HAHA}

The Empty Expo!! #AlwaysGoOnThursdayMornings

I think the other part of the expo that I liked the best and hope Disneyland half marathons continue with it...and maybe Disney World could pick it up as well...was that the green carpet took you down to a basement to get your prepaid merch, bibs and etc and then you followed the green carpet up stairs to go shopping.  By separating it you didn't have the HUGE crowds trying to get official merch getting in the way of packet pickup folks and creating mad confusions! It really was one of the best packet pick ups I've ever been to yet!

Official 2016 Ariel New Balance's

The other aspect of the expo that blew my mind was the New Balance booth area was crazy but I had signed up to get on the Virtual Signup/Appointment List the night before to get my Tinkerbell Half Marathon 2016 Limited Edition shoes...and the appointment time that I was given was Noon!  Well here was my issue...it was 1030AM and I was not in the mood to wait around for an hour and a half because I was hungry so I thought "Go ask if you can sneak in earlier...and if not, screw it let's get foooood" and as much as my stomach didn't want New Balance to work with me I was so happy and completely surprised when they let me come on in at 1030AM to get my shoes!!!  Now...call me snooty or pickey {because I am in some ways} but when the New Balance lady helping me, Megan, brought out the shoes that I wanted to get...the Tinkerbell editions...I tried them on and had to put them back because they said "2015" on them and not "2016".  I didn't want to buy a show that was the official shoe of the half marathon and have it have a different year on it than what I actually ran...so I landed on Ariel! I love them to pieces and don't worry I did not in anyway attempt to wear them to the race {because I like my feet and don't enjoy blisters}.

Okay, so now we were done at the expo...grabbed some new race shirts, shoes and random samples and we could go eat breakfast!  So, if you know me at all you know how I travel and for those who don't know me yet will get to realize that I travel differently than most people.  I am always looking for amazing new places to eat, places the locals go and places you just don't hear about unless you start talking to people from the area...and California Donut was the food quest of the day.  It was located in the heart of LA and no matter what people say I love LA...I mean look at this skyline!!

I did apparently bring the clouds to Cali with me because it was overcast AF the entire time that we were down there...and windy! But I mean come on there isn't anything more beautiful when you look at the city other than their skyline...the history, the growth and the story that it tells {Now don't get me wrong I love the Seattle and PDX skyline more than anything but this one is amazingly beautiful as well...and somewhere in there CELEBRITIES are hanging out...I've just got to find them (Kidding)}

This Place Is AMAZING!

One of the nice things about trying new places if you sometimes get to see neighborhoods you would have never gone through before which gives you a different level of understanding and appreciation of the city that you are in.  California Donut was in a part of the town that I've never been in before and it wasn't exactly what I expected but if you are ever in LA you need to GO GO GO GO GO GO GO eat here!!!!!!  Everything that we got was amazing, fresh and left me wanting to eat their entire store front as if Hansel and Gretel were at the house made of candy and HANGRY!!

I mean Nom Nom Nom!

As a PNW girl I can appreciate a good doughnut and have been known to drive 4 hours each way to pick up a VooDoo Donut or 30 {I mean OMG right...8 hours for doughnuts...this chick is cra
cra!} but I was completely blown away by what I saw! Everything was clean, colorful and looked like just came out of the fryer and were needing to get in my mouth!  We got a few different donuts to take home to our family because you can't get fancy donuts and not share...{and yes, I understand you wanted some but I just couldn't bring them home I'm sorry}...but you sure can test the waters and have one on the car ride home, HEHEHE!!!

No, we are going to get serious for a moment and just tell you that I learned my lesson the hard way regarding something...When you are in the Hispanic District of LA and you see what looks like an amazing sausage wrapped in a croissant and it has the word "HOT" after it that doesn't mean warmed up...NOOOOOOO that means so hot with spices directly from the devil that make you drool on yourself and curse the food you keep eating in misery because it is so good despite it burning your mouth off!!   I am not kidding you when I say that it was one of the best breakfast croissants that I have ever had and there was the perfect balance between bread, meet and cheese and if you have to ability to withstand the heat GO GET ONE!!! {It doesn't hurt that I was eating spicy AF food on Cinco De Mayo!}

After the drive back up to Simi Valley was completed that was the end of the adventure that day!  The hubs, kiddo mom and law and I hung out with our amazing friends and watched movies and just lounged!  I didn't want to do anything too big as the next day I would be getting up at the earliest sight of dawn to drive East to the Grand Canyon because I had to make it by 400PM for packet pickup...so being rested and just NOT being in a car anymore for at least one afternoon/night sounded amazing!!!  

...let's just say that the rest was needed because the next few days were comically tragic, amazing and any other action word you want to dub it but it was one thing for sure - an adventure that would change me, challenge me and have me laughing for hours a day with my Mother In Law!!  Stay turned for the next blog post for {05/06/2016}: Day Three of my crazy adventure!!!

Meg

aka Nutmegz

#HF12033

Half Twisted Runner