Urban Adventure 2010

Yesterday we participated in the 2nd Annual Urban Adventure. I am chronicling the day's excitement here. It might be a bit tedious for you, faithful reader, but this is another one of those things I want to be able to look back on and remember in some detail, so -- since I'm not much of a scrapbooker -- this is it. This is us pre-race. Last year, Ben and I teamed up and completed the race, pretty much on our own. This year, several friends took us up on our invitation.

Teams consisted of two members. About 30 minutes before the race, they passed out our 'race packets' and gave us that half hour to determine strategy. The race packet consisted of a map showing the 26 checkpoints, and our "passport", which teams had to get marked at each checkpoint to show you completed it. Teams were able to pick which order you completed checkpoints in. The map did not tell you what was involved at each checkpoint, just where they were -- so you could devise a strategy around location, but you had no idea what you were in for until you got there. The race started at 9a.m. -- at 1:30, wherever you were, you had to stop what you were doing and head back to the finish line.

We completed 23 of the 26 checkpoints. Not a bad showing -- especially considering that, for the vast majority of the race, all 8 of us stuck together. It meant we weren't quite so cutthroat about getting in and out of checkpoints, and naturally, having 8 people complete each checkpoint took longer than just having two. But, it also added a nice component of fun to the race, since we were enjoying all these activities as a group, instead of being singularly focused on racing. There were 250 teams or so involved in the race -- and none of us really signed up for it with the intention of winning or even coming close, mostly just to push ourselves physically and have a blast while doing it. Mission: accomplished.

Me and Heather -- Team "Sausage Ninjas". Don't ask.

Tiffany & Alison -- The "Brunette Bandits"

Ben (and teammate Shawn in the background, apparently moving very fast) -- Team "Friend with Benny"

(does it look like I super-imposed Ben into this picture? strange)

Here's a better picture of Shawn -- in a rare moment of quiet

Melissa and Cory -- Team "CorLiss"

So -- at the start of the race, all 250 teams run from the baseball stadium to the "bike security zone", where we had all previously locked up our bikes. Once you got your bike, you were off. Here's what we did:

(Oh...p.s. unfortunately I do not have much in the way of photos or video because the batteries in my FlipCam petered out on me after the first few checkpoints. Boo.)

Oh -- one other thing -- it was a rainy morning, which added some difficulty at least at the beginning. But, it soon cleared up and turned into a beautiful day to be racing outside. Still, the rain made its mark as several of the checkpoints were remarkably harder because they were slippery -- even after the rain had cleared up.

We decided to start on the eastern side of the map, veering away from downtown where a larger cluster of checkpoints were, to try to get some distance between us and the largest group of teams.

1. Farmers Market -- our first task was to get a list of four grocery items from the checkpoint volunteers, enter the market and purchase all four items, and bring them back to the volunteers. (The food was then donated to local homeless shelters and food banks.) Oh, also, all while trying not to mow down the market patrons. Our team had to buy apples, green beans, cabbage and popcorn. The popcorn was the worst because there was one tiny woman back there who had absolutely zero idea that all these people were going to be coming to her for popcorn, she had to fill up each bag individually, that kind of took a while. But, it mostly went off without a hitch and we were off to number two.

2. Off to a little park next to the river, where our task was to canoe around three buoys and back to the starting point. I'm not all that good at steering a canoe, but we got through it okay.

3. Up and over a bridge to a little campus green, where we had to play a round of cornhole. One teammate had to get three shots in. This was kind of hard because the bags were wet, heavy, and just not all that easy to handle. Plus, I am horrible at cornhole. But, we made it out of there, a little later than the rest of our group, but not so much that we couldn't catch up.

4. Next we were off to a playground called Kids Kingdom. We just had to maneuver through the play structure -- up the stairs to the tower, over the bridge, down the fireman's pole. Done.

5. To the zoo -- our job was to find the snow leopard exhibit. Piece of cake.

With the east side done, we then headed towards downtown to get those checkpoints done -- there were about 8 of them grouped pretty close together, so we could knock them out fast.

6. Inflatable Obstacle Course at Howard Park. This was actually pretty tough -- first off, the first mound you had to climb was nearly impossible because it was so slippery, and the footholds just gave way beneath you anytime you stepped on them. I wouldn't have thought this task would have worn me out -- but boy, it did. I was exhausted after this one. I don't know how little kids handle it.

Tiffany and Alison climbing up the final hill.

Alison makes it down!

I made it over the first hump....

Me and Heather

Almost done!!

7. East Race -- this is the whitewater rapids flowing through downtown South Bend. Each team had to raft the rapids to complete this checkpoint. They had both two- and four-man rafts. Heather and I rode a two-man, as did Tiffany and Alison. The other four rode together. Heather and I did a great job steering through the rapids until the very last one, which sucked us in sideways, and we had no hope. We both fell out of the boat, with the group of four right behind us enjoying the show -- and, helping us out. The first thing I thought of when I fell out was that I had lost our passport, which was necessary in order to complete the race. I popped up out of the water, sputtering, yelling "I lost our passport!" in total panic mode -- but, as it turns out, the passport had stayed in our raft, right where I had tucked it under the front seat. I banged up my knee a tiny bit but was otherwise unscathed. The East Race was probably the best checkpoint of the race -- tons of fun.

8. Next off, to the zip line over the river. This was pretty fun as well. This had been part of last year's race, so I had done it then -- but still a cool experience.

9. Then we were off to the gridiron at the College Football Hall of Fame, where our task was to play a game of haggis -- a weird Irish thing where you stand on a keg of beer, toss a bag full of something as hard and far as you can, while yelling as loud as possible.

10. The next stop was actually at my gym. We had to ride these teeny-tiny wheeled seats, which was just a square..... with wheels. Really low to the ground. You had to push it around the track using only your legs. It might sound easy. Not so.

11. We then headed to BW3, where each team had to answer 3 sports trivia questions correctly. Thankfully, they were multiple choice.

12. Then to the fountain downtown, where teams were wrapped up into one giant grass skirt, had to race to a finish line and back, all the while passing a lime back and forth around your bodies. Weird.

13. This task led us into the Morris Civic Theatre, where we had to climb to the upper level and count all the seats in the 2nd balcony. It took us a couple tries. If you're interested, there are exactly 400 seats in the 2nd balcony of the Morris.

We were now done with the downtown sites, so we set our sights on the "college tour" checkpoints - Notre Dame, Holy Cross and St. Mary's. We rode our bikes northward, up the dreaded "Angela hill" to campus.

14. On the way, eagle-eye Alison spotted our "Mystery Photo" checkpoint. In our race packets had been a "Mystery Photo", which was a picture of a checkpoint that was not on our map. Using the picture, we were to locate the checkpoint to get that completed. It was a picture of a little log cabin, "Navarre Cabin". As a South Bend resident, turns out I was completely oblivious as to where on earth this was. We'd heard some rumblings that it was in the Leeper Park area, which it was, but by the time we were cycling past it, I had completely forgotten about this checkpoint. Alison spotted a green Urban Adventure sign back in the trees, and the mystery was solved.

15. First stop on the Notre Dame leg was the Outpost store at Eddy Commons. Each team member had to ride a tiny tricycle around a little race track.

16. Next we were off to the Irish commons on campus, where each teammate had to hula hoop 20 times. Um. I hate hula-hooping. As luck would have it, they allowed you to spin the hoop around whatever part of your body you wanted, so Heather and I spun the hoops around our forearms and we were out of there in a flash.

17. We then headed to the Notre Dame lacrosse fields, where each team member had to don lacrosse gear, including gigantic bulky helmets and sweaty lacrosse gloves, run out to the middle of the field with a lacrosse stick and ball (I don't know if the sticks have an official name or not.... but I'm staying with sticks). Each team member had to stand at a white line on the field and make a shot into the goal. It took me a few tries but I made it in. You probably won't find me on a lacrosse team anytime soon.

18. Last Notre Dame checkpoint was to find the Knute Rockne memorial building, go inside and find the statue of good ol' Knute, rub his nose for good luck, and collect your checkpoint sticker.

19. It was here that we deliberately decided to skip the single St. Mary's checkpoint. It was marked on our map as the "St. Mary's Nature Trail". Ben and I, having experienced this last year, knew that this was the 1.5 mile run through the nature trail. We figured with 8 of us on a 1.5 mile run, it would take us a good 20 minutes, and we thought that time would be better spent completing some other checkpoints. So we bypassed this one.

20. First Holy Cross checkpoint was called "Urban Warfare". I liked this one. Each teammate had to scoot on their backs under a little rope course, flip to their belly and belly-crawl to a waiting paintball station. Crouched on your belly, you and your teammate each fired paintballs into a target until the target was hit. Then a low crawl, on knees and elbows, to the "grenade" station, which was actually tiny Nerf footballs. You had to throw the "grenades" to within one foot of a 2nd target. Then, one teammate had to "fireman's carry" the other to a finish line. Heather is a tiny little thing, so naturally I was doing the carrying. Not easy, but we made it across the finish line without too much trouble. This checkpoint was exhausting but kind of cool.

21. We then made our way to the gym at Holy Cross, where each team member had to dribble a basketball through a little rope course, then make a layup. Quick and easy.

22. Next checkpoint was at the field just next to Ben's school. We each had to put on a fireman's coat and helmet, unroll a firehose, and roll it back up again.

We were now done with the northside checkpoints, with only three more to go before the final checkpoint at the finish line. We had about a half hour left at this point, and thinking we had a good shot and getting those three done, thus only missing the one nature trail checkpoint. This is where our plans sort of went awry. We had a fairly lengthy bike ride back, and we got a little spread out. Ben was leading the way, since he had taken charge of getting us from place to place by the best routes. He's got some experience biking the area so he was a natural leader. Cory and I were right behind Ben. The others got caught at a light, which we didn't realize, and lost us. We had to pass by the finish line area, so the 5 of them stopped there, thinking perhaps we were in that area. Ben, Cory and I made it to the area of the next checkpoint, and then realized the rest of them were not behind us, and were not coming. Unfortunately, none of us had a complete team except for Tiff and Al, back at the finish line area. So, Cory and I rode back, Ben stuck around, hopeful that his partner Shawn would be able to find him so they could wrap up the two checkpoints in that area.

23. The first one in this area that we missed was the Jail -- we heard they handcuffed you, took you through a little course, and then asked you a question about something you had seen along the way.

24. The other checkpoint we missed was at a warehouse, where we hear the task was carrying cases of beer from here to there.

25. Back at the finish area, I hooked back up with Heather and we made our way to the last activity, which was a giant inflatable spiral slide. "Slide" is really a misnomer, though, because there was nothing "slide-y" about the slide down. You pretty much had to crouch and run down it, or toss yourself down with your hands. It was more work than one would have thought.

26. Final checkpoint, teams took their bikes back to the security zone and then ran down the street to the finish line, where people clapped and cheered and you got your final sticker. Hooray!

All in all, another memorable experience, physically challenging, and a ton of fun. Can't wait until UA2011. Bring it!!

Hold your breath

Had Noah's birthday party last week. On the one hand, its hard to believe he is three years old already; on the other hand, it sometimes feels like he has been around forever. Party was fun, at a park with pony rides, Backyardigans cake, lots of toys and general merriment.



We are preparing to race in the 2nd Annual Urban Adventure Games this weekend. Last year, Ben and I raced as a team (check out last year's video here) and had a super-blast. This year, we had some Friends that wanted to race as well but thought it best they not race as a couple. So, Ben is racing with Shawn, Tiffany is racing with another friend Alison, and I'm racing with yet another friend, Heather. A couple I know from work is also racing this year. I'm very excited. Last year, Ben and I kind of signed up last minute, kind of on a whim, and were sort of on our own. We did run into some people we knew there but it wasn't the same. This year its kind of cool with a whole group. I doubt we will race together so much, that can be kind of difficult. But the pre-race activities and post-race festivities will be way more fun.



At any rate, wait for the forthcoming videos on both of the above activities.

It's coming.

I promise.

Vacay-tastic

Okay. We are back from vacation. Had a great time. Missed the kids, nice to be away but also nice to get back to real life, even if that means following the dog around with the squirt bottle while he chews up kid toys, and taking away dessert for kids who don't eat their dinner. I guess my point is, I loved the vacation but I am also very grateful for my kids and husband and our daily existence, even though it is not nearly as flashy.

So, we flew out to Vegas, got to the hotel at midnight-ish, and decided we might as well immerse ourselves into the atmosphere and so we walked the Vegas Strip and did a little gambling. Now, understand, neither Ben nor I are hard-core gamblers by any stretch of the imagination, but we also wanted to make the most of our time and enjoy the Vegas experience. So we plunked $20 in a penny-slot machine. By some stroke of dumb luck, I pressed the "max bet" button (which, for idiot gamblers like myself, means the 1-cent bet per "line", times 20 lines, times 25-cents per line. Equals a bet of $5.00 on a penny-slot.) That one bet won us about $170. After that, we gambled randomly here and there, but with no intention of piddling away our winnings, and probably ended up about $140 to the good.

The downside to winning so much so quickly (I mean, this was our first 2 hours in Vegas) is that one assumes that winning is always so easy. I, not having much exposure to slot machines, certainly assumed so. Thankfully, I had Ben with me, who was the much more realistic gambler of our little twosome, who kept reminding me that such luck was not likely to continue, and that the casino was essentially betting on us to stupidly bet away all our winnings. So, the smarter voice won out, and I grumpily only gambled away another few dollars or so instead of wasting it all.

Here's me at a random slot machine. Not the one we won on. Just some random machine. Come to think of it, I don't think we even played on this one.

Me and Ben at the fountain at our hotel (MGM Grand)

On Wednesday night, the date of our actual anniversary, Ben scoured the review pages and Vegas insider guides and decided upon the Venetian for our dinner reservation. The Venetian is a hotel on the strip that has a mini-Italy setting. It was fabulous. The ceiling was painted sky blue, with clouds, to give you the impression that you're outside. There was a river running through the interior with little gondola rides; and little shops lining the "streets" as if you were dining in Venice. We ate at a very nice Italian restaurant, drank nice Italian wine, and generally enjoyed the unique environment.

Later on in the week, we went up the Eiffel Tower at the Paris hotel. About half the size of the real tower, but still pretty cool.

Eiffel Tower from the street

Us at the top of the tower. Not that you can tell. We had someone take a picture of us (instead of this self-portrait courtesy of Ben), but it turned out horrible. In a decent twist of fate, I took a picture of them as well, which also turned out horrible. I tried three times and got nothing but a blurred mess. Thank goodness I was not the photographer for this picture or it would have turned out even worse.

Some of the Strip from the Eiffel Tower. MGM, our hotel (in green) in the back right.

The Bellagio water show from the Eiffel Tower

And again

The highlight of our trip was the Grand Canyon excursion. We signed up for a guided tour that picked us up from Las Vegas, drove us the two-hours-ish trip to the Canyon in a double decker bus. Now, understand, we did not take advantage of the second-decker, mostly because I suck. We had about a 15-minute drive to the tour-guide main office where everyone confirmed their individual trips, and we rode on top deck of the bus for that time. I subsequently informed Ben that there was essentially no way we could continue on the top of the bus unless he wanted me completely miserable for the rest of the trip. Thankfully, trooper that he is, Ben happily agreed to follow me to the first-deck of the bus, where very few other tourists ventured (top deck is apparently very prestigious). As it turned out, the bottom deck came equipped with tables, so I think we rode in more comfort than most.

Now, prepare yourself for some interesting pics, and some gratuitous pics. This is more for my own benefit so that I catalogue the memories of this vacation before they disappear; but feel free to follow along.

We stopped briefly at the Hoover Dam. I didn't get a good picture of the Dam itself, but this is a picture of the bridge at the dam where you cross from Nevada to Arizona. Each of these "towers" has a clock with "Nevada Time" (left) and "Arizona Time" (right). I thought that was cool.

We stopped at a little mini-mart for bathroom break, drinks, etc. I adored it. I decided I absolutely love the desert. It's so.......there. While I love a breathtaking mountain-view as much as the next guy, there is something very natural, very calming, about standing in the middle of desert-land, nothing in sight but tumbleweeds and sand. And giant skulls.

Once arriving at our destination, we checked in at our helicopter tour. I don't think either of these are our actual helicopters, but it was one that looked like this.

View from the helicopter. Holy crap I loved the heli-tour. I thought I would be a nervous wreck, and I was for a few minutes, but even during my near-panic attack, I loved the helicopter. I have never flown in anything besides a plane (and I have a hard time believing it is natural for people to fly in planes), so the helicopter was amazing. It was like a hummingbird, just flitting and flying wherever it wanted, leaving laws of gravity and physics in the dust.

More heli-pics

Upon landing, we made our way to a little hut to await our next adventure, a hike down to the river. Note that this entire trip took place on an Indian reservation, owned by the Hualupai Indians, who ran the show and made the rules. These people knew what they were doing; they ran a fabulous tour.

Bye-bye, helicopter!

Ben, videoing the surroundings

view from the Indian hut

Here's our pontoon, getting ready to drop off another tour and pick us up.

Pic from the pontoon on the Colorado River. And some random guy. I think he was German.

Another pontoon pic. And another random German guy.

Lunch at Guano Point. Yes, that means bat droppings.

My favorite picture. We didn't do the SkyWalk (which you see in the background) but the sights were amazing nonetheless.

Me at Guano Point.

The teeny-tiny panoromic

Authentic Indian tepee

Almost dropped my water bottle down the canyon. Here's me retrieving it.

Peering down the canyon

I liked this rock. I tried to climb over it to the other side, but Ben started to freak out on me. As in, "yes, I have an insurance policy out on you, but I'd still prefer that you not climb over that rock."

Okay, this picture is staged. I was trying to pretend like I was clutching the rock and retrieving a water bottle at the same time. Come on, humor me.

Ben, videoing some more. Another of my faves.

Killing Time

Waiting at IND to board the plane. Naturally, Ben brought as many electronic devices as one can feasibly take on a plane, including laptop, iPad, PSP game console, two digital video recorders, digital camera, and of course cell phones. So, we are adequately equipped to play around whilst awaiting boarding time. Ben is downloading magazines on the iPad and playing silly games and I am, well, typing a blog.

I am so much more relaxed than I was this time last night and pretty much all of today, until bags were checked. The day went remarkably smooth considering all we had to get done.

Kids dropped off -- check. They were excited to see my dad and stepmom, and their cousin Isabelle who is staying over for a few days to help watch the kids. They don't get to see her all that often but I have a feeling they will love her.

Dog dropped off -- check. This was a little rockier, as he is staying with my friend, a recently certified dog trainer, at her home. With her two other dogs. Giant dogs. Canada tends to get along fairly well with other dogs but there was still a little clash as the three of them tried to stake their territories. I think it will be fine.

To airport on time -- check. We did online check-in last night, so it was a breeze once we got here. Traffic was no issue even though we were right at rush hour. Piece of cake.

Anyway, now that all of that is done, I am finding myself practically giddy about our whirlwind trip that is finally upon us. Its always a little sad to be without the kids for that amount of time - but, they will have a blast, and a mentally refreshed mom (and dad) will be better for them also. That's right. I'm taking this vacation for the kids. What can I say, I'm devoted.

Update

Ben is packed. I'll stop complaining.

For the record....

I do not torture or beat my dog with the vacuum cleaner. But you'd never know it by his reaction to it.

Right now, I am sitting in the recliner, silently cursing Ben for not packing. I think he has started the job, but I am uber-stressed about tomorrow's agenda, so him being slightly not-done-yet is giving me an excuse for my high-strung-edness.

Itinerary for tomorrow: work in the morning, since I have way way way too much to do and probably should not be justifiably taking a vacation. Work until 11:45 and then rush to pick up the kids and meet Ben at home to pick up the dog. Hopefully arrive at my dad's at or near 3pm to drop off the kids for their Gma & Gpa Parker vacay. Rush to friend's in Broad Ripple to unload the dog for his week of training. Race to the airport for our evening flight to Vegas, layover in Denver. Arrive at Vegas at 10:30ish Vegas time (which sounds like some sort of alternate dimension, it just feels like they have to measure time differently in Vegas) and collapse into our hotel room probably around midnight.

Last time I was in Vegas, I was roughly 14 years old, with my dad and sisters. I distinctly remember entering the casinos, which was legal, as long as we walked straight to the snack bar without stopping.

As for Ben, the farthest west he has been is St. Louis, as he regularly reminds me. Compared to him, I am quite the worldly traveler. I am very much looking forward to our desert vacation. The two of us have been absolute tornados of stress lately, so I think this is just what we need.