Four months ago, I took a road trip...

 I swear, if I want to keep calling myself a blogger I'd better start posting more often.

It's spring, and I've had so many adventures since I moved to Christiansburg in the fall!  Before I get you up to date on what I've been up to lately, I'll tell you a little bit more about my road trip to Florida back at the beginning of December.

I was participating in a Ragnar trail relay at Alafia River State Park in Florida, and I decided to break the trip down and have some fun along the way.  On my first leg, I drove to Savannah, and on the way I stopped to check out a roadside attraction known as the "UFO Welcome Center."  It's a sculpture/structure that is a virtual geocache and Adventure Lab.  The artist happened to be there, and he was happy to take my photo.

In Savannah I stayed in a charming Airbnb, and spent a day walking around the city, you guessed it, geocaching.  The last time I was here was November 2019 and I was running the Rock & Roll Savannah Marathon, where I got my PR of 5:42:something.  I have yet to break that record (more details to come in a future post).

(On my previous visit to the fountain in Forsyth Park. I was trying to spell "PR" in sign language after the 2019 Rock n Roll Marathon.  Mostly I just looked like a goofball.)

Next I drove to Orlando, with a stop to take a geocaching walking tour of St. Augustine.  The highlight of that day was visiting the Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine.  

(This is one of five special Geocaching benchmarks in the US.  The idea was to place one in every state but they never got around to it.  This one is near the St. Augustine Visitors Center.)

The next morning I met up with my young friend Megan, and we spent the day at Universal Islands of Adventure.

I first met Megan right after we had moved to Fredericksburg.  I had taken one-year-old Matt to the local library for their todder story time. His brothers didn't exist yet. We're sitting on the floor, with a handful of other moms and toddlers, and this cute little girl wanders over and sits right on my lap.  It was 18-month-old Megan, who had come with her mom Barbara, who was pregnant with Megan's brother Christian. Megan was later gifted with two more little brothers after Christian.  Barbara and I became friends, and subsequently Ray and Barbara's husband Andy became friends, and my kids became friends with their kids.  Now of course the kids are all grown up. Megan has moved to Orlando, and she's an artist and entrepreneur!

(I picked this park to visit because Hogwarts.  The line for the Hagrid's motorcycle rollercoaster snaked through the inside.  It was the longest we waited in line that day, which was an hour.  The park wasn't very crowded, except for the Wizarding World section.)

(There was a "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" musical show which was quite fun.)

After Universal I did a little more geocaching and spent the night in a cute little vintage 1957 trailer.  I wish I had taken some photos inside.  I may be looking for excuses to visit the Plant City area again just to stay in that place.  Here's a link to the page on Airbnb, if you want to see it in more detail. It even has the original stove and refrigerator, although the stove is now basically a decoration. There is a toaster oven, hot plate, and microwave tucked into a closet.  The refrigerator still works though!

(The trailer was right up next to a barn-like structure which was a venue for weddings and such.  There were no events going on so I had a very quiet night. They even had a turntable and vinyl records from the 1970s and '80s.  I played Phil Collins' "No Jacket Required" and Credence Clearwater Revival's greatest hits.  I could have stayed up all night listeneing to records.)

(Misty morning at the Airbnb.)

And then the main event, the Ragnar race.  Another example of my new mantra, Just Say Yes.  Long story short, I saw a post in one of my running groups on Facebook, specifically for listeners of a certain podcast drumming up interest in a team for the Florida race (thanks, Thessaly!) which happened to take place near where Denny Krahe the podcast host and admin of the group is based.  Drive 12 hours to meet up with a bunch of people you've only seen (and/or heard) online?  And spend 24 hours with them in the great outdoors?  Sure, why not?  Eight team members, three loops, for a total of about 15 miles of trail running per person.  Food, music, movies, a bonfire, beer (let it be known I had only two, and one of them was nonalcoholic), lots of coffee and very little sleep.  We had a great time. And I managed to stay upright on the trails, even in the dark, and I didn't trip over any armadillos. And I hired Denny as my running coach, so there's that.  And yes, there WILL be at least one more Ragnar race in my future. Quite soon, actually...

(Team Diz Runs Tribe.  Seven gals and one guy on the team.  Denny was a great sport.  I was the oldest person on the team. We had a blast.)

After my trip to Wisconsin last summer and then this one, I've pretty much decided that I love me a long road trip.  There may be geocaches to find along the way, or not (What am I saying? OF COURSE THERE WILL), and there will most definitely be some long audiobooks to play and podcasts to catch up on.  I have a couple of road trips planned for the summer, and if I can get my act together I'll share those adventures here. And hopefully not wait four months before doing so.

Stay tuned for an update on some of my adventures on the roads and trails.  There have been many already.  I might not know where to start!