Weekend With Family

While my immediate family members (brother, mother, father) are traveling the world and SEC states...I am taking the time to visit with my other family members.
Friday afternoon I picked up my Grandmother from her cottage in the front yard and we drove to Downtown DeLand for dinner at a little Italian restaurant called 'Vera's'. The meal was nothing to rave about...but getting to spend some time and talk with my Grandmother was enjoyable. I heard about some of her world travels...she loves telling stories about when she and Grandpa went to Japan:)
I got to sleep early on Friday night with my alarm set for 4:45am! Ouch...but I managed to drag my butt out of bed, scarf some breakfast and safely get on the road. I flew down I-95 for about an hour to Christmas, Florida...and followed the only other traffic on the roads into the Wetlands where the running race was starting.
Shockingly, it was VERY cold outside for this early morning race...we started at 7:06 (the full marathon started at 7:00, the 1/2 marathon at 7:03, and the 5K at 7:09). I noticed that the race was pretty small, but I still hoped that there would be some competition to push me to a fast time...but when I was leading the race after about 2 minutes, I knew it was going to be me versus me!
Unfortunately, the map I posted below was not accurate...we did not do a big loop...instead we did an out-and-back. But that did give me the opportunity to check my 1/2 way time and see how well I paced myself at the end. Speaking of 'the end'...I was a bit muddy, all the more fun!
I headed straight from the finish line to my car, pulled out my bike and got my hour cool down spin completed ASAP. Next stop was Rockledge, Florida at my Aunt Jan's house.
The day had warmed up by the time I was showered and changed so we headed out to lunch at Mimi's Cafe (very good portobello sandwich), some shopping at The Avenues, visited the Brevard Zoo for a few hours, drove through the Wetlands to see all the migrating birds, one quick stop at the grocery store for dinner and breakfast ingredients, and finally back home to rest, eat, and watch a movie before falling fast asleep! (That was a LONG sentence:)
Sunday was Jan's birthday so we made a yummy omelet for a special breakfast. We spent a bit more time chatting and telling stories before I had to load up my car to drive home and get back to 'work' (also known as 'training'). Big thanks to Jan for having me for the weekend...I had a great time during my short visit!
Back home, I visited my Grandmother for a quick 'hello' and then got started on my training and all the McLarty Farm chores that I'm in charge of!