Swim Meets, Travels, and Birthdays

It has been a long time since I've sat down at my computer (or any computer, for that matter) and composed a post. Well, here I am, late in the evening on my 25th Birthday, finally finding some time to dance my fingers across the keyboard.
My last post was immediately following my birthday celebrating with my friends out in COS...so it is quite funny that this post is immediately following a fun family celebration in Florida. My parents and I just enjoyed a relaxing BBQ dinner at our friend's home on the lake (John, the father of the family shares the same birthday as I...so it was a double celebration:)
Also, since my last post, a lot of exciting events have occurred. The easiest way to get through them would be in semi-list format:
I flew out of COS early Wednesday morning and arrived in Birmingham, Alabama that afternoon. I was picked up at the airport by a very nice triathlete family in the area and they shuttled me down to Tuscaloosa. I also met up with Matt and he went over the weekend tri-youth camp schedule with me.
Wednesday evening I checked into my parent's hotel room and got a ride to the SEC meet with the Norton's (another Daytona Beach Swimming/Gators family). We watched/cheered for the two relay events that night and then had a yummy Panera dinner. My parents rolled into town that evening and I rented a cot from the hotel to stay in their room.
Thursday morning dawned with nothing but rain and rain and more cold rain. Cycling was out of the question but I did manage to sneak (actually, I got permission from the head meet official:) into the 'Bama pool between sessions and do a fun swim practice with my new friend (former Olympic Swimmer and current Vandy swim coach) Ashley Whitney.
As for the SEC swim meet on Thursday, Dustin bombed the 200IM and didn't make finals but the Gators finished out the Finals in first place for the Men and Women!
Friday morning greeted us with better weather and Dad and I drove down to the Olympic Trials race course and rode the race loop 4 times...with a few extra trips up the big hill to get a good feel for what I'm going to be racing! I even motivated to pull on my sneaker and run the race course twice...so now I know that I can manage half the race:)
Friday's SEC meet was a huge success for Dustin...he swam an amazing 400IM...3 second drop in his best time...seeded second for finals...6th fastest time in the country at the time...fast enough to qualify for NCAA's!!!! In the finals session, he swam an even faster time, and finished in 7th place with 5 other Gator teammates in the event!
I had to miss the evening session because I started my commitment with the youth and collegiate triathlon camps by speaking to them about my experiences and answering all sorts of questions.
On Saturday morning I joined the youth/juniors at the 'Bama Rec Center pool to encourage and assist during their swim/bike brick workout...caught a ride down to the race site to work with the college kids on their transitions...went back with the juniors for their bike-fit session and then said "Adios" to everyone as I headed over to watch more of the SEC meet.
Dustin swam a B-E-A-utiful 1650/Mile on Saturday afternoon. He chopped off 12 seconds from his previous best time and easily made the 'B' time standard for NCAA's so that he can (oh joy) swim it again in a month! NCAA's for the men are in Seattle, Washington...and I will NOT be attending:)
Here is where I made the one mistake of my whole multi-city trip...I chose NOT to ride home with my parents on Saturday night. I chose to stay and watch the Gators finish the meet (so close to beating Auburn) and then eat dinner with the Gator athletes and family. It's tradition that all the family and friends join the swimmers after the meet for a fun and celebration dinner...well, thanks to a screwed-up reservation, we were completely unable to even dine in the same restaurant as our athletes (imagine how PO'ed some of the parents were!) so I just went back to the hotel and slept.
The bad decision continues because as I was getting a ride to the airport at 7:30am (5 hours before my flight departed), my parents were waking up at home and getting on with their day of work and life. I spent the ENTIRE day traveling from Tuscaloosa, to Birmingham, to Washington DC, to Orlando and finally (thanks to my Dad for picking me up) back to DeLand! Ridiculous! Next time, I will actually look at the time schedule of my flights before deciding not to drive!
Well, I've had a fantastic Monday so I can get over my miserable Sunday of traveling. I've worked on my new Blue bike with my Dad all morning...we went for a three hour (windy) ride in the Florida sunshine...I had a great swim practice (thanks to Coach Steve)...and the day finished off with a co-Birthday celebration!
I am officially 1/4 of a century, 2.5 decades, 25 years, 1300 weeks, 9100 days, 218400 hours, 13,104,000 minutes, etc., etc., etc., (I think you get the point) OLD!!!!

Photos from My Travels

Dustin turning in one of his IM events at the 2008 SEC meet in Tuscaloosa, AL.

The start of Dustin's 200IM prelim's race at SEC's...he is in lane 3.

Dustin behind the blocks...looking serious and focused! Go Dustin Go!!!

The view out my apartment window in COS on one of the days I was in town visiting! Yeah, SNOW, and lots of it!

This was my mother, tonight, at the lake party, paddling a sailboat into the dock!

These are Gator Parents! The most dedicated and obnoxious fans in the entire SEC!
The McLarty Clan...the last time we will all be in attendance at a Gator Swim Meet! 8 years, thanks for the memories, good luck to the future!
These are the cute little juniors and youth triathletes at the Tuscaloosa camp...this looks kinda familiar...oh yeah, we do these swim/bike brick workouts in COS as part of the National Team training...look out, we've got some future stars here!
Working on swim technique and form at the tri-camp.

Two members of the "Wind Jammers." If you are looking for a band to perform at your party/event/banquet, think about booking the "Wind Jammers!" As long as all you require is "Hey Jude," "Blowing in the Wind," or "Happy Birthday" performed by one keyboardist and one guitarist that sometimes aren't in sync and don't know all the words yet...look no further:)!!

An additional member of the "Wind Jammers": John on the shakers!
I can't believe that I'm 25 years old!
The co-B-Day dinner/celebration...left to right: Cliff, Me (b-day girl), John (b-day boy), my Mom, my Dad, and Johnny (John's son). Nancy, (wife and mother of John and Johnny) is the photographer.
This is my very determined mother...sailing on a perfectly calm afternoon with out a ripple of wind on the lake...hence the reason she was paddling into the dock! Dinner was going to be served without her if she decided to wait for a gust of wind:)

#699, 2 Months, Golden 25

This is my 699th post...just thought I'd let you all know that. It shows up when I click to write a new post, but no where on my blog does it count how many times I've written.
Exactly 2 months from today is the second USA Triathlon Olympic Trials in Tuscaloosa. It's Feb. 19th and we race on April 19th. It's actually a short two months because one of the months is Feburary with only 29 days this year.
My 25th birthday is quickly approaching...I can't believe I'm going to be a quarter-of-a-century old. YIKES! I had a great celebratory dinner with a bunch of my friends out here in COS...I chose Poor Richards, again! Can't go wrong with my favorite place in the Springs (except they never brought out Sharon's pizza so that was a big negative).
Thanks to everyone who came out tonight and THANK YOU for the amazing Josh-and-John's ice cream birthday cake! That was going to be our next stop for the evening, but J&J's was brought to me:)

A Great Day

Today was a perfect example of why I LOVE being in Colorado Springs. My entire day was great...from the moment I woke up this morning until 10 minutes from now when I climb into bed and fall asleep! I'm so glad that I came out here and visited my favorite city for a few days in the middle of winter...and I'm so glad that I'm only visiting and I can be back in the south in a few days. Swim practice started at 8am today...but I'm still on Florida time so that wasn't early to me. Fortunately, I managed to sleep past 5am and my stomach only forced me out of bed at 6:30am. I ate a relaxing breakfast in the cafeteria before wandering over to the pool. My plan to do some core exercises for 20 minutes before swimming was scrapped when I saw Sharon in the locker room...I haven't seen her since I left COS in November and she was still preggers:) We chatted until it was time to start swimming and I had a great long course practice. It was a pretty hard workout (actually, any workout I do at altitude after spending four months at sea level is going to be hard:) and everyone swam tough (good job Tim!). After swimming, I had Nate adjust the shifting on my new Blue Bike while I completed another 3 mile run on the treadmills. My run was solid (again, the effects of altitude are being factored into my 7:45 mile pace:) and I finally got my core exercises completed in the gym. I thought it would be a good idea to take care of my foot immediately after my run so I stretched, strengthened, and iced before changing into cycling gear. Yes, real cycling gear...the sun was shining in the middle of the day and the air temperature wasn't too bad. I did make sure that I wore 3+ layers just in case one of those surprise snow storms rolled into town during my 60 minute easy spin through downtown:). I enjoyed seeing all the familiar sights of COS on my bike…the cute houses on Boulder Street, the snow on top of Pike’s Peak, the rude drivers scrapping my left elbow, etc. Everything on my new bike worked like a charm and I practiced using my new Sram shifters…I don’t want to make a mistake during the important rides (like April’s race in Tuscaloosa).
After my ride I took care of some emails, plunked down in front of the TV for a few minutes, and got cleaned up and pretty-smelling (ie, took a shower). I made a few calls and rounded up a few of the troops (Tim, Jill, and Matt) for an evening adventure downtown for dinner. We rolled out of the OTC around 7pm in the midst of a light splattering of snowflakes! They were not sticking and it didn’t last very long, but I can say that I saw it snowing this winter!
We made our first stop at Poor Richards for a pizza dinner. The steaming pie didn’t take long to arrive at our table and it didn’t take long to disappear! Our choice of the evening was whole wheat crust with spinach, green peppers, mushrooms, sausage, and pepperoni toppings…good combo. The night wasn’t complete without a visit to Josh and John’s Creamery (my ultimate FAVORITE place in COS) where I was pleasantly surprised to see Pumpkin Pie on the list of flavors in stock. As we were savoring our cups of freshly churned desserts, in walked Cliff, Sam, Nate and Sarah after their own pizza dinner down the road. We had a good laugh and wished each other a pleasant evening.
As we headed back to our respective rooms, Tim mentioned that he TiVo’ed the NBA All Star’s Slam Dunk contest so I whipped up a steaming cup of hot cocoa and joined him to watch some of the coolest dunks and the competition was won by an Orlando Magic player! That concluded about 10 minutes ago, and as I mentioned earlier in this post, I was going to be sleeping in 10 minutes so that is the conclusion of a GREAT day for me in COS!

BBBBrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!

Its cold out here...I must be in Colorado! There can also be no doubt that I'm in Colorado because I woke up this morning at 5am...which is exactly 7am in Florida...but it doesn't do me any good here when I'm starving and the cafeteria doesn't open for 2 hours.
I've been waking up exactly at 7am at home for the past 2 weeks. Just using the natural sunshine as my alarm-clock instead of a ringing or dinging contraption that puts me in a bad mood. I expected to wake up early this morning but I assumed that I could fall back asleep...but I didn't expect to have a growling tummy keep me from my goal of an extended slumber. So, I pulled on some pants and a sweatshirt and went in search of munchies.
My last resort was going to be cooking oatmeal in my room because I have a few instant packets and a hot-pot but I like to reserve all that for traveling to foreign countries where the food can be questionable. The OTC has always had 24 hour access to a hot cocoa machine and that was my first stop. Unfortunately, a warm drink in the morning sometimes just makes me hungrier for some real food! That's when I stumbled across the new "cereal bar" that is open and fully stocked from 9pm to 7am when the cafeteria is closed...I guess it is for cases like me who are on different time zones...so I put together a complete breakfast and chowed down in my living room while watching early morning infomercials!
Anyways, now that my belly has been tamed, I can get on with my visit to COS. I arrived yesterday afternoon, a little later than planned because of a flight delay out of Chicago, but still had time to run my 3 miles and attend the evening yoga class. It was Valentines Day (woo-hoo) so the dining hall treated us to a yummy buffet of heart-shaped foods and a huge, liquid chocolate fountain. I saw all my teammates at dinner and caught up on the latest news and events: Jasmine had her long hair cut into an adorable bob…Tim met Joe Montana at a Super Bowl party…Mary Beth is also in COS to pick up her new bike…the list goes on and on.
Today I will continue to try and stay warm while accomplishing all my workouts. This might mean that I ride my bike in the basement on a Computrainer, but I can survive that for a few days. Swimming practice this afternoon will be inside (of course) and I cap of the day with an evening massage (thank goodness) and maybe a fun activity with friends. We shall see:)

I Was Wrong

Way back in November, I wrote that I was leaving COS until sometime mid-June...come to find out, that was just how things were looking at that point in time.
Actually, I'm going to be back in COS tomorrow afternoon! I've got a flight from Orlando to Chicago at 8am and I arrive in COS around 1:30pm (if all the Northeastern weather stays out of my way). I'm very much looking forward to seeing all my friends and teammates again...the people that work in the OTC...and the beautiful mountains outside my window.
It should be interesting to see how my room has dealt with the long departure...I hope I didn't mistakenly leave something that started smelling:). I am also hoping that I left enough stuff (clothes, toiletries, books, etc) so that I can make it through the week. I'm only packing a small backpack with some essentials (aquajogging shoes, yoga pants and battery chargers...that's about it).
I've also got my empty bike box in the back of my car. It is all ready to be checked in at the airport tomorrow morning. I will be filling it with my new 2008 Blue Bike thanks to the people at Blue, USAT, and Nate (our mechanic who will have the whole thing built and ready to ride when I arrive).
Today was a very windy and overcast day here in DeLand. It was threatening rain the whole time, but didn't drop too many rain drops. I had a great bike workout this morning, some 3 minute intervals, which I chose to do right into the head-wind for some extra toughness. I had to take a nap after lunch just to find enough energy to make it over to Port Orange for swim practice. Coach Steve gave us a killer set and my arms were feeling a bit dead at the end of the day. I'm looking forward to sitting on an airplane all morning and relaxing:).

Latest Photos

My Grandma Jane had her 88th birthday on Feb. 4th. We celebrated with a small family lunch at the house...lasagna, green beans, and my yummy banana-chocolate-chip-walnut cake!

My mother, the professional sign-painter, made this fun sign for my Grandma's home-business!

Yesterday was 2008 Senior Day at the UF pool...Dustin (and the 14 other seniors) were honored before the meet. This is a photo of Mom, Dad, and Dustin shaking hands with all the coaches.

Mom and Dad are smiling because this is their LAST Gator dual-meet! Eight years of commitment to the swim & dive team...thanks for all your support!

Dustin swam another fast 200 Fly and WON his last event in the Florida O'Dome! A perfect way to finish his collegiate dual-meet career!

Dustin and JB (roommates) celebrating their survival of four years with Troy, Nesty, Wilby, etc.

This morning my Dad and I rode 50 miles with the Sunday morning Port Orange group...dang, it was a crazy windy day...but we completed it without any crashes!

I fixed myself a yummy lunch when we got home and then I baked these yummy pumpkin-blueberry muffins. (The berries are supposed to be cranberries but since the holiday season is over, and fresh cranberries are unavailable, I made an in-season substitution and they were still a success!)

Life in the Recovery Lane

Who doesn't LOVE recovery weeks??! Or, as my coach has stated on my training schedule..."Adaptation Week"...what the h*ll does that mean? What exactly am I supposed to be 'adapting' to? 'Cause I really don't want to adapt to easy/light training because when it gets hard again next week, it's going to SUCK!Okay, okay...I know what the 'adaptation week' is referring to...it's for all my suckers of teammates that have just returned to ALTITUDE and COLD in Colorado this week! So I guess I will adapt to not making fun of them so much:)
By the way, it was 70 degrees and sunny all day today and I just got off my bike at 5:30pm after a breezy 90 minute ride with my Dad!
Oops, I don't think I'm doing very well at this "adaptation" thing!Tomorrow is the UF vs. FAU swim meet...also Senior Day for the swimmers and divers who will finish their eligibility this year. This is only of importance to me because it will be DUSTIN MCLARTY's final home dual meet as a Florida Gator! Such a happy and sad day at the same time...the screen goes blurry as we go into 'flash-back' mode..."It seems like just yesterday that I was at my Senior Day at UF!"
But enough of all that reminisicing, this is Dustin's time to shine...in the 200 Fly, no less! He has to swim a 1:47 (or faster:) tomorrow or he is stuck swimming the 1650 Free on the final day at SECs! I need everyone reading this to be rooting for Dustin on the last 50 of the 200 Fly when he usually falls to pieces! (Dustin, don't read this because if you hear something too many times, you subconsciencly start to believe that you will always fall apart!) This time, he's going to be soooo fresh from the past month of tapering that his last 50 is going to be the BEST!!
Since I am on the subject of my little brother, he called me yesterday...screaming into the phone...something about being accepted to Stanford's Aerospace Engineering Department for his Master's Degree! Hey, I might not understand a word of what you are studying, but I know that Stanford is a GREAT acheivment! Congrats to Duster Buster!
As for the rest of my day today, I spent it sitting in my Xterra, driving three hours down and back to West Palm Beach to see Dr. Keith and his great staff at Advanced Wellness. It has been about a week since my last visit and I have been increasing my run distances as instructed by the newly selected USA Triathlon Olympic Team Chiropracter and "physiology guru"! After my treatments and rehab and before climbing back in my car to drive home, I used Dr. Keith's teadmill to complete my longest run yet: 3 miles!!! Oh yeah!!! Party time!!! This means that I will be able to complete the sprint race with a 5K run in Clermont on March 9th, my 2008 season opener!

A Taste of Multisport

I was wasting time looking at YouTube videos today...stumbled across this little gem from USAT. I was watching it and looking for a glimpse of myself (who doesn't). It faded to black at the end and I was sad to have not made the editing-room-cut...and then the last 15 seconds of the video rolled through and MADE MY DAY:)! Enjoy and laugh all you want!

My Future February Travels

I think I might have failed to mention that I have bought a plane ticket to Tuscaloosa, Alabama to watch Dustin and the Gators swim at the SEC Conference meet! Has this escaped my blogging so far? Shocking…well then, let me catch up!
As soon as I knew that the second triathlon Olympic Trials race was moved to Tuscaloosa (the same place where the SECs are being held), I knew that I had a ‘double reason’ to attend the meet: watch Dustin swim in his final SECs and tour the Trials course long before the race. Now, all I needed was a way to get there…and driving across four states with my parents was NEVER an option!
It occurred to me that sometime in February I would also need to get out to COS and pick up my new Blue RC8 bike for the 2008 season…it’s never too soon, only too late, to start training on the bike I plan on racing with:). So here was a third reason to book a ticket as soon as possible (actually: as soon as the price drops to a reasonable amount). Lately, multi-destination trips are my new ‘thing’ on the united.com website…they let you plug in as many destinations as your little heart desires and then you have the option of picking each flight. I rarely let someone else (ie: a person on the phone in Bangladesh) choose my flights and if I have to converse with another human being, I will have already reserved the exact itinerary that I desire and they just log in and charge it to my account!
So, back to my ticket purchase…on February 14th (yes, it’s Valentine’s Day) I am flying form Orlando to Colorado Springs. I can’t wait to see the OTC, check on my room, sleep in my big bed, eat in the cafeteria, visit my friends, go out on the town, etc! I will be freezing my butt off in COS until February 20th when I fly down to Birmingham (the closest airport to Tuscaloosa).
Pause here in the detailed review of my ticket itinerary and side track to another story…the fourth reason that I have for this trip!! (I know, I can’t believe it either:)!
When I was in Tennessee last weekend, I was invited to Tuscaloosa from February 22-24th to work with a junior and collegiate triathlon camp that was taking place on the race course. Ironic that I already had a plane ticket, huh?! Of course I said “YES” to the opportunity to work with the junior, collegiate, and developing athletes…the chance that my plane ticket might be reimbursed had nothing to do with my enthusiasm!
So here I am, arriving in Tuscaloosa on Wednesday, February 20th…my parents are going to pick me up from the airport as they arrive in town…to watch the first night of SEC relays before crashing on the floor of my parent’s hotel room. I will only be sleeping uncomfortably for one night because another perk from working with the camp is a FREE hotel room for the whole weekend! Thursday is the first full day of events at the pool and I will be cheering in the stands as much as possible…as of right now, Dustin’s individual event on this day is undecided (either the 200IM or 500Free).
The camp itinerary is filled from Friday afternoon until mid-day on Sunday. Somewhere in there we will be swimming at the race venue, cycling on the race course, and running along the race trail. I will be talking to the juniors and the college kids (together or separately…undecided right now) and always available to answer questions, demonstrate a technique or just be helpful in any way! I have asked that I be allowed to escape the camp on Saturday night to go watch the last session of the swim meet…I can’t miss my last opportunity to see Dustin swm the 1650Free (okay, or the 200Fly, but let’s be realistic here:) and see the final results of the team scores.
Sunday, February 24th, will be a bit hectic with my 11:40am flight to Orlando. I haven’t determined yet what my mode of transportation will be back to the BHM airport…if my parents are driving me back, we will probably depart early…but if the camp has airport transport, I will be able to attend all the morning camp activities!
So there you have it, my February trip in a nutshell (albeit, a very large nutshell:)!

In The News

USAT has published a list of the American Triathletes who have qualified to compete at the Olympic Trials in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. There are 12 women and 10 men on the list...Sara McLarty (yours truly) is one of those 22 athletes!

Here is my second USAT Elite Update from Clermont.

On our last January day at the pool in Clermont, a local news crew dropped by to do a little story on the Floridians training for trials. Here is the Central Florida News 13 story (and link to the video).

Here is my first USAT Elte Update from Clermont.

Family of Cripples

Just call us the McLarty Gimps. First, we've got me with the stupid ol'foot problem. Second, we've got my Mom who is getting ready to go under the knife this month for her third knee surgery...she's down to using crutches and crawling up the stairs. Now, Dad is official added to the 'gimp' list after he wiped out on the Port Orange group ride this morning!
He and I drove over to the PO Publix to meet up with about 30+ other cyclists for the Sunday ride. Everything was going great, we'd been on the road for about 40 minutes and the speed was slowing creeping up. At this point in the ride, I was leading the group and Dad just happened to be the next guy on my wheel.
I got the signal that we were making a right turn onto a side-street and proceeded to lead the group into the turn without compromising much speed. It was right as I swung wide into the side-street that I saw the HUGE black Dodge pickup-truck crossing the road in front of us...my brain was fighting to scream "CAR CAR CAR" at the same time it was telling my hands to brake as hard a possible!
I can still see my reflection in the gleaming paint on the truck as I somehow managed to stop just two feet away from planting my face into the side paneling...mad bike skills here!! Unfortunately, my Dad didn't luck out as well as I did...he did manage to brake in time but had his front wheel on the wrong side of my rear wheel, got all tangled up with the centrifugal forces at work and went down HARD on his left hip! The 30 or so cyclists that were following behind us came up fast but not as dramatic so we slowly picked up the pieces (meaning Dad's water bottles and bike that were laid out in the road) and regrouped to continue on the ride.
I kept going with the group and had a decent 2+ hour ride with some fast paced segments trying to keep up with the big guys...while Dad just tried to ride back to the truck without cringing on every pedal stroke. I think it was a good thing that he immediately got back pedaling on his bike because he's going to have a HUGE lump forming and the major problem will be painful stiffness in the area!
Fortunately, we were in the Publix parking lot so I ran inside and purchased a huge bag of ice for him to sit on as I drove the truck home. And, in the words of my Dad as he iced his new wound, "Hey, at least I'll have a real reason to watch the Super Bowl today!"

The "All Clear" Signal

All morning (from 4:30am until 1pm), members of the USAT National Team slowly trickled out of Groveland and made their respective trips back home. Since my trip was the shortest and least complicated, I made sure that I stuck around until the last person had safely made it onto the airport shuttle...I was ready to make the drive if it was going to be necessary.
The last group was Tim, Jas, Mark, and Justine on a 12:45 shuttle to the Orlando Airport. It was so late in the day that we managed to squeeze quite a bit of adventure in before-hand.
We were up around 7am to say good-bye to some of our house-mates...Joe and Cliff rolled out in the OTC Suburban around 8am...Brian headed off for Jacksonville around the same time...Matt, Julie and Bec were on an awfully early shuttle so we just kinda slept through their departure:)
At 8:30, I was on the road with the remaining 4, heading to the pool for a relaxing morning workout. Tim and I swam the whole time, Jas and Justine did a bit of strength, and Mark chatted with Hunter (who was over from Longwood to use the pool).
After swimming, we capped off a cloudy morning with a yummy trip to Panera for a post-swim breakfast. I had to have another one of the Mediterranean Veggie sandwiches (so so so good:) before I left town for good. The chatter was happy and sad at the same time...I was saying good-bye to my friends again...they were looking forward to being home...and we were all debating the merits of leaving Florida on a day when the temperatures hit 80 degrees and going back North where there is a HUGE snowstorm!
We finally left Panera and pulled into the Swiss Ski School, one last time. I did just what I promised and picked up all the use-able foodstuffs from the houses...this managed to fill up the ENTIRE back of my Xterra! Thanks guys...my family and I have no complaints about free food for the next two weeks! The rest of my clothes, training gear, and junk filled the second row of seats and I had to cram my bed pads/pillows/blankets into the crevices so that I could see out my back window!
A little after 12:45...making Mark very nervous because his flight was the earliest...the airport shuttle (which was a MINI-van) arrived to pick up 4 people, 4 bike boxes, and 4 sets of luggage. The luggage shuffle took a few minutes and a few different tries, but eventually, everyone and everything was packed inside and the doors managed to close. I was standing near-by, watching the entire process and getting ready to offer the use of my car if things did not work out for the best.
As soon as the doors were closed and the van was backing down the driveway, I hopped in my own vehicle and pulled away from Villa 27 for the last time. In a fitting farewell, as soon as my car cleared the garage, the skies let loose with the rain they had been threatening us with all morning! It was a perfect timed event and I can't help but wonder who gave the "all clear" signal for Groveland!