Thanksgiving in Ft Myers

One of the crazier things my family does every year is to hop in the car and drive 1200 miles for a three and a half day stay at my brothers in Ft Myers, Fla. We always drive straight through which has proven much easier since the kids started driving but still has its challenges. This year, sadly, Kate was unable to join us so Sue and Jerry III and I started our adventure at 7:30pm on Tuesday night. The drive down was easy and uneventful with Jerry III putting his time at college to use and taking the midnight to 4am shift. We arrived at my brothers at 1:30pm on Weds. and the fun started.

On the trip down my left leg was cramping badly and since Jerry and I were planning on running the Cape Coral Turkey Trot I figured I better test out the leg, so pretty much as soon as we arrived I was out in the sunny 70 degree weather for a shake out run. I ran a nice little 4 miler that I often run when I am down there and the leg felt great. There is nothing like a good run to shake of the effects of a 17.5 hr car ride!!! After the run it was off to Hooters with the gang for my favorite chicken sandwich and some Hooters Red Ale (yes they have their own beer!!!). Following lunch we picked up some last minute tday supplies and then off to my brothers to visit and prepare for dinner. Dinner on Weds night is the same every year. My bro invites some family and friends over for a shrimp boil. If you have never had one they are awesome. It is a big pot that you boil everything in together with some unbelievable seasoning. When its done you get potato's, sausage, corn and shrimp poured into a big bowl and it is Delicious!!

Thanksgiving day always starts with the Cape Coral turkey trot. I have missed only one year since we started doing this and it is something I really look forward to. This year we had a group of seven representing our clan. The course is flat and fast and if the weather is right, i.e. not to humid for us northeners, it makes for a really decent time. This course was my 5k PR for a long time and I only recently beat it after several years of trying. This years weather was perfect and as we toed the line everyone had high hopes for a great race. The person in our group with the highest hopes was Jerry III who has been training really hard and has always wanted to place high in this race. It is much harder than you think competing with the flat landers who get to train all year round. Those people are really fast and running that flat terrain all the time makes for really quick leg turnover. Thankfully this was his year and even though he will tell you he had a bad race he placed third in his age group. I was really proud of him. Honorable mention for top performance goes to my nephew, a fifteen year old native who PR'd with a 20:15. To put into perspective how fast these people are that put him 11th in his age group. I had an OK race finishing 8th in my age group with a 22:22. Not the best time in the world but as usual it was fun!!

Another highlight of the morning was my one mile run with Sue. She had signed up for the fun run but it started an hour and a half after the 5k so she had decided not to do it. Since she still wanted to do a run, and since she dislikes running I decided I should take advantage of the opportunity, we decided to do one mile together. We started out nice and steady and she ran the mile with little to no problem. I was really proud of her. I know she dislikes it and I am thrilled that she is giving it a try.

Turkey eating always takes place at my sister-in-law leah's families house in Punta Gorda, FL. It is the original house her father grew up in and he purchased it following his moms passing and has kept it as a gathering place for the family on holidays. It is a little place on 10 acres and it is the perfect place to spend tday. The food is amazing and starts out with three turkeys (smoked, roast and fried) a ham and pork. Next is every imaginable side dish that the 50 or so people who attend bring. Many of them are southern and if you are looking to gain weight this is the place to be (I gained 5 pounds in three days). Following the gorging comes the football game on the enormous front lawn. It is mostly the kids who play but I refuse to give in and will continue to play until I can't walk anymore. Also, rounding out the "were gonna play every year even though were not kids" is Leah's sister and brother-in-law, Eve and Robert. This is always one of the highlights of the trip and this year we played a little over two hours - or to complete exhaustion. It was a great game with the only mishap being when my nephew, Jupper, chased Eve down from behind giving her a hard enough shove to allow her to do a face plant into the very dry, very hard, burr filled ground. Luckily she was OK and shook it off to finish out the game. This year we had another adult join in the fun, one of the cousins Ron jumped in and even though he struggled pretty good at times he toughed it out and finished the whole game as well. My guess is he was the most sore the next day.

Friday and Saturday (until we left for home at 5:30pm) were also fun filled. Friday started out with Jerry and I doing a four mile recovery run and later my bro, Jerry and I knocked out a 35 mile ride (Jerry III and I brought bikes, part of the reason we drive) and we ended the day with a fish fry at our friend, Big Joe's, log cabin in North Ft Myers. Good food, great friends!! Saturday, our last day there, started with a quick 25 mile ride by Dan and me. We went to a new spot that he had found and it was a perfect country road. Hardly any traffic, only one stop sign and nice and flat. We knocked off the first hour at a 19.2mph pace which is great and we noodled in chatting the last 20 minutes. The last activity prior to leaving was to watch the first half of the Florida vs Florida State game. Always a good time!! This year we watched it at our friends, Tony and Seana's, house and again more food and drinks and lots of time to relax with family and friends.

The ride home was slightly more challenging. Sue started us out (due to the drinks portion of good food and drink) and took us north about three hours. I took over from there and when we got about 30 miles north of the Ga, Fl border it started to rain. The rain really came down hard at times and it just kept coming and coming. I drove until about 2am and decided instead of waking Jerry III we should pull over for awhile and see if the rain would stop. It did not so we took off with Jerry III driving at around 4am. The two of us were able to drive it the rest of the way through and we got in around 1:30pm. I am still trying to recover and hope to some time next week.

Week recap (I am still in do what you feel mode)

Ride - 55
Run - 19

It is just about time to start to ramp it up again.

That's all for now.