Vegas Baby!!

Ahh Ragnar, sooo much fun! This one was especially fun because it was a family affair. Tawnya and Kolby, Tara and Andrew, Ryan and I; and Cec and Clint, Misty, Justin, and our new friend Joseph.

And what do you do when you have kids and you all are going to be running all day, all night, and all day?? The Taylors and Collards brought their kids to Vegas with them and then had Grandma's watch their kids. We opted for leaving our kids home with a very responsible babysitter. (she really was awesome, and the kids LOVED her) That way the kids could still go to school, do soccer, and practice for the Primary program.

Also something to consider when you're doing a destination Ragnar. If you are starting first thing Friday morning, you'll have to spend the night there Thursday night. Well I, ever being the cheapskate, booked an $18 hotel room.

Well, not until we were driving there, and I was telling my mom about our sweet deal, did the gravity of the situation start setting in. She asked "Can they even wash the sheets and clean the room for that cheap?!" Umm, no way! Crap, what did I do? Then as we were driving to the hotel, in a seedy part of town, we kept passing bail bond shops, and XXX stores, I vowed never to book a hotel that cheap again.

But, much to our surprise, we walked into a nice new lobby, and we were so thankful when we found that not only was the lobby re-done, but the rooms too! Clean towels and sheets!!! Yes! So I'm happy to recommend the Plaza Hotel (the one in all the old Vegas movies) to anyone looking for a cheap room in Vegas.

Okay, back to Ragnar. Our team name was "How the West was RUN", and we dressed up as cowboys and Indians. (I realize that dressing up as Indians is offensive to some, and I apologize to you if you are offended... but we ARE Indians, and I'm proud of who I am, so I'm totally not offended. In fact I love it! Just like the team "Curry in a Hurry" who were the India-Indians team.) Our girly van was the first van, and the manly van was van 2.

One little, Two little, Three little Indians...

Ceci was our first runner, heading out an hour late. But we couldn't help it. Our sixth girly runner wasn't able to make it out because of flight delays and travel problems, so we got a late start after figuring that all out. That meant that us girls had to pick up her legs too! We ran A LOT!

And here's Tara coming in from her first leg. Tara did awesome! In fact it was Tawnya and Tara who talked me into doing this Ragnar. (not that I took much convincing) It's so fun to be able to go running with my sisters!

This was in honor of Destinee, who couldn't make it. We dubbed her the Wind Runner.

And here's our team (minus Justin who was running) at the first major exchange. By this time, the boys had slept in, ate breakfast and went out to lunch. Us girls had gotten up super, duper early, and hadn't had a single meal! We totally got the short end of the stick!

This picture was from my night run. It was off on some trail in the middle of NOWHERE in the pitch dark of night. I could only see what my headlamp pointed to. And this trail had CUH-RAZEE hills. But the cool thing about it, was that at the top of each hill, I had a spectacular view of the city. I couldn't get a picture to turn out, but you get the idea.

Can you tell we're sisters?
Why is Misty pulling up her skirt over here? What was going on?

Um yep, that's what you gotta do during Ragnar.

And yet again, it is us girlies who welcome the sun on day 2.


And here's Tawnya, finishing up the last leg for us females.

Do you have any idea how nice it is to see that blue sign?!
And finally, finished.

And then a nice relaxing night at the Paris (after hanging out with the Wevers) and an easy Sunday drive home. Thank goodness the kids didn't burn down the house while we were gone.