The night before the walk

Twas the night before the 3 day...and man was I pumped! I had packed my bag, and then checked it about a hundred times. I said goodbye to my kids and I was off to the hotel. We stayed at the Double Tree hotel because the host hotel was full, but it ended up being much closer to opening ceremonies. My mom left for her crew meeting and I was left behind to relax before the big day. But I was too excited to sit around so I decided to go for a walk and check out the sites on the lakefront. It originally was only supposed to be a quick walk to the rock hall to take some pictures, but I decided to take a sneak peak of where opening ceremonies would be held.  My heart started to race when I saw the first of many signs for the 3 day. I walked along the fence taking pictures with my phone, and then decided to step inside and try to find my mom. Yes I crashed the crew meeting.

It was pretty cool to hear all of what they had to say. After the separate crew meetings they introduced each crew one at a time, and they danced their way into the tent for the all crew meeting. My mom was a bus liaison and one of there members was not there, so they pulled me over and I filled in for her when they were introduced. It was a little weird, but fun.

A veteran walker and survivor shared her story, and it was very moving. They crew members were so nice and so full of energy. I got to watch the dress rehearsal for opening ceremonies, which made me cry. I also got my first blisters of the weekend, from wearing brand new flip flops, one giant blister on each foot between my toes. This made me so mad, but it was a dumb move on my part. I ran into Julie a women I met on Facebook, I had already planned on walking with her and her team on day one. So it was nice to meet her ahead of time. My mom bought me a 3 day bandanna to wear on day one and some 3 day pins...the first of many I would collect this weekend.

After the meeting, we enjoyed Starbucks at the hotel, went swimming, took care of my blisters and enjoyed a very nice but ridiculously expensive dinner at the hotel, then went to sleep early with a 4 am wake up call.