I’m dreaming of a vacation or 5

~ Chocolaterunsjudy

Right now we can’t travel. Or I could only travel solo. Which has its appeal at times, I gotta admit. Chester just requires too much care to leave him with anyone. That dog sure is lucky I don’t work! 

Had I known it would be the last trip for a while, we would have spent more time in VT after my Green Mountain Half. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Cynthia from You Signed Up for What?, Courtney from Eat Pray Run DC, and Mar from Mar on the Run chose 5 dream vacations as today’s topic. I think I’m going to stray a little and just talk about the races I’m dreaming about.

VA Beach Half
This has been on my radar for a long, long time. I have a friend who lives there, and we were talking about having some other friends meet up with us (although I’m suspecting it won’t happen).

Some of the runners from my running group run this. They rave about it.

And by March, I will definitely be ready for a break from winter. Biggest problem is that the  http://www.shamrockmarathon.com/ is a loooong drive away. Especially in March, where weather can still be iffy.

Then what if Chester actually holds on that long? Doubtful, but you never know.

My husband and I need to have a serious talk about my race schedule for 2016.

shipyard1

I’m an ambassador, did you hear?
I’m an ambassador for the Shipyard Maine Coast Half on saturday, May 14th. Wouldn’t you like to come run in Maine with me? There’s a marathon, too. And you can run the half as a relay. It’s reasonably priced, but it also sells out early.

Use code JLitt for $5 off. If you use my code, yes, I get some money off of my registration too.

My husband ate all the lobster rolls when we vacationed in ME for a few days afer I did Smuttynose a couple of years ago.

The elevation chart looks a whole lot like my Green Mountain Half, too. Which does mean big hill at the end. Redemption time?

Another one to head south for during winter
Darlene does all the FL halfs. And it’s tempting to join her. Except I have to be choosy, since I only plan to do one there. And it’s not as though we could actually run together either. Some day it would be so nice to run with someone in a half.

She’s not interested in Key West, but I just like Key West. I’ve been a couple of times. Not that there’s really all that much to see there.

Then there’s , & I bet my husband would have a blast with that one, too. Yeah, I went there. Except then I don’t get to go somewhere potentially warm in winter. 

Alaska!
I very, very seriously considered doing the Great Alaska Running Cruise this summer. We like to cruise. We like Alaska. Seriously, what could be bad (other than getting lost in the half because I’m slow and have a terrible sense of direction).

In the end I decided to do 2 halfs in May instead.

It’s been far too long since we cruised. In fact, the last one was to Alaska.

Vacation Races
I’ve heard good things about Vacation Races from several different people. We love national parks; they have been some of our best vacations. But then how do you choose? Zion and Grand Canyon are out if I stick to my proposed races. Never been to Grand Teton or Yellowstone and always wanted to go. I have been to both Rocky Mountain and Great Smoky Mountains and they just might kill me (and Great Smoky Mountains is bound to be very hot and humid, too). It’s been over 30 years since we’ve been to Yosemite.

But then Napa to Sonoma sounds like a cool race.

And Lake Powell? I’ve already done NV — twice!

Then there was talk among several bloggers about RnR Savannah 2016, but wouldn’t Savannah in the spring be better? Cooler?

So many races, so many states, so little time. 

 What race are you dying to do?

16 thoughts on “I’m dreaming of a vacation or 5”

    1. If I ran marathons, that would be on my list, too.

      So hard to decide which one to do in CA. Maybe I need to do one in SoCal and one in the wine country. Even though I don’t drink (although the hubby does).

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    1. In March, it is definitely not hot & humid here. Although the April day we moved here was 80, that is very, very unusual in these parts.

      Right now I’m not so sure this will be the year for VA Beach . . . I though it would be, but that Yellowstone/Grand Teton halfs are really, really tempting . . .the mister and I have to have a really serious talk soon!

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  4. Congratulations on your ambassadorship. I don’t think we’ll make it out to VA Beach just to cheer…if it was closer then maybe. Zion was a good race.

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    1. I can understand.

      Now I’m kind of leaning towards one (or 2) of the vacationraces instead of VA this yr; Lloyd & I need to discuss it.

      He never knows when he has to travel for work, tho, & we’d need to commit early (at least for lodging).

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    1. Everyone loves it! I have a runner friend who lives there, so that helps.

      Except we either have to fly & deal with weather, or drive & deal with weather. It’s a really long drive for us.

      It would be so cool to meet you . . .

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  8. I know the feeling all to well about staying home with aging pets. My husband and I traveled separately for years. This past summer we had to cancel our trip to Hawaii so we could be with our dog since he was so ill.
    When you do get a chance to travel, I highly recommend one of the VA Beach races! They are among my favorites!

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    1. It is hard & for us, it’s most likely very temporary. It’s unlikely he’ll see 2016 but he seems to be hanging on so far.

      I am sorry about your dog. I a perfect world we’d just all go to sleep at the same time.

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