Kentucky Trip

Sometime in September, my Aunt Kathy sent me a brochure about a race in Bowling Green, Kentucky. Western Kentucky University (where I went for one semester in 1988) hosts an annual 5k and 10k. She enticed me with a free place to stay and a pasta dinner the night before. I decided to go as it would give me a chance to visit with family and friends in the area that I haven't seen in a while. Billy couldn't take the time off work, so it was just me and Abby. I asked my sister if she would let me take her son, Thaddeus with us. (It's nice to have someone extra in the car to help out with the little one. Plus, he's a lot of fun to have around.)

My cousin, Kacy, works for the Louisville Zoo. She gives tours to important people who give lots of money. We got to be the important people (without the money) when we visited the zoo on our way to BG. She scheduled us to see the baby elephant, Scotty and his mama. We got to get up close and personal. It was cool to pet him but a little stinky.

Here he is taking a walk with his trainer.

Here we are with Scotty's mama. She is so big. She was kinda making me nervous being that close.

Here is Abby and Thaddeus with Scotty. His size is a little more manageable.

Thank you, Kacy, for taking time out of your day to show us around.

On Friday, we got to have lunch with my dear friend, Sandy. She took us to a Mexican restaurant in Bowling Green. Yummy! Our visit was a little too short, as she had to rush off to see Bill Clinton. Her son is somewhat of a politics buff and was super excited to be pulled out of school for the special event.

We also visited my Aunt's work and drove around the course that we would be running the next day. Then we went to pick up our t-shirt, race number, and electronic timing chip. This is the first time I've ever run in such a big race requiring a timing chip.

Here we are at the starting line.

See that pink arrow? That's my elbow after I crossed the finish line. Some guy got in the way of the camera. Oops.

Here we are after we both finished.

My Aunt and Uncle and Granny came out to cheer us on.

Abby loves the snack time at the end.

So here are the results: My time was 29:46, my personal best!! Overall, I was 191 out of 873 participants. I came in 19th out of 131 in my division (30-39 year-old females). I was super pumped!

On Sunday, we headed home. Thank you, Uncle Chris, Aunt Kathy and Granny for such a fun weekend! You guys are the best!