As happy as I am to be home, I sure wish we were still at the beach…at least for a few more days! The AC in our van went out on Thursday, so the trip home on Friday was a little rough. 12 hours in a van with no AC in 100° heat was not super fun.
Thursday was our last full day in Gulf Shores and we spent it exploring. That morning, we grabbed breakfast at the Ruby Slipper. It was delicious!
After breakfast, we rode bikes around Gulf Shore State Park. It was gorgeous.
Those trees are called Longleaf Pines. They are massive and so pretty.
No trip to Gulf Shores is complete without a Bushwacker. They are SO good. Every bar in the area serves them.
After our bike ride, we walked around some different stores, then grabbed a quick snack of oysters.
This was the view from the hallway outside of our condo. This is looking into the bay and the other side, through the windows of our room, looked out at the ocean.
We headed out for dinner our last night. I loved these hard waters. I think they’re some of my favorite.
I sure loved our week together. We had such a blast.
For our last night, we headed to Fin & Fork. HIGHLY recommend if you’re in the area. The food was amazing. One tip – don’t sit at the bar. The service was super slow because they were crazy busy. We almost always sit at the bar in restaurants because we love chatting with people, but sometimes that isn’t the best choice. Lesson learned! We shared a tuna appetizer that was SO good.
Side salads.
I ordered the Mahi Mahi. It was topped with pineapple and coconut. It was incredible.
I can’t remember what fish Jake got, but his was delicious, too.
I had to get one more Bushwacker before we left! Ha! It’s basically a dessert.
After dinner, we walked the beach, then headed to
bed. We got up Friday morning, grabbed breakfast at Kitty’s Kafe, and hit the road for home.
bed. We got up Friday morning, grabbed breakfast at Kitty’s Kafe, and hit the road for home.
Jake tried to rig up a little AC. It helped a little bit, but our drive home was pretty toasty. I got fried when I drove because we had the windows down and the sun was beating in, ha! We laughed about it a lot – that’s really all we could do! We had just had the AC worked on, so it’s under warranty. We didn’t want to stop somewhere and have the warranty voided. We made it work! And I can tell you one thing, we detoxed from our trip. There’s nothing like a 12 hour sauna to help you sweat out everything.
I had to pee super bad when we got home, so I raced to the bathroom. The girls made themselves right at home. I think they missed us.
We left town again Saturday to head to Arkansas for one of Jake’s races. Jake left around 5AM to pre-ride the course before it got crazy hot. I stayed home and knocked some things out, then drove down around noon. I had taken two weeks off from running, so I headed out for a little run to see how my foot was feeling. My foot felt amazing for my 3 miles, but man, it got worse and worse as the day went on. I decided to defer my September marathon until 2020 and I am taking the next 4 weeks off from running. I don’t want this injury to linger. I kind of need healthy feet.
In more exciting news, how awesome are our new Trail Sisters Springfield hats?!
Running those 3 miles Saturday morning was amazing. As much as I hate taking time off and not getting to race, I KNOW this is what’s best for my body right now. I’ve cried a few times over the past two weeks, but I am excited to get healthy and come back stronger. I have also worked to shift my mindset. Instead of thinking about what I can’t do, I’m focusing on what I CAN. I am going to swim, ride my bike, lift, do TRX, and go to yoga. All of those things will translate to my running and make me a better runner. I still get to move my body, so I’m thankful for that. So, if you’re struggling with something, try to shift your thoughts to the positive – it can be super tough to do so. Can’t run? What CAN you do? Can’t meet a goal? Set smaller ones that lead up to the bigger one. Crush those. Can’t seem to get everything accomplished? Make a to-do list. Conquer things one at a time. Sometimes something little like shifting how we are viewing things makes the biggest impact.
I made a big scramble Saturday after my run. It was nice to be home for a little bit! I did some laundry and cleaned up some stuff, then hit the road again for AR. I drove the van down since we were camping. Our car guys couldn’t get us in until today, so it was another hot drive.
I took a smoothie on the road with me.
The second I got to AR and met up with Jake and the other guys that were racing on Sunday, we all found a cold creek to sit in. It was gorgeous.
My foot was crazy sore all day, so I know I made the right decision to defer. I will keep up with my therapies and exercises to strengthen my ankle, so hopefully that helps!
Camping isn’t so bad. ; )
We had the best cauliflower crust pizza ever at Pedaler’s Pub in Bentonville. It was incredible. We ate all of it!
Despite how hot it had been during the
day, I slept like a baby Saturday night! I couldn’t believe it. The van sure is comfortable – maybe I can enjoy camping! ; ) Jake is stoked I’ve slept so well. Camping is his favorite. I will share more about Sunday and Jake’s race tomorrow – this post is getting a little lengthy. I’m off to knock out my massive to-do list!
day, I slept like a baby Saturday night! I couldn’t believe it. The van sure is comfortable – maybe I can enjoy camping! ; ) Jake is stoked I’ve slept so well. Camping is his favorite. I will share more about Sunday and Jake’s race tomorrow – this post is getting a little lengthy. I’m off to knock out my massive to-do list!
Happy Monday, friends!