Come Away With Me. . .

It's sad to admit, but since before the birth of the reporter (she's seven), the hubby and I have not taken a proper vacation/getaway from the children.  Sure, she has spent the night at Grandma's while we have a "date night", but to truly get away from home and all of the responsibilities that implies. . . well if an overnight backpacking trip and a one night hotel stay for a wedding in the next city over count, then make that a grand total of TWO nights away. Even more, we had never left the little guy overnight before (he's two).   So you can imagine our excitement when we made plans to travel with friends to Washington DC in June to participate in the DC Triathlon.  We secured our spots in the race as soon as registration was available, began looking at logistics of travel and discussed with my very generous parents the possibility of the kids bunking at their house for two (TWO!!) nights while we got away.  Just when we thought all systems were go, we received an email explaining that the race had been cancelled due to difficulty with National Park Service permits.  (One would think that these little details would have been hammered out when the race was planned, right?)  Needless to say, we were not only disappointed about not getting to bike and run past the White House, but we were especially bummed about our kid-free weekend slipping away.  

Sensing our disappointment and recognizing that our anniversary would fall over my summer break, my mom and dad put the offer on the table to open their home to our children while the hubby and I escaped for a night or two. We discussed possible destinations that would not break the bank (read: cheap to FREE).  We thought we had settled on a backpacking trip to the NC Mountains, but after our crazy beach trip in June included a trip to the Urgent Care we asked my parents if we could use their beach house (Read: FREE) for a weekend away instead. The hubby was scheduled to be off the first weekend in August, so we "booked" our room and babysitting and started planning.

Now for most couples, a weekend away at the beach means indulgent eating, relaxing in the sand, long walks on the beach and lazy mornings sipping coffee on the porch.  However, we had something different in mind. . .

Remember this post? Yeah.

A typical beach trip with kids is like an endurance event in itself.  A morning of running or biking followed by an afternoon in the waves and sand with the kids.  However, our running and biking are adjusted depending on whether or not we have someone to keep the kids (otherwise we "divide and conquer" or tote them along in the jog stroller or bike trailer) and we must reserve some energy for playing on the beach until nightfall. 

This trip was different.  No kids, meant no time or distance limits on biking or running due to babysitting accommodations.  Who needs reserved energy for the late afternoon when you can rest in a chair with a cool beverage knowing that you will not be summoned to build a castle or fly children through the air to "jump" the waves?  This would be a perfect opportunity to try and conquer one of my summer goals.

A half century ride.  50 miles.  

Now this may not sound like a lot to someone who cycles regularly, but my longest ride prior to July was 30 miles, so tacking on an additional 20 was a great goal to try and accomplish late in the summer.  We put in a lot of saddle time during the month of July and by the end of the month I had logged a 42 mile ride and felt confident that 50 was within reach.  The family beach house is situated on an island and the hubby and I calculated that we could log 54 miles by riding to each point from the house.  The plan was made, the kids were dropped off and we hit the road.

The car ride was unusually calm without the background noise of kid whine chatter from the backseat.  The hubby and I had a great time talking and catching up, barely talking about the kiddos at all.  In fact we talked a lot about our weekend plans and big bike ride that we were hoping would lead to a few new goals to add to our fitness list.  I also enjoyed the fact that I could concentrate on completing the Reporter's quilt as we drove without having to dive into the backseat to retrieve books and toys every five miles. 

The next morning we set off early and hit the road.  Although the clouds appeared to be warning us of showers, we didn't let that dampen our enthusiasm.  On our way to the closest end of the island we experienced a few sprinkles but rode on and hoped for brightening skies.  We turned to ride the length of the island (from Emerald Isle to Ft. Macon) and the rain started right as we pedaled out of the town limits.  Luckily it was just a light rain and mist, but that didn't stop the road grime from covering us head to toe.  Eventually we reached the far point of the island and took a break to refuel and enjoy the view.

Ft. Macon--far point of the island

Our ride back was to include lunch, so we chatted about a little place my parents enjoy when they cycle, but when we got there, no seats were available near the window for us to monitor the bikes so we went on to our favorite stop--the Big Oak Drive-in.  Along the way we knew that we would need to refill our water so we pulled into a gas station and grabbed some bottles.  As soon as we pulled out, I heard the unmistakable sound of a flat tire.  We pulled into the next stop and found a covered area to use as a repair shop.  The rain had stopped, but the sun was beating down and the humidity was high.  

Learning to change a tire was something that I had been nervous about, but I had assisted the hubby a few times and wanted to give it a go.  I was doing fine, but half-way into the process he informed me that we only had 1 spare tube and 2 spare cartridges to fill it, so basically this was a one shot deal.  I didn't want either of us to ride home alone, and I was 10 miles shy of my goal, so I handed over the wheel and let him take over. 30 minutes and TWO changes later (long story, but we ended up having to take two wheels off and switch tubes--valve stem issues), we were back on the road and ready for lunch.  

We quickly refueled with a shrimpburger, fries and sweet tea and got back in the saddle. 

Soon we hit my goal. . .

But, we weren't finished, yet.  We had figured out (thanks to my dad who had ridden the day before) that if we rode back to the EI point and THEN to the house, we could round out a metric century ride (62 miles).  Not to be outdone by my dad, I rose to the challenge and we went on. . .

Emerald Isle--our end of the island

And we made it!

We enjoyed the remainder of the afternoon on the beach with adult beverages and celebrated with friends over pizza that evening.  

The next morning I wanted to get in a training run for an upcoming half-marathon that I am toying with, so we set off back to the point at EI (finding some change along the route) for a seven mile outing.  I was surprised by how fresh my legs felt after the miles logged the previous day.

The hubby and I relaxed with a frozen coke and a walk on the beach before heading home to squeeze our munchkins and return to reality.  

This was, without a doubt, the best weekend of the whole summer. We agreed that we shouldn't wait so long to do this next time. . . yearly, maybe?

What a wonderful time to reconnect, achieve some goals and share some new ideas and goals for the coming months. . .