One Thousand Seven Hundred Kilometers....

Ahhhhhh.....the distance we've travelled in the new rental car (and we've only had it for SIX DAYS!). Things have remained consistently "PACKED" since we returned from our honeymoon and the odometer has approached 2000 clicks with good reason. Here are some more stories to add to the all-summer-long road trip:

1) After San Fran, we headed back to the Parkinson Residence for Stephen and Nicole's wedding reception. It was quite the affair - with a big white tent, elegant decor, a happening dance floor, and a REALLY, REALLY, REALLY pretty bride. The Parkinson's did a SUPER job organizing the event and Phil rocked the microphone with a great speech. It was exciting for me to meet Phil's Grandma, cousins, aunts, and uncles (who live way up north where no one else would ever want to live).

2) From Wheatley, we headed to Midhurst where we visited another bride and groom! We missed the wedding itself, but made it for the DELICIOUS leftovers and fun and games of a post-wedding recovery day. An intense game of "Catchphrase" was played, as was "Yahtzee" and "Newfie Horseshoes". The latter is especially pleasing for spectators.

3) From Midhurst, we headed to Lefroy for a quick sleepover with Tayls and Joyce (and a little bit of TREEHOUSE, of course!). Then it was off to Lakefield........for ONE night only (BOO!).

4) From Lakefield, we drove to Peterborough to pick up blood work results. From Peterborough we drove to Millbrook for a doctor's appointment. From Millbrook, we drove back to Peterborough for the blook work results that they could not print off earlier that day. From Peterborough, we drove to Toronto to pay for the rental car. From Toronto we drove to Lefroy for our longer-visit at Taylor's house. (This was the day that had me sleeping on Taylor's deck, in late afternoon, without any cushions or blankets! EXHAUSTING!)

5) From Taylor's house, we went to Wasaga Beach to have dinner with my Nan and Pop. Pop did a fantastic job on the barbeque and Nan went all out with a much-anticipated "knitting lesson". She sent me back to Lefroy with the right knitting needles, beautiful yarn, and some beginner's confidence!

6) This morning, we drove from Lefroy to Barrie (not far, but STILL!) to have documents "notarized" by a lawyer, get passport photos for the Kuwait Embassy, get a money order at the bank and drop off items at Good Will. We also stopped at the LCBO for a bottle of wine - size GRANDE. Speaking of which, I wonder if our new school will also reimburse us for the "medicinal alcohol" we've had to consume throughout the VISA acquisition process.....

Hmmm.........I think that about covers it. I wonder what kilometers we'll accumulate tomorrow! Just wait until we shock you with our final "km" tally on August 26th!

GOODBYE SAN-FRAN-FREAKSHOW!

(the city's name, according to our new friends from the UK)

The Parkinson PUSH-UP Program.

This is a program that began one hour ago. With the half-marathon over and the potential Dubai marathon far away, we decided that we needed SOMETHING to work towards in the next little while. And so, we agreed on push-ups! The program entails daily "to-exhaustion" push-up sessions with the hope of becoming stronger and stronger each day. Tonight I could only do FOUR. UNTIL EXHAUSTION. AND THEY WERE GIRLY ONES.

Training for the half marathon was already so much easier......

Honeymoon Chatter.

Phillip: (seriously) I am so lucky to be married to you. I was dealt a royal flush.

Lindsay: (excitedly) I am so lucky to be married to YOU. I was dealt a royal flush that was going to be worth five hundred million dollars!!!

(Bursts of laughter).

Phillip: You're so romantic.

Achy Adventures!

Post-half has proven to be quite painful for the both of us. After the race on Sunday, we spent the entire afternoon and evening in the hotel room....drinking red wine and eating some well-earned pizza! We did our best to hobble around China Town yesterday and even ran to catch the bus to the San Francisco Giant's game last night! Today we made the most of our FINAL FULL DAY and explored the city for 9 CONSECUTIVE HOURS! We left the hotel with the intent of being "YES!" people - which resulted in TOO MUCH drinking on a spontaneous Bay Cruise, followed by an "only happened because I was drunk" lunch at Hooters. Haha - what a great way to end our time in SF! Tomorrow we head back to Toronto, and then to the Parkinson residence for Stephen and Nicole's wedding reception!

NEXT UP.

Immediately following the half marathon....

Lindsay: So, what are we going to do next?!

Phil: WHAT?! REALLY?! We're not going to just relax for a while?

Lindsay: Well....no. Relaxing is boring. We hate relaxing.

Phil: No - YOU hate relaxing. Relaxing is what I would love to do all day long.

Lindsay: Fine then. I am going to run a marathon very soon you know.

Phil: UGH. Fine - I will do it too.

Lindsay: EXCELLENT! I'm thinking Dubai, January 2011!!!!

Phil: Here we go again....

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

Parkinson's 4 Parkinson's raised $2596 for Parkinson's Disease Research! Thank you for helping us to meet and EXCEED our fundraising goal! One hundred percent of the proceeds will go towards finding new treatments and (we hope!) a cure!

Race Lessons - Our Top Ten:

10) San Francisco has HILLS.

9) A camera is a fun during-race tool. Bring ONE!

8) If you could only be PHYSICALLY FIT or MENTALLY TOUGH, choose the latter. It's what gets you to the finish line.

7) Marathoners are motivators. You can't help but be inspired and CHEER for others!

6) Sweats check RULES. There's nothing like a bundle of WARM CLOTHES at the finish line!

5) You can't stop moving when you finish. WALK, WALK, WALK or SEIZE, SEIZE, SEIZE.

4) Post-run "capes" make you feel like a REAL SUPERHERO!

3) Holding hands across the finish line wasn't invented by us.....

2) There's nothing like............MORE COWBELL!

1) Age is meaningless. So is size. And colour. Running doesn't discriminate. Anyone can do it. ANYONE. Yes - EVEN YOU!

Our First Half Marathon - 2:24:22

Team Parkinson Pre-Race Dinner.

DELICIOUS. INSPIRING. WELCOMING. REASSURING. HOPEFUL.


Within five minutes of being there, we KNEW we made the right "honeymoon selection". Everyone involved with TEAM PARKINSON is so friendly and family-like - and there were many moments where Phil and I looked at each other and said "I'm so glad we did this!". Leaving the restaurant, we knew that this event would NOT be our only involvement with Team Parkinson.