Saturday morning, March 4, Papa, Mama, Bethany, and I packed our bags, bid farewell to Charity and Daniel, and took off towards Cedar Rapids. We enjoyed the beautiful sunrise, and arrived at our first destination--Iowa's Physicians Clinic--around 8:00. No, none of us broke any bones...there was to be a chess tournament held there! We dropped Bethany off, and the rest of us headed to a town called Garrison. We hadn't printed off any directions from Google Maps. Being less than 30 miles away, surely we could just look for the skyscrapers of the town. But, no, we didn't see any! So, my mother handed me an old-fashioned paper map, and told me I was in charge of getting us out of Cedar Rapids. Well, in 20 minutes, I had us out of Cedar Rapids alright--unto a gravel road in the middle of nowhere! But, to make a long story short, we did eventually get there. There were no skyscrapers...that's why we hadn't seen any. There was no thriving business community. There was no hotel. There was actually only a population of 360. What brought us to this town anyway? At first glance this town had nothing in it! Well, there was a library and a post office. And there was the Old Creamery Nature Trail. And that's what we were looking for! Today was the day for the Freezin' for a Reason 10K trail run hosted by Vinton's Pizza Hut!
The race started at 10 A.M. I had told myself not to take off too fast. But with all the excitement, I couldn't resist. I took off along side first place--another girl! Soon, of course, I was left behind. Then the first man passed me. I tried to keep up with him, but that didn't last long either. Then the next runner passed me, and then the next. There were only 17 of us--I couldn't let anyone else catch me! It was windy, but a nice day otherwise. I kept running, keeping an eye on my watch. I finally finished with a time of 50:59. I had come in fifth. The girl in first place had ended up winning the whole race, beating the first man by over 8 minutes! My papa came in sixth (51:22), and my mama, came in tenth (54:16). We all were happy.
Then it was time for the best part: the post-race breakfast. It was perfect--Pizza Hut's pizza, homemade cookies, candy bars, chocolate milk and bananas! The run, the food, and the people were amazing. And it was for a great cause--to fight world hunger. I hope to return next year, and I would highly recommend it to all of you other runners out there. Save the date: March 3, 2018!
The race started at 10 A.M. I had told myself not to take off too fast. But with all the excitement, I couldn't resist. I took off along side first place--another girl! Soon, of course, I was left behind. Then the first man passed me. I tried to keep up with him, but that didn't last long either. Then the next runner passed me, and then the next. There were only 17 of us--I couldn't let anyone else catch me! It was windy, but a nice day otherwise. I kept running, keeping an eye on my watch. I finally finished with a time of 50:59. I had come in fifth. The girl in first place had ended up winning the whole race, beating the first man by over 8 minutes! My papa came in sixth (51:22), and my mama, came in tenth (54:16). We all were happy.
Then it was time for the best part: the post-race breakfast. It was perfect--Pizza Hut's pizza, homemade cookies, candy bars, chocolate milk and bananas! The run, the food, and the people were amazing. And it was for a great cause--to fight world hunger. I hope to return next year, and I would highly recommend it to all of you other runners out there. Save the date: March 3, 2018!
Before long we were on our way to Cedar Rapids. I didn't give any directions to my parents this time, and we made it back quickly. I enjoyed playing in the final three rounds of the reserve section of the chess tournament. I won my games, though they all were very close. Bethany was playing in the Open (the section for the more advanced players) which lasted two whole days. So, after a long day, we retired to our hotel room at the DoubleTree by Hilton. Soon we were drifting to sleep.
The next morning, one by one, we slowly started waking up.
"Do you want to go for a run this morning?" my mother asked me.
"Only if you do," I sleepily replied.
"I do only if you do," she replied. Neither of us really wanted to, but we did anyway. We jogged out of our hotel into the streets of Cedar Rapids. The cool air was refreshing. It felt wonderful. After a 30 minute jog, we were back. We were greeted by Papa and Bethany, who had also come out to enjoy the beautiful morning. When it was time to go back to our hotel room, Mama got the idea to take the stairs instead of the elevator. And we did--we climbed all 16 stories of the Hilton. It was exhausting, but the view from the windows was rewarding. We cleaned up, and took Bethany back for her third round at the Cedar Rapids Leather Jackets chess tournament. The rest of us got some rest and relaxation in, spending the whole morning in our cozy hotel room. Checking out, we were handed our free DoubleTree by Hilton complementary chocolate chip cookies. They were still warm, and were simply delicious.
The next morning, one by one, we slowly started waking up.
"Do you want to go for a run this morning?" my mother asked me.
"Only if you do," I sleepily replied.
"I do only if you do," she replied. Neither of us really wanted to, but we did anyway. We jogged out of our hotel into the streets of Cedar Rapids. The cool air was refreshing. It felt wonderful. After a 30 minute jog, we were back. We were greeted by Papa and Bethany, who had also come out to enjoy the beautiful morning. When it was time to go back to our hotel room, Mama got the idea to take the stairs instead of the elevator. And we did--we climbed all 16 stories of the Hilton. It was exhausting, but the view from the windows was rewarding. We cleaned up, and took Bethany back for her third round at the Cedar Rapids Leather Jackets chess tournament. The rest of us got some rest and relaxation in, spending the whole morning in our cozy hotel room. Checking out, we were handed our free DoubleTree by Hilton complementary chocolate chip cookies. They were still warm, and were simply delicious.
We picked Bethany up, and went to get some lunch. Mama likes Vietnamese food, so we headed to our favorite Vietnamese restaurant! I ordered egg rolls, and chocolate bubble tea. I figured I couldn't go wrong with anything that had chocolate in it! The rest of my family ordered bowls of pho. |
Everything was wonderful. We went back to the chess tournament. Bethany played her last game. While waiting, I played a game with another player just for fun. Soon it was time to head back to our home. We were glad to return to country life, and see our dog, cats, and, of course, Charity and Daniel again! We had an awesome weekend. God is good! Make sure to check out what Bethany thought of our trip at todaylibertyordeath.blogspot.com!