Second Star To The Right And Straight On Till Morning [England 2017]

Caitlin and I were both bit by the travel bug when we were in college, hence both of us doing our student teaching in Rio de Janeiro, albeit different years. She traveled throughout Europe in the summer of 2016 while I was galavanting through Central America, but by the time Thanksgiving rolled around, we were both ready to book another trip. Next thing we knew flights were booked and Eurotrip 2017 was in the works. 

We started planning the trip the way any 20 something does these days-- pins the heck out their travel destination, starts to narrow down what is actually feasible, finds some AirBnBs, and then figures out what food must be consumed. We narrowed it down to London, Paris, and Edinburgh over the course of 8 days, so to say that it was going to be a whirlwind would be a serious understatement. 

We flew into London and hit the ground running. Literally, we changed in the hotel bathroom and ran out the door, so that we could find the ice cream macaroon sandwiches before our tour of the Globe Theater. From there we traveled to Buckingham Palace, where we didn't see the Queen, but we did see the changing of the guards. And honestly, it was a heck of a lot less exciting than I had imagined. Unfortunately, since the Queen wasn't home to invite us in for tea, we had to settle for getting as far as the Buckingham Palace gift shop. Honestly, I didn't hate it. 

I was SO STOKED for Day Two in London. STOKED. Because we had tickets to Warner Brother Studios to see where the Harry Potter movies were filmed. I geeked out HARD. There might have been squealing involved, honestly. We got to see SO. MANY. props and outfits as well as sets that were used in the films, and we got to drink authentic butter beer. 

Day Three was devoted entirely to embracing our inner tourist. The tackier, the better. We took pictures with double decker buses, we stared wide-eyed at Parliament and Big Ben, we waved at Westminster Abbey from the top of a double decker bus, we rode the London Eye, and we moseyed across the London Bridge. Sometimes tourist things are tacky, but sometimes tourist things are awesome. Day Three was filled with tourist things that were awesome. 

It also rained which made me feel like I was actually in London. I loved every second of it. And was also incredibly thankful for both my rain jacket and my umbrella. 

Totes glam in London, obvs.

After three quick days in London, we princess waved goodbye to the Queen and boarded the train to PARIS. I'd insert the dancing girl Emoji right here, if I could.

Chase Your Dreams And Touch The Sky (Dopey Challenge 2018: Full)

While thinking about and "training for" and panicking about the Dopey Challenge, I was most worried about the Full Marathon. I'd crushed plenty of 5ks, I'd done a couple of 10ks, and had schleped my way through a couple of halfs, but A FULL MARATHON was a whole different beast. TWENTY-SIX POINT TWO MILES. At once. Seriously, it sounds terrifying.

As with the 5k, 10k, and the Half Marathon, Tasha and I rolled into Epcot really freakin' early. We got our character pictures and stood near the heaters until it was time to shuffle to the corrals. And then sat there and turned into little ice cubes with our friends from the previous day who were also worried about not finishing A FULL FREAKIN' MARATHON. 5:30 rolled around and we were off-- well, Corral A was off. We stood around for a little bit longer until it was finally our turn.

Pre-race photo and post-race photo-- there was an obvious temperature difference

Our strategy for the full was the same as the half-- run as far as we can out of the gate, and then continue with intervals until death was imminent. It was still FREEZING at the start of the full, so I was still wrapped up like a Chipotle burrito in my two Mylar blankets and one fleece blanket. I'm sure it was adorable, but it was super warm.

Things picked up around Magic Kingdom where we ran into our friends, the Flamingos, as well as Tasha's mom who was there with water and snacks. And let's be real, even though I had done it the day before, running down Main Street, towards the castle, was magical as heck.

My favorite moment of the entire weekend was when Tasha and I ran into Richard at the Grand. Richard worked as a greeter at the Grand Floridian since 1991 (!!!!) and was just the cutest little man. We saw him during the half and he wished us good luck, and we spent the rest of the race talking about how much we wished we had taken a picture with him, so it was literally a dream come true to be able to take a picture with him during the full.

 The second best moment was obviously when we got free snacks as we ran through Hollywood Studios. But really, can you blame me? We were at Mile 23ish, were going on 7ish hours, andddd had just zig-zagged approximately 4-5 miles throughout Wide World of Sports. That candy, however stale it was, was a godsend.

From the time we finished our candy until mile 26, we talked about how excited we were for the bags of ice waiting for us at the finish line. Seriously, who knew that stale candy and free bags of ice were all needed to make some girls happy?

Approximately 8 hours later (no one ever said we were fast), four bags of ice, 8 packages of stale candy, and countless snacks taken from strangers on the side of the road, Tasha and I crossed the finish line officially labeling me as a marathoner and both of us as Dopey.

THE moment we became Dopey

Honestly, almost a year later, I'm still shocked that it even happened. I mean, 48.6 miles in one weekend in wild. Doing it with little to no training (is ill advised and stupid) is even wilder. But it was actually fun. Tasha and I thought about crying a lot, thought about quitting a lot, and laughed a whole lot more.

Dopey,  you were awesome, and, in the nicest way possible, I hope that I never see you ever again.