Here's To Adventure

"The most difficult situations always make the best stories."  

~ A. Ladd

Our experience last week (click for story) could be described in two ways.  According to my children, it was the ultimate winter vacation adventure.  Skiing, sleeping in a house and then 2 different hotels, eating out every night with their cousins, staying up late (because they were sharing a room with mom and dad).  Totally awesome in every way.  According to me and my husband, it was the most stressful, chaotic and expensive winter vacation for all the same reasons.  So, not ideal, but not a total wash either.  As I mentioned, we ended up heading home earlier than planned because Jeff and I couldn't handle another night in the 'hot tub time machine' cabin, much to my girls' chagrin.  For 2 days we slept in our own beds, cooked our own meals and wore clean clothes.  Sweet relief.  I even managed to squeeze in a 45 minute run, my first of the new year.  YES!  And then?  Well, then dear, sweet Mother Nature decided to start the year off with a bang and threw down a nor'easter of epic proportions.  For real.  After our week from hell (or heaven, depending on who you ask) one might think we'd all want to curl up on the couch and hunker down in the storm with a good book and a hot drink.  Not a chance.  On Thursday morning, we ate some cheerios, drank some coffee, hopped in the car and headed back up to NH before the storm got so treacherous that we couldn't travel.  School was canceled and the snow was piling up.  We were going skiing.  As predicted, the driving conditions were horrendous.  Thank heavens for Spotify and iPods.  This one was a nail biter.  Our second in less than 2 weeks.  Okay, it does kind of feel like we are turning into the Griswolds of the classic movie series, Vacation.  For some odd reason, we continue to travel from one place to the next followed, much like Clark and his family was, by the constant flow of chaos.  If that makes me Beverly D'Angelo, so be it.  We are who we are.  What I'm starting to realize, is that my choices in life mirror my choices in running.  I am constantly seeking out that next great adventure on the road, knowing that it will undoubtedly be accompanied by all sorts of chaos, both good and bad.  But that's the thing.  It's the chaos, along with the discomfort, the challenge, and the uncertainty that makes each one great in its own way.  Most of them are crazy enough for a good story and all of them are good enough to keep me coming back for more.  So, here's to adventure...on the road and in life.  May they never end.

Listen to this:
Black Magic - Magic Wands