Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Day Three

Day Three began around 5:30 again. After we got dressed, we started packing everything up and took down our tent. Then we headed over to the dining tent for some cream of wheat, eggs, and sausage. They fed us well.

As we were leaving camp, I thought to take a picture of the shower area because you can't understand what it's like without seeing it. There are about eight semi trailers and each trailer has eight shower stalls. The showers are private, but the dressing area is not. But with a little planning and finesse, you can get undressed and dressed in the shower stall pretty easily. What's nice is that they have heaters you can sit under while you're waiting for a shower. Or you can just sit under them to warm up anytime. We did. Sunday morning was our last morning at camp and it was a little bittersweet saying good-bye.
But we were off and on our way by 7:15 or so. We went through some neighborhoods and a park area. Here are some of the San Jose policemen entertaining us along the way.

Here's Jennifer with Sea World in the background. We were approaching a pit stop, and I remember this moment. Jennifer and I (like most true friends) don't feel like we have to talk to each other constantly. Sometimes we're silent. It's not an awkward silence; we're just taking it all in. As we were walking here, we both overheard the conversation between the ladies behind us. One was talking about her chemo treatments and how they weren't that bad, even though she had pneumonia twice. The other mentioned how her mother would call her on the phone and start to cry. She said that wasn't any help because she needed to continue doing everything she always needed to do for her family and fight cancer at the same time. Comforting her mother couldn't be added to the list. That conversation was just another reminder of why we were there. And that it could happen to anyone. And how we hope it doesn't happen to us or anyone we love. And how at least we can say we're doing something about it.
We finally made it to the pit stop. This one was 80s themed.Shorly after the pit stop, we went on what Jennifer referred to as the Death March. We walked up the same path past the estuaries, crossed the bridge, and then walked down the other side. It's hard to tell in this picture, but our line of pink walkers stretched as far as you could see on both sides and across this bridge. It was massive. But what made this part of the walk so horrible, wasn't the length. It was the fact that there were limited supporters along the path. We were on a fitness trail or bike path so there was no easy access from a road. Without people cheering you on, you're just walking. It's just as bad as a training walk, really. It was a long three to four miles, that's for sure.I didn't take too many pictures on Day Three. Well, I did, but many didn't come out very well. Let's just say I wasn't at my best. I thought my camera battery was dying because I couldn't see the image on the screen. Apparently I just hit a button turning off the display. But because I didn't use the display screen, many of my pictures turned out like this:
Yes, we went past the famous San Diego Zoo. That's all I saw of it.

So all the photos I have of Old Towne San Diego, Hillcrest, and Balboa Park are blurry or cut-off. It's all in my head, though, and it's gorgeous!

Our last journey was through downtown San Diego and we finally made it to Petco Park, home of the San Diego Padres. We arrived there a little before 3:30 and we were in a holding area until 4:30. All the walkers enter the closing ceremonies together as a group. Here are our emotional selves walking our last steps of the 3-Day.
There were so many spectators at the finish! We decided we'd never do this to our sons.
Now, when they say the walk ends at Petco Park, wouldn't you think we'd walk into the park? Wouldn't it make sense for all our families and friends and supporters to be sitting in the stadium as we walk onto the field? Well, I don't know the reason why that wasn't the case, but the end of our long journey happened in a parking lot. The parking lot of Petco Park.

In spite of the bum location, it was still energetic, emotional, and we were so proud of ourselves for doing it!
The survivors, in their pink victory shirts, marched in last and we honored them with a shoe salute.After we picked up our gear, we got on a coach bus that took us back to the Del Mar Fairgrounds. We got back to the hotel, showered, and went to the Mexican restaurant next door to our hotel for dinner and some well-deserved margaritas. Our body chemistry was definitely a little altered because after just one drink, we couldn't stop giggling.All in all, it was a very moving experience. And an amazing accomplishment for both of us. We're both glad we did it, and it will live with us forever.

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