W.A.R. II

The Women's Adventure Race in Dallas was great -- except it was in Ft Worth, not Dallas. Actually, Anthony said, "Oh my God, Jenn, do you realize where it is? This is in West Ft Worth!!!" Of course, he and the kids would be driving from N.E. Dallas where his parents live, so this was significant.

The race was held at YMCA Camp Carter, and it was a beautiful site. There were also several evacuated families from Hurricane Katrina staying at the campground. They waved and cheered us on. We started off with the run portion, but it was really more of a hike. When we went up steep rocky hills, it was too steep to run, then back down, again too gravelly and slippery to run. Then we got on our bikes.

The bike portion was nice, going through shady trails with scattered fallen leaves. The bad part was the thick sandy roads we had to ride between the trails. The bike just sinks in the sand, fishtailing and slowing to nearly a stop. The mystery events were almost identical to the Austin race - but I didn't fall on the balancing event! Emily was great on the Mind Puzzle event - we passed a lot of people with our short stop time on that event.

While we were on the first bike ride, Anthony arrived with the kids. Despite the gnashing of teeth because of the traveling distance to the race, Anthony took care of the kids the night before, got them up early, packed the car, and drove to the race. Anthony's mom and dad, and our nephew Andrew also came to help support us. We had quite a posse! Home Depot was at the race with projects for the kids to do. Here Anna creates a wooden box to hold her treasures:



After the first bike race, we had the water event. There was a small man made lake with a tiny island in the middle on the campgrounds. We had to go around the island. Emily and I piled into the tiny inflatable kayak, but our legs stuck out, and our dragging feet really slowed us down. Emily hopped out and kicked/pushed from behind, while I kept paddling.

Yeah, we might have to invest in an inflatable canoe if we do this again - plus some personal flotation devices that don't fly up around your neck the whole time. There is a float contest, where awards are given for creative floats. I liked this flipflop one. The thong part is made out of noodles, and the base is pink styrofoam wall insulation.


After the water event, we were tired, but glad we were mostly done. We repeated the bike route, without having to stop for mystery events. It was obvious how much more stamina Emily had this time around. We didn't stop except when the sand forced us to!



This next picture is blurry but really captures the moment! We just finished the 2nd bike ride and are getting ready to run the gauntlet and finish!


We really improved out time, finishing in about 1 hour, 20 minutes. We were tired and famished, and we could smell the wonderful meal that Carrabba's Italian Restaurant was cooking for us on site: grilled chicken, penne pasta, and caesar salad. Mmmm. We all chowed down, except for Anna - she would only eat the Clif Energy Bars.


Triumphant Emily and Colin after the race.


Here Montana munches on my watermelon rind after the race. Anthony brought her, too, because we left for home directly from the campgrounds. I didn't get to shower and had to go home smelling my lakey self, but I did change out of my wet clothes before we headed home.