Carmel weekend, part 3

Oooooh, my head. That's how I felt when I got up Sunday morning. It wasn't as much too much alcohol, it was too much everything. Too much rich food, too much no sleep, and ok, maybe a little bit too much wine. I didn't sleep well (big surprise there) and got up and dressed early. I had to move my car by 9:30 at the latest and didn't wait around for that. I decided to cruise around town to maybe find another coffee shop but ended up at the same place as the day before, Caffe Cardinale Cofffee, for another latte. I also got one of their granola bites, a small pastry-like thingie that pretended, by the name, to be healthy. I'm pretty certain it wasn't, it tasted way too good.

I had thought I'd go sip my latte by the ocean but the morning was again cool, misty, windy. Nah, don't need that when I'm already feeling edgy. Instead I went back to the motel to pack up. I ran into Sandy, talked with her for a bit, then packed up and checked out.

I made one stop on the way home, at the outlet shops in Gilroy. No, I wasn't looking for clothes, shoes, bags, kitchenware. There was one very important shop that I'd been looking forward to for months. The Jelly Belly outlet. Disturbing, hmm? Yes, I'm a Jelly Belly freak and I'm very particular about the flavors I like. Most stores now have a very limited selection of flavors and only the factory and outlets have fresh, individual flavors. Not to mention the previous holiday's assortments on sale. So I got my beans. A bag of peanut butter, a bag of sour orange, a bag or two (or three) of a mixture of the other flavors I like. It didn't seem like much until they weighed it and it was mpfhxr pounds. Yikes, that better last months! At 16 or 17 per point, I'm going to need to be very careful.

The ride home was slower than the ride down. Lots of people were on the road, driving like the idiots they seem to be. I finally got home and just wanted to collapse, but I didn't have time for that. I wanted to go hear Jeanette's band, East Bay Mudd, playing at the San Ramon Wind Festival. It had been a couple of years since I'd heard them, in fact before she was singing with them, and since it was practically in my back yard I knew I'd have to go.

I have very happy memories of the Wind Festival. Nine years ago I nervously paced around while waiting to see if the previous owners would accept my bid on my house. Luckily they did; within two weeks real estate prices jumped enormously and I wouldn't have been able to afford the price raise. They did everything they could to try to back out of the deal, but I wouldn't let them, I wanted this house. So I think of the Wind Festival as my good luck charm.

I had measured and it was about 1.6 miles from my house to the festival. So of course I drove. Amazing that I'll run 26.2 miles and I won't walk a couple of miles and save money on the parking. Hey, see above re the headache, etc. Heh heh, yeah, I was just being lazy.

When I arrived the band was setting up and Jeanette was just putting on her dancin' shoes. And what shoes they were! The perfect footwear for the hot singer, and she even needed assistance to put them on. But owie, I don't know how she wears them! I wandered around the festival a bit and saw a sign for beer and wine. Ah! The perfect remedy for what ailed me! That glass of wine made me feel more normal.

The band started playing and sounded great. The lead singer has a fantastic voice and great stage presence. I knew a bunch of peeps from the team were going to be there, but for the time I was just hanging around at the back of the crowd. I had a good view, until some woman popped open her parasol and blocked everything. Oh hi Meenu! I'd finally found the other people, who were directly in front of me the whole time. D'oh! Tunnel vision, I didn't even see them. For the most part I continued standing where I was. I just can't sit still when that type of music is playing. I didn't want to go dance, too tired, but I stood there bopping away where I stood.

When the band took a break I took a walk to get some water. Most of the food booths were sponsored by some local fundraising group; the different high school teams and clubs, scouts, etc. It was very confusing having to make a decision about who I wanted to support with my meager water dollars, but I managed. When I returned the band had started up again and Coach Al had arrived. He had cycled in from the BART station in Walnut Creek. And I wouldn't even walk a couple of miles!

When the band had finished playing and the festival closed down for the day, a group of us decided to continue the party with some food and drink. We walked over to the Hop Yard, a local alehouse a couple of blocks away. I had decided I wasn't drinking again for a while. That lasted until I ordered a beer. Hey, way to stick with it! It was a fun time and I was totally wiped out by the time I got home. I unpacked some stuff, left other stuff sitting out, and tried to go to sleep early. Yeah, that'll work.

I met Pam Monday morning to run. Since it was substituting for our weekend run we knew we had to run more than our normal short short route. We ran the 6-ish mile version, the one we pretend we should be running every time. I started out really dragging, every step an effort, and finally gel-ed about halfway through. That helped enormously, made the rest of the run fun and energetic.

The rest of the day was spent doing typical weekend stuff, keeping busy, getting things done. I realized that I really have to start putting my shoes back in the closet after I wear them instead of just kicking them off and leaving them on the floor. It was funny, six pairs of black shoes and slippers just piled out there. At least they weren't strewn about the house, they're in one place. Into the closet they go!

It was a great long weekend, but I'm glad I won't have to do it again for ... oh wait, until tomorrow. Tomorrow I'm going down to San Diego to see my mom and run my next marathon. Ok, I'll rest the weekend after!