My folks, my sister, and her family came into town on Friday evening and were going to stay at a hotel in the area. I had planned on getting there early and hanging out at a bookstore, but I was a little behind schedule and was still on the road when they texted that they had arrived. When I got to the hotel, I could see Mom and Dad in the lobby and by the time I got to the doors they had gone down a hallway. When I got inside I’d lost them, but saw the nearby elevator doors just start to close. I quickly hit the button, the doors opened back up, and I stepped into the elevator to see my family waiting.
I got immediate hugs from my nieces and we rode the elevator up to their floor. They all got settled in, then we changed into swimsuits to swim in the hotel pool.
I spent most of the time underwater – as I tend to do – and tried to do some flips to show off for my niece.
Except, I got some intense vertigo each time I tried. After a couple attempts I had to get out of the water and sit quietly for a bit. It was weird – I used to do flip turns all the time and now one rotation was enough to make me ill.
After swimming we hung out in the hotel room for a bit before I needed to head home and the girls needed to get to sleep.
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The next morning I was up bright and early to load up my bike and head to one of the Bike Aboard trail-heads. My family pulled in right next to me moments later and while we were both early it continued the trend of remarkable timing.
We got the bikes unloaded and headed out on the towpath trail at a brisk pace. We stopped a few times but mostly kept moving down the trail. My folks each had bikes and probably fared better than the rest of us. My sister and brother-in-law both had a ½ bike extension attached to the back of their bikes that had one wheel and pedals my nieces could use as they rode. It helped on some of the hills, but… not a lot.
I’ve had my bike for a while, but haven’t ridden it a lot. And certainly not any long trips. Saturday’s trip was 19 miles. Which is not much if you are used to riding a bike – but all kinds of a lot if you aren’t used to it at all.
So when we finally reached the train station to eat lunch and wait for the train, I was more than ready. I tore into the sandwich and chugged Gatorade until I felt a little closer to human and was eager to get on the train back to the cars.
Except, turns out I get motion sick on trains. It was a little better when I was facing forward, but I could have done with a little less “scenic” and a little more “expedient”.
Back to the cars and loaded up, then over to dairy queen for ice cream – and then back to my house to hang out, gently pester the cat (he was pretty tolerant), and pizza for dinner.
Hugs all around and they were on their way. I wasn’t feeling great – not enough water on the ride, I think – and I’m not 100% today.
But it was a good trip and great to see my family. I finally got my bike dirty and kept the pace even though I was clearly not ready for a trip like that.
Tomorrow, back to work so I can rest up.