Race Weekend Recap

Let me start out by saying the was the MOST WONDERFUL EXPERIENCE I HAVE EVER HAD.
I figured with all of the hoopla and fineness that Disney is known for that they would pull out all of the stops. I was correct.  
Let me replay day to day as much as I can.


4 January 2016
I start my vacation.  First with an appointment at a nice place in Briar Creek to have my eyebrows done.  It was a little pricey but they came out nicely.  I also had my entire face waxed and bought a little color to fill in my brows from the times with the ladies at the nail shop wax away too much. 
I ran a few more errands and had my car washed and then decided to try to find a place where I could get a massage.  Finally, I was able to walk in to a place on 9th street.  For 75 bucks it was just ok.  She didn't have the head rest placement correct so that my nose became congested. She also did some weird positioning so that at a few points in the massage I was layin on my side.  :/ Overall, I left a little more loose and refreshed.
At 6:30pm I taught my last Zumba class and bid my students fairwell.  A few of them brought me thoughtful gifts and all of them wished me well. 


5 January 2016
I was so happy to finally be leaving I didn't get much rest.  I got up really early and did the early check in on Southwest Airlines.  Harrell dropped me off at the airport without incident.  I arrived in Orlando and quickly put away my down North Face Jacket and wore a short sleeve fitness shirt that Harrell had given me for Christmas.  "we run this city" with a picture of the state of NC on it. With a pair of skinny levy jeans. 
It took a while for my roommate to find me but eventually she did.  She's a cute 20 something dark haired female who had been helping me plan my first Disney experience since about April of 2015.  I found her funny and easy going.  TOTAL SCORE.
She took me to Wal-Mart where we bought a few items for the week and we browsed Disney products at are just as good but much cheaper than buying gifts on property. 
After that she drove us to the rental condo.   Talk about AWESOME!!!  A two bedroom two bath place with a full kitchen and a washer dryer and a view of the parks from the balcony. 
She gave me a few more tips and I got settled quickly.  After which we headed to Epcot!   My very first day in Orlando and before noon we are heading to the park.  
We walked around and took some cute pictures.  They have alcohol but I didn't buy any although I did buy two bottles of wine for my post race celebration. She had a pretty frozen drink that she said was amazing that had grey goose vodka in it.
We saw a few characters and rode a roller coaster and then left for ESPN where the race expos was being held.
This was the biggest race event I've ever attended. They had vendors everywhere.  First we took care of the business by signing our waivers and picking up our race bibs and shirts.  The shirts were awesome..  5 performance fabric long sleeve shirts and one cotton short sleeve shirt for the 5k.  
Next, we went into the run Disney merch section and bought a few things.  I wasn't impressed with the "I did it shirts.  There were a few shirts and hoodies and jackets but I just couldn't with good conscious spend 35.00 on a champion t-shirt just cause it said, "Run Disney" on it.   I did buy a  Run Disney hoodie.. The same one I had seen online, a visor and a car magnet set.  I also bought the New Balance Mickey Race shoes...  Finally, at the last checkout station a cast member asked me if I wanted a very large bag to put everything I'd bought into it..  My instincts said no but before I could blink I'd taken the big bag, put EVERYTHING inside it and was walking to the car with tired legs and a big smile on my face.
We stopped in front of the banners that depicted each race medal and took pictures.  At the last medal we spoke with a man who was also doing the Dopey challenge.  We took his picture for him and turned to grab our things.. Low and behold my bag was GONE! 
LIKE GONE, LIKE MISSING, LIKE OOOOOOOHHHH NOOOO.
It was like something from a terrible chick flick.  Alicia takes off through the parking lot trying to find someone one she probably wouldn't recognized from behind.  After not too long we realize this isn't going to go well.  I believe I have singlehandedly ruined my entire race weekend.  Finally, I set out to find security.  The more time I'm waiting the more the feelings of doom are smothering me.  I report the incident to security and of course they are less than helpful. 
I return to the expos and leave Alicia out by the banners in cause the mystery man returns. 
Inside the expo they are sympathetic to my situation.  I'm assigned a new race number and given new shirts and new race bibs and t-shirts.  At this point, I'm trying to figure out how to handle the rest of the weekend.  I start looking in my phone for the contact info for USAA and b of a.  Alicia has already posted the incident on FB and now my phone is blowing up.  I can't face it right now..  There are soooo many things to do on top of the fact that I have a race tomorrow.  We start to walk slowly towards the parked rental car talking about how quickly my life had changed.  I'm super sorry and apologetic to my little roommate.  I cast my eyes forward and who is walking towards me but my brand new KNIGHT IN KHAKI PANTS.   OH MY JEEEZ-ZUS!