In an attempt to miss traffic, we headed out early Friday afternoon. After sitting in traffic getting out of the city and enjoying some delicious fast food at Carl's Junior, we made it to Red Bluff - pretty much the last large town before heading into Lassen.
The first part of the park/Rt. 36 was a trip through volcanic rock. It was pretty cool and the sun was just starting to set, which resulted in some picturesque views. I was able to catch the below just as the sun was setting......the photo doesn't really do the view justice.
The winding roads took us through several little towns and villages that seemed to be ghost towns now, but I'm sure were booming railroad towns years ago. Then the sun set and it seemed like the deer took that as their cue to come out and play....or try to get hit by cars....or both. Too many close calls. And, as Brian said - no one wins if we hit a deer....it dies and we have another busted up car. Luckily, we made it into town safely.
I had booked us at the only hotel available in town....Budget Frontier Inn, or something like that. Based on the name, I had some idea as to what I was in for, and I had fun taunting Brian with ideas around what it might be on the last leg of our trip. When we got there, I was definitely not disappointed. The outside looked as I imagined and on my attempt to check in, I found the door to the lobby locked and pressed the doorbell multiple times before someone came to let me in. Luckily, someone did eventually come and let me check in.
On the walk to our room, we noticed at least one door that looked like someone had tried to kick it in...luckily, ours was in tact...or so we thought (we did find out later that side paneling left something to be desired). We did have a door to an adjoining room that didn't lock...awesome. Luckily, during our years of traveling to cheerleading competitions and staying in sketchy hotels, my mother taught me well. I just took the table and pushed it against the door - at least it would slow them down.
Amongst other things, we also didn't have a remote....where is there a TV without a remote? Brian tried to find it and then I took a shot at it. No dice....but I did find this guy. Any ideas on what it is? Creepy Sponge Bob? Sponge Bob on drugs?
But, despite the neighbors busting into their room at two am and waking us up with the noise, it ended up being fine. We survived our three nights there and it wasn't nearly as bad as the place in Rohnert Park a few years ago. I mean, it didn't smell like smoke to the point that we couldn't stay there and there weren't drug dealers waiting for rooms when we left.
Saturday morning started bright and early with check-in for the Express Half Marathon. Even earlier for us since we didn't really know where we were and needed to get coffee/tea before getting where we needed to be (the awesome hotel also didn't have a coffee maker....what hotel doesn't have a coffee maker??). We had to be at the train depot at 6:15....so naturally we left the hotel at 5:15. We were five minutes away....from both the depot and the Starbucks. Only us.....
But, we got our coffee and tea and made it to the depot in plenty of time. Again, narrowly missing some deer, but I digress....We worked check-in for awhile before Brian headed off to an aid station and I headed off to the finish line.
It was pretty cool to be near and see signs for a trail I'd read so much about. When you run marathons for nearly ten years, it's impossible to not hear about the Bizz Johnson trail. Yes, I am a runner geek...deal with it :).
I learned how to pull results - and managed to do so all day without causing any craziness on the computer....haha. So, I spent the race pulling results, posting them, and reading out age group winners. Since the only thing worse than the sound of my own voice is the sound of my own voice on a megaphone, I wasn't sure how much I would enjoy making announcements.....However, it was actually a lot of fun. People are usually excited when they win awards, more so when they aren't expecting it. It took me back to getting my third place finish from this race in the mail. Totally unexpected, but so fun.
Once the Express Half had finished (and I'd had my fill of BBQ), I headed back up to the depot to run check-in for the rest of the day. I was surprised at how many people showed up to check in a day early - definitely helped with things the next morning. There was also some sort of chili baking competition....and festival...and I don't know what else going on in the parking lot. What I do know is that there was a very loud band (playing good music, but still very loud...probably because they were right outside the door), and people really don't know how to close a door. The amount of times we shut the door to keep the noise down (and what little AC there was inside), people just kept coming in and leaving it open....come on, were you raised in a barn?!
Saturday night was pretty low key. We tried to find an Italian restaurant, and thought we had, but unfortunately, it was closed. So we ended up at some random pizza factory or something. And recognized just about everyone in the restaurant. We'd either checked them in for the race the next day or saw them at the race that morning. I remember one lady saying, 'hi, expo people'....haha. Food wasn't the best - the Round Table pizza from the night before was better, but, oh well. Win some, lose some. And really, I was ready for bed.
Sunday morning started off similar to Saturday, but with a later trip to Starbucks - thank god. haha. We started with check-in, until Brian departed for his race, then he headed out and I stayed at the depot to continue check-in for the shorter distances, until those were ready to start.
Once the races had started, I packed up everything from check-in and the depot and headed to the finish line. First, I was glad I had the x-terra - not that my car was ever an option, but that's a whole different story. Second, I was glad I had loaded the Coastal van so many times....loading the x-terra was like a mini loading of the van....haha. But, I got it all to fit. We bid farewell to the lady at the depot, and we were off.
I spent most of my time at the finish line on Sunday like I spent Saturday....pulling results and announcing age group awards. Again, it was a lot of fun....people were in disbelief that they had placed, so it was fun being able to make their day. Brian had a great race - PR in his 50k and first in his age group. It was fun to announce his name and give him his first place medal.
I also got to take Brian on a trip in the Coastal van....always a good time. Thankfully, he's good with directions and was able to prevent me getting us lost. We did pass a car that had just hit a deer....really glad that wasn't me. We picked up all the aid station stuff at one main gathering place - I thought I was being slick and got the tables in...thinking we wouldn't have to unload them again. Of course, I forgot about the timing mats. Not that slick....apparently I haven't loaded the van enough times...haha. Once that was done, we headed back to the finish line, broke down, loaded up, and were off...until the next race.
We celebrated Brian's good run with some more Round Table pizza (what else do you eat in Susanville?), some wine, and an early bedtime. We were really excited to sleep in the next morning, but disappointed our time away had come to an end. Such a great weekend getaway.....
Overall thoughts - great trip, great race - highly recommend. I'd pick a different hotel though...or as Brian said, maybe next time we can see if we can find a worse hotel to stay at...haha....
Until then, over and out....
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