I'm here!

Well, I arrived in BEAUTIFUL Idaho! It was an odd route - KC to Denver, but we stayed on the plane there; then to Seattle where we had a little more than an hour to kill, and on to Spokane. from there I rented a car and drove into Idaho.
As if we didn't all already know what a small world it is - get this - as we're landing in Denver, the guy across the aisle says, "is this your first?"...Huh? Wha..oh, I realize I'm holding the folder I put together with all the IM stuff in it. "Is this your first Ironman?" Yes, I answered - do I have that look? Come to find out, it's Jared from KC. He used to work at AmCen (now at JPM), and I knew of him from another friend of mine who used to work at AmCen. Crazy! He and his wife were heading to CDA as well. He did this race last year!
As the plane cleared out, they opted to move into my row for the next leg. It was great talking to them, and really made the time pass quickly. I tried not to bury him in questions about the race, but we all talked in general about our lives, work, training, etc...it was nice.
I grabbed a bit to eat at the airport in Seattle, and as I was heading back toward the gate, I ran into them again, so we sat and talked some more. we ended up sitting together again from Seattle to Spokane...and we were in the rental car area for quite some time. They had some trouble getting their car, but by the time I left, it sounded like it was expected within the hour. Oh boy! We exchanged #s and parted ways - how nice it was to travel with them today!
I made my way to the rental property offices, picked up my keys to the house and headed towards Rathdrum. I spotted a Target and stopped to get a couple flats of water and a few things for the morning...not sure what the house will have.
I grabbed more food - this time it was Subway - mmmm. I passed the turn for my house and drove a bit out of the way before realizing it, so that was a bummer, but once I figured it out, I found the house fairly quickly. It's pretty cool - very big (see, more of you should've come out here!!!) - and has gorgeous views. In fact, I'm sitting out on one of the decks as I type this entry. It's sunny and 68ish degrees - really nice!
Coach Steve is en route, as are the folks (still), and everyone else will head this way in the morning. It's feeling more and more real!!!




And, a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my friend, Sharon!!!