Welcome home, July Trippers! Travel stories??

TarHeelMom

TarHeelMom

Cathlete
Hi y'all!!!

WOW -- it's noon and I'm still sitting here in my Friday night jammies , with nothing urgent to do except stinky laundry and a nice stretch for my Lower Body Blast-sore heinie & legs! YAY!!!!

Thank you again from the bottom of my heart to all of you July Trippers for all of your hugs, appreciation, warm and kind words and generosity to us Coordinators. We LOVED your gigantic card, we loved your surprises for us, and most of all we loved being with all of you. This was our 3rd Cathe RT and it was so great to see some of you for the 2nd or even 3rd time -- it felt like a perfect combination of fun (and challenging) time with Cathe and a girlfriends' reunion weekend!!

August Trippers, we can't wait to see you too! You are in for a fabulous time, we promise! Your itinerary will be identical, but we are already working on tweaking a few things just a tiny bit to make them even more Road Tripper-friendly. :)

So did everyone get home okay and has your luggage caught up with you yet?? Y'all wanna share your travel war stories?? We might as well laugh about them, huh? Wow, yesterday afternoon was some kind of airport purgatory after that violent thunderstorm in Philadelphia, wasn't it?

Lorrayne and Debbie and I drove our rental car back to the airport RIGHT in the middle of that storm -- coming across that Walt Whitman Bridge I couldn't see a thing except rain, mist and lightning, and I kept thinking "Lord, please don't let me go out this way -- I haven't even had a shower since kickbox class!" All three of us were very late getting out of Philly, of course. My flight to Atlanta changed gates FOUR times, ending up leaving WAY far from the original gate. I had to chuckle even though I was getting tired of schlepping my gear -- you should have seen 300+ passengers hustling from gate to gate like a herd of highly annoyed sheep. :D

But the airport hangin' out time for me ended up actually being fun -- since lots of travelers were being re-routed thru my hometown airport, I ended up sitting at one of my gates (before the final move) for quite a while with a wonderful bunch (shout out and hugs to Amy, Lisa, Jean and Cheryl) -- what fun we had reminiscing about our fantastic weekend!

Poor Amy (Seedorf) -- she was going to Chicago and ended up stranded in Atlanta. And there's more. She and I ended up on different flights but managed to re-converge at the same baggage carousel in Atlanta at the same time (translation: about 11:45) and wouldn't you know that her bag was lost?? I got her all set up with a hotel for the night (since I live quite a ways away and she had an early morning flight) and personally put her onto a shuttle to the airport Fairfield Inn (seemed appropriate ;)). The good news is that I talked to her a little while ago, and she is in Chicago and her bag was there waiting for her!

I should get that laundry started before I have to fumigate my laundry room. I know all of you July Trippers are feeling just like I am -- a combination of nice relief for your tired body and a little sad achiness in your hearts. :( But let's just all plan RIGHT now to do it again next year!!!

Sending hugs to all of you!!!
 
Hey Kathy! I heard you were Amy's angel while she waited and waited for travel updates and progress. So thank you, on Amy's behalf, for all you did for and with her at the airport.

I made it home safely after I dropped Jean, Amy and Pennie off at the airport. I drove smack thru the middle of that horrible (yet amazingly beautiful) lightning storm that stranded so many of you fine young ladies. My drive was about 90 minutes home, about 85% of it in the rain. But safe and sound.

Reality smacked me HARD in the face when I got home. Tears were instant. I'm glad to be home, but sad to be away from all the energy and excitement of the RT gang.

Gayle
 
I was stranded in the Philly airport for 12 hours!!! Did not get home til 3 in the morning and because of the rain my luggage was wet. My sweet boy was so good during the loonnngg wait

Tracy
 
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This was my first road trip, and I had a BLAST (in more ways than one thanks to Cathe) ! It was great to meet Cathe and her crew, the AWESOME road trip coordinators, and all of the road trippers. I really felt like I got my money's worth...the event was planned and handled extremely well !!! I most definitely plan to come back next year for sure !!

I was lucky in that I pretty much had a straight shot home to Baltimore...no airlines to deal with !
 
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I'm so glad to hear everyone is making it home safely. I only had to drive an hour home but got caught in a surprise hail storm! It was coming down so hard I had to pull over on the side of the Atlantic City Expressway for 10 minutes while it passed. Getting back into traffic from the side of the road was a nightmare. I said a quick prayer and went for it at one point when I saw a small opening. But I ended up home safe and sound (and so did all my stinky bags of workout clothes!) :p Oh my, it's a great idea to "baggie" every thing but be sure to clothespin your nose before opening. :eek::D I about knocked myself out, lol!

Thanks again Kathy....you Lorrayne, and Debbie did a stupendous job again this year!!!! :D

Kathy G
 
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Crazy Ride Home

This was my first road trip, and I have to say that I had an excellent time! It was so nice to meet people that love fitness and Cathe the way I do. My ride home was okay until I hit the Verazzano Bridge, then the heavens opened up and the lightning and thunder were actually scary! Many, many drivers had to pull over because of flooding and being unable to see for the sheets of rain coming down. But I made it home safe and sound, just a little sore. Thanks again to everyone who made this possible and I hope to do it again next year! Laura
 
Well, I just got home a little while ago. Air travel was a huge pain yesterday due to the thunderstorms in Philly. I was one of the lucky ones - my flight was only delayed 3.5 hours. I got to Chicago at 8:00pm and stayed the night with my parents so I wouldn't have to drive home at night while exhausted. I drove home this morning instead. (I live 3 hours from the airport in Chicago)

The RT was a total blast and I'm so glad I went, despite the travel difficulties. Thank you Cathe and coordinators for another wonderful road trip! Sign me up for next year! ;)
 
I got home a little after 2am PST, which of course was 5am eastern (and I had thought I would sleep on the plane, but just couldn't!). It was quite a day, but what a fun, fun weekend! They did warn us that weather happens, but boy, the reality of it was something else. Some saint from Orlando had bought a huge bag of Dove bars and gave me one before she got on her plane. I think it was that that kept me awake for my 45 minute drive home from the airport.

-Beth
 
After going through security 3 different times and running from Terminal E to Terminal D and back to Terminal E because Southwest kept changing its mind about how delayed my flight would be and what would be the best way to get all the way home, I got on my original flight and flew out only about an hour late. My connection in Houston was delayed, but I got home last night only two hours late -- my sweet family met me at the airport just after midnight. It was all frustrating at the time, but it could've been worse.

Thanks to Cathe, I'm fit enough to run back and forth between terminals lugging a full gym bag and a full rolling suitcase. I tried to just consider it a bonus workout. :)

The weekend was amazing -- travel challenges notwithstanding! I can't wait to see you all again next year! Now off to start the next load of laundry.;)
 
OMG what a ball that was. I still can't get over it. The weekend exceeded my expectations, and my expectations were pretty dern high. 5.5 hours in the car gave me some quality time to reflect on everything and everyone. I pulled in around 4:00pm with 6 baggies full of stinky workout clothes and a huge fat grin on my face.

When does the presale start for next year? :D
 
Sorry to hear of all the delays for you fliers. I couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of you all running abck & forth with luggage & weary arms & legs. Definately a bonus like Kristi said.

Thanks Melissa for the piggy back through Philyy. My first try getting there was a nightmare. I live in a very small town & DO NOT like traffic & the hustle & bustle of the city. At one point I was headed into oncoming traffic!!! Talk about scary, I am blaming it on my DH's GPS (maybe me being flustered had a little to do with it but more "eddie's" fault - the GPS)

Had a wonderful time!! Thanks for all the wonderful memories ladies ;)
 
Hi RT friends. Glad to hear everyone is slowly trickling back in safely. I am sorry for all of the travel headaches you all have encountered. Miss Kathy -- THANK you to the moon and back for taking such sweet care of our Amy on her detour.

Joyce, Colleen and I watched the lightening strikes from the car (well, Joyce and I did -- Colleen slept - HA!) I think we had enough light rain to run the wipers maybe 3 or 4 swipes and that was it. We pulled in about 6:20 and I actually got my laundry done last night. Got up at 5:00 and got in HIS. But ya' know what -- I'm tired! Been running the kids around and think I need a nap. As I told some of my other dear friends ... Back to life -- Back to reality. Here's shooting for next year too. Hugs to you all!
 
So much fun!

Got home late last night. Only delayed an hour and a half, which turned out to be a fun blessing in the chance to visit some more with Kathy S, Amy and Jean.

Now it's hard to get back into the swing of a work Monday. Yikes!

I'm ready to go back and do it again. What great memories.

You August Road Trippers are truly prepared for the time of your lives!!! Pray for good weather - no more torrential rains - and all else should be smooth sailing.

Thanks so much to the coordinators, the attendees, the Cathe staffers, and especially Cathe herself for all the fun we had! We've made memories for life.

Cheryl
 
I got home this morning around 9:00 after multiple gate changes and flight plan options. It was nice having others to hang with at the airport. I enjoyed hanging out with Pennie, Amy, Emily, Stephanie and Kate in their terminal and then went back to mine and hooked up with Cheryl, Amy, Kathy S. and Lisa at their gate for a little bit. Glad to hear that the delays were not too horrific and weather didn't casue too many driving problems, although the hail storm now that could be a problem. Hope it wasn't too serious. I had a wonderfull weekend. Everyone is so kind and full of life and I loved sharing with each of you whom I got the chance to meet. Wish I could meet everyone some day.

Take care and rest up.

Jean
 
Life after the RT

Hi everyone,

I got back this afternoon around 2:30. Since I had a 10 hour drive I split it into 2 days and did 8 hours of it today. I must have lucked out and missed that thunderstorm yesterday because I stopped at a mall outside of Philly to meet up with a friend. I think she got tired of me going on about how much fun the RT was so I didn't last long. Slept like a log last night and got up at 5:15 this morning and got on the road to head south.

Right now I'm getting ready to do Stretch Max and then put my pj's on from the Pajama party so that I can just sit and think about how much fun I had over the weekend. Talk about a great group of people!!!!!! I loved every minute of it and everyone was so great that I can't wait for next year.

Thank you to all 3 of the coordinators. What a great job you did!

Bev
 
What a trip! What an awesome time! Luckily, no delays for the train, and I made it home around midnight Sunday night. Now, I am taking care of the stinky laundry and catching up on paperwork! It's so hard to think about real life again--my husband is sick of hearing all about the road trip--how about yours?

-Christy
 
Okay, now I am crying!!

I am so sad that this experience is over, but so so thankful that I got the chance to go at all. DH has been asking me all day what is wrong, and if he can do anything for me. I love him and DS so much, but I love my Cathe and Catheites too!!

The experience was powerful and life-changing. I love you all and miss you all so much already. I hope we have the chance to hang out and workout together again very soon!
 
The Atlanta Catheites faired pretty well travel-wise. We were delayed only about an hour. Carrie, Catherine, Kia, and I hung out at the airport and then spent some time with Stephanie, Kate, and Emily. So the time passed pretty quickly.

Sorry to hear about the long delays some had to endure. Hope everyone got home safe and sound!

Had a great time....can't wait to do it again next year!!!
 
Hey all!!

I am safe and sound in northern Indiana at my In-laws' now. It's been a long and exhausting couple of days. BUT, it's been an awesome weekend!!! The long, arduous day yesterday actually helped me come back to reality.

I finally made is out of Philly yesterday. My flight was supposed to leave at 1525, but was delayed as soon as I checked in. After finding our gates, Jean and I went from A terminal to D terminal to hang with Pennie, Kate, Emily and Stephanie (Hugs to the D terminal gang!). I have to say that it was a rather impressive rain/lightning show!

After 3 p.m. I decided to wander back to my gate to see if any progress had taken place. If anything, the crowd had gotten larger and more impatient! I sat and ate my turkey sandwich that I had purchased on the walk back to A terminal and chatted with a young gentleman who was flying home to the Netherlands, and had been waiting at the airport since 0600 that morning......for an 1830 flight!!! YIKES! That's when I spotted Kathy S (my surrogate mom!!!) and we sat and chatted for what seemed like 2-3 hrs!

After landing in Atlanta, Kathy was super sweet to find me lodging.....Fairfield Inn ("because that seemed like the Road Trip thing to do") and made me promise that I would call her when I got into my room. Thank you again, Kathy for being so sweet and making sure I got on the shuttle!!!

I had to laugh because when I got to Chicago this morning (this flight was easy-breezy!), my luggage was actually sitting next to the baggage carousel just waiting for me!! Okay, luggage, check. Rental car....check! At the rental car lot, they were out of compact/economy cars, so I was upgraded to mid-sized for free....Kia Optima. It's super nice, drives like a breeze and I was at my first destination by noon! Maria, my super sweet MIL had a nice turkey on whole grain bread sandwich, grapes and cucumber salad waiting for me when I arrived. I then fell out on the bed for a snooze and was awoke by Mama Deb letting me know that she made it out safely as well.

Just a few more memories to file in the Cathe RT 2008 memory bank!
 
Hi Kathy,

I miss everyone already! I am pleased to report our trip home was "uneventful", no speeding tickets, no break-ins, just a slight wrong turn in NJ but nothing earth shattering.

It was so wonderful to see everyone again. I think you guys out did yourselves this year - it couldn't have gone better in my book! August RT'ers you are in for a wonderful time.

My lower body is KILLING me!!!!!!!

This was my 3rd RT and I have to say they just keep getting better. I love how the classes were this year - I really felt them ;-0 Everything was fantastic. Thank you all for a wonderful and VERY memorable time. I promise to keep in touch and keep you informed

love to all,

Tracey
 
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