Wine Country

This past weekend was a whirlwind experience beginning Friday afternoon, but it was thoroughly enjoyable.  I have been training for a half marathon since January, my very first one, and it was to take place on March 22nd.  The great thing was that it took place up in Paso Robles, so close to my college town SLO, and we were making a weekend getaway out of it.  Well, on Friday afternoon I ended up going to the hospital because I had a fever of 103 degrees.  This was mine and Daniel's first real trauma experience where one of us had to go to the doctor ASAP.  It was so encouraging to have my husband with me, and he stayed strong for me and was a trooper because I was very out of it.  After they ran some tests it ended up just being a bacterial infection and they wrote me a prescription.  The hard part of this is that I couldn't run my marathon.  Again, having Daniel there with me was the absolute best thing because he was so supportive and understood what a let down this felt like.  However, it was almost a relief because I didn't feel ready for the marathon.  It is encouraging to know that I trained and have been running a lot but now I am more motivated to push myself harder in order to do one in June. 
The question was still whether or not to go up north for the weekend with another couple.  We had been so looking forward to this, and on top of it Daniel had been working late shifts this past week and the amount of time we actually spend with each other was ridiculously small.  After praying about it, we decided to make the trip since I would be able to rest and relax, and I am so thankful we did.  We left early Saturday morning with the Marbles and made a speedy drive up to Paso Robles.  We were able to relax a little at our hotel and then go to San Luis Obispo to have dinner.  Oh how things have changed.  It is remarkable when you can come back and reminisce about where you used to live and look at all of the cute little boutiques you visited.  But then it was sad to see larger stores take over small independently owned shops and plenty of empty spaces along the main street.  You can never pass up Firestone when in SLO, and our food was perfect! 
Sunday morning Colleen ran the marathon, and it was exhilarating to see her and the other racers.  The race was much smaller than any other marathon, but the course was not closed so we were able to drive and meet her half way for motivation.  Once she finished the unsettling feeling came back of not being able to run, but Daniel kept reassuring me that I did the right thing and that I would feel so much better if I didn't.  Sometimes it kills me when Daniel knows me better than I know myself.  This weekend was so much of me relying on him for my judgment because I wanted so badly to run.  It reminded me that Daniel is a great leader for our marriage and he leads me in the direction I need to follow.  We finished off the day with wine tasting, and heading back to sunny San Diego Monday morning.

The trip was:

• motivating
• encouraging
• filled with hilarious moments from the Marbles
• remembered by funny stories from the various wineries
• the perfect getaway for me and my husband :)