Family Fun Thwarted

Triathlon is a selfish sport. One of the reasons I love racing the Rev3 series is that they really try to involve your entire family in the day. There are movie nights, and kids adventure races. But, typically, when Troy and Annie travel with me to a race, they attend the expo, go to bike check in, watch me debate whether to wear my pink Trakkers hat, or my green Trakkers hat. It's LOADS of fun for them (sarcastic), all the same they seem to enjoy it as they keep wanting to attend the next one. This time I wanted it to be different. Flying into Knoxville was a bit pricy, so we opted to fly everyone into Nashville and spend 30 hours or so of family fun time. I had so much fun planning the beginning of the trip. I went the total touristy, cheesy route. But it's fun to do stuff like that sometimes, since most (all) the time we really don't roll this way. I even made an Excel worksheet outlining the fun we were going to have.

We would land in Nashville, grab some lunch and head to the Country Music Hall of Fame. I was super excited for this.

Then we would stay the night in the Gaylord Opryland Resort. With three swimming pools and 80 acres of indoor gardens, shops, and restaurants I though we would have a blast getting lost in the hotel and taking the indoor boat ride that they have.

Then the next morning we would board the General Jackson Showboat and have a cruise on the river while watching some entertainment, eating some grub. After that we would head to Knoxville where I could turn back into a Type A triathlete, about to race her first race of the year.

Let me remind you: I do not own a TV. I didn't even know what was happening.

Nashville Flooded!

The Gaylord Opryland is under water and has cancelled all reservations for the next 90 days. They are requesting our patience and will issue a refund in the next 90 days. The Opryland was not cheep, and I was paid in full. Oy. I quickly booked another nights lodging in Knoxville.

Everything is underwater and not looking pretty. 27 people have lost their lives, many of them homeless people who reside in the city, terribly sad.

Alas, this little bit of Nashville family fun was not meant to be. We will have to find a way to incorporate some family fun into the town of Knoxville.

Well, I've been waiting to say: It's race week!! My season is STARTING! The race wheels are on the bike and I'm getting super excited (but still sad and bummed for the people of Nashville). It just wasn't meant to be this trip. I'm sure we will be back though.

Aside: Rev3 announced a new race in the series for next year (2011). Can you guess where it is? They are doing a sprint/Oly/HalfRev in COSTA RICA! Wow. I've never been there before. What do you think? Interested in a destination vacation where you can race and your family will be included and thought about in the festivities? Start planning, it's Feb 19/20, 2011.