Making My Way to Lake Stevens, The Alternate Route

Started out as a grand idea to go on HWY 2 to Lake Stevens for Katie's 1/2 Ironman Race.  Leave early, nice scenic ride!  Grand idea!  Mike knows that I am not good at directions so we pulled up the map on the Internet and I wrote down all the towns I would go through.  To Wenatchee and onward!  Got it.  Well, it didn't exactly turn out that way.  

As I started on my drive I thought about the Rascal Flats song, I Miss Mayberry!  It still exists you just have to know where to find it and slow down enough to see it! I saw it all along the way! These photos have Mayberry written all over them.

Go towards Wenatchee.  Check!

 More Mayberry!

 Beautiful scenery.

 I got to Wenatchee and there is where things started to go wrong.  There were some decisions to be made and I made the wrong ones.  Instead of staying on HWY 2 somehow I headed toward the city of Wenatchee.  After driving all the way through the city and getting on a small country road I thought this is not right.  I tried the GPS and I didn't like the directions I was getting.  I stopped a couple of times and finally put in the next city I should have arrived at into the GPS.  That got me on the right track.  There were panicked phone calls to Mike and Katie between stops. I knew this would happen, I knew this would happen.  I am not good at directions.  45 minutes later I was back on HWY 2 headed to Lake Stevens.  You will notice the pictures stopped.  All those quaint little towns I wanted to drive through were jammed with traffic.  No more pictures, just get there!  Monroe was having some sort of fair.  Lucky me!

 I thought I was going to miss Katie's check in and bike racking.  So frustrated and sad.  Oh, well I wouldn't miss the Triathlon!

 It took 7 1/2 hours to get to Lake Stevens High School where check in was for Katie.  She arrived at the same time I did, well a few minute before.  I missed nothing!  WHEW.  Longest most frustrating ride ever!

Check in time!

 Big time, I mean really big time!

 This came true!  Katie is an IRONMAN!  She would say, 1/2 Ironman MOM!  True!

 Time to drop off the bike!

 Nice expensive bikes!

 Katie checked out the swim area!

 Dinner time and I wanted a simple picture of Keri and Katie.  No simple with these two!

 There it is, much better.

 After dinner it was time to get ready and lay everything out for the morning!

 We didn't get much sleep.  Not sure Katie got more than an hour or two if that.  We got up about 3:45 to face the big day.  Now that is a game face if I have ever seen one!