day 1

We were up bright and early Friday morning, thanks Laura for the ride to the Del Mar Fair Grounds!


As we walked into the expo area, we saw lots of inspiring and encouraging signs {and seriously, who knew how important cheering would be as the weekend progressed}.



We received lots of comments about our adorable skirts.


And we saw lots of fun and festive outfits, too.


As we continued our walk through the expo area, we started seeing some hysterical team names, that kept us giggling throughout the weekend.







Then the festivities began, and the teary water works, too.



And we were off!


Thank goodness for the kindness of complete strangers who kept a smile on our faces all weekend long with high-fives, stickers for our lanyards {seriously, we became sticker hookers that weekend}, cheering, dance music, and ridiculous outfits!

We saw this guy all weekend long, and each time he was dressed with a different theme. I wondered each time I saw him what his story was...And then I'd cry wondering how he was affected by breast cancer...

Who doesn't love a hooker for hooters?

And there were tons of furry friends all weekend. Each time I saw a dog, I thought of Emily...I can't wait to experience this walk with her next time!




A quick pic in Del Mar, this was maybe 1 mile into the walk - still fresh and excited!


We almost had to brawl for best tutu...


Our fairy crossing guard grandmothers...


We saw this grandmother and granddaughter duo all weekend. Again, what was their story?


The first rest stop! I barely made it to those porta-potties! This was just the start of our rush to the toilet weekend! When one has to pee so badly, achy feet begin to not matter as much! This was also the start to our eating bags upon bags of Lays potato chips.

Each day there was at least one hill. At first, we were concerned about the hills, but as our feet and other leg muscles began aching, the hills became something we longed for as they required us to use different leg muscles.

After the first big hill of the weekend, entering Torrey Pines.

Really, when will this guy be able to wear this shirt again? It was so perfectly appropriate for the 3-Day Walk weekend!


Amber's first tattoo...


"The Smile Guy and Little Grin." They also appeared on the walk route all weekend. Sometimes, Little Grin would hand out stickers or give high-fives and then other times she would be so over the walk and be playing with her dolls ignoring all the walkers, all the while her dad, The Smile Guy, was enthusiastically giving high-fives and cheering us on.


Finally, lunch! Our first day, lunch was along the beach in La Jolla.


Lunch was not only a time to eat, but also air out our feet, change our socks, and yet again, stretch. Oh, how good it felt to sit down!


Grabbing the calf stretch at every opportunity! This is about when I realized I pulled the muscle in the back of my left knee. Turns out, there's no real stretch you can do to help that muscle.


Finally, camp!!! At first, we were so excited! Then, as we walked and walked, we realized that the camp sign "1 mile back" was totally wrong! It had to have been 2 miles to camp. 2 miles, right? That's nothing! Except when you've walked 18 miles already, you're starving, yet nauseated, and you have to pee {again}!


Even though we were in a rush to get to camp, the sky was beautiful, and pink! The perfect color for the weekend!



Amber crossing the finish line!


Thankfully, there were Girl Scouts to put our tent together. If it were up to us, we just may have slept on the ground, sans tent. We were so weak at this point!


As we were waiting in line for dinner, we saw the last walker arrive. They honored the last walker with a flag ceremony.

And for all you foodies, this was our delicious dinner!


We never slept so soundly after a day of walking 2o miles! Day 2 up next!