Part one in my journey to the RRCA Convention 2023
I’m getting ready to fly for the first time in years.
I’m the type of person who wants to travel but gets overly anxious about it. Typically, the trip to my destination is nerve-wracking but the trip back seems easier.
One of the last times I flew was to St. Thomas in the USVI. My husband and I were celebrating our 12th wedding anniversary, and we took our kids and his parents with us. That was in 2011.
To add complexity to our travels, Mother Nature delivered Hurricane Irene that morning! The outer bands had just hit Richmond as we were boarding the plane to fly north to Philadelphia to meet our international flight. It was already windy enough that the airport couldn’t put up the walkway to the plane. We had to go outside and climb the stairs to it!
We did arrive in Philly safely, but instead of a leisurely 2-hour layover, we had barely gotten comfortable in the international terminal when they called us to board. The pilot wanted to leave early enough to get past the storm.
He was eager to tell us all about the modified flight plan, taking us out further east over the Atlantic, and making our flight a bit longer. And when we were near the storm, the pilot alerted us, and we could see the outer bands of Irene swirling. We flew parallel to the storm!
When my kids tell the story, they say we flew directly over the eye of the storm. They were 9 and 6 at the time. I mean, for your first time on a plane, that was a pretty remarkable trip!
I have flown since then, and it was to Chicago to run the Chicago Marathon in 2015.
Later this week, I will be returning to Chicago for the Road Runners Club of America convention. I’m excited to visit one of my favorite big cities, and I’m looking forward to meeting other runners and leaders in other chapters of our organization!
I do love a good convention! I’ve never been to one like this, but I imagine it will be similar to a big race expo with some seminars on the side, with a healthy dose of active networking through receptions and group runs.
I may also need to figure out how to fit in a 12-mile run this weekend.
And if anyone has any advice on great Vegan places in The Loop, let me know!
I’m now working on what to pack, how to pack, and how to get from the airport to the hotel. No anxiety here!
I’ll definitely be documenting my adventure, so stay tuned!
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I’m so grateful to the Richmond Road Runners Club for making this trip possible. Will you be at the RRCA convention this year, or have you ever been? Would love to hear about it!
As always, I hope you all are safe and healthy.
Anne the Vegan 