The lead up to Ladies of the Lake Symposium 2014

Well, hmm, the time between my last blog post and this one was roughly 3 weeks. Time really ran away there. Leading up to LOL I was pushing myself (in my Romany Surf) on longer or faster paddles, trying to simulate long days of class on the water. Often this meant paddling by myself on the calm Occoquan Reservoir. Still I never really found the time to do the back to back 20 mile paddles I had planned.

Changes in staffing at work meant that I had less time for yoga and biking just as I was making my final push to train. Those last few weeks right before we went were full of stressful days at work, rather than end-of-summer bike rides and hours at the yoga studio. I don't think I've seen my favorite instructor, Fred, in at least 3 weeks. Sunday starts a new week and I hope to return to walking my dogs, yoga, maybe a bike ride here and there.

Of course washing and waxing the Romany, cleaning and inspecting my gear, and packing and stowing began to suck up time as the event drew closer. Myself and Becky were riding up to the Symposium in my Outback, so the car needed a little care as well.

washed and added new reflector tape

Feeling like all my ducks had lined up, I had a fitful night's sleep before we got on the road Tuesday morning the 12th August. Tuesday morning found me groggy but excited. Becky arrived, we loaded her stuff and her Gulfstream and we were off! Like a herd of turtles, as my dad would say, we launched straight into an intense downpour that snarled traffic in every direction. But a few hours later we were clear of WDC traffic and into the rather pretty low mountains of Pennsylvania.

Leaving home

We stopped for the night in Ann Arbor at family's house, before finishing our trip on Wednesday. We pulled into Munising (starts like municipal). We had reservations at the Days Inn which was located next to Sydney's, headquarters for the Symposium. While the hotel wasn't anything to write home about the scenery sure was! Being next to the Symposium headquarters was handy, allowing us to make evening events there without much hassle at all.

Arrived at beach for Thursday tour

And here I will pause before getting my photos together for the next part. But in the meantime let me say I am pooped. Work has been a load of, well, work! Well, at least I suspected I would have a job to come back to!