2012 Michigan 3-Day!!

Another year, and another 3-Day has passed.  As always, the weekend was amazing - full of laughter, tears, hugs, smiles, sore knees/hips/feet, and blisters...but we wouldn't trade it for the world.

Team Tyrannosaurus Racks participated in our fourth 3-Day as a team this year.  We walked in 2009 and 2010, crewed in 2011, and walked again this year.  For Amy and I, this was our fourth year together.  Linda joined us for the first time, and we were missing some of our previous walkers who couldn't make it this year.

But it was an incredible weekend...we started out bright and early Friday morning at Oakland Mall in Troy.  Opening Ceremony was inspiring and we were all anxious to get out onto the route!!

Team TR ready to get going!

 We walked through some beautiful communities, saw some early morning Dream Cruise activity, and even managed to find a Starbucks along the route where Amy was able to get her beloved iced tea.  We surprisingly only stopped for tea/coffee that one time during our walking hours!

Day 1 was a long one - 21.8 miles, in fact!  But we made it back to camp still smiling and ready for more!

Walking into camp - Day 1

"Put up your pink!"

 Day 2 was another gloriously "72 and sunny" - and brought us to the much-anticipated Plymouth Cheering Station!  As they have every year of our walking experience, Plymouth rolled out the pink carpet and did things up for us!  The fountain was pink, there were welcome signs all along the route, and hundreds of cheering loved ones were there to shout encouragement, hand out cool/frozen treats, and give hugs and smiles.  We're so fortunate to have had lots of family and friends cheering us on!

Downtown Plymouth cheering station

Day 2 - 40 miles down!

Saturday afternoon/evening held great excitement in camp!  There was a wedding held in the large dining tent - almost immediately after, we noticed lots of pink/black/white debris flying over the camping area - what looked like lots of kites were in fact tent and gear debris flying over camp!!!  If you've never seen a flying tent...wow...something to behold!

It's a bird...a plane...nope, a 3-Day flying tent!

 Day 3 was another spectacular day for walking - we really lucked out this year with the cool temps, sunshine, and NO RAIN!  Even the humidity was very low!

By Day 3, we're all a little delirious.  But our Dancing Lady, who never fails to provide just the pick-me-up that is needed, marched into lunch and led a group of walkers/crew in a 3-Day performance of The Wobble.  It was a riot... 

The arrival in Holding and Closing Ceremony is bittersweet...as we limp in with blisters, sore knees, and aching backs (remember...Limping is Walking!), we're struck by the fact that...it's over.  Our weekend of kindness, sisterhood (and brotherhood) is really...over.  As we say good bye to new and old friends, we all remember why we're here...to find a cure for breast cancer!!

The Three Amigos

The one-shoe salute!

We Will NEVER Give Up!!

Coming home is fantastic...showers...my own bed...kissing my boys...it's amazing.  And as I hobble around on my gigantic blisters today (it's not a limp...it's SWAGGER!) I think...how many days until 2013?