Claustrophobia: fear of white-bearded men in red suits.

After having a good time at the Tampa Red Dress Run last weekend, we decided to head to the Orlando event so I can see some of the folks I'll be missing from Run-A-Muck this year when I'll be in Australia/ New Zealand. Since we picked up passes a couple of weeks ago, Kristen and I decided to stay at her family's condo in Kissimmee so we could hit Disney the next day. We dropped off her dog and headed to the downtown area to the first bar. We drove around for a short bit and found a metered spot that was just a block away from start. It was nice to see some of the old friends (Peterphile, Lunar, Skinamax, et al). The trail was nice as it even had a pretty significant turkey/eagle split that had the eagles running (in high heels, bare feet, or hooker boots mind you) for at least two miles! We went around the park with the big pond and fountain and got a lot (as usual) of strange looks and questions of 'what kind of event is this?'.

On Sunday we headed to Epcot for the day and went around the World Showcase. Instead of going through the front entrance, we parked at Downtown Disney and took a bus to the Swam and Dolphin hotel where we caught one of the water taxis to the back entrance typically only used by hotel guests. While it didn't save any time, it was something different and enjoyable. The rest of the park was enjoyable, as usual and we hit most of the showcased countries and even made it as far forward as 'The Living Seas', but skipped Spaceship Earth and the other rides since it was getting late in the day.

On the way back my front tire literally blew apart. I pulled over to change it, only to find the spare nearly as flat. I slowly made my way to the next exit and just as I was pulling into the pump, the tire was coming off the rim. We called AAA, however I had a bright idea and rejacked up the truck so the weight was off the tire. Now that the tire could stretch out, it would now seal against the rim and hold air. We canceled the tow and cruised home, totally exhausted and worn out, but it was a fun weekend.

My Orlando RDR 2008 pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/mblitch/OrlandoRDR2008