Today I hared my annual birthday trail. I had a lot to get ready this week and was running around ragged (didn't even get to hang out with a couple of couch surfers that crashed at my place for a few days), so I didn't bother to really scout trail since I know the area relatively well. Besides having done trail here the previous two years, I attended USF for many years so figured that I know the area pretty well. I had intended to take the pack up to the top of MOSI and even scouted everything to be sure it was open. I got a decent head start from the pack, ran through the museum to the top, placed all the sticky notes, and got out as quickly as possible, only to find that the ENTIRE pack bypassed that bit when some rangers found where the trail resumed and merely whistled everyone along. The start of the trail also went straight through the Renaissance Festival fairgrounds as well, so I think people enjoyed that a bit. I laid a bunch of bad trails marks and count-backs throughout and even had a beer stop in one of the buildings on the top floor with a pre-stashed cooler, however I later learned that most of the runners even missed that bit. Grrrr.
I got to the end just as the runners were tearing up the street behind me. I was in for a surprise during circle when Angie had set up a lovely series of surprises such as a special t-shirt, cupcakes, gift bag, etc. Awwww, isn't she awesome?
We had a virgin hasher join us for the trail that said she would do a pole dance but alas there was no pole to be found. She must have thought she would get off the hook quite easily, however the pack quickly suggest that I take the place of a pole since it was my birthday run. She preformed her act, and it was good. The on-after was CDB's Pizza where we hung around for dinner and a few more drinks. We gave some of the staff cupcakes and in return the bartender gave me a birthday tequila shot.
Some of the pictures and cuch suncerning the trail can be found here: http://www.jollyrogerh3.com/2007_05_17.htm
About 60 people showed up at our house for a party this weekend. In the early afternoon we set a trail from nearby Limona Park that looped around to come in behind the house and end in my driveway. The trail was long enough and fortunately no one got stung when I have looped a portion a little too close to a local bee farm, but the pack was kept pretty close together. The after-trail party was essentially for the birthday of Kiddie as well as Kristen. I set up some work lights in the wooded area behind the house for some back lighting that ended up looking great. 
Besides having the daiquiri machine churning out frozen concoctions all night, the kegerator was cold and full, the fire pit was roasting, and the weather was perfect. It was just cool enough to not require kicking in one of the AC units and just nice enough that the small fire provided a nice sitting area outside. Kiddie and Mams picked up some pulled pork, rice, and a few other things while Kristen put in a lot of time making the cheesecakes and they went over incredibly well with the friends. While I'm not sure if I can afford to have this kind of event too often, it was nice to bring together a lot of friends from around the state that I hadn't seen in a while. Several of the folks were good at helping keep the place clean, of which I was quite thankful. It had been a long week with a lot of projects with which I was dealing at the office; so the rest Sunday was quite nice.
