On July 21, 2012, Pops turned the big 6-0. We couldn't just let it pass like any normal birthday, so we started planning at the beginning of the year.
We knew we wanted to do something totally different. We also knew that we wanted to surprise him; something very difficult to pull off.
Pops loves the word ass and for as long as I can remember we have given him cards with donkeys on them and sent a quick picture anytime we happen to be near one. Last year when we were in Boulder for a race, we found out that in Colorado there is a race called "Drag Your Ass Over the Pass". Oh.My.Gosh. Could there be anything more perfect for Pops? It is 14 miles through a mountain pass and you have to take (not ride) a donkey with you. We were so excited we could hardly wait for the summer 2012 race to open for registration. Just after the first of the year I contacted the race director for more information and to our great disappointment, we found out that you cannot just sign up and come race. You have to provide your own ass. Dang it!! There are people who will loan you one but they require that you come spend at least a week with your animal before the race. Apparently this is not as easy and fun as it sounded.
Back to the drawing board.
In February I received a race email from Muddy Buddy and just before deleting it I noticed something...a date...July 21st...and a place...Chicago! No way! We love Chicago, we love to run, we don't mind being dirty, and it is ON his actual birthday! We jumped on travelocity and made our plans. By mid-February we were booked and ready, just had to wait 5 months and keep it quiet!
To our great surprise and joy, we pulled it off. Our flight to Chicago was at 6:45 Friday morning. Thursday night, Nana told Pops that she was kidnapping him for his birthday; that he had to get up at 4:30 the next morning and that he was already packed and could ask no questions. Zach, Jodi, Pete and I surprised him at the airport (Mat and Kara went to Chicago early to see the sites) by coming up behind him in line and placing a "60th Birthday" hat, sash, sign and cane on him. He was shocked to see us there; it was so great! When it was our turn in line he had to give his boarding pass so this is when he found out his destination but we let him know that the city was only a small part of the plan. He still did not know that Mat and Kara were waiting at the other end and had no idea what was on the agenda for the next day.
Mat and Kara surprised him at baggage claim and an amazing weekend was underway.
The first crew. Waiting to board at DFW and head to Chicago. Pops got so much attention from all of his birthday garb! Many people stopped and wished him well. It was pretty neat.
Riding Chicago's public transit system from the airport to downtown...classy :)
The full crew at baggage claim in Chicago
Notice in the photo above our lovely luggage. We laughed and laughed at each other over this. To make the trip as affordable as possible, we chose to try out Spirit Airlines. Oh my gosh...NEVER again! It was the cheapest, most difficult to book flight ever. Anyway, back to the luggage story...On this airline, you are not given any free bags and a checked bag is cheaper than a carry on. So we all decided to save money and each couple packed one suitcase together to check. Just to make things more difficult, Spirit's maximum weight for a checked bag is 10 pounds less than the other carriers and our large suitcases would be over the weight limit. Soooo...Zach and Jodi, Pete and I, and Mat and Kara all dug deep in our closets and found luggage that we have had since our youth. Smaller, yet big enough for two, these bags were not quite vintage, no, they were just crappy old bags and they were hideous! First, in DFW before seeing Mat and Kara, Zach and I noticed that we had the same brand! They were equally ugly and we got such a good laugh. But Mat and Kara trumped us big time...when they showed up to meet us at baggage claim their suit case was TAPED CLOSE with clothes trying to fall out on all sides. As they packed up that morning, the zipper broke and they had no time to go shop for a replacement before needing to be at the airport. That scene had us rolling. We could not believe how white trash we all were. Then we proceeded to board the classy Chicago public transit :) A perfect start to a Parker trip. If the trip had ended right then it would have all been worth it just for those laughs.
We spent the day walking. Walking. Walking. Oh my, we walked. From the hotel, we went nearly two miles north to eat the first of what would be numerous HUGE meals. From there, we went south the 2 miles back to the hotel and then ventured out to see Navy Pier and on and on to eventually cover 10+ miles. Pete and I had to detour from the group to pick up our packets for the half marathon that he and I would be running on Sunday morning, then we all met up on the river for some dinner.
Over dinner we discussed what else we wanted to do while there and the subject of the following day came up. Pop's big day. He decided he wanted to guess what we would be doing so we played 20 questions. With all of the laughing and joking going on, I can't remember if he was actually able to guess or if we finally just told him about the mud run. We were SO excited!
Not too late to bed to make the next day a little less painful. Saturday morning we were in the lobby ready to head out at 7am. Again, we walked to find some breakfast and then on down another mile to pick up a rental car for the 45 mile drive to the Muddy Buddy! We were giddy, like little kids and enjoyed the car ride as much as the rest of our vacation.
Once on site, we picked up our packets, pinned on our race bibs, let the announcers interview the man who was kidnapped from Texas and brought to Chicago to run in the mud on his 60th birthday, and we were off!
We decided to stick together for the entire race. None of us wanted to miss a minute of what one of the others might be doing on this unexplored territory of fun for our family. It took us well over an hour (you gotta stop and fight in the mud and push each other down and roll down grassy hills!) to finish but this did not stop Pops and Nana from taking 1st place in the masters co-ed team division! Woot!! Icing on the cake for a day that we will never forget.
By now we are quite famished so we stop at a "breast-raunt" for some lunch and games.
No rest for the weary. We made it back to the hotel just in time to shower and WALK to dinner. Pops chose an awesome Italian seafood restaurant and insisted on treated all of us for HIS birthday! Thank you, Pops!
After dinner we WALKED to see the fireworks on Navy Pier and then over to see the fountains. Exhausted and completely stuffed, we collapsed for a few hours sleep.
Pete and I rose at 5:30 and headed out to run the Rock-n-Roll Chicago Half Marathon. We found out that it was going to be in town while we were there and that it started literally 3 blocks from our hotel. How could we pass that up? We both had awesome runs and finished just as the rest of our group finished breakfast.
We checked out of our hotel but had quite a few hours to kill before heading back to the airport, so we rented bikes and toured the city. Again, laughing the entire way. What a beautiful city and so much fun to explore walking, running AND biking!
Words cannot describe the amount of fun that was had on this trip. Pops says it was the best birthday he has ever had. I hope so. He makes this family so much fun and what an honor to be able to be with him on such a big day. Not many people would have been so accommodating when kidnapped and made to do such things on their birthday. We love you, Pops! Happy 60th Birthday!
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