Yeti, we own you!

(Well, we hung out with you and all had a good time, anyway!)

This trip to WDW, while short, was spectacular. The room (which Brian's mother kindly booked for us using her Vacation Club points) had one of those views you never want to leave and amenities out the wazoo. The company was stellar. And the food. Dear god, the food.

But the real reason we were there was Expedition Everest Challenge. This is the third year for the challenge, but the first year it's been in June -- previous years, the race happened in late September. June is significantly hotter than September, in case you were wondering.

Packet pick-up was business as usual, with one really neat exception: the goody bags. The bag for the 1st year of Everest was fabulous, with tons of little freebies. Last year... less so. It was underwhelming, to say the least. This year, when I initially got my bag, I think I audibly groaned. It was decidedly anemic. But then - gasp - my delightful spouse found the motherload -- the freebie table! The event organizers had a table filled with boxes and boxes of free stuff so you could fill your own goody bag a la carte and not end up with stuff you'll never use. BRILLIANT! We won't even talk about how many Sharpies or packets of kinesiology tape I snagged.

We decided to all hang together for the race and take it fairly easy. I must admit, the relaxed pace was a relief -- my Achilles tendon has been grumpy lately. The obstacles were interspersed throughout the 5k this year instead of being a separate segment of the challenge. This was mostly cool (hay bales), but sometimes odd (army crawl RIGHT BEFORE the finish line). We got a little separated during the scavenger hunt, but it didn't take long for us to all convene at the end of the race with medals and snacks.

Then, there were rides to ride! River rapids! Yes! (Thrice.) Expedition Everest! Yes! (Twice, before my stomach threatened to evict the bacon cheeseburger I had foolishly wolfed down). By the time we left the park, it was 1am and we were that sort of happy tired that only happens at such events. I was so blissed out after our post-race champagne toast back at the hotel that I slept the sleep of angels.