As usual, too excited to sleep. Woke up at 2:30, took some Tylenol (works like a charm!) then slept from 3:30 to 5:30. Now, why did I think I was actually going to get any work done this morning? No way, man! Ate, showered, dried hair, Bye Dave! I had put all my stuff in ziplock bags yesterday, so “all” I had to do was stuff everything in my duffel bag. Natty showed up at 9:30, and, as promised, proceeded to dump all her stuff on my bedroom floor! Still, except for a bathing suit (why is that on the list of things to bring?), she was very well-prepared. The moment we’d been waiting for: could we get everything packed AND somehow affix the giant air mattress to our duffels AND still come in under 35 lbs. each??? YESSSSS! We rule.We even had time for a quick trip to Walgreen’s for Immodium (never, NEVER do a 3-Day without it.), film, Tums, chocolate, and a muffin. The guy behind us in line asked us if we were doing the 3-Day (I had on my navy Victory shirt). Turns out he was buying a gift for a friend who was doing the walk. Awww! The 3-Day is everywhere!
Watched a few minutes of last year’s video to get in the mood.
Natty’s friend Dave came at 11 to take us to Kenosha. THANK YOU, DAVE!!! This was a huge favor, since Dave lives in Vernon Hills AND had been up all night. I repaid him by promptly giving the most out-of-the-way directions to 294 I could think of. Ooops. A little drizzle, a little hip-hop, a LOT of crap in Dave’s car (a pinata? bags of Girl Scout cookies?), and a trademark huge lunch at McDonald’s. Even tho the exit we took to McDonald’s was our exit for the Lakeview RecPlex in Prairie Springs Park, we somehow felt we hadn’t driven enough and got back on 294. Oops again, but we quickly turned around and got in the l-o-o-ong line of cars waiting to enter the registration area. Poor Dave. All he wanted to do was drop us off and get the 
hell outta there; finally, he was able to do just that. Byeeee!!!
It was raining a little as we dropped off our duffel bags in the holding area. We proceeded to what looked like the next logical step: a building guarded by a cute old guy who immediately informed us, “You’re not going in there, honey!” Uh, okay. We realized we were supposed to get on the bus, which would take us to the Registration area. Joined lots of happy women! Took pictures! Day Zero, here we come!! Wow. Once we got off the bus, we headed straight for the safety video. No waiting! This year, the video viewing area was set up in several tents. Before we sat down, tho, we paused to take in some of the inspirational signs that marked our way:
“Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstandings, mistrust, and hostilities to evaporate.” - Albert Schweitzer“A ship in the harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for.” - William Shedd
“You miss 100% of the shots you never take.” - Wayne Gretzky
The atmosphere in the video tent was pure 3-Day. Yes, I know there were men among the audience, but based on the enthusiastic reception given to the cute guy who spoke to us before the video, women clearly ruled the day. The video was very similar to previous years except for new speeches from Jeff and Dan and segments featuring walkers giving the usual GREAT advice on drinking, stretching, eating, etc.
After the video, those of us who had met our $1,900 minimum or had 3 or less checks to turn in were herded into a huge warehouse-like building for registration. The line was long. Very long. But! It moved quickly, and we had a lot of fun talking with people. We bought cute “Got mammogram?” pins and laughed guiltily as unsuspecting people were the victims of an out-of-control beach ball that was being bounced around the room. I have to say, I was most impressed with the whole process. The crew members in charge of moving people through communicated by different-colored flags. Once we got to an available check-in person, registration took about 30 seconds. Unlike previous years, everything was computerized, and so all of our various check-in assignments (meals, tents, etc.) were taken care of in one step. No more bracelets! Everything was printed on our walker tag. Natty was so happy she took a picture of her check-in person!
So from the time we arrived to the time we finished, about 2 hours. Not too bad! We wandered around the outdoor registration area for a while, wanting to soak up the atmosphere. By this time, lines were a lot longer. We later heard that people were there as late as 8:00 PM. We also heard that people who took the shuttle bus from Lombard got to watch the video on the bus, then breezed through registration in about 10 minutes! Those were the ones who spent the afternoon at Gurnee Mills! We, however, settled for a trip to the 3-Day General Store. Natty bought 3 shirts, a bandana, and visor.
Turned into a really gorgeous day! Sat by the lake for a bit, then headed to the luggage area to pick up our gear and get on our shuttle to hotel. While we were sitting on the bus, waiting to leave, there was Pam and her mother!
Got to the Hampton Inn Gurnee around 6. Lotsa walkers! We had one thing on our minds, tho: Cracker Barrel. As we stood waiting to cross the busy street that separated us from our destination, we heard cars honking and figured it was because I had my 3-Day shirt on. The adoration had begun! We waved, like the egotistical walkers we are, then realized that farther down the street stood a man in a giant ice-cream cone suit doing some kind of promotional thing.
Cracker Barrel was heaven. We were so hungry we couldn’t sit and wait at the table, so we got up to look around the gift shop. Our waitress came out and said she thought we had left and that our food was ready! YAY!!! We hurried back to table, but...it had all been a cruel lie! Our waitress came back out and said she was wrong; “It wasn’t your guys’s food.” Liar! OK, settle down. We finally did get our food. After contemplating ordering 3 meals, we wisely ended up getting only two, and splitting. I had pot roast, mashed potatoes, green beans, biscuits, killer mac and cheese, and Natty got eggs in a basket, bacon, apples, hash browns. More than enough food you say? I say, No! Delicious hot fudge sundaes for dessert. Urg. OK, that was quite enough.
Back to our room to discover that our toilet was broken. Oh, no, we need that! I guess the Hampton Inn staff was being kept pretty busy by all the other 3-Dayers, cuz it took a while for them to send someone. After visiting the lobby bathroom and getting on the elevator, I noticed several 3-Dayers with...fresh cookies!!! Risking a broken leg as I lunged between the closing elevator doors, I grabbed some cookies and came back upstairs. Did I already mention the amount of food we had recently ingested? To Natty’s credit, she couldn’t bring herself to eat another bite. I, however, canNOT pass up warm M&M cookies.
Got to bed by 9. Even tho I was tired, I had trouble sleeping. But I wasn’t tossing and turning, so I did feel like at least I rested. Probably slept about 4 hours. We had a wake-up call and set our alarm for 3:45, but actually got up at 3:30. Good thing: we needed every minute! Showered, made coffee, ironed t-shirt (thanks to my mom for starting this tradition!), and went downstairs to grab what I could from the hotel’s continental breakfast. Glad I went when I did; it was much more crowded and slimmer pickings just a half-hour later. Nabbed some oatmeal, bagel, and oj.
Headed down with our luggage to join our fellow walkers and wait for the bus! YAY! No rain! Not cold! Were able to just wear out 3-Day T-shirts and shorts. We were on the bus by 5:10.
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Day 1 2002