Dowackado 50K trail run, part 1

Dear Diary,

First off, can I just say how adorable this race was?  Can I?
Or is that condescending?
Because throughout most of the experience of packet picket, it was all Sweet Baboo and I could do not to look at each other and say Awwwww..... and pinch some volunteer's cheek for being just, adorable.

So adorable, in fact, that I've decided to divide this into to parts: Before, and During/After the race.


Well, first thing's first.  We headed out from Albuquerque about 9ish and blew into Amarillo about 2ish, Texas time.

Oddly enough, throughout our marriage both Sweet Baboo and I frequently have the same thought, and it will come up.  It turns out that we have each, seperately, been hankerin' (see, now, if the story takes place in Texas and Oklahoma, I have to say hankerin') for a pair of cowboy boots.

Specifically, I had always wanted red cowboy boots.

So, earlier this day Sweet Baboo had been devastated when I casually mentioned that his favorite old work pants were a bit short.  He'd noticed they were baggy, I casually mentioned they were a bit short.

So in a frantic effort to avoid an Erckle-like persona, we pulled into Westgate mall.  Across the highway, though, I noticed a great big sign that looked like this:
 

and being a city girl from Dallas, I said, "what's that?" and Baboo, who went to high school in Wichita Falls, said, "It's like a Western Warehouse" after which I casually mentioned I'd always wanted a pair of red cowboy boots and doggone it, turns out he'd  been wanting some cowboy boots, and we figured, hell, might as well get a pair of Wranglers over there, and some boots, to boot.

I walked inside and swooned, overwhelmed with the whole cowboy-ness of it.  The salesmen were dressed in black cowboy hats and, of course, Wranglers, and said m'am a lot. 

Baboo went looking at the mens's boots,


and I, well, I headed right on over to COWGIRLS CORNER.

and picked out these: 

 and these.

(I just HAPPENED to take this shot with the size tag prominently displayed.)

Sweet Baboo got a pair of ostrich boots and a pair new jeans too.

Mmmm.  Handsome-y.  They are a size he has not worn since his mid 20s. 

We headed to Subway and then finished our drive to Erick, population 2000-ish.

This is Sweet Baboo, on Main Street.  We're standing out in front of the Roger Miller museum, where packet pick-up was.  We didn't know that.  We drove into town, saw some people walking into a building, followed them, and there it was. 

While in the Roger Miller museum, we learned several things;

1) Roger Miller wrote several songs such as "King of the Road," "Me and Bobbie McGee," and "Dowackado" and "Dang Me".

2) Roger Miller is currently alive or he is not. I honestly didn't know, that I thought it would be rude to ask and show my ignorance on the matter there in the museum in his home town that was dedicated to him.

3) There were 19 people signed up for the 50K race. NINETEEN. 

The shwag bag contained the following:

• a very nice tech T-shit with the race logo on it
• a highlighter
• a pen
• a bottle of water
• race number
• beef jerkey
• beef stick
• chapstick
• a rubber thing designed to make it easier to open lids. 

We then paid an extra $5 and got some pasta, a salad, and a small desert, and a drink.

Then we drove out to find the race start, which appears to be on someone's farm right outside a place they call "the breaks".

Tomorrow, or Sunday, I'll write the actual report.

Until then....

dowackado, y'all.


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