Can PCB handle it?

Well, I'm here. Sort of.

And all I can say is WOW!!!

I'm actually in a bit of a daze, bewildered at the conversations flying between the three of us, laughing my head off, and plotting our adventures for the weekend.

It's already been quite the adventure thus far... but where to begin?

I am in serious doubt about weather Panama City Beach can handle us. After all, there are only 3 of the original 6 Camp HTFU Ladies. And as Ashley and Mary are racing, and I've been dubbed the "WBS" (World's Best Sherpa, we are at half strength. Well, 2/3, as my sacrum is procluding me from racing. But I'm doing my best to hang on, and flying by the seat of my pants in the process.

I arrived in PCB, to find Mary waiting outside of our beachfront hotel, sporting a black tank top and hot pink shorts. It was easy to spot her - not only for the vibrant colors, but for the amount of honking cars passing by.

Priceless.

Or perhaps it was from the Hooters next door. A new Hooter Girl?

Perhaps - you never know. But that's for a different time (tomorrow - so stay tuned!)

After a quick round of hugging, catching-up, and all other things girls do who-are-spending-a-long-weekend-together (wink wink), Mary and I headed down to the beach to attempt a 45 minute Gulf Swim.

The HUGE waves (not really huge, perhaps 4 feet or so - slightly difficult with a healing back), prevented us from doing much swimming. Instead, we wave hopped. And got in a few quick strokes. Until Mary lost her goggles.

Our first sacrifice to the Gulf this weekend. Hopefully the Ocean Goddess will be pacified with Mary's loss. After that incident, we quickly headed to the local outdoor pool.

Panama City Beach Aquatic Center - for all you visiting athletes, check it out. Great center, beautiful outdoor Olympic sized pool, and a mere stone's throw away from the IM bike course.

If you're Brett Favre.

For all of us non-footballers, it's a 2.9 mile drive. Check it out.

Post swim, Mary and I visited one of the oddest cities on the Gulf Coast. Rosemary Beach, Florida - an exclusive "resort town" that's been fashioned into a Eruopean Village. Except that it only has 300 residents year round.

It's almost too perfect for its own good.

Imagine the city from "The Truman Show" starring Jim Carrey.

Yeah - you get the picture. Something is just wrong.

But they've got a great Starbucks, and it's a place that Nathaniel and I stop at with every return visit from PCB.

Upon arriving at the hotel, Mary and I discovered that Ashley had covered 200 miles in just over 2 hours and was well on her way. She was due to arrive at any moment - and she had warned of her stinkiness.

Apparently, in an effort to acclimate herself to the heat of Florida's Gulf Coast, she opted to drive the ENTIRE WAY from South Carolina with NO AIR CONDITIONING and the windows down.

It was disturbing, and I could smell her before I saw her. But it didn't matter, as I was determined to giver her a huge hug anyhow. And I did. And then I changed my shirt afterwards.

After showers for all, later we headed out to dinner at Carraba's (sorry for my unique spelling!), where our waiter 1) Flirted with Ashley 2) Guessed that one of us was a military dependant 3) refused to bring us bread (jokingly, of course) and 4) Was fired for not bringing us bread (but the re-hired according to the manager).

Confusing to you? Me too. And I was there.

Not really sure what went on or what exactly transpired, but it involved a lot of discussion between Ashley and our waiter. Mary and I just sipped our Diet Coke's and stayd out of it. And naturally, we polished off the second basket of bread.

And now, I'm the last one up. Ashley is in the next bed over, and Mary is laying next to me. Our balcony door is thrown wide open, and the crashing waves is echoing throughout our room.

I am tired, but extatic to be here. And even though I'm not racing, I'm still FIRED UP! for this weekend. I have been looking forward to this trip for a long time - it has been a focus while I've been going through my recovery.

And tomorrow morning, we will awake to the sounds of the waves. I'll make coffee (I brought the French Press, whole beans, coffee grinder, electric kettle, and 5 coffee mugs - because you CANNOT drink good coffee from styrofoam cups!), head to the pool for my aqua jog and swim, and then Sherpa proudly for Ashley and Mary all day.

It promises to be a fun-filled adventure. And the Hooter's story will be explained in full detail - so three cheers for that.

As Ness joked about our group at Camp HTFU, "Don't loose the 'H', because then you'll just be the F*ck-ups!" Suffice to say - we found our H. And no, it's not Hooters.

Don't really know what else is in store. All I know - is that with these 2, it's bound to be fun, carefree, and an adventure.

Also, tomorrow afternoon Joanna and Donna arrive - so there will be 5 of us in our little room. 3 athletes, 2 sherpas, and one hecuva good time on the beach. And I can't wait!

Stay tuned!

(Jen, Elizabeth, Leslie: We miss you guys. Our group isn't the same without you... thinking of you often and wish you were here! Love, Marit, Mary and Ashley!)