The Grand Return of Fat Jen

So as I've mentioned, I was really looking forward to going camping.  I've really needed a break from work, and always look forward to our annual trip to the Finger Lakes.  I've also continued to be upset since the doctor's appointment and wanted to just get away.

Unfortunately, this trip did NOT go as planned.  First off, I reserved the wrong camping site.  It ended up that the one we got was still pretty good, but it wasn't the super "prime" spot we always get.  While most of the country has been mired in HOT weather, we got rain and cold.  This trip saw the spectacular return of "FAT JEN".  Fat Jen makes an appearance here and there, but she is usually beaten down pretty well by "Thin Jen".  Not this time - Fat Jen was ever present and ready to win this war. 

We did have a good trip down - stopped as we usually do at Montezuma Wildlife Refuge.  We got some AWESOME pics.  Must be the cooler weather and wet season we've been having brought out the birds more.  We saw DOZENS of blue herons.  

We got our site all set up and  had a pretty good evening.  Fat Jen even got to have a couple of S'mores by the fire and was happy.

The first full day we were there, we had picked out a hiking trail and were planning on a long full day hike.  We drove down to Watkins Glen and it started raining.  Well, I was bound and determined that we were going to hike anyway.  We ended up getting SOAKED to the bone and had to turn around.  Where I had hoped to hike many miles we got back to the Edge at 6.66 miles - fitting, huh?  We had to head over to Walmart to buy a couple of towels and some dry clothes.  We ate lunch out and headed back to the campsite where it continued to pour.  We spent the evening huddled in the tent where I began feeling more and more sorry for myself.  Fat Jen seized the opportunity.

At this point I was teetering on depression and said "Fuck it!" and ate everything I could get my hands on.  Even after having a large lunch, I was stuffing food in my mouth even though I wasn't hungry at all.

Tuesday dawned and the sun refused to come out, leaving everything wet and muddy.  We headed down to Ithaca, stopping to hike the rim gorge of Taughannock State Park.  We've done that before and it's a challenging, but nice hike.  It was also incredibly muddy and we all ended up covered in mud up our legs.  

From there we headed down to the city of Ithaca where we found a nice park along the water to have lunch.  So the morning ended up pretty good.  Again, though, I ended up just EATING like crazy!  For the most part, the food itself was healthy.  But when you EAT TONS of healthy food, it's still not good.

Ithaca has a nice walking trail that we had read about that is just on the edge of the city, but cuts through woods, so you feel like you are in the middle of nowhere.  We started that trail and all of a sudden dark clouds came over and we started hearing the ominous sound of thunder.  We were able to take a shortcut and got back to the Edge JUST before the rain started coming down in SHEETS.  Once again, our hike cut short by the fucking rain!

Ithaca streets soon got FLOODED - it was crazy.  I've never seen anything like it.  We drove north back to our camp and Marc checked the weather and saw that the storm was pretty localized to Ithaca so our camping area looked clear.  Because the hike had gotten cut short, Thin Jen said that a run would be a good idea when we got back.  Fat Jen opined that she did not want to go for a run.  And so, for several miles, Thin Jen and Fat Jen had a spirited discussion about whether or not "we" would run when we got back.  

Fat Jen is often silenced easily, but not this time.  She put on a HELL of a fight.  Back at the campground, it was indeed dry.  Miraculously, Thin Jen won the battle and "we" ran 6 miles while Marc started a fire for dinner.  YAY!  A small victory - which was then completely undone by me STUFFING MY FACE at dinner.

But I was starting to feel relaxed - we had a ton of wood and the fire was - by far - the best fire we've ever had while camping. So here I was, chilling by the fire when - almost without warning - you guessed it - A DELUGE OF RAIN.  Are you fucking kidding me??!!  More reasons for me to feel sorry for myself.  Again we ended up stuck in the tent with nothing to do.  It cleared up, but by then the fire was out and the wood was soaked.

The next day it was already time to leave, so we ate breakfast, packed up and headed out.  Of course this was the best weather we had seen.  We decided to head to a place called Howland's Island, which is part of the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge.  We hiked some of the trails and then let the dogs swim in the canal for a while.  They loved it.

Mid-afternoon we arrived in Syracuse and went to Applebees.  Did you know that Applebees has a lunch special - all you can eat soup, salad and breadsticks?  A healthy lunch of spinach and shrimp salad with no dressing - that's a victory for Thin Jen, right?  Not when you have it with multiple servings of breadsticks and broccoli and cheese soup!  Fat Jen was thrilled!

We arrived home and began unpacking and I still wanted to eat.  My stomach actually hurt and I was still eating trail mix.  What. The. FUCK?  I started to feel out of control, especially when I stepped on the scale (which was stupid) and saw that my weight was up 12 FREAKING POUNDS from when we left.

I was able to beat Fat Jen back that evening.  So, let's hope the rest of my vacation goes much better then how it started.  And let's hope that Thin Jen gets back in control.  Yesterday was a good - not perfect, but good - day.  Today?  So far so good.