Follow the Pink Brick Road

No, I don't have that wrong.  Earlier this month, my kind and understanding husband and I stalked the legions of ladies walking the 3 Day for breast cancer in Chicago.  Why stalk, you ask?  Why not support, follow, cheer lovingly from the sidelines, etc.?  We did that, we did all of that, but first...first, they have to be stalked.

You see...the lovely ladies were not that easy to find.  They were able share the location of the cheering stations and in between - well, it's up to you.  All the staff, volunteers and even the walkers will tell you to, "Just follow the arrows, follow the route."  Sounds easy enough, right?  WRONG!  Let me preface this by saying that it was absolutely worth it to see Megan after all our efforts.  Just to give her a squeeze after her long hours of walking - totally worth it.  Little did we know that we would be embarking on a scavenger hunt, and a pink one at that!!

We planned to see Sister at her cheering stations in Arlington Heights and Mount Prospect on Saturday.  Then suddenly, we get a call from her early in the morning saying they were already at the first station and moving on.  Find that and go forward from there and we can catch up somewhere between the two.  Ok... Find the first station - drive to the address given out - Check.  Find oodles of women and a few men in pink, lots of pink, lots and lots of pink - Check.  Find arrows to next stations - Sort of Check... We started out fine and then we started looking around and seeing a lovely residential area, but no pink.  No pink at all. In fact, no walkers.  So I look out the back window and sure enough see the snaking line of pink turn to the left a few streets back. U turn #1.  And we're off again, following the hordes of pink t-shirts, bandanas, men in lovely padded bras, Pink feathers, sashes and much more.  A full abundance of pink.

Pink Everywhere!

Then we moved into Mount Prospect. Let me say, an awesome town.  Much of the town came out to support, with stations for the walkers to rest, beverages and food in their front yards, signs congratulating, encouraging and cheering, different entertainment and adoring fans along the way.  At this point, we're now on the phone with our dear Sister - asking if she's seen the belly dancers?  No.  The Blues Brother (yes only one)? No.  The banners about the "worst parade ever"?  No.  Hmm...and you're ahead of us?  Sure.

As we continued on our trek, seeking black and white arrows along the road, I kept hearing the theme for the Wicked Witch of the West in my head...scenes of crazed people driving behind the wheel desperately trying to find their goal on the road.  

Eventually, we settled into one of the "pit stops."  They have these frequently - thank goodness.  I know I'd need it a bunch if I was walking. On a side note, a very well done and well organized event.  Happy to know they were all so well cared for while on this crazy journey.

So we settled at the pit stop, this one themed for superheroes.  The lovely Baby M was amazing.  She was such a good sport in the heat.  And what an awesome thing to have her there.  We hadn't thought about it ahead of time, but people were truly excited to see a cute little one and a lot of folks thanked us for bringing her and said they were happy to walk for her!  Sister walked for her.  Thank you Sister. 

Now, after rushing out the door, racing around two if not three towns, you would think we might have missed dear Sister, right?  No. We waited...and waited...and then she was there!  In all her sweaty glory and so happy to see us.  We were all so happy to see her.  So wild goose chase or scavenger hunt - either way, bathed in pink and totally worth it.