Dinner with Dean?

We made our way up the very winding road to the Calistoga Inn. We passed the peruvian horse stables and thoughts of PMag's version of Apoc from Nike+ Tales. Later we arrived at the Inn and we were seated in the beer garden section, the section that was scheduled to be near Dean. Other teams soon filed in, some teams had a runner-isc feeling to them, others like the biker gang, well we are not sure about them.

Soon there was an announcement that Dean was still on his plane and would not be joining us for Dinner, which was a major bummer. Many of us had bought his book to get it signed. Gary the Gnike Gnome took it the hardest and started hitting the bottle pretty hard, he soon finished off a couple bottles and a basket or two of bread to drown his sorrows. I'm sure that photographic evidence will surface soon.

Even without the guest speaker, we enjoyed each others company and talked throughout the evening as more bread and dinner and desert arrived. We all enjoyed the meal of either beef, salmon, or chicken. The mango pineapple chicken was rather tasty.

Soon, it grew dark and a slight chill formed. Some members of the team huddled around a warming device that also acted as a bug erradicator. Then it was time to hit the road and return to the room. We had to make preparations for the start of the relay tomorrow and get some sleep. We scooped up Gary and we headed back down the windy road. Soon, it will be time to get the party started. Hopefully the Gnome will be recovered by then.