"If its the Beaches..."

I was a really lucky kid. For all of our readers that know my parents, I think you would agree. They rock!!! And not only because they are supportive, fun and have a great collection of vinyl.

My folks have always been the type to love adventure...and I am thankful every day that they didn't stop exploring new places even after I was born.

Park Housing at Gulf Islands National Seashore

Every year of my youth we went on 2 summer vacations. One at our families lake property in Northern Wisconsin and one at Gulf Islands National Seashore on the FL panhandle.

Now, I didn't get to be much of a runner until I was an adult...and as per usual...family vacations seemed to end sometime early on in college....which has left me to dream profusely (on certain types of summer days) about traipsing around my old summer haunts.

I still daydream all too often of running down my favorite stretch of beach or down an old dirt road next to Little Star Lake in the Wisconsin Northwoods. So, when my supervisor told me that I would be attending a training at Gulf Islands, I thought I would fall off my chair.

The beach makes me Happy!!!

I began planning runs that I would do if I had the chance within our very busy training schedule...and looked forward to it for nearly a month. To make it short and sweet, it was awesome!

Gulf Islands and the area around Pensacola Beach are awesome. The sand is white and beautiful...in park the beaches are pristine and the maritime forest is amazing. Running on the beach is flat...albeit windy and a real calf workout...I also love it because it is a constant treasure hunt for the next cool bird/shell/dolphins, etc.

Da' Bomb Jelly on the beach

And the sunset...

... still takes my breath away.

~~~ Caitlin~~~