Race For The Taste 2007

This weekend the entire Pancotto Clan + a few (minus momma P) headed south to Orlando for lots of running and lots of food from around the world. We all met on Saturday morning at Disney's Wide World of Sports for registration and packet pick up for the Race for the Taste 10K (6.2mi). On Sunday at 0450 Pappa Frank flipped on the lights and forced us all out of our very comfortable beds. Picture this: Matt and Sarah in one bed and Jonathan and dad in bunk beds in the same room and Daniel and Jen were just 10 feet away in the living room of the tiny cabin. Steve and Theresa were 30 minutes away in Altamonte Springs-- probably already in the car headed toward Disney. By 0615 the 8 of us were at the starting line all decked out in Duke Blue (except we forgot to tell Jonathan- he showed his support for the Falcons). We waited in 20 minute port-a-john lines to empty our bladders, stretched our legs, and danced to the loud music. Before we knew it there was a loud bang, fire works and the race had begun. Daniel, Matt and Jonathan sprinted out together. Theresa, Jen and I started at a nice pace and the 2 injured jumped out of the way of all the crazies. We ran through the Main Entrance, into MGM, through the back lot, around the World in EPCOT and to the finish line. Along the way were Disney cast members, music and the smells of cinnamon and empanadas (which, at the time, made us all want to vomit). Once the race had ended and we were all together again, the clan of 8 jumped in line to taste food from Argentina to New Zealand, posed for lots of pictures, then loaded back up and headed to the cabin. Each taking our turn in the shower, we waited outside to avoid the stench. We met up with Jen's Parents in EPCOT and ate some more then went our separate ways. It was a great weekend and we plan to make it a family tradition!

http://adisneyworldsports.disney.go.com/media/dwws_v0220/en_US/pdf/RacefortheTasteCourseMap.pdf

click to see the course

California or BUST!

The rocks at Pismo beach along Highway 1

Enjoying the Cable Cars in San Francisco

Touring the City in Mr Toad's San Francisco Tourbus

Enjoying the view at Yosemite View Lodge

The "Bachelor and 3 Graces" at Miraposa Grove. 275 feet tall... whoa

Hiking down the Grand Canyon

Viewing the Hoover Dam from the car

New York New York- our hotel in Vegas

Waiting for "O" to start at the Bellagio

Looking for adventure with Jen and Daniel in Disney

After Matt braved USMLE step 1 , we packed our bags and headed west.


We landed in Las Vegas and drove to Grand Canyon. After walking our feet off we headed back west to Vegas. There, we were entertained by magicians and acrobats and stuffed ourselves full of fabulous food. Next stop, Los Angeles via the greyhound bus. We had a blast with Daniel and Jen and jumped our way through Disneyland. Sunday we headed north on Highway 1. Swaying and swerving our way up California's coast, we took a rest in Monteray then trecked up some hills to San Francisco. Along with Mamma P and Pappa Frank, we stumbled upon some Giant Sequoias at Yosemite National Park. Then back to SFO to catch a flight home... what a trip!

20 hours of airtime+ 40 hours of drive time+ 3 cars+ 7 hotels+ 2 heavy bags+ 179 pictures add up to 2 weeks of Fox Family Fun.

ELLIE!

This is my beautiful neice and her many FABULOUS faces: Elaine Preston Fox

My turn to babysit while Randi and Daniel finished out their spring semesters. I had a blast with her... what a wonderful baby girl.

Maurus the Taurus RIP

MAURUS THE TAURUS 2000-2007

Maurus the Taurus, quite the trooper of a car, was laid to rest on Friday March 30th with 107,500 miles under his belt. His injuries were finally more expensive than he was worth. We have had our ups and downs with Maurus over the last few years... the A/C, the breaks, the shakes, and then goodbye. On Matt's way to school on Thursday he noticed a noise coming from Maurus, similar to that of a spacecraft taking off (never a good thing) but just ignored it. By Friday, this noise had turned into smoke ( I guess the little shuttle wanted to get out). I met him at the repair shop only to find out that had he driven another mile, we would have been dealing with a fire. Estimates to fix Maurus were apx 1500$ and he is worth about 2500$. Soooo, we left him for naught and bought a new car (we can sometimes be rash).

we welcome a member of the family: Lester The Civic

(that's right Dan and Rands, you're not the only one raking in family points)

parker

so on March 16th, I headed to NC to see my brother and sister for the first time in a looooong time. I get a phone call on the 17th that I have a new dog... thanks to the generosity of my husband. he saw this little guy running around in a parking lot and decided to save his life. However, after being kept up all night with barking and incessant pooping, Matt found him a home. He was adopted by our good friends Ben and Jen Greiving. This is Parker:

0400

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb3KC4arWvc

this is how i feel every morning at 0412 when my alarm goes off...

MEXICO

For Matt's spring break, we went on a cruise to Grand Cayman and Calica, Mexico. We traveled with Matt's friend Jonathan Journey and his wife Brook.
Saturday: board ship in Tampa, eat lots of food

Sunday: at sea, eating lots along the way

Monday: arrive at Grand Cayman Island, did some site seeing and walking around

Tuesday: arrive at Calica, Mexico, get on a sketchy bus with talks-a-lot tour guide and go to Tulum (an ancient Mayan city still intact--incredible). This place was awesome, we got to meet the current inhabitants of the city (large iguanas) and take lots of pictures. All in addition to an incredibly long tour by our guide: Alex. Next stop: Xel-Ha. This was a natural brackish lagoon where you could snorkle, jump off cliffs, climb ropes and walls, and swim with the dolphins (for a small fee of 150$).
Wednesday: at sea, still eating a lot on the ride back to Tampa

the worst part was matt's sunburn.... 5 days on a cruise ship and he was free of blisters. on thursday we had lunch with aaron at the beach for 45 minutes and matt had 2nd degree burns, ouch!