8/17/08 Sunday: We're here and loving it!!!

Seriously, good luck getting us out of here!!! Deni and I had a good day of travel yesterday, no issues, very smooth. Shocking with the amount of powder (Gatorade and Electrolytes) and the amount of liquid Gatorade (18) 32-oz. bottles I had. I was sure one of the two would be destroyed. But we made it here all in one piece with everything in tow.

We arrived at the Victoria House at 11:30pm just as Liz and her crew were walking in from the White Horse. I was so excited to see them! Liz had an AMAZING effort at a double crossing swimming 24 hours and was 5 miles from finishing when he asthma had pulled the plug on the swim. She gave such an amazing effort seeing as the conditions were very rough. Congrats Liz and Crew!!! You all really did a great job!

So Liz and Deb came up to our room to give us the 101 about her swim. It was so great to hear all the sorted details of what was going on. Especially when you get both the swimmer and crew perspectives as each are very different. We were up until about 1am chatting and then it was time for some sleep. But of course there was NO WAY I was missing Michael Phelps last swim. So I set the alarm for 3:45am got up and watched the relay. George hit the nail on the head when he said it is FAR different watching the Olympics in a different Country. Phelps performances were definitely noted but there err of excitement just was not the same as being at home. Really makes you value home when you see that.

We got up at 8:30am and had breakfast with Liz and her crew then we all headed down to the Harbour for my first taste of the Channel. LOL!!! What a whirlwind!! I was introduced to Freda Streeter who is considered the Channel General. This woman is truly a unique oddity in the UK. She and her crew come to the beach every weekend and train all the UK residents for their Channel crossings. She is known world-wide and well respected. We chatted for a bit and then I was introduced to the rest of her crew Irene and Charlie...after that I swear I don't remember much until I was in the water saying...what just happened! I was rushed into a bathing cap with a number and went over to get ready when Irene ran over and said, "What are you waiting for? Get in already!" I still had my clothes on! I stripped down to my suit and was pushed along about 2 more times before being told by the General, "You're swimming 3 hours!". Jim and Marcy...honestly I tried!!! I said, "Thank you but I think today I am just going to swim 2 hours." The quick retort from the General was, "NO you will swim 3 hours". Finally I decided this was a losing battle and just headed down to the water. George turns around and said, "What the hell just happened? All of a sudden you are following rules and I'm getting sucked in too?" I started to open my mouth but was told to get in the water. I figured it was time to bite the bullet and stop procrastinating. I was losing the war! I walked about hip deep and just dove in and swam. George and I went RIGHT (yes Liz in Dover we go RIGHT as well) and stopped at the wall. I told George I was rushed in so quickly I forgot my Bonine and Glide. Not such a good thing for me when the conditions were pretty rough and the fact that I get sea sick at the drop of a hat. (We started with about 20 swimmers and after the first hour there were only 5 of us left in the water). George and I laughed about the fact that we were both happy we had enough time to get our clothes off before we got tossed in. George decided he was going to swim and hour and I was going to go at least for two hours to shake out the travel. After the first hour I went in for a feed, as instructed, and was given a warm soda mix. It was quite weird because the water isn't all that cold (62/63) but I figured I would be open minded. THEN came the best part of the swim...Charlie handed me a Yodel. I asked him why I was being rewarded and he just started to laugh. Evidently over here they feed their swimmers Yodels. That's when I was certain this was the right sport for me!!! I grabbed Bonine and Glide from Deni and went back in for the rest of my swim. I decided to compromise and swim for 2.5 hours. I didn't stop for a second feed and just swam straight through.

At the end I got out and was unsure what reaction I would receive from the General and her marry band. I'm the Newbie American and felt like I was already ruffling feathers. I certainly didn't want to disappoint everyone my first day out. After about 10 minutes Freda came over for a chat and told me she was impressed, very impressed. I was psyched to hear that coming from her and it really meant a lot. Not to mention I felt much better that I didn't upset everyone my very first day! Slowly but surely I'll learn the ropes. Freda gave me a bunch of really cool tips and then it was time for us to head out. All in all, they run a very tight ship and do a fantastic job keeping everyone safe and happy. It's truly amazing!!!

Before we left, I found out that George made the greatest sacrifice to the Channel Gods as he was getting out...his wedding band fell off his finger when he got out and was lost among the rocks!!! They looked for a while and couldn't find it. We're heading back with a metal detector in the morning to see if we can find it. Luckily Suzanne didn't murder him on the spot.

George, Suzanne, Deni and I went into town to grab tea and sandwiches then came back to clean up for dinner. We went to this amazing restaurant (Coastguard) for dinner right on the water and had the best fish and chips. After that we walked into town and grabbed some ice cream at a pub (yes, weird. Deni and I were both laughing about it.) We're back at the B&B now and are ready to pas out!

Tomorrow we are planning on getting an early swim in then heading to a local golf course to play some golf. The rest of the fam gets in Tuesday and then we will hurry up and wait until I hear...get in and swim!