Swimming leg...

We flew down to California this weekend for Bat's Day -- the annual goth / alternative trip to Disneyland. We didn't go last year, but figured it was a good excuse to go down and get some more use out of our annual passes. Besides, chances were good that the weather would be fantastic, and we love a bit of sun. (Which may be the least gothy thing one could ever say....)

Well, it turns out that the weather in Ballard was actually nicer than the weather down here in SoCal, which reinforces our status as gray-weather gods. Seattle friends, consider last weekend a gift from us. But we did have hot weather on Friday, warm weather on Saturday and Sunday, a crazy rain storm early Monday morning, and then mixed sun / clouds for the rest of the day. Still, the rain stopped before 9am, so what more could we have asked for?
We tend to stay at the Anaheim Plaza Hotel when we go to Disneyland. It's not fancy -- it might even be a bit run down. But it's super close to the entrance of the parks, has inexpensive parking for guests (which we don't always get charged for...), has rooms with balconies with views of the Tower of Terror, is close to Alerto's (our favorite taqueria, and where we get most of our dinners and many of our breakfasts while at Disneyland)... AND it has this huge, simple, amazing pool:

Okay, that doesn't look all that impressive... but it is a proper, 6-lane, 25-meter pool. No fuss, no slide, no pirate ship. Just a great big pool surrounded by deck chairs. It's a nicer pool than we swam in when I was on my high school swim team. And it is outdoors. The only way it could be more perfect is if they opened early in the morning so you could get up early and swim laps. But I suspect that's not high on the agenda of most people visiting Disneyland. (Umm... let's be honest, it's not high on my agenda, either -- but I do like the idea...)

But we do like to get up early, be in the parks when they open (before, actually, to be there for "rope drop"...), spend a few hours before they parks get too crowded, and then come back to the hotel for a swim and a nap. So while the sun was out on Saturday, when things started feeling crowded, we came back, got in our suits, and swam.
Because I'm having eye surgery in a few days, after which I won't be allowed to swim for weeks, I decided I needed to get my swim in for the Running Bloggers Virtual Race. Luckily, the swim was "any distance" -- even if I feel a little wimpy for my short distance. I swam 18 lengths, or just over a quarter mile. Not far, but better than nothing, right?
Even without the looming surgery, I probably won't have another chance to swim outside for several weeks. Maybe in late summer I'll brave a dip in Green Lake?