Sept, 2024
Yeah, the rain didn't stay in Dollywood.
We made our way up to Cincinnati for the Kroger Wellness Fest - a very long day ahead of us as we had to drive 5 1/2 hours, pick up a rental car, grab a ton of stock from corporate, check into our hotel, and drop off the NUT at the activation site.
That evening, Ryan was supposed to be on his way to Georgia via plane for the Plains Peanut Festival with Jimmy Carter (Rest In Peace🩷) - but due to Hurricane Helene, the event was canceled. Huge bummer, but at least we got to have Ryan with us for Wellness Fest.
When we showed up at corporate they had 5 giant coolers of Wholly Guacamole, 50+ boxes of flavored cashews, and 50+ boxes of Justin's peanut butter - and we SOMEHOW managed to fit it ALL in the NUTmobile. With not much room for literally anything else haha.
We checked into our hotel, and as we were walking in we saw Cashew Katie from last year's class of Peanutters! She was in Cincy with Bubblr, and would be working the Wellness Fest alongside us and dozens of other brands. Super cool to see a familiar face and know we had a whole weekend together coming up.
We then headed to the rental car place to grab our secondary mode of transportation, and as we were waiting for them to verify our info, I got a text from Class 10 Katie that reads
Tomorrow is canceled! Party in cincy???
We all look at each other like... 😵 because we just loaded what felt like 500 lbs of Hormel product into the NUTmobile.
Communication from corporate came next, and the first day of the fest was, indeed, canceled. But we were still holding out for Saturday, so we loaded in the NUT at the activation site as planned.
The next morning, we coordinated to refresh the ice in all the coolers inside the NUTmobile with the Wholly Guacamole people and then spent the rest of the day hanging out with last class's Katie and her friends from Bubblr. It was a pretty chill day - and we headed to Yard House for dinner to devour some incredible Poke Nachos and commiserate the weather with our new friends. Our server (I don't remember her name but I feel like it was Glenn or something), had to be in her 60s, came up to our table, and goes
"Hi, sorry it took me so long, I had to talk to that other table for a while, He's a bowling champion and he's here to compete. Isn't that the craziest thing you've ever heard of?"
Wait till she hears what our job is.
Around 8pm, we get a text from corporate that Kroger has decided to cancel the second, and last, day of Wellness Fest. This means we drove all the way from South Carolina to Ohio for NO event lol. Brutal.
Katie (our Katie, not Class 10 Katie) had friends in town, so while she was out with them, Ryan and I hung out with Class 10 Katie and her Bubblr coworkers, Mads and Cam. We played a 3-hour game of Phase 10 and had a really great night together. Mads and I became fast friends and I texted her after that I would like to be friends forever if possible 🙆 Hopefully we can make that happen lol.
The next day we pulled into the festival location and with a few helping hands loaded all of the non-perishable samples onto pallets to be donated to Hurricane Helene relief. The entire fest being canceled sucked, so much food immediately going to an emergency cause like that was a silver lining. We brought the rest of the product back to the corporate office and then brought Marshell back to the hotel. We were still set to be in Cincy until Monday, so we had tons of time to kill. The Bubblr folks were gone, so we were all off to our own devices for the rest of the day.
And then Katie (our Katie), sends a text that the NUTmobile will not turn on.
OH GOODY.
I'll spare you the details, but essentially there was a spark plug issue and so we had to get it towed the next morning to the nearest Penske. Poor Marshell. She deserves to retire. We cross our fingers and hope she can be fixed by Monday when we have to drive to Charleston, WV.
The next morning, I got to see my incredible friend Manny and his boyfriend (now fiance!), Brad. They had driven all the way to Cincy to see me and the NUT (ope) at Wellness Fest (rip). Thankfully they were also there for Kings Island which they invited me to tag along to on Sunday! We got pictures in front of Marshell moments before her tow truck came, and then we were off to the theme park to redeem the rollercoaster riding I missed in Dollywood.
This was seriously one of my favorite days this whole year. Being with old friends, riding rollercoasters, catching up - not to mention Manny and Brad paid for my ticket and FastPass and bought me a t-shirt at the end (after my unsuccessful attempt at paying for myself). They were incredibly generous and we had an absolute blast. We spent 7 hours in the park and went on 17 different rides. It was a day I really needed after the disappointment of the canceled weekend and after my solo trip to Dollywood. Even though being on my own in Tennessee was a blast, nothing beats being around people who bring out the best in you.
No matter where I go, my heart keeps pulling me back to the Midwest. Chicago and Rochester are my homes. No matter how beautiful, fun, or exciting a city has been, nothing beats my people. I love this adventure - and I also am so excited to settle back into home at the end of this with a newfound appreciation for my community and how good they make me feel.
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