Heading to the Arnold!

Oh, my goodness! The Arnold hasn't even started yet, and I'm already having an amazing time!
So, this morning I got to the airport in OKC, and made it through security. They confiscated my very threatening jar of peanut butter, which didn't make me very happy, but they didn't fuss about my chicken, almonds, or sweet potatoes, so I just let it go. I figure God knows I have very little control around PB, so He is probably just protecting me from myself. :-)

I snapped a pic of myself, traveling in my bb.com hoodie.  This shirt is so comfortable.  I'm trying to decide which is better, the hoodie or the sweatshirt.  It's a toss-up.

The flight went smoothly, and while waiting for my bags at baggage claim, I happened to meet Helga, the lady who is coordinating tomorrow's photo shoot. She was so sweet and it was great to finally meet her.

I got a cab to bring me to the hotel, and the driver was from Ethiopia. I talked to him a bit about his country, and he asked about supplementation for weightlifting. I told him about protein powder, BCAAs, and pre-workout supplements. The awesome thing is that I had a bunch of the samples from bodybuilding.com that come in my orders, so I gave him one of each to try! Hopefully he will become a new bb.com customer soon!

The hotel I am staying at is BEAUTIFUL, the room is awesome, and I even have a fridge to store my food so I don't have to eat out all the time. It is literally across the street from the convention center!

This is the view of my hotel from INSIDE the convention center.  That's how close it is!

After I left the convention center, I decided to go for a little walk to see what was else was nearby.  I spotted a place called North Market that looked interesting, so I headed over.  It was quite possibly one of the coolest things I've ever seen.  It's a huge building, and instead of just being a store, it's actually a MARKET.  Lots of tiny little shops (40 or so, if I had to guess), filled with awesome local goods. 

Here is a view from inside the market:

 

There is a little shop in there called Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams.  They had several unique flavors, but this one really grabbed my attention.  I'm avoiding sugary treats, BUT I had a little taste of this one and I will definitely be going back for a scoop on Saturday or Sunday evening.  It was delicious!

 

And on the way back to the hotel, look what I found!  I had to snap a pic; I was so excited to see something familiar in an unfamiliar place.  Kinda made it feel like home.





And finally, a view of the convention center from my hotel room.  Think I could just jump over there in the morning?  Hmmm...probably not.