Alexea's Adventures to USA Games Part 2

Wednesday was doubles with my partner. We still woke up at 5 and did our morning routine. The bowlers got to Boardwalk bowl earlier than normal just in case we hit any traffic. Florida has so much traffic no matter the time. Arriving and walking into the bowling alley the volunteers were all lined up clapping and cheering us athletes on when we were walking to get to our lanes. I bowled and I was on lane 27/28 with my double partners. My doubles partner was a very good bowler. I bowled three games with my partner. My highest score in doubles was a 150. In doubles my partner and I scored the silver medal. What a great accomplishment scoring the SILVER medal!!!

Thursday was our final day of competition. Wow! Time flies by so fast. I was very exhausted by the team's competition. I still got up and gave it my all. I kept getting the splitters which made me angry. I wanted to help my team out the best I could. I was frustrated. I had my teammates, coaches, and parents, and family to help me calm down. Once I had calmed down, I had a smile and ended up with a strike or two. The four of us had a total of 1726. Kira and Marlene came to take pictures of us during our teams' competition. Seeing Kira and Marlene capture such great pictures of us, and Team Maryland was great! They made me smile every time I saw them. I would always hug them. Awards for teams were Friday. Today was also family night at Animal Kingdom which I was looking forward to spending time with my family! I had never been to Animal Kingdom. I was excited to see my family and get to hang out with them for a few hours. My family and I had so much fun. We saw flamingos, gorillas, and the gorilla had a 10-month-old baby. The gorillas were super cute. I even got pictures with Mickey and Minnie and the other cast that showed up before I had to head back. Then we had to meet back with our team at 8 and I was sad that I had to leave my parents. I missed being around them. Thankfully I got to call them on facetime them and see them the next day for team's award.

The Special Olympics USA Games had a place set up for healthy athletes. On Friday we had made the time to go there before getting our awards. I went to the hearing part of the healthy athletes. I found out from another athlete who said you can get a free pair of hearing aids. I went on down there and did the ear tests, they looked in my ears. It got to the time where I needed to go down for awards. The lady gave me a fast pass to come back because I needed to get fit for hearing aids. I didn’t have time. So went down to awards because it was in the same area but just a different building. My team won the BRONZE medal which is great! It was a tough competition. Then we got pictures outside of the building. Then we headed to lunch. Jersey Mikes is what we had for lunch, and I got a ham and provolone sandwich. For the sides we got chips and cookies and a drink of our choice. Then we went back to the healthy athlete's station. We ended up doing health promotion, eyes on smiles, strong minds, and maybe one more. I got a new electric toothbrush. I got a stress ball and found other ways to help keep me calm. Then we finished up at all the stations and got onto a bus. We went back to the resort and had dinner and waited in a long line at Zappos. People ended up having to get our coaches number so they could text us and say were next to get in line. We ended up walking back to our room and got a text saying we were next in line. We had to walk all the way back to the tent. Some people got gift cards and crocs and in the bags were pins. Some people's shoes were in stock. We got bracelets and sunglasses too. They were sold out of the USA Games shoes in Florida. I called my mom and had her order them off the Zappos online. They came to my house in Maryland that Monday after being ordered. Then off to bed and the next adventure when we woke up the next day! 

I met some athletes from across the United States and Caribbean and we traded pins so I can never forget them! It was fun hanging out with my teammates while doing the festivities. We enjoyed competing together, cheering on my teammates was one of my favorite parts. Although we were all exhausted by the end of the week, I met some incredible athletes that were energetic like me. It was exhausting getting up early, but I conquered and did what I needed to do! 

Closing ceremonies were Saturday June 11. Finally, Saturday was a day we could sleep in one extra hour. Instead of waking up at 5, we slept until 6 in the morning. Then we got dressed. My roommate and I were leaving with our families after closing ceremonies. We needed to pack our bags and have them out on the curb for someone to pick up at 7:30 and the person would meet our parents at 8:30 in the morning. Then we also ate breakfast, which was eggs and potatoes. Saturday, we headed for Magic Kingdom sometime in the morning/afternoon. We didn’t get there until 10:15 and then our coaches gave us tickets to get in and we walked the park, went to see the Carousel in progress and watched a little bit of the characters. It was a hot day and so we left early and went back to our rooms. I took a four-hour nap and it was great. Then we got up and went to dinner and then headed to closing. Closing was inside which was great. We watched some awards that were happening for other states. Closing ceremonies started. Jersey Mike’s got an award at the closing ceremonies. James Ian played the song Spaces. James also shared his story on what his disability was. At closing there was a dance party. I was getting tired and around 9 I ended up asking Coach Ken if I could leave. I ended up leaving. Saying goodbye to my coaches and teammates was really hard because I didn’t know when I would see them. I told my coaches we need to plan a day during the summer to go bowling with the Team Maryland crew. Reuniting with my family after one long week to tell them I survived.  The journey to my first ever Special Olympics USA Games was unforgettable and filled with many laughter, fun, adventures, and memories, and much tiredness. I survived the week by flying by myself with Team Maryland and staying in a hotel room with a teammate. My most favorite was competing at a new level and enjoying the time with the team!