I Gotta Go Where It's...Sort of Warm

I went to Florida the first weekend in February to visit Kelly (VRA). I felt all grown up driving to the airport myself, missing my exit, getting turned around, parking at Quikpark, taking a shuttle to the airport, finding my terminal and flying by myself to Orlando. Just before take off, I heard someone say Orlando was under a tornado warning until 8 a.m. Interesting, I thought but really, all I could think about was warm weather and my new swimsuit. Ah...a reprieve from the crappy weather in Michigan!

We had a comedian for a pilot. "Folks, we just have a few rules for you. Please don't smoke unless you are in a designated area in the airport. Please adhere to the safety belt rules. Also, please remain inside of the aircraft during the flight. Now, if you'll look out of the left windows, you will see...a bunch of clouds. If your vision is really good, you can Toledo, OH." The rest of the flight was spent listening to Buffett on my MP3 player and talking to God. He is amazing and I can't stop thinking about God's creativity when I'm eclipsing the heavens in a plane.

After landing and taking a shuttle to the main airport, I saw spotted Kelly, waiting for me. I don't know if she saw the tears in my eyes but I was so happy to see her. We have been friends for almost 15 years. Want to see a picture of us from back in the day? Sorry, Kell. And us now...(we definitely improve with age--remember that!)

The first thing I found out was how bad the damage was by the tornados. Kelly's husband, Chris, was deployed to a badly hit subdivison. Second thing--Florida was rainy and cold. Well, warmer than Michigan but not warm enough for the clothes I packed.

Kelly and I drove to Citrus County after trying to gas at a couple of gas stations. I saw where she worked, her new house and then we picked up her two boys from school. We then had to drive an hour to Gram's house to drop off the boys. An hour back and we got ready to go out. I had a lot of fun getting to know Kelly's friends and also getting to know her as well. It had been awhile since we have hung out on a daily basis. True, our lives are different (I do not hang well after midnight) but I still love her sooo much.

Saturday, we picked up the boys from Gram's and took them to Austin's soccer game. I got to see Chris briefly also. See, when the rain started, I took off for the truck with Tyler.

Tyler and I waited for the rain to stop while listening to Jerry Jeff Walker. After the game, Chris took the boys and Kelly and I took off for Margaritaville. I was wearing a turtleneck, folks. A turtleneck in Orlando, FL! I was not pleased. We had a good time at dinner and then moved to the volcano bar for a few drinks.

As you can see, it really is a volcano bar. Once an hour it erupts and margarita flows down the volcano and into the giant shot glass. I love this bar. After dinner, Kelly and I visited with Johnny Walker. We got back to our hotel at a decent hour and even made it to Rob Schiller's new church. I never realized how much I missed that family until I saw them. After eating at Sweet Tomatoes (the best salad bar EVER) and rushing back to the airport, I made my flight. Despite squall warnings back home, our flight left on time. I left the cold damp Florida weather for frigid, blowing snow...or as our pilot said, "welcome to tropical Detroit." Oh well. I had Joey's homemade spaghetti waiting for me at home.