My time in Fort Collins was wonderful. I was able to gather everything for my time south together. I put my stuff into storage (AKA under my sister's bed) and prepared for the next leg of my trip - Pensacola!

Tory, my sister, is a bit of a miracle worker when she puts her mind to it....

I was able to catch up with a lot of my friends and we dined fabulously. For those of you I did not catch up with.... there is always next spring. :) I got a lot done for myself in my time in Fort Collins. But the trip to the airport was freaking fantastic.

See .... my friends all had obligations and were not able to take me to the airport in Denver. Tory had a dream about me being involved in a car accident on the way to the airport and it happened because she was not in the car with me. When I told her that I was taking a shuttle to the airport she said "no". She got on her handy cell phone and lined me up with the ride of a freaking lifetime.

Some friends of hers have recently become owner / operators of their own semi truck. They had called and told her they were passing thru our town over the weekend. Tory caught a glimmer in her eye and started working her magic. The rest is history.

Friday night Shauna, Al, Billie, Caroline and the dog, Sebastian, came rolling into town. Saturday morning, I had to be at the airport by 10:30am latest to catch my 11:20am flight. We were all up and loaded into the rig by 8:30am. Al and Billie are driving partners and move houses with this big rig. They are used to handling heavy stuff. I was impressed when Al, a 6'3" + black man with a head full of dreads and lots of muscle, picked up both of my backpacks and my carry on bag and toted them to the truck like they were nothing. :) Muscle is good....being a gentleman is better.

So we all loaded into this semi (including the dog there was 7 of us) and headed to Denver. They had a trailor they needed to drop and Tory lined up the perfect situation. Her friend, Doug, manages a race track just off I-25. So... we went to the track to drop the trailor. While Al and Billie dropped the trailor Doug asked if I wanted to take a spin around the track. Ummmm...... HELL YEAH!

He has some souped up Ford truck - Lightning - with a fabulously fast V8 in it. We whizzed around corners and I clutched the oh-shit handle tight. It is a 9-turn track and a blast!!! Once I was done Al, Shuana, and Billie went for a ride. It was a nice distraction to everything.

We all loaded back into the semi and headed to DIA. It was fun! We pulled up to curbside check in at 10am. My bags were checked, after AL toted them to the curb - thank you AL! - and my farewells were said. Tory I love you! The Delta employee that checked me in was quite impressed with the ride.

I have to say - there is something wonderful about walking up with Al and Tory, airbrakes *phwooshing* behind you and a huge semi sitting amongst the SUV's and hybrid cars dropping their passengers at the airport. :) Impressive. Pictures of this will be posted!

As I was walking into the airport there was a loud airhorn - HONK HONK - and several people waving from the cab of the truck. I felt a little like Sally Field in Smokey and the Bandit! ha ha

My flight into Pensacola was fantastic. Very uneventful and relaxing. As the plane descended to the runway I noticed something peculiar. There was a huge field with two or three boats layed on their side in the middle of it. What in the heck??? Oh... right.... a little angry man by the name of Ivan had visited Pensacola just one month to the day before. DUH!!!

The destruction here is beyond belief and yet everyone seems not so affected by it. Life has began again. Weird....

Dad picked me up and when I walked in the door of the house there was a buffet of food, complete with a smoked Turkey YUMMY, and 7 dinner guests awaiting my arrival. We dined, talked about Alaska, my ride to the airport and my plans for Central America.

This is where I will be, short of some trips to Rolla -Missouri, Eastern -Arkansas, and Biloxi -Mississippi, for the next three weeks. We will head to Miami on Nov. 4th and I will fly out on Nov. 6th.

Life is good....... I am glad I can share it with you.