Florida Trip

I made a short solo trip to Orlando for the Loyalty Expo. The trip there on Monday was a little less than ideal in that I got sick on both flights. I can't say I've ever actually puked on a plane, but there's a first time for everything! The 20-minute taxi to the Dallas terminal did me in. Then, when we took off for Orlando, the air vents pushed hot air instead of cold for a good 10 minutes and we had a turbulent flight, landing in rain in Florida. Unfortunately, I had an aisle seat and had to borrow the bag from the poor guy next to me after filling mine. Embarrassing to say the VERY least. I couldn't get off that plane fast enough (and neither could my neighbors, most likely). By the time I got a shuttle to my hotel, it was 12:30am and I was exhausted.  Maybe that's why I didn't realize until the next morning that my room had this amazing view:

After a long day at the conference, I skipped the cocktail hour to walk around the grounds and enjoy the beautiful weather. This was the Hyatt Regency Cypress and I have to say I was really impressed with the grounds and wished I had packed more than business dress clothes.

I had a great dinner that night with some of my vendors and a marketing guy from another restaurant chain. One of them was from Britain/now Boston and was just fascinated by my life in a small town (being 2.5 hours from the airport was unfathomable to me) but we had interesting conversations and great food.  .

After more morning sessions, I started my journey back on Wednesday afternoon and was dreading the flights terribly. With a little help from some Zofran left from my last pregnancy, I made it through. I also discovered how terrible it is to be out of reading material for an 2+ hour flight. My phone battery was dying fast and I needed to save it for the drive home so I couldn't read off my Kindle app and I finished the entire Divergent book that I bought in the Dallas airport on the way. After arriving in Omaha, I still had a 2.5 hour drive home...alone...and drowsy from my medication...it was not the best combination.  

I stopped in Onawa for coffee and was horrified to notice a big dent/scrape in the driver's door of the company car I was driving. I speculated that someone had hit-and-run in the airport parking lot and that it was just too dark for me to notice when I returned to my car.  I got home late and dreaded going into work the next morning to deal with the car insurance/body shop arrangements. But, I dutifully snapped pics of the damage and headed in to work. 

I confided in one of my co-workers about the car damage and she asked, "Did you take the Edge?" "Yes," I said. "Oh, that's the vehicle that got hit a few weeks ago!" Oh.my.goodness. I am officially the most unobservant person on.the.planet. The dent had been there the ENTIRE time--from the time I picked up the car, stopped at Jimmy John's, parked at the airport, and got back in at the airport after my return. I just didn't notice the giant dent until the way home. 

So, I learned a few things on this trip.

1. Always inspect a borrowed car when you get into it. Saves a lot of worry.

2. Zofran is good for preventing puking but bad for driving alone at night after a long few days. Take with coffee.

3. After the winter we had been having, even a 1.5 day escape to warm temperatures and lush vegetation does a body and soul some good.

4. Pack more reading material than you think you'll need.

5. I am the worst traveler ever. Do not sit on a plane by me or ride in a car with me unless I am driving (the car, not the plane, do you want to die?