Well Friday started out much the usual with a before 6 roll out for me. I did my morning routines of a few quiet moments with added concern for those who were murdered on this day 14 years ago by radical Islamic terrorists and to put things in perspective we were flying out west later in the afternoon as well. Oh well!!! I will get to the flights later in this ramble. There were several tributes on the tube to those couple thousand innocent folks who died as a result of this so called peaceful religion. We will remember this day always and the murders who carried out this cowardly act.
We spent the morning getting the last of the luggage packed and squaring away the house waiting for Amber(Botbyl's daughter) to dropped us all off at the airport in Tampa. We were a couple hours earlier than necessary but since it was such a day in infamy we weren't sure what hoops we would have to jump through to get on board. I was the only one who had to take off my shoes at the check point. We had our boarding passes ready and basically walked through security without a hitch. We sat in the terminal for an hour or more before boarding and then we were off to Las Vegas where we would change planes for Reno/Tahoe. Our plane had 175 pax on board for the nearly 4 hour flight. It was Nancy's first time to fly in 40+ years and it had been several for myself. We hit some clear air turbulence for about an hour and then it smooth out nicely.
We were amazed at how much desert like scenery was evident after leaving the Tex/Ark borders as we flew at 30K feet and wow once we got to Nevada it looked like the Sahara. We wondered what do the folks who live here do besides stay inside out of the heat. It was 105 degrees at the airport in Las Vegas and 90+ at the airport in Reno; but the humidity was null and void and when we got to the cabin in the Tahoe/Donner area it had dropped down to the 60's. I never remembered the area to be so void of greenery except for the Ponderso Pines and golf courses. Everything else was brown, gray and very dry looking. I've yet to see a blade of green grass, oh well.I don't suppose there are many lawn care businesses here.
Patrick and Katherine met us at the airport in Reno and we were quickly on our way. They had rented a Dodge van which we will use to take our day trips in comfort. We headed to the cabin which is just beautiful, its nestled in the pines and bushes indigenous to the Sierras mountains. She had a pot of chili already cooked as well as a salad and muffins and while that simmered we partook of a glass of the fruit of the vine outside sitting on their deck which is big enough to hold a small wedding reception, yikes was it ever nice and the temps were exhilarating.
It was around 8 ish when we decided to eat which made it 11'ish our time in Florida. It sure didn't feel that late and the dining was superb. After the cleanup we choose bedrooms then decided to call it a night after a hot shower for me. I was wide awake at 3:30 local time which was my usual wake up around 6'ish in Florida. I will need to get adjusted to that difference in the next day or so as well. Well it is an exciting adventure we are on with great friends to parts of these United States Nancy and Dan have never seen. I did notice the big difference in the price of gas in Calif. at 3.49 a gallon compared to 1.99 in Florida, yeow but you would never know it by the cars on the road.
I will post pics later as everyone is asleep at this early morning hour, LATER
