Florida!

I recently traveled to Fruitland Park, Florida (near Leesburg) for a few days of meetings. Aside from being in Florida in January, I wasn't really looking forward to it. I had a bit of a cold and was just feeling lazy and apathetic.

Let me share with you my journey:

I arrived WAY too early to the airport. Since I travel a lot and check in on-line, I've started getting there an hour or less ahead of departure. I had to check a bag, so I added a bit of time to this, yet didn't factor in that it was a Sunday. Also, I'm used to having to go to the WAY end terminal for my flights, but this time, since I was flying to Orlando (the closest airport), the gate was really close. I was bored out of my mind.

The lady across from me, and older, trashy-looking woman, kept giving me a weird look while working on Sudoku. There were a lot of kids around, too, presumably headed to the "happiest place on earth."

As a diversion, I wandered to a kiosk that sold Palm Pilots and accessories to see if they had an iPod charger because I couldn't find mine. They did, and I bought it. That took all of 10 minutes. A snack and several bathroom trips later, they started boarding. As we were waiting to board, one guy who was sitting in the seating area leaned over and pretty much yelled at a guy sitting in the same row, "Can you stop that please? It's really annoying!" The guy he yelled at was doing that leg shaking thing and it was apparently shaking the entire row. The leg-shaker jumped up and just walked someplace else. It was kind of a weird little scene.

After landing in Orlando and gathering my luggage, I went to the Ground Transportation area to pick up a shuttle to the camp where the meetings were going to be held - about an hour ride.

I had made a reservation with a company called Lake Limo after looking into different shuttle companies, most of whom charge about $90 - $100 for a one-way trip from the airport. Lake Limo Service only charged $49. Knowing that a taxi from our airport in Cleveland to my office is often over $25 (and this is only about 10 miles), I couldn't believe it would only be $49 for this 50+ mile ride, but my travel budget is limited, so I booked it. The agent on the phone asked for my flight information and told me where to go when I got to the airport. She was a wee bit salty on the phone, but I didn't think too much of it.

I got to the Ground Transportation at about 3:15pm. A shuttle bus was there, and it was full. And it wasn't Lake Limo. There was one other young woman there, she said she was also waiting for Lake Limo. By 3:30pm, there were 8 of us waiting for the shuttle, several of whom had called Lake Limo more than once to see where the heck they were.

After leaving a cool, gloomy day in Cleveland, I was not thrilled about sitting outside in muggy Orlando, where it was about 85 degrees that day. Shuttles pulled up, loaded up with other people, and left - none of them heading to Leesburg, and none of them Lake Limo.

At 4:45pm, the shuttle finally arrived as if that was the time they were supposed to pick us up. As the shuttle came to a stop, the door opened and out came the driver, who I nicknamed, "Shakey McGee." He was probably over 80 years old and his hands shook so much that it was hard to hand him the money for the trip.

The man went though each person, double checking who they were and where they were going. He started to load our luggage, but one of the other passengers must have felt bad for him because he ended up doing most of it. When 7 of us were comfortable, another guy came up to load in. Thankfully, he squeezed into the back seat, and I remained in the middle seat with the only other person who not only looked to be about my age, but also looked like he might be somewhat normal.

When we were all settled, Shakey McGee put his trembling hands to the wheel began our journey. The young man next to me, it turned out, was headed to the same meetings as I was, and we chatted about our respective roles and job duties, as well as a bit of cynical, off-beat humor. 4 of our passengers were going to the same place - some tiny college in Leesburg. I got the impression that it was the kind of place where just about anyone could get in. They were the first stop, and we were not sad to see them leave, as the two young men behind us were apparently under-sexed but overly talkative, taking turns turning anything in the conversation into sexual innuendo.

I hadn't eaten lunch because I didn't want to miss the shuttle (and hadn't anticipated sitting and waiting for so long), so when we finally arrived at the camp at 6:30pm, with 15 minutes left for dinner, I just couldn't wait to get out of that van and get some food. As we departed the van, the last person left in the shuttle discovered that one of his suitcases was missing. My new friend and I were of the same mind - keep walking and don't look back. We had our luggage, no sense in getting caught up in the drama that was sure to ensue over the lost suitcase.

The moral here is, if you pay for a $49 shuttle ride in a city where the average shuttle ride costs $90, you’re going to get a $49 shuttle ride.

The meeting went well, mainly because I had so much fun with some new friends, who I called "the cool kids." During the meetings, we made snarky comments to each other. Each night, we would "circle the wagons" so to speak, by going to the cafeteria where we could get wireless access, all of us at our respective laptops at a round table (see photo at left).

One night, they had the Ohio State/Florida football game projected on the wall for anyone who was at the camp. Just as I was plugging in my laptop to the power strip, the lights went out, and when they came back on, I was standing there with two cords in my hand, while everyone at the table laughed and shouted my name. The serious football fans glared back at me, obviously not amused and likely thinking that I was the cause of the power outtage (which, I wasn't... I don't think...)

Another funny happening was that one guy was talking about how he wished he had brought with him his "Answer Me Jesus" - and another guy said, "Oh, I brought mine..." So, everyone had a great time playing with the Answer Me Jesus, which is like a Magic 8 Ball and gives you answers such as, "I died for this?" and "Pray harder." At one point, they set up Jesus as in the photo at right. Know what that is? It's Jesus walking on water!

The setting was heavenly, with huge trees dripping with Spanish moss, the weather perfect after the first really hot day. We were told to watch for aligators, since the camp was essentially an island in a lake. I was bummed that I didn't get to see one, but did get some gorgeous sunsets. The lodgings were "motel-like" but fine - although I was stunned to learn there was no phone or TV in the rooms!

I was able to catch a ride with a colleague back to the airport. I was extremely grateful as I called Lake Limo to cancel my scheduled pick-up!