January 25-31, Driving to Alabama
We almost always stay until the end of these FLW tournaments, but this weekend it was planned that all the family would fly in to celebrate Dan’s mom’s birthday, so we finished up in Clewiston and headed over to Vero Beach on Friday. We had a wonderful time in Vero and left around noontime on Sunday. After that it was a long drive, 800 miles, to Joe Wheeler State Park in north Alabama. They are letting us store the boat in the secured storage area until we come back next week. We feel much better about leaving it there than at the airport. Next came the unpleasant task of finding a kennel for Cooper dog. It would cost over $200 to fly him home, he would have to ride in the baggage area and they don’t tend to him during layovers, so we decided to leave him in a kennel close to the airport. I cried, but he’ll be fine.
After sleeping in the truck (for the second night in a row) in a Wal-Mart parking lot near the airport, we awoke, finished packing, and were at the airport by 8am for our 12:00 flight. We are very much looking forward to being home with the kids for a week.