Overnight on the Way to Florida

Surprisingly, even after all that, the 11 hour flight to LAX I only managed to feel like sleeping for a couple hours.  Mostly I was watching the on-demand TV in my seat.  Caught maybe a half-hour on the flight to Phoenix, and then the flight from Phoenix to Orlando got us onto the plane on time.  The first class upgrade wasn't too expensive, so I paid for it so maybe I could sleep a little better.  That was my best sleep overnight, with maybe 2 1/2 hours.  Unfortunately, they left us on the runway for longer than they should have.  We approached Florida and it was coming up on 5:00 a.m.  We didn't get off the airplane until nearly 5:30.  It's a 40 minute drive to Cocoa, so I'd be starting late.

I went straight to the rental counter, got a car, then back to baggage claim and my bag was there already.  Early morning traffic was easy, and the drive went pretty fast.  The race was at 6:15.  I wouldn't be there.

But I had my not-so-secret weapon!  The race started.  The lovely Francine went straight to the timers and told them what the deal was.  There's a seven hour cutoff, so even starting late I knew we'd make it.  As they picked up the timing mats to move them to the finish line, they figured they'd have enough time, so they left the last one in place.  At about 6:40 I finally got there, put on my timing chip, and we crossed the mat.  About a half-hour late, but IT'S ON!