MIAMI ADVENTURES BEGIN ( June 6th)

It all started when we left JFK for Miami Int Airport. As we neared
Miami we could see that the weather was very bad. Soon we were in a
holding pattern high above Miami waiting out a lightning storm. We
were holding for about and hour when finally the captain announces
that we had been holding for so long we were running out of fuel.
Yipee! So he said we were diverting to West Palm Beach Airport where
we would refuel and wait out the storm. So off we went. By this time
we were already late and had no way of contacting Javier the brother
who was meeting us in Miami. Just a side point, Javier actually lives
about 20mins from Palm Beach which was where we were diverting to,
so we could have just gone there and saved him time and us time and
worry, instead he had driven an hour south to pick us up! Ho hum.

Once in Palm Beach they gave us the chance to call people and tell
them what was happening, which we did. We didn’t know very much
as they kept saying, yes we will let some people out here but then
they would say, no there is no gate for us to disembark the aircraft.
So we told Javier that we would eventually be going back to Miami as
planned but at this stage we did not know when, as the storm was still
raging. He was quite understanding, which was good. Long story short
we left for Miami about 2 hours later making us about 3+ hours behind
schedule. We rang Javier to let him know we were on our way back
and that we would call him once we were out of customs. This we did.

We got outside where it was stinking hot and called Javier. Told him
we were at concourse D right under the huge D sign. He said "Im there
too but I cant see you, where are you?" We said "where are you?
We are right where we said". We described the cars driving past
and he didn’t seem to be able to see any of them either, what was the
problem?? This went on for about 30mins between Dave and Javier. I
began thinking there must be something wrong here, why are we
supposedly at the same place yet we cant see each other? I began
thinking maybe there are two levels or something. I went and asked a
security guy if he could help and he said yes there are two levels,
you are at one and he will be at the other! So I went back and
said to Dave which level is he on? We then found out that we were
on different levels, thus the reason we could not see each other! So
finally we got into the car and off we went.

As we were driving along Javier was telling us about the storm. He could tell straight away that there was no way we would land as it was a very violent storm that shut down roads and highways due to flooding. He was very understanding and we all laughed about it.

Once we got into Delray Beach which is where Javier lives he took us to a Cuban Restaurant for dinner. It was about 6pm. There was another massive thunder storm us, it was quite something to experience. The sound of the thunder was so loud at times it was deafening and the flashes of lightning so bright you had to turn away. Hopefully Marlene isn’t reading this part. But while we were sitting inside eating away, there was what sounded like a huge explosion and lightning hit the ground just out in the car park!!! Luckily it didnt hit any cars or anything, just the ground. It was scary and exciting all at the same time.

Dinner was wonderful and again our dear brother would not let us pay. Once finished he took us to meet some of his friends, Pablo and Lilly. We spent a little while at their place and then headed off to Javiers place where we would spent the night.

The next morning we were supposed to be heading over to Tampa which is on the opposite coast to Delray.

Now heres another experience of a loving brotherhood. Dear brother Don, who I think I have mentioned before, had arranged with Javier that we borrow his car for the week so we could get around and see some of the sights, including going to Tampa to go to Busch garden (A Theme Park) and to see Dons sister. However, Javier felt that his car would be too unreliable and we could risk breaking down on the way to Tampa (a 4 hour drive). He was so worried about that happening that he hired a rental car for us and would not let us pay him for it!!! Can you believe that?! We were dumb struck and kept offering to give him something but he would not let us. We had the car for 3 days total, which got us to Tampa and back with perfect timing. We are very, very, very thankful to Javier for his generosity and really don’t know what to say but thank you! Again, what a marvelous organization we belong to. He did not know us from a bar of soap and did that for us!

After a nights stay at Javiers we left for Tampa. Yipeeee, roller coasters here we come!!!!!!!!! Tampa story to follow.