After we got back from Houston I had to fly Mt. Vernon, IL to visit a client and give an analysis of how a CRM system could be implemented for them. Mt. Vernon is in the middle of nowhere. In fact, the closest airport was 2.5 hours away in St. Louis, so that is where I flew in.
One perk of the trip is that Hertz messed up my reservation somehow, so instead of getting a Toyota Corolla or equivalent, I rolled in style with a Ford Edge, complete with navigational system and leather interior. I got this for the same price as the original reservation. Thanks Hertz!
When I drove back into St. Louis after the meetings were done I took this pic of the St. Louis arch with my cell phone (thru the car windshield, as I was driving 65 mph on the freeway at the time!):
After I got home, Alberto and I were planning to go to San Francisco for a day - ePartners wanted me to go to a Microsoft training and I wanted him to see SanFran.
We got bumped, however, when I got asked to cover for another consultant going on vacation for a customer in Ft. Lauderdale.
So, off to Ft. Lauderdale I went after just a few days of being back at home, for 4 days.From the moment I got there it was raining non stop. It felt like a tropical storm was passing through. I stayed at the Doubletree Suites and really enjoyed it. The hotel was right on the IntraCoastal Waterway, and my room faced the ocean.
Some of the perks of this room included a nice wall mounted plasma screen tv, a comfy cushy bed with lots of fluffy pillows and (my favorite) warm chocolate chip cookies upon arrival!
Here are some pics:
water taxi cruising down the IntraCoastal Waterway
The view below from my window
Ok, funny story time:
one night, around 10:30, I heard a knock outside my door. My door was very close to the door next to me, so as I looked out the peephole I could see that the knock was for my neighbor.
I was just about to turn away when I heard the woman at the doorway say "I'm here for the service you ordered..." as my neighbor opened the door. That was when I noticed what the woman was dressed like. With a super tight pink tank top and a barely there black mini skirt, it all of a sudden occurred to me that this woman might be a hooker!
So now I have witnessed my first hooker visitation.
While I was there, Stephanie convinced me that I should walk to the ocean for sunrise, which was just a couple of blocks away. Being three hours ahead of my normal schedule, I was hesitant, but I decided that I should do it.
The next morning, I made the trip down to the beach. It was such a stormy week, and this day was no different. The black low-lying clouds were really ominous and the beach had a perpetual blue tint everywhere. Here are some photos from that day:
entrance to the beach from A1A
crashing waves
a lonely barge on the ocean
But that wasn't all that I saw of Ft. Lauderdale....this was just week one! I had to go back to following week as well for the go-live event at the client's office.
This week was much less stormy, and I got some starkly different sunrise photos on that trip:
what a difference a few days make!
People have to be careful to not lure turtles off the beach with their lights!
I love this ebb and flow picture!
Breakfast Time!
Here comes the sun!
Postcard Perfect!
I also met a really cool person on the trip, another consultant from my company and she and I hit it off right from the start! We even went shopping together at the local outlet there, and had a yummy dinner with decadent molten lava chocolate cake for dessert. :D MMMMM YUMMY
I am looking forward to the day when Alberto and I can visit her and her husband at her home in Boston.
There was one additional perk to the trip! Due to some crazy alignment of the stars, I was flying into IAH at the same time that Peter was. So, the three of us got to have a coffee break together in the airport before going our separate ways again!
Peter and Tracy
me n Tracy
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