What Are We Do’n?

“The important thing in life is not to triumph but to compete.” -Pierre de Coubertin

Sunday Morning: 6:30AM, January 5th

…After hours of near-sleepless travel our Kerry Pack made its way into the Orlando International Airport (MCO). All things considered, the trip had been uneventful with a bit of rough turbulence at the start followed by hours of half-sleep in the semi-seated near-paralized position. Finally we were reunited at baggage claim. Aoife & Stirling were dazed and confused, but cooperative – and believe it or not, quiet. Each had made the 13 hours without soiling their crates, and they held on for still another length of time while I secured our rental vehicle.

I had planned to rent a mini-van and have the seats removed, but the Alamo representative looked at me as if I had three-heads. She informed me of the fortune it would cost me if I chose to tamper with the seats, and invited me to rent from the Dollar Rentals [her hand motioned to my right]. …Now this was no big deal really, except I had the good fortune of securing a porter to assist me with my travel lot, and he was patiently waiting with my precious cargo. The Dollar Rental line was long, so out we went to the Alamo lot to off load the porter’s cart.

At least a half-hour and 3 vehicles later we were ready to give up. Neither one of us could figure out how to flatten the seats in these vehicles, and at the best configuration we literally had a large crate sticking half out the side door. I really should have grabbed my camera, but I sensed I was pressing my luck with this porter. He had gotten himself into far more than he ever bargained for, I’m sure. So we unloaded with the intent of my joining the Dollar Rental line, while relieving the porter of his duty. But as it were another person came along and showed us how to flatten the seats, and so we parted with our mission accomplished.

But talk about tired… And although I could go on and on about how we’ve spent the last three days, I won’t. At least not at this time.

But in the meantime, back in Alaska the -dales have found adventure of their own: