Miami

Sarah had a mission companion flying from Cali to Chile with a layover in Miami a couple weeks ago. Travis and I had the day off, so we all made the 4 hour drive (stupid tolls) to Miami. We made it there a little early so parked the car in a residential area and walked along a sidewalk that doubles as an ocean barricade. It was fun to see the skyline of Miami and try to figure out which building glows gold on the CSI:Miami opening credits. By the way, I have no doubt in my mind why they picked Miami for a CSI.... more later.

Sarah's friend left her cell phone at home, so her son called from California saying she landed and was downstairs waiting. This is the Miami airport, we need a little more than just "downstairs" to find a person. But we headed over to the airport and when we didn't find her on the first drive by, had an interesting time trying to get back. No, Travis was not driving (neither was I), but he wishes he was when we finally found her after a couple more drive bys the airport and just as many large loops through Miami to get back to the airport. I enjoyed the scenic route, but by the time we found the friend, we only had 2 hours with her.

We headed to South Beach to get dinner. We drove by Miami Ink, I didn't see the sign. But we drove by it! After walking down the streets finding a cheap place we found the food factory. We only had 1 hour before her flight at this point. Did I say it was international? She was not in any hurry though so Travis insisted and put our orders to go. We were able to eat the mediocre food and fight traffic back to the airport. I think she had 20 minutes by the time we got there to make her flight. Since she didn't have a cell phone we don't know how that went. Travis took us to a gas station to fill up for the ride home. It was one of those places where you don't feel comfortable going inside the convenient store. On our way out from the station we realized we must have stepped in gasoline because it smelled in the car. Travis stopped the car in a back alley and we scraped our shoes on the grass. An oversized van started heading towards us as I scrambled to get back in the car. I didn't want to make CSI.

The ride home was uneventful (other than the tolls charging us an arm and leg!), and I can now say that I will never (in this case I can say NEVER) want to live in Miami. No thank you. I'll stay where I am at for the time being.