I’ve just spent the last few days in New York City attending a series of meetings. Getting there was a bit of a challenge because weather in the Southeast has been unusual (to say the least). But the biggest challenge came afterwards.
I was scheduled to be in Stuart, FL on Tuesday night in preparation for a Professional Development Workshop that I was presenting for Martin Memorial Hospital System. There were some 30 therapists and teachers who had signed up for this workshop that started today (Wednesday) at 1pm.
I flew from NYC’s LaGuardia airport to Charlotte, NC for a connection into Lynchburg. I left NYC around 1pm just as the storm started to bear down on the Southeast part of the country. By the time I landed in Charlotte, I knew there was going to be trouble with my connection. I needed to be in Lynchburg on time at 5:30pm. Alan and Chase were to pick me up at the airport, swap my luggage, and then jump into the truck to start the drive to Florida. We were originally schedule to spend the night in Rockingham, NC – about 4 hours down the road. My flight continued to get delayed due to weather and mechanical issues. As it turned out, the cargo door was first frozen closed and, once they opened it, it wouldn’t close again. We finally boarded the plane around 6pm and then sat on the runway to be de-iced for another two hours. It was nearly 9:30pm before I landed in Lynchburg (four hours late). We made the switch and were on the road by 10:30pm.
We drove straight into the oncoming snow storm. As we crossed into North Carolina, the snow was coming down hard – almost blinding at times. We made a change to our reservation and pulled over in Reidsville, NC about 100 miles from home.
The next morning, we were on the road around 8am. We needed to give the DOT time to get the roads in better condition. For the most part, the roads were great. They were a few stretches in North Carolina that were kind of scary though. We stayed in ice and snow through North Carolina, South Carolina, and a good part of Georgia. We were never so glad to see the ‘WELCOME TO THE SUNSHINE STATE” sign as we entered Florida! As we wrapped up the drive, it was 768 miles in a single day – but we made it.
The workshop today went incredibly well. It made the long day yesterday worth the drive! The therapists and teachers were so excited to learn how to incorporate magic tricks as a new treatment and education tool. The four hours just flew by and the workshop was over before we knew it.
The next two days will be spent working one-on-one with several pediatric clients who have Cerebral Palsy, Autism, or Downs Syndrome. Thursday and Friday are packed and it’s going to be a blast! Saturday we have a six hour workshop for adult rehabilitation therapists that’s going to be very rewarding and loads of fun. Then two shows on Sunday and Monday at the Lyric Theatre….Tuesday, we are working in the Martin County Schools. Wow, what a week!!