crappy start, great finish

My girlfriend, 2 buddys and I were all set to go to Daytona for the races. We were meeting another couple that flew down earlier. After getting to the airport, and going through all the checkpoints, we find out our flight is delayed because of the weather. It goes from 5:55 to 6:25. No problem. Then they change gates, and move it to 7:00. No problem. Then they change it to 7:25. At 7:15 we ask when they are going to start boarding, and they tell us the flight left at 7:10....with our luggage, containing 4 guns (all of us are cops). The next flight is at 9:00 am, the next morning, but it is full.

I make a command decision, and decide we will drive down from Dulles Airport in Virginia. It is just about 800 miles, so we load up into my truck, and go. Meanwhile, my girlfriend is on the phone trying to get our luggage delivered to the hotel...with no luck. They agree to hold it for us.

We roll into Daytona the next morning, stop at the airport to get our luggage, and find that it has been loaded onto a plane going back to Dulles. After some extreme convincing, they pull it off the plane, and we finally have our gear.

The truck races were a blast, the Busch race was fairly tame, and the Daytona 500 was awesome after about lap 140. To top it off, they launched a rocket from Canaveral.

A rough start, but a great finish.