Sunday, February 13, 2005

I was on the road before 0700 hours, as I wanted to beat the storm. It was 38 degrees in Chicago as I headed out. Being Sunday morning, there was very little traffic on the Kennedy Expressway and the toll-way as I headed north on I-90.

I stopped briefly near the Wisconsin line to gas up and get my Egg McMuffin. As I passed through the Madison area I heard a number of companies on the air, but no reports of fires. I made really good time as I only stopped once briefly for a rest-stop the rest of the way home.

I didn’t see any snow on the ground until I got north of Madison, and the snow there was only covering shady areas. When I got near the Wisconsin/Minnesota border, it started to rain. It was 36 degrees at the border. I drove the rest of the way home through a light rain. I got home at 1315 hours and unloaded the car in a light drizzle- not bad.

It didn’t start snowing here in Minneapolis until 1730 hours- thank goodness. I picked up Karyle and we went out to dinner at our local Old Country Buffet. I had been suffering from withdrawal pains from the lack of OCB restaurants at the end of the trip.

As usual, I was treated extremely well by all the fire service personnel I came into contact with as I traveled more than 3000 miles on this trip. My dad had been flabbergasted at how good firefighters treated us when I was with him in the Naples area. We were invited to eat with them twice and offered coffee on numerous other occasions. I told him that firefighters were like that wherever and whenever I travel across this great country of ours. He smiled.

Thank you for traveling along with me on my latest Florida adventure. I didn’t get to do as much fire buffing as I’d like to do, but I had some great times visiting with many friends (and relatives) along the way. That part of the trip was great for me, probably not for you.

I’m still not hearing the things I want to hear from the Bush Administration in regards to the fire service. Sounds like more cuts in funds for our heroic defenders. Many departments are already riding short with three on their rigs- some are only riding with two! How can we continue to justify cutting our first-defenders, the very people that day in and day out protect us from fire and save our lives as EMS first-responders. That just doesn’t make any sense to me!!!!

I will be taking another trip south in March. I'll be flying into Fort Myers and driving a car home from there. I hope to be able to do a lot of buffing on my way back north.