Thursday, August 12

Reporting Live from Hurricane Charlie

I flew into Tampa this evening. I did check the weather online before I left my house in Tahoe at 5:45 AM. When I arrived at the Tampa airport, I learned that much of Tampa Bay Region was under evacuation orders. The largest evacuation, they're saying on TV, in the area's history.


I had a lot of luck, though. The organizers of the reunion managed to get a block of rooms in Orlando (well inland) and bussed everyone who was already in St. Petersburg to the new hotel. I rented a car at the airport and now after a four hour drive (usually 90 minutes, I'm told), I can blog from the comfort of a very nice room: the Rosen Centre Hotel. They're charging me a "distressed traveler's rate" of about $48, for a room that I estimate would usually cost $200.


And there are a lot of ISB'ers milling about in the bar downstairs. So, assuming I can get home when the weekend is over, I can say this was the most pleasant emergency I've ever been in.



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