Spontaneous

Last week I received an email from my friend Steph about a contest on her local radio station. She had entered and would I mind sending an email to help her win? The contest was for moms who needed to "cut the cord," or let go of their children. Uh, yeah, Steph is the poster child for this.

[In a nutshell, Steph's daughter just started college and she followed her to campus on the first day. Being one of my best bloggy friends I hope that she doesn't mind me spreading that around. You know I love you girl!]

On Thursday she found out that she had won, and with my help, as they had read part of my email on the air! Each winner was allowed to invite a friend to go out for a night on the town, complete with a limo ride, dinner, and club-hopping in downtown Boise.

Yep, Boise, Idaho.

Anyway, after some phone calls, planning, and pleading it was settled that I would be the one to go with her. So off to the airport I went early on Saturday morning to fly through Denver and get to Boise by mid afternoon. Only to get on a plane less than 24 hours later to make it back home the next day. But I'll get back to that part.

Aside: As you know, Headless Dad doesn't get the whole blogging thing. Getting him to get on board with me going to a city that I've never been to before, to meet someone that I've never met before, to party with people that I don't know, and somehow make it home in under 24 hours was a MAJOR feat all on it's own. You know, all you internet people are murders, right? This is no blogging conference with 1000+ people in a city where I can take care of myself. No, this was relying on strangers. To say that he was skeptical is putting it mildly.

Meeting Stephanie was like getting together with an old friend. We picked up where the emails and blog posts have left off, and fell into a comfortable conversation. After a few hours of catching up it was time to get ready to head off in the limo.

A pre-limo cocktail!

We were carried around town in a Hummer Limo. Complete with champagne! Niiice!

Yes, there were shots involved. The other winners and their friends were a lot of fun!

You know you're close to Utah when: (Excuse the grammar. Seriously. I can't help them.)


Thanks to Kate and Mix 106 radio for giving me a great excuse go to Boise and meet my pal for the first time. (More of Kate's pics here.) It was so fun to meet you, Steph. Thanks to you and G for the great hospitality, and for helping me cut the cord, if only for a day!

Oh! And for those of you keeping track, my trip home started out scary. My flight out of Boise was delayed for an hour, making me scared that I wouldn't make my connection in San Fransisco. All was ok after making a mad dash from gate 70 to gate 85 with little time to spare. (Good thing I've been getting in shape. I ran all the way and thought, "Wow! This would have been much harder if I hadn't been running lately.") Then, on the approach to LAX I was greeted by this:

The Station fire in the Angeles National Forest. As of today it has burned more than 85,000 acres, with no containment to speak of, and more hot dry days to come. It is about 40 miles from us so all we have is the smoke, but it's awful. Welcome home! *cough, cough* Add to that another fire burning about 40 miles east of us and it makes for quite a smoky morning. I don't think anyone would say I was wrong to skip my walk this morning, do you?