Saints Win, Laura & Aron came to town!

Hi y'all.....

Just getting my head out of the clouds enough to finally post about last week's incredible ride. Where to begin?

THE NEW ORLEANS SAINTS ARE GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL!!! I can't believe it! I haven't lived in Louisiana since 1990, but I will always be a Saints fan. Unbelieveably, I have never seen the Saints lose in person. That's right, I went to ONE game every year in the dome and never saw them lose. Sometimes, it was the only game they won that year. So if anyone is superstitious and has tickets (and airline fare) and wants to send me to Miami....I'll be happy to go. I'm sure work wouldn't mind me skipping.

So what was I doing on Sunday while the Saints were whipping up on Brett Favre and company? Driving south on I-5 to Puyallup to meet my sister Laura and her husband Aron, who were dropping a load of Florida Orange Juice that they had picked up in Miami last week. We were supposed to have dinner at Julie and I's apartment, but they weren't able to drop off their load and drive up....so we had to drive down. It was only an hour 15 min drive and believe me I listened to every single second of the Saints game on the way down. Julie was scared to death that I was going to drive off the road when the Saints kicked that wonderful 40 yard FG in OT.

So we met up for the first time in 6 years (had it really been that long?) and had a wonderful dinner at the Emerald Queen Casino. We had a blast. From Laura thinking the EQC was all fancy to Aron wanting a ton of sugar for his tea. We saw other Saints fans at the casino (there are still hundreds of Katrina refugees here in Washington state who never went back to La.) and wished we had our own Saints T-shirts to wear for the big game. They don't allow pics at the casino, so these were taken outside and then at Laura and Aron's truck.

During our conversations, we found out that the reason Laura and Aron were in Miami was to drop off tents, blankets, and medical supplies for the relief effort in Haiti. Their load came from Salt Lake City. I'm proud to know that they helped transport needed supplies across the country. Not everyone can go directly to Haiti to help....you can help out even from home with a simple donation to the Red Cross or other non-profit group.
Finally, Julie and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary on January 26th. I can't believe I've been married to the sweetest girl in the world for 6 years already. Time must fly when you're having fun. Speaking of fun, this year's trip is a 2 week adventure across the country. We are going back to Louisiana to visit the relatives (especially the newest addition, little Taylor) and driving the entire way. We'll also visit 3 different ballparks along the way as we are still working on seeing all 30 MLB stadiums. We leave Thursday, May 27th and should be in the Baton Rouge area around June 1st.