Key Largo

Today was a fishing day. Not my thing, but the rest of the family enjoys.
I was just along for the ride.

Seas were pretty rough.
Probably 3-5 feet – we went about 6-7 miles out from Key Largo.
I think the deepest water we sat over was 355 feet. Yowza!

This was the first time I saw the outriggers in action. I have heard endless stories, but never saw or understood how they actually worked. Here is a very condensed version of setting them up.

Yes, that was edited down – A LOT!


Not any ‘keepers’ – but lots of family fun!

Dad did have a big one – he fought it for a while – but it got away.
We think it was a Dolphin (fish, not a porpoise)

The biggest catch of the day was snagging my ‘doo-rag’ out of the water. I have to wear a bandana on my head because my freakishly sensitive scalp burns instantly. I look like an idiot; but it’s better this way.

Lesson learned: NEVER put sunscreen in your hair!
(found out the hard way a few years ago)
It was a CRAZY hot day. Near the end I covered myself with a sheet because I couldn’t take any more sun.

I managed to come down with sun poisoning on my arms and left foot. Mainly my left arm. It just itches like a mother. Basically it’s a rash - an allergic reaction to the sun.

(Pictures didn’t come out well)

Leave it to me – Ms. Allergy – to also be allergic to the sun!
I have gotten it before. It will go away eventually.

After a few hours of unsuccessful fishing, everyone got cranky, hot and tired and we came back in.

Showers and naptime!

In the evening we went to a place call Fish House. It was ok. Everyone else really liked it. But I never have high hopes for chicken at a local seafood place.

When we got back, we decided to let Harry come outside for a while. Dave wanted to know how he was liking the boat – so we took some photos of Captain Harry.

Key Largo

Got the boat loaded up and set out a little before 9am.

It’s about 15 minutes thru canals to the open water.

We headed out to the French Reef.

Mom, dad, Uncle Hugh and Aunt Mary got rigged up and went diving.

Since the ‘rigging’ part takes about 30+ minutes, I picked some clips and let the editing software compile it into a little over a minute. Much simpler than cutting it down myself!

Then here is a clasic "mom" moment..... listen closely

After they left, I got in the water to snorkel for a while. Which is wrong, someone is always supposed to be on the boat when there are divers down. But it was hot!!

Once I got in the water, I panicked a little bit when I realized that I was all alone. I was about to get out and then made myself stay in for 15 minutes.

The visibility was good, but it was about 18 feet of water, so I couldn’t see much. I hung on to a line from the boat because that makes me feel better. Especially since I was alone!

Thankfully, I didn’t see any sharks, so that helped immensely!

I got back up on the boat, showered off and dried out a little and then settled in with my book.

All morning we had been listening to the VHF radio - a 38’ vessel was taking on water. The idiots had a boat of that size and had no idea where they were and did not have a GPS. They just new they put in at the port of Key Largo and were headed towards Miami. So we had been entertained listening to their conversations with the Coast Guard and the other vessels on the look out for the sinking boat.

Apparently they were rescued while I was in the water because the “all clear” message from the Coast Guard shortly after I got back on the boat.

They soon surfaced and all of the drama ensued of them getting out of the water.

We snacked on some fresh fruit and found then set out for a new buoy to tether to.

This spot was about 25 feet. This time I decided to snorkel while they got rigged up. I didn’t want to be in the water while they were diving. I didn’t see much since it was even deeper.

I got out and again settled in with my book while they dove.

We headed in shortly after they all came up. A storm was rolling in.

Made it ‘home’ without rain.

Got the boat and gear cleaned and then had some lunch. We all then took naps!

After naps, it was time for boat drinks… tonight – Margarita’s with fresh lime and lots of salt on the rim!

This evening we gilled steaks and veggies – yummy!

Columbus > Miami > Key Largo

Slept for 3 hours and was up at 3:15a. Ugh!
But today – I am going on vacation!!!!

Was out the door by 4:45a and headed to the airport.

Thankfully, I was upgraded for both legs of the trip so I was able to nap.

Upon landing in Miami, I headed to the SkyClub to check email one last time. I will have very limited access for the next 2 weeks.

Then I called Uncle Hugh & Aunt Mary to see where they were – we had planned on rendezvousing at the International Mall. They were just about there and told me to meet them outside the Macy’s.

So I got my luggage, hailed a cab and was on my way!

They were easy to spot in the parking lot – they had their RV in tow. That’s why they didn’t pick me up at the airport.

We got underway and Harry was quite the show off!

Let me start by saying I am not a fan of animals having free range in a moving vehicle, however, my "cousin" Harry disagrees.
In my opinion, cats should be in crates that are buckled in. Dogs should be in crates or harnesses that affix to a seat belt.  But those "later in life children" tend to be spoiled.  :)

In other news.....My left ear is really messed up. Can’t hear a thing. Ugh!! I hope it opens up soon!

The drive down to Key Largo took just over an hour. They got checked into the campground while Harry and I waited in the truck.

They dropped me off at my parents rented unit so I could check it out, while they got the RV parked a few spaces down from my parents.

I also checked out the beach.

Hmmm...  it HAS been a few years since I've been to South Beach...  not exactly like I remember it.

Later in the afternoon, “The Sh’Ed II” arrived

Once we got unpacked and settled, we had a nice cook out and made plans for morning.

Clemson, SC

NCAA Baseball Super Regionals – Alabama vs Clemson
Oh what a day!

Clemson built a 8-1 lead, but then in the 9th inning Alabama scored 5 runs. The tying run was on 2nd base – but thank God for Jake Smith’s fly out to left! (I was pretty nervous there for a few!)

More yummy BBQ was delivered to the truck late in the game.

After the game, I headed back up to Greensboro to spend the night near the airport.

YAH!!! MY SEASON IS OVER!!!!! I AM OFFICIALLY OFF for the next 15 days!
(ok, I do have a RWB meeting tomorrow, but that doesn’t really count)

I did it!
Another year of "living the dream" baby!

Clemson, SC

NCAA Baseball Super Regionals – Alabama vs Clemson

What a game! Clemson won 19-5
So much scoring!!!

Alabama didn’t win, so that means there will be a game three tomorrow. Ugh.
Oh well.

In the outfield, there is a ‘restaurant’ called the Cajun Café. Oh my goodness! I am not at all into BBQ or Southern food in general. But they started delivering boxes of dinner to the truck so we would talk about them on the air. (works every time)

WOW! That was some good eatin!

When I got back to the room tonite, the housekeeper had left me the nicest note ever!

Wow! A week ago, the housekeeper at my last hotel robbed me. This housekeeper has a heart!

Clemson, SC

NCAA Baseball Super Regionals – Alabama vs Clemson

Today was good. The drugs are kicking in, so I am feeling a little better.

I checked out the booth before the game…. Everyone was complaining about how small it was, so I wanted to see first hand.

Alabama won 5-4, so I am now a HUGE fan of the Crimson Tide!

Clemson, SC

NCAA Baseball Super Regionals – Alabama vs Clemson - Set Dat

Yup, I am sick.

Need to find a pharmacy so I can call and beg for some Rx’s to be called in.

Stopped at McD’s for some coffee on the way to site.
Must be in the south – they sell sweet tea by the gallon at the drive thru!

Got on site and asked the runner where there was a pharmacy. He found one for me, I called them and gave them my insurance info and then called my doctor. I asked for the usual – a Z-pack and a bottle of cough syrup with codeine. The combo always does the trick!

Since the cough syrup was a controlled substance, the runner couldn’t pick it up for me. So at lunch, my AP drove me to get it. Also grabbed various cold remedies and tissues to help me survive the weekend. I sucked down the first dose with lunch.

The rest of the set day was ok. I was so sick, all I cared about was the series only going 2 games.

Columbus > Greenville, SC > Clemson, SC

Two days at home… opened some of the mail… paid some bills… unpacked… did laundry… packed … back on the road again!

But this is it! My last road trip for 5 weeks!! Well, I am going on vacation next week – but this is the last work related trip at least.

This morning I had a Red White & Boom meeting at Channel 4. Pretty much the same show lined up.. different year. Still lots of work though

Flew to Greenville-Spartanburg and then drove to Clemson. This is my first trip to Clemson – yah! I always love going somewhere new.

We are staying out by the interstate at the exit for Clemson.

I guess it’s about a 20 minute drive to campus.





Didn’t do anything tonite, I am still exhausted from the past few weeks.

And I think I am getting sick. Seems right… it’s time for my annual summer sinus infection.

Columbus

Big day today – I got to FINALLY meet baby Isabella! She is 2 weeks old.

She is so incredibly precious!

Oklahoma City > Columbus

I am not gonna lie to ya.. I am pretty hung over today.
Slept til the last possible second and then headed downstairs for a cab.

I may or may not of thrown up at the airport.

Thank God for my 1st class upgrade for the ride home.

It’s good to be home again! This was a 12 day road trip.

I am beyond exhausted. One more week and my summer begins!!

Oklahoma City

2010 Women’s College World Series

Today was my final day of work. The event lasts for 3 more days, however, there is just 1 game a day, so there is no need for 2 crews anymore.

After our 2 games, my graphics team sat in the stands and took in some of the afternoon session. I am kinda over softball at this point – so I took pictures of a few of the camera positions.

After a few innings we headed back to the hotel.

I got packed since I leave tomorrow and then took a nap.

This evening, once the night crew got done working, we all headed over to Bricktown and went to the Biting Sow.

It’s pretty much a dive bar that has live music.



It was A LOT of fun!



Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures. Not sure what I was thinking? Then again, it’s probably best that I didn’t. A significant amount of alcohol was consumed!

Didn’t get back to my room until like 4am. Thank God I am smart when booking my travel for this event – the crew always goes out on this Sunday night – so I take an afternoon flight home.

Another great experience in Oklahoma City! By far the highlight of my year each and every time I do this event! What an awesome group of people – I am honored to be a part of this crew.

Oklahoma City

2010 Women’s College World Series

Ugh. Today sucked. Practically no sleep and 2 games.

Stayed for a while after our games to build stuff for tomorrow’s games.

Also filed my police report today.

This evening, I walked over to Bricktown.

And had dinner at Mickey Mantles.

It’s a nice steakhouse. I ate here years ago and decided it was time to do so again.






I’m exhausted!
Going to bed.

Oklahoma City

2010 Women’s College World Series
Got to sleep in a little today as I only had to do one game – yah!

Still crazy hot in the truck!

Got back to the hotel tonight and discovered that I had been robbed. Since there was not an in-room safe, I had several pieces of my jewelry hidden in a drawer. Two of my most coveted pieces were among the missing…

 


My Sanibel Sandal collection is near and dear to my heart. It is a signature item for a jeweler on Sanibel Island, Florida. I hate shoes and wish I could wear flip flops every single day of my life. However, since I live in Ohio, it’s not always practical. Plus, I am not allowed to wear open toed shoes in an ESPN compound.

So having my Sanibel Sandals allow me to “wear” flip flops every day!

Thank God I was wearing my gold and black onyx Sanibel Sandal pendant today, so it was not taken.

In all, 6 items were stolen. The only thing that is not replaceable is a pearl ring that I had made back in 2000. The jewelry store is now out of business.

For now, I don’t want to comment much more on the situation as I have a feeling this is going to be a very complicated process. Wouldn’t want to say anything that could be held against me down the road.

What a crappy end to the day.  Plus tonight I have a 7 hour turn around.  Meaning from the time I got back to the hotel to the time I need to leave the hotel in the morning - is 7 hours.  Add in the drama of a robbery...  looking at a CRAZY short nite!

Oklahoma City

2010 Women’s College World Series

Still gotta laugh when you walk past the Viz Van.

Where I sat in the truck, was very close to the door. Unfortunately, with the extreme temps outside, it got extremely hot where I sat due to the proximity to the door.

Since we were packed in to our benches like sardines, I couldn’t move over to the right at all. Just 3 inches to the right, it was cold.

During game action, I would be dripping with sweat and my AP, sitting to my right, was freezing! So in commercial breaks I would stand up behind him to cool down.

After our 2 games, we stayed for a few hours to build for our game on Friday. Just was we were getting ready to leave, word came in that John Wooden was about to die. So we needed to prep some obit panels since he would likely pass during the next two games.

Well this simple task turned into a several hour ordeal. We had difficulty getting the correct graphic layout for an obit. After we solved that, we have even greater difficulty getting a photo or headshot of Mr. Wooden. Which is laughable, however, at the time, we were not laughing! There were endless photos of him on the air during SportsCenter – we know the photos exist – we just couldn’t get a hold of anyone to give them to us!

I know it seems silly to ya’ll – but we can’t just grab a photo off the internet. There are strict guidelines in place on how we obtain photos for legal reasons.

Anyway – we spent easily 2 hours working on the obit panel.
After all that, he didn’t even die tonight.

Oklahoma City

2010 Women’s College World Series – Set Day #2

Found out this morning that we are going in a little late today. With all the issues they are having on site, they didn’t want a few of us to come until mid-morning.

Once on site, I got to see what some of the dilemmas were first hand.

First of all, there was no where to physically put our machines. We had 3 Viz’s and they must be kept in air conditioned comfort.

Someone had the idea to take one of the rental cars –which was a minivan and make that the “home” for our 2 Viz’s that were on air.

Air conditioning units were brought in to keep the minivan cold.

The USB extenders – where we plug in our ‘jump’ drives were dangling out the window.

This was definitely a new one!







The 3rd Viz, which was just used for building, not on the air, was kept under the steps going into production.

Which made it a bit difficult to get to when you needed to plug in a drive.

After all the quirks were worked out of the set up, we got quite a lot built, but came up against many other road blocks over the course of the day.

Didn’t really do anything after work - early day tomorrow.

Baltimore > Oklahoma City

There was the possibility of me getting the chance to meet up with my friend Mike today in Oklahoma. He is wrapping up his multi-week tornado chasing tour – Vortex2 and was hoping to be in Norman. But thanks to the weather he was a few states away.

Oh well.

So I spent the day just catching up on life once I got to OKC. Which wasn’t nearly as fun as hanging out with Weather Channel peeps, but something I needed to do. I may have also snuck in a nap in the afternoon.

There was a set day today, but I was not part of it. Word on the street is that there are numerous issues with the Viz’s. Hmm… at least I will be there for the set day tomorrow so I can join in the “fun”.

Went to dinner with my friends Shannon, Dave and Don. We ate at Chelino's in Bricktown.

May 28th – 31st

Baltimore

NCAA Lacrosse Semifinals - Notre Dame vs 7 Cornell and 5 Duke vs 1 Virginia
NCAA Lacrosse Championship - Notre Dame vs 5 Duke

Due to parking, we decided to walk the 15 minutes each day. It was quicker.

And not that bad of a walk – thru Camden Yards.

The event was at M&T Bank Stadium.

This year, we were trying something different. We were sharing our truck with CBS College Sports on Sunday. That is our “edit day” and also their day covering the D-II and D-III Championships.

It was saving both networks a boatload of money. There was some pre-planning that I was involved with for the Duet aspect of things. I had come up with a plan of how to make it work…. And it did indeed work!

However, the 2nd Duet did not. So there was a lot of extra work done by my sweetheart Lyon boys on Friday &  Saturday. But as usual, they did it! Total rock stars!! God I love them!

Each evening, I would join the others for dinner and drinks. But for the most part I was a good girl. This was a long trip with early mornings. So I needed to behave!

On our walk each morning, I found new signs to take photos of….

As always, the games are super quick! A goal is scored and then in a blink of an eye, another goal is scored!

One morning, when looking out my hotel window, I saw that the room across the way had a bit of fun the night before.

\

Duke finally won their Championship! Sweet justice for those (now) seniors who had been on the team in 2006. Redemption of sorts.

This is a Championship event that I have grown to love. Our crew is just awesome! I love them all and wish we could spend more than just a weekend (or two) together each year.

Columbus > Baltimore

Got to Baltimore in the early afternoon – this is the start of a long trip, so I took some time to get unpacked and settled.

In the evening I headed out for a walk towards the Inner Harbor. Figured I would grab some dinner and eventually meet up with some friends.

Soon after I started walking, I heard someone calling my name from a restaurant patio. It was Mike, a friend of mine. He and Brian were eating dinner, so I joined them.

They wanted to catch an Orioles game… so after dinner, we walked back to the hotel to meet up with Josh. Then the four of us bought some tickets from a scalper and went to the game.

We weren’t sure how long the game would be since there was quite the storm looming.

As much as I dislike baseball, it was fun to go as a fan.

After the game, we walked back to the hotel and met up with a bunch of co-workers in the hotel bar. I had one drink and went to bed.