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When Deb Marshall (Nastinan Boxers) offered me the opportunity to come visit her nine-weeks old litter sired by my dear old "Max" (Ch. S. Hotel California) out of her stunning "Lacy" (Ch. Nastinan’s Lovelace, the 2001 Grand Prize Futurity winner), I jumped at it, even though I am absolutely terrified of flying. A further incentive was the possibility that I’d be able to bring the brindle puppy bitch – "Paisley" – home with me. So I invited my good friends and fellow Tampa Bay Boxer Club members, Pat Mullen and Jane Edenfield, to join me on Friday, June 13^th (that should have been the tipoff!) for moral support on an overnight trip to Buffalo, NY to check out a litter of boxer puppies we’d been enjoying in photos since they were only a few days old. What could be more fun!

Me! Me!  Pick me!

It was the plane trip from hell: We were supposed to leave Tampa at 7:40 pm and get into Buffalo at midnight, but because all flights out of Tampa were delayed due to thunderstorms, we didn't get to Cincinnati till after 1:00 am Saturday, and missed the last connection by several hours. Delta put us up at the airport motel, so we at least got four hours of sleep and a shower. Left Cinci on time on an 8:25 flight Saturday morning, but halfway to Buffalo, the pilot announced, "Ladies and gentlemen, we've got a little problem here -- our weather radar has kinda like 'crapped out' on us, so we're going to have to turn around and go back to Cincinnati."

Comair quickly readied another plane (they keep "spare" planes on hand in case of emergency?!?), and we left Cincinnati again. Got to Buffalo about noon on Saturday (remember, we were supposed to have been there at midnight on Friday), Deb picked us up, and we got to her house about 1:00 pm. Played with the puppies, made a decision to bring home the swan-necked, stylish brindle, "Paisley," (but briefly considered binding and gagging Deb Marshall and taking the exquisite, mushy-faced fawn, "Parsley," instead), ate a wonderful meal that Deb had prepared for us (salad, homemade lasagna, ice-cream-cake & coffee), and so fortified by our first real food in 24 hours, left at 4:00 pm to get to the airport for our 5:30 flight.

We’d no sooner gotten on the interstate, than Jane realized she'd left her tickets at Deb's. Got off the highway to turn around and found the road back to the interstate was blocked by the most ghastly accident I've ever seen: at least a dozen highway patrol cars, fire-rescue trucks and ambulances on the scene. Got back on the interstate via a more circuitous route, retrieved the tickets, turned around again, and arrived at the airport about 4:35 pm. We crammed (and I do mean crammed) Paisley into the soft-sided pet carrier, and promptly had to take her out again so the carrier could go through the x-ray machine. Left her out till our 5:30 flight finally took off...at 8:30 pm! Paisley had a wonderful time meeting and greeting every small child and dog-loving adult at Airside A, while Pat and Jane and I gnashed our teeth. Delta had arranged for us to make a later connection in Atlanta  (10:15 instead of 8:20), and we finally arrived in Tampa at about 11:30 Saturday night (Oh yes, there was also a "small" medical emergency on the flight from Atlanta, in the seat next to Pat!). If I ever see another pretzel or can of Diet Pepsi (Delta's idea of "making it up to us" after each delay – mini-bags of pretzels and canned soft drinks), I think I'll throw up. After being at Debbie's gorgeous house in the cool, picturesque New York countryside for only three hours, it felt as though someone had turned on the steam heat when we walked out onto the sidewalk at Tampa International.

I suppose we ought to count our blessings – as a friend of mine pointed out, we could have been hijacked to Cuba! On the other hand, we might’ve gotten something besides pretzels and Diet Pepsi in Cuba…

Playtime at Buffalo Airport

Potty break in the Atlanta Airport.