Sandy's Mira Debrief 2004
Part I
After being home over a week.....I think i'm gonna live..............Had a great time at the Mira Convention, a horrible flight in and out of Canada.
Got into Montreal around midnight...........no one I knew in sight........thank goodness my friend came with me this time, can't image why Warren and Cindy didn't wait on me....ahhhhhhhh, suppose to arrive at 5 30 pm, didn't make it until midnight. Only thing I knew to do was call a cab, whooza, after the cabbie getting lost several time and my bill ran up to $106 we finally made it to the Hotel Des Seigneurs at St. Hyacinthe and as I came in the front door 3 lovely ladies, (can't remember their names) looked at me and said "oh you must be Sandy, there's several people calling and waiting for you", knew the rest of the gang, Including Warren were there. Theses 3 lovely gals even helped me to my room "i musta really looked beat".......
After greeting everyone in our room and talking until about 3 30 am???? finally made it to bed....had to be up and down to the lobby by 8 am..................made it but the gal that was in charge overslept.......she'd been battling with strep throat, etc..."hi Joyce"
got everyone lined out and their name tags given and then we had to go around and get them all back as they were going to be for the special event later on that evening. Went to the auction, bought something I didn't need.....oh well if WAS LFN related.........thought I 'd better stop, geez if I forget part of this refer back to Warrens...............we ate, THANK GOD, talked, meant new people meant up with old friends...........talked some more........got ready for the DefVision Race.
This is a race where a sighted person rides with a blind driver, got there and we were given the opportunity to start the race, it was drawn from our name tags and Kristen was the "lucky" person........excluding the dirt, smell, etc................Our group was interviewed by the Eco Verdies and I know that is spell wrong..............didn't get to see it but if someone happened to get a copy, please let me know. They even took some pictures...........races were good, except for the dirt blowing into the lungs..........Roy's and Clang's car did really well..........after the race, Warren decided to "visit".......he does that so well..........disappeared off the bus, couldn't find him.
I had this feeling that the bus driver might be a bit "ticked". After race party was at a large Hotel......everything was in French, Thank God for Dana. and I need to learn French......Roy came around to each of the tables, signed stuff and visited.............we had Warren, Cindy, Brenda, two lovely people from Alaska (they drove) Warren was so good to give them a magazine for Roy to sign. Had a great time except I would have like it better back in our own Hotel. Lots of questions asked, lots of questions answered, some not...........Roy is a good host, not like the Michael he portrays..............
Part II
Saturday started well, there was to be a visit to Foundation Mira (the puppies) but I didn't make it, it's a very worthwhile tour showing what the whole Mira organization is about. I'm sorry to have missed it this year.
Went to the first video screening, enjoying all the LFN things so very much...........Joyce is an outstanding Event Chairperson and w/o her some things would be lost. THANKS JOYCE.......We all went to the Darkness Supper, unfortunely while I was there my good ole migraine got the best of me and so Cindy had to take me back to my room, pain killers, cold compress, darkness and silence............so the rest of the evening was lost to me. Sunday our tribe got up, went to eat and by then I was feeling a bit better. We were taken to a local theater to view Monica la Mitraille, which was superb. CB did an outstanding job in her role as well as the rest of the actors......INCLUDING Roy.............after leaving the theater we went to the closing ceremonies given by JOYCE.......a tear, where and there, hugs and good wishes. The rest of the day of spent visiting, trying to find Playboy magazine, (thanks Dana for the French) found another magazine as well. I think the girl at the newsstand thought we were a bit "touched". I bought a cd of Jack Paradise, just for me...............went to the restruat w/o Dana and tried to order just a cheeseburger, got a whole platefull..............started looking for Dana and Brenda, came around again and there they were eating ice cream.....soooooooo I decided I need one of those as well. Had a wonderful evening in the Hotel bar......ate another bite (later) visited with KG, Patty, Marie, Manya........sat there for a long time discussing and cussing............said "goodbyes" to those leaving early on Monday and finally went up to the room......
Monday, went down to the lobby, there I found Gabby, Ute, (the other little girl I had meant, i'm so terrible with names) said goodbye to them. We (Cindy, Chrissy and I hitched a ride to Montreal with Susan, beautiful drive with Susan telling us about several spots as she was going into Montreal to stay a while. After we arrived, the 3 of us took off on foot.....looked around some.....saw several spots that were quite beautiful and some that were not. We finally decided that we needed to figure out how to get back to Saint Hyacinthe, we did, took a taxi......I certainly didn't want to hitchhike altho I really think Cindy and Chrissy would have........made it back, kicked back, relaxed............the next morning.......i said my goodbyes to the rest of my friends as the gal I flew to Canada with, she and her brother were picking me up at 9 30 am............
I spent another 2 1/2 days sightseeing with them as her brother is a resident of Montreal.........saw a lot of things I probably wouldn't have seen if I hadn't been with them............took lots of pictures, ate lots of food altho I don't like the fries,gravy,cheese thing that everyone else did, sorry folks...............
Then,
we were told that we needed to be at the Montreal airport 4 hours early because of a security/labor dispute. When we got there they had the traffic backed up and my friend's brother does have a bad temper.........we did find a parking spot, got thru customs and even had time for lunch..........well that was the last of the easy go. The plane from Lagundia was later because of weather, they brought another one ion, we were 2 hours late, our flight to Ohio we missed by THREE minutes, they wouldn't let us in......i will mention there were 7 of us trying to get to Wichita, KS...........Sooooooooooo we spent the night in Ohio but not really, they took us to Kentucky and then back to Ohio.....took a screwball flight that had to land somewhere in Arkansas, finally made it to Dallas/Ft
Worth.......stopover in Oklahoma and landed in Kansas, Missouri............My friend had to have her sister and brother in law drive 3 1/2 so we could get to Kansas (Wichita) OH did I mention all my luggage was lost? OH YEAH......so from Thurs to Sat, until I got home same clothes..................gawd......................
Made it home, thanx to my son..........came to Wichita to get me, took me to the doctor, took me home, went back to Wichta and found my luggage.................
BUT, ALL IN ALL I HAD A WONDERFUL TIME IN CANADA..........JUST THE GETTING TO AND FROM WAS A DISASTER
Sandy