My week in Orlando...

First of all, I did not go to Disneyworld, nor did I ever even leave my hotel!  We flew out last Saturday (July 3) at 8 am.  Sunday we were able to just relax and get rested up for the busy week.  We received a food allowance each day and were on our own to get our meals.  The convention began on Monday.  Most days were meetings and there were exhibits on display.  There were several cool new technology things, including a new smart phone.  A guy was there who was the first man to test the car designed for a blind person to drive.  He drove it on a test track in NC and it was voice activated in order for him to use.  Each state had an opportunity to stand and be recognized and because the school that I am at is funded by the National Federation for the Blind, we had a special open house one evening.  I met my NFB friends from the Aiken chapter and spent a couple hours with them, which was fun.  The hotel complex seemed very big and was a challenge for me to get around.  I got lost a couple of times, but there was staff that was available to help.  Friday night there was a closing banquet where there were several awards given out and much was said about the philosophy that just because we are blind shouldn't limit what we can do.  We had to leave for the airport Saturday morning at 5 am, only to get to the ticket counter and be told that our flight had been cancelled.  We stayed there until around early afternoon and were finally told that we would be put up in a hotel at the airlines expense and flown out early Sunday because there were no flights that day.  We were all very tired by the time we got to our hotel and since we had to leave at 3 am this morning, it was an earl to bed night last night.  Mrs. Thomas, I probably beat you to bed!  SO, I got up at 2:45 this morning and our flight was delayed, but we ended up getting upgraded to business class, which meant we got an in-flight meal and we finally got back to our apartment about noon mountain time.  Because of the hectic last two days, we are getting tomorrow off and will start back to school on Tuesday morning.  Overall, I had an interesting trip and now it is back to the routine until the summer program ends Aug. 5.