Day 2 in Florida

It's an amazing feeling to finally be here in Florida after all the months of planning and hoping. 

It was a long trip from our house in Masterton to get here.  Air NZ was wonderful, they went out of their way to make my flight the best it could be.  Travel isn't as easy as it used to be before pompe set in!  It used to be no trouble to walk through terminals and gates and customs.  Now it's wheelchairs, which is the way to go, much faster, but of course it would be preferable if you didn't need one at all.  Also the days of booking an "el cheapo" flight to anywhere are gone.  You have to go through the rigmarol of finding a carrier who will accomodate your breathing machine and it seems the ones who are more expensive are the ones who are most obliging.  I guess that's why it's more expensive - you get what you pay for.

I was picked up at Orlando airport at midnight by Katie from UF and Brad the OZ.  Then a 2 hour drive from the airport to Gainseville.  2 hours seemed no time at all.  I was able to skype with my family back home and see how they were feeling.  Thank goodness for skype!   

After a few hours sleep I woke up at 8.30 am but decided to go back to sleep and woke up at 1.30 pm!  Had a shower and coffee and a sandwich and Brad came to pick me up to take me to get a sim card for my phone.  Then we went to dinner with Monique Griffen and Katie joined us for a drink.  It is so cool to meet people face to face that I have spoken to over Facebook and skype for ages and ages.  It feels like I know them before I have even met them :)  It's also good to know that when you are having trouble standing up from a chair, or you can't walk fast, or you have to pick your own leg up to get it in the car - those people KNOW what that feels like and you don't have to explain anything, they just know...