One the Road Again - MadJam Day 1

Hey Everyone:

Well it has been awhile since I have written in here, not for lack of words or thoughts but for lack of time. But I just got back from dancing at an event called MadJam in Washington DC and I must say it was a fabulous 4 days spent with incredible old and new friends. This was a very much anticipated weekend for me for many reasons. It was the first time that my new dance partner (Marianne) and I would have a chance to spend 4 days dancing and competing together; it was 4 days with 4 of my most favourite people in the whole world; a chance to dance with Shelley S. in the Pro-Am; and an anticipation that I might meet and dance with my absolute favourite professional Angie Cameron.

So now on to Day 1. It had been decided we would fly out of Buffalo into Baltimore, rent a car and drive to Washington DC. Reason behind this was, we got flights on Southwest Airlines for $39 there and $59 back, so even with the renting of the car and the parking at the Buffalo airport it was still cheaper than flying out of Toronto. Now when I say we, I was travelling with 2 incredibly gorgeous ladies in Marianne and Shelley, it was like I had died and gone to heaven *L*. Marianne is my new dance partner and I am praying we can stay together for a long time as she is a fantastic dancer (especially since she only started West Coast Swing last September). She is also extremely pretty and a wonderful person. And on top of all that we think very much alike which is really neat in itself. And then there is Shelley. Shelley is one of my professional dance instructors/hoping to become good friends down the road. This lady can outright dance and on top of that is also gorgeous. She has incredible knowledge and stories of WCS and events and we picked her brain as much as we could.

OK, we had an 8:00pm flight but there actually was a flight at 5:30pm we were going to try and catch. We raced to the airport only to find, Yes, we could take the early flight - if we wanted to add an extra $85 to the flight - NOT!!!!! So the 3 of us found a neat little restaurant, had dinner, watched some dance videos and picked Shelley's brain *L*. It was a very enjoyable dinner and time went quickly but next time, I will stick the original flight and travel time *L*. The flight and the drive were quite uneventful and we arrive in Washington around 11:30 pm just in time for all the good social dancing to begin. I enjoyed a wonderful 4 hours or so of dancing mainly with Marianne(which is a treat in itself and worth the trip) and with a wonderful group of people we had not met before. The evening ended around 3:30am and off to bed for a few hours sleep before the real weekend and fun starts *L*

Be back soon with the "Saga of an Amazing Race Shopper" and the "Meeting of the dancing goddess"

Have a wonderful day

Larry