Getting ready to leave town

I will be leaving for the LandWarNet conference in Ft. Lauderdale this coming Sunday. I am looking forward to the trip as it will get me away from the daily grind of work and the hotel I will be staying at is right on the beach. I plan on spending most of my off hours on the beach and swimming in the beautiful waters. My only concern is that Tropical Storm Dean is slowly heading in the general direction of Florida. Dean is expected to become a hurricane in the next few days and it is very possible that Hurricane Dean may chase us all out of Ft. Lauderdale early. Hurricanes have interrupted the LandWarNet conference twice before in recent years. Let's just hope it is Ft. Lauderdale and not Chesapeake, Virginia that will be visited by Dean. I have a second chance of coming face-to-face with a hurricane in October when I travel to Gulfport, Mississippi with members of my church. We will be staying in a church there while we help with the recovery efforts from Hurricane Katrina. I sure hope there are no hurricanes along the Gulf coast this season. My fingers are crossed...