Hey, thanks for clicking! 😃 This is one of my first blogs, and I am still a new blogger, who doesn’t know the rules in Bloggland. 🫣 Just wanted to reflect on our most recent presentation of 2025. 😁 Our client was Vortex Doors, in Irvine, California, but the meeting was held in Phoenix, Arizona, at The Wild Horse Pass Hotel and Casino.🐎 We were happy to leave the rain and chilly February temps behind, in the great northwettest! 🤣 We left for the airport early enough to pick up a couple of footlong grinders🥖 for ourselves, and the Alaska Airlines folks who always do such a great job helping Russ in and out of the wheelchair♿️, at the gate! We arrived two nights before the presentation, and were able to find a wheelchair accessible taxi from the airport🚖, then have a yummy dinner in the hotel/casino sportsbar🏀. We then went upstairs, with the goal of getting a get a good night’s sleep.💤 One of the challenges of traveling is figuring out how to transfer Russ.🤔 We tried it by ourselves, that night, and soon determined that that had not been a good idea🫣 (Don’t know why those “wheelchair-accessible” rooms have such danged high beds! 🤨) I dressed his wounds, emptied his foley, and we went to sleep. 😴 The next morning, we slept in, and, after a similar routine (gravity was on our side, this time, during the bed to wheelchair transfer! 😁) Russ spent most of the day sitting by the pool, soaking up the sun🌞…I got quite a bit of YS business taken care of☺️, then I was fortunate enough to be able to have dinner at a nearby Mexican restaurant, On The Border,🌮 with a dear friend and her children, who used to live in the Seattle area. We brought Russ a “doggie bag”🫔, as he was too tired to join us. That night, a front desk employees was kind enough to help me put Russ to bed. (Whew!🥹) The next morning, I bought us the last bearclaw from the hotel cafe🥐, got Russ ready, headed downstairs, and shared our message/story with approximately seventy members of the Vortex team😃. The audience was very engaged and appreciative, and even humored Russ, by laughing at his jokes!🤣. After our presentation, we had many individuals come up and shake our hands, and thank us for sharing🤝. The yellow bracelets were utilized, and she told me she bought yellow bracelets for all of the sites!💛Also, there happened to be a jewelry sale in the hallway of the hotel, and we both had fun shopping a little📿, before joining the Vortex team for a yummy buffet lunch.🥗
It was a beautiful day, and so after lunch and saying our goodbyes, Russ sat by the pool😎, and I took advantage of their business center, to take care of some meetings, etc…🖥 That evening, we enjoyed playing the slots a bit🪙, and had a lovely dinner at the hotel’s Asian restaurant, Ling and Louie’s. (The scallops were exceptional! 😋) We also ran into several individuals who had heard our message that day, and let us know how much it had impacted them! 😲 I was able to spend the rest of the evening with our dear friend, again. We had milkshakes🥤 downstairs, at Fatburger, and she even helped me put Russ in bed 🛌! The next morning, we were able to find a wheelchair accessible taxi🚕 to take us back to the airport✈️, and our friend’s whole family stopped by to see us off🤗! We happened to run into the same baggage check guy from our last Phoenix trip, who remembered us from my goofy “million dollar” tip! We made our way through security (where I ran into three separate, exceptionally kind, fellow passengers!) I picked up some “cactus candy”🌵 for our dog/housesitter🐶, tried to give our flight crew their chocolates (but they had all melted, while waiting for our taxi!🤣) We headed home, grateful for the speaking opportunity, the time spent under sunny skies, a smooth landing, despite a bumpy flight😃, and especiallyour new (and old!) friends!!!🥰
