Memories...

• Late start from the hotel.. the HOTTT weather of Miami

• Trip to Bed, Bath and Beyond for picking up the duffel bag... and fully distracted on the way, chatting with the Pakistani guy.. who then later disappeared from Facebook :--)

• Drive around Coral Gables.. memories of 2003 re-lived!

• Sunset drive, and parking the car by the roadside and photoshoots

• Reaching the beautiful convention center and finding no parking anywhere.. Then asking a policeman and finding the parking garage

• Not finding the Holocaust museum inside the convention center... because it is not inside the convention center

• Reaching Holocaust museum... re-living the 2003 visit.. feeling somber.. The powerful image of the statue of the dead lady holding a live dragon.. what a powerful image!!

• South beach, paying for the parking unnecessarily... and then hurrying to airport

• Missing the rental car garage entrance in the first round, as I was busy checking in

• Then going around the airport in circle and then getting into rental car garage

• The hurry of shifting stuff to the new extra large duffel bag

• The weight of luggage!! I almost came down on my knees

• Taking the airport train to terminal... and finding the Miami airport to be totally clueless.. The signs, even if present, are misleading

• $8.5 luggage cart.. but I was running really late. 5:30 PM flight and it was almost 4:45 PM

• No sign of Alaska airlines check-in counter... I reached all the way to security entrance.. was asked to go check-in first :--)

• Then finding the Alaska counter... no signs anywhere.. had a ask people.. Felt Miami airport is designed to keep people from flying away. Very smart :--)

• Kind Carolina at the Alaska check-in counter.. helped a lot! Finally checked in at around 4:55... boarding was starting in 5 mins

• The line at security.. but reached the gate on time

• The fear of flying was less :--)

• Taking video of the take off

• Mount Hood, God's finger... Felt like the trip was still very much on!

• Smooth flight.. took some fear of flying away

• Family came to receive me :--)

• Trip over....... :-( can't wait for the next one..

Planning aids...

• Miami Coral Gables: Coral Gables Florida - Attractions & Things to Do in Coral Gables Miami FL (visitflorida.com) , City of Coral Gables - Home

• Miami South Beach: South Beach - Attractions & Things to Do in South Beach Miami FL (visitflorida.com)

• Miami convention center: State-of-the-Art Convention Center in the Heart of Miami | Miami Beach Convention Center

• Miami Holocaust museum: Holocaust Memorial Miami Beach

• Miami airport (MIA): Miami International Airport (miami-airport.com) believe me, navigating this airport is no fun.. no signs to follow.. but signs only to cause confusion..

• Hertz car rental: https://www.hertz.com... be extremely careful in navigating the rental car garage at the airport.. I missed entry and exit a few times :--) but to your comfort, I am a bit dysfunctional and always in a hurry :-)

• Alaska airlines: http://alaskair.com

• Mount St. Helens, the volcano that erupted in the 80s: Mount St. Helens - Wikipedia

• Seattle Tacoma airport: Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) Home | Port of Seattle (portseattle.org) ask your ride to wait in the cellphone parkin lot... During the evening rush hours at arrival, ask them to pick you up at the departure instead.. learned it from the announcements in the arrival hall