Day 13 - Orlando - Savannah - Columbia

Orlando FD ...  Met members of the OFD Honor Guard last year during the IAFF Fallen Firefighter memorial in Colorado Springs.  They performed beautifully, and were just really good guys.  When we knew we were going to FL, it only made sense to drop in on them.

The day we arrived, the house was nearly empty ... and this is a BIG house!  They had a pretty interesting call, but then I bet they get a few of those, ya know?

When they got back and we got to meet the rest of the crew, we found connections to the military, and new parents (twins, no less!) and just really good people.

There was plenty of laughter, and a few characters ... like the one who posed for the official photo. 

With their schedule and ours, the anticipated event was not able to happen, but we are still hoping.  We were told that one of the Chiefs would be taking his shirt off for the Troops and challenging the other FL Chiefs to do the same.  THIS is something we always look forward to.  So far, we have not had a Chief make a challenge ... anyone?

Will check in on this group again in Colorado springs, maybe we'<SPAN class=spell id=sp-12 title="No spelling suggestions" style="PADDING-RIGHT: 2px; BACKGROUND-POSITION: left bottom; PADDING-LEFT: 2px; BACKGROUND-IMAGE: url(http://sdk.webmail.aol.com/sdk/20050527/images/bg_spellingErr.gif); PADDING-BOTTOM: 2px; CURSOR: pointer; COLOR: black; PADDING-TOP: 2px; BACKGROUND-REPEAT: repeat-x; BACKGROUND-COLOR: yellow" _backupTitle="null"> get a take for the challenge ... You KNOW I'll try!  ( ;

Best line out of Orlando?  "You'll drown before I burn!"  (There's a t-shirt waiting to happen in that one ... And we want one!)

And to answer the question ... No, we did not go to DisneyWorld!  We may one day, but for now, we can't imagine that the First Responders aren't enough!

Off to Savannah ...

Savannah is just one of the coolest cities.  A complete juxtaposing of old and new southern life.  We drove along the waterfront and saw the beautiful old homes.  You just want to knock on a door and ask for a tour at some of these.  I'm not a big fan of mint juleps, but could have handled hanging out on a rocker on the front porch of one of these homes.  Oh sigh.

The guys at the SFD were just as friendly and welcoming as you'd imagine ... and ... they love a challenge!  We figured out halfway cross country that the best way to stay on schedule was to assign one guy as our time keeper with the promise of a special gift.  And since Scion Motors had donated all of those backpacks, we had the perfect prize!

So with limited time, we had our guy ... and he was chomping at the bit to get the rest of the team moving.  It was pretty funny.

We loved the parking arrangement for this house.  There among the tree-lined street sits the station, the rigs park right out in front in the middle of the street in a huge median area.  Very convenient ... at least for us.

The men posed for their pix and signed shirts.  As I am backfilling the posts here, I can tell you that one of those shirts has already found a home.  When we visited the Mologne House at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, in DC, we asked where the various Troops were from.  One young man, with a great smile and quiet southern drawl replied, "Ma'am. I am from Savannah.  Do you have anything for me?"  There was nothing more gratifying than seeing his face light up as we were able to open the van and tell him that we did indeed have something for him!  Gentlemen, well done!

Next stop, and all time favorite, Columbia. SC!

Hollywood and Cato were both there when we pulled in ... and OMIGOD ... Cato is in a white shirt!  lol  Congrats, bud!

Columbia ALWAYS steps up for HeroToHero.US  They were the first official shirt off the back ... Again, thank you Cato!  And have been one of the few annual stops outside of the 9/11 sites that we visit.

This time was just as good as the past.  Seeing old friends and absolutely cracking up laughing for most of the visit is ops normal with these guys.  They are one of those visits we anticipate as the miles click by.

They have had firefighters deployed to the desert each time we've visited, and always take care of their own as well as the rest.  Seriously, with rare exception will you find bigger hearts than here at CFD.

One of the nice things we got to do was deliver a shirt from the desert to them.  Sgt Blocker received a shirt on the last go round, he wrote to me that he was a Columbia firefighter, and how much this meant to him.  Before much time passed, we had come up with a plan to hand deliver a shirt that the troops out in the desert sent back to honor CFD.  We framed the photo of them with their shirt in the sand, along with his message and framed it.  During the presentation, we were able to give them this personal message.  It was great, and Sgt Blocker you have not been forgotten!  There were a few guys on shift that you went through training with.  It's always good to make connections form the sand to the States.

We stayed overnight at a very comfy hotel, courtesy of CFD.  And had a great breakfast before we hit the road again.  Saddest part of this visit?  Leaving. 

Til next time ...

lj