(NOTE - BLOGS read from most recent to oldest so, to read this story in a correct time line, you might want to go to Part I and read up from there.)

We last left off with the band stuck in Grenada and we did get off Grenada the next day and flew to Miami. By this point we had lost a few flights from Miami to LAX and just knew we needed to get to the United States if we were ever going to get home.

We had to wait hours due to the delay in flight from American Airlines to Miami. We paid the stupid exit tax and got thru customs and on the plane, arriving in Miami with no flights booked to LA. There was nothing available! Every seat was taken and because we didn't have flights booked, we couldn't even sit around at the airport on standby. We had to find seats and get them booked, and it looked like it would be days before we would get home.

Once we landed in Miami we headed straight for a hotel to get online and work from there. We ended up at the Days Inn, Miami International Airport hotel.

Because there is no food on these airplanes any more, we arrived very hungry and no sooner checked in to the hotel than we were meeting in the lobby and heading out for the best Cuban food I have ever had. The party never seemed to end with these guys; even with all the travel problems, we had a great dinner and really enjoyed Miami for the last time as a complete group.

Crazy thing - the Days Inn had a club attached to it that was an awesome Latin disco club. The place started to fill up around midnight and went till 5 AM! We hung for a while checking out the fun, but also spent some time checking options for flights home. I got an email from a Face Book  post. Jim Marlowe was a travel agent for much of the Saddleback Church stuff and offered his help and I called Jim and got Jim and Alec Milstein together by phone to look for flights. Jim was a big help and I believe he was responsible for getting us home. Thanks Jim! We love you!! Christina, our chick singer got a flight out and left with very little time to shuttle to Fort Lauderdale and made it home, trying to keep from loosing her day job. 2 other guys had tickets still and did the standby thing leaving on open seats.

As we hit the sack, very late again, I was thankful for Alec working so hard, Jim stepping in to help, a great group of guys that really dealt well with the difficulties we were facing, God for giving me peace, and all the beautiful women in Miami! I woke up at around 2:30 AM and realized the club was still pumping down stairs. I, very quietly snuck out and hung with the Latinas until 4:30 AM, enjoying the scene in the club and crazy dance music. Serious money was obvious in the parking lot. Hummers, BMWs, many high dollar cars, and people everywhere. What a scene! The freak was the location. Trust me - you will never find a screaming night club at a Days Inn in LA, but I digress!

I really hoped we would be leaving for LA in the morning, but news came in that it would be at least Tuesday and we made all the calls again to family and tried to find some fun in Miami to enjoy this new chapter in the travels home. As we planned to go to the mall, the band kept shrinking with Brian Swartz having his mom pick him up from somewhere in Florida and Gary Gould meeting up with family and leaving to hang with them. Gary had been scheduled to return to Miami on Thursday and decided it was silly to fly home Tuesday or Wednesday just to have to fly back so he was gone.

I was really tired of dirty clothes and just wanted to hit the mall. By the time we hit the mall we were down to 5 people stuck in Miami; Myself, Wendell Kelly, Tony Shogren, Alec and his wife. We had flights booked to leave in the morning and we hit the mall for a movie, food and more fun before we left. I looked everywhere for some cheap t-shirts or underwear and found nothing but very expensive cool clothes that I just couldn't justify buying with a slow January coming and lost weekend of work now to deal with.

We yet again enjoyed the Miami view - some of the finest women on the planet (but not real friendly) and hit the movies. We saw the Valkyrie - a movie about an attempted murder of Hitler that failed and based on History from what I was told. It was a really good movie. We then took over the Sam Ash in the mall playing everything and having too much fun!

Dinner was at a great restaurant at the mall and soon we were back on the hotel shuttle and back at the hotel, playing video games and pool in the game room and taking turns on each others computers to hit email and Social Networks.

After 2 days and nights in Miami, we were on our way to the airport Tuesday the 6th. Alec and his wife left mid-morning to Fort Lauderdale and we left at noon to catch different flights, all back to LA. We had planned on waiting the hour for Alec to get into LA (his flight left before us and got in after with 2 stopovers and pretty lame directions before getting to LA)

When we landed at LAX, the 3 of us on the over crowded US Airlines flight that was booked thru United couldn't believe we made it! Wendell, Tony and I survived center seats, no drinks or food all day, a stop over in Charlotte North Carolina, really bad food in the airport, 4 days of dirty clothes and now we were actually waiting for out bags at LAX!!!! It was a beautiful site!

Bad news was the call Wendell found on his cell from Alec. I don't know what happened but they ended up in some other city, O think Philly, and didn't get home for another day after we did!

I think the funniest thing was all the language culture shock. The Island's were both very Jamaican Rasta vibe and talk. Many of the hotel guests were European and we heard lots of Italian and French on Canouan. We got to Miami and I was SOOO glad we had Spanish speaking band members. It seemed like no one spoke English in Miami! We then fly to North Carolina and it sounds like the Country Bear Jamboree with thick southern accents before rolling into LAX with the land of the DUDE back and easy.

Crazy....

SO - LAX is close but I still had to drive back to Orange County and I was very glad to see my little house - my bed, my car to drive, my choice of unhealthy food to consume, my pillow, clean clothes, another shower, epson salt bath for the bug bites still itching like crazy, and did I mention - CLEAN CLOTHES!! Clothes that didn't smell like OFF! What a treat the little things can be!

I got home late Tuesday night, around 11 PM! We were supposed to leave Canouan on Friday and be home Friday night. Instead - Friday in Canouan, Saturday in Grenada, Sunday and Monday in Miami and home in LA Tuesday!! It was a true adventure and an exciting start to a year that must be set for greatness!

Big thanks to Alec Milstein for working so hard to fix the problems and right the wrongs and for being a great boss and even better friend!

That's my story and I'm sticking to it...........

PICTURES ARE COMING! CANOUAN, GRENADA, MIAMI and LAX.......