The Long Trip to Miami

After the gig ended, I left the crew to take care of the pack up and load out. I knew Bruce, Mark, David, Brian, and Wheat(Chris) knew exactly what they were doing, and I could trust them. Mark was very weak, and left for home immediately with Barry. Charles, as usual, was just getting started with his late night ritual...and it was New Year's Eve, after all. And I was getting ready to leave...I had a flight to catch in Miami in 28 hours. Patti and I were leaving for Jamaica, and had decided to save money by flying out of Florida, because this was going to be a three week vacation in Negril, and the villa I had rented there was costing me a lot of money. Her 240-Z was already loaded, and as we squeezed into it, I realized this was going to be a very long drive to Miami...and although I was very tired, I knew I would be doing nearly all of the driving, if we were going to catch the plane. Another less than rational decision on my part. We should have flown out of Hartford the next day, and spent the extra $600.00, but money was an issue at that time, and I hadn't thought about the gig, or my inevitable fatigue after it, or how hard it would be to make the trip to Miami in time to catch the plane. Hell, I hadn't thought at all...I just booked the flight, and that was that. We had a 7:00AM flight out of Miami on Jan. 2, and we hit the road at just before 3:00AM on January 1...and I knew it was definetely going to be tight. We did a lot of cocaine during the ride, and without it, I never would have stayed awake. But the whole purpose of the trip was to take a three week break from drugs, and get healthy and centered. So I made sure that I brought only enough coke to get us to Miami. As we crossed the Georgia/Florida line, I was pulled over by a Florida trooper...clocked at 90 MPH. The trooper was nice, he didn't give us a hard time, even though he had to know we were fried...and today, I know that was a Higher Power watching over me in my active addiction, as was our safe arrival in Miami. When he found out why were speeding, and the time of our flight...he told us..."you aren't going to make it." He was right. When we pulled into Miami International it was 7:30AM, and the plane was gone. We were allowed to catch a later flight...and as we waited the three hours sitting in the airport for it, I was thinking about the gig, and the drive to Florida...and how much I needed this rest...