As we crossed into Florida we called Bill to see where he was at. It was after nine. He'd left for the Daytona 500 at six thirty that morning. The race didn't start until after 3 p.m., I don't know what they found to do all that time!

When he answered the phone he said he was in the funnel of a billion people making their way out of the place to get to the bus they came on. They'd already been standing there for over an hour.

The rest of our drive back to Lake City was uneventful. We switched out and Dayna drove the rest of the way when my eyes started demanding rest. I layed the seat back and snoozed for a while and Dayna punched the buttons on the radio, trying to find something that wouldn't make my hair stand on end.

We got home around eleven, got everything out of the truck, got Mary to bed and sat and visited a bit before we called Bill again. Two hours later and they had moved about 20 feet! The parking lot was not even in sight! I sure hope they enjoyed the race, because getting out of there was pure hell!

Bill dragged his tired self in around 2:30 a.m.! (I just can not imagine going through all that for a race!) But he did have a good time and found some stuff to send to his mom and brother. His father was into racing his whole life. He spent many a weekend watching those cars drive around in circles! Mom wanted a Daytona pin to put on his grave. Dad never made it to see a race there.

Monday morning dawned and it was time to get Mary to school and get Dayna back to Orlando. She had to be to work at 3 that afternoon. It was a little difficult getting her out of bed, but she finally dragged herself into the livingroom with a grunt and made a bee-line for the coffee pot. (Which wasn't strong enough for her, thank you very much!)

Bill got up so he could visit with her for a while before we left, then toddled back to bed as we headed to Orlando. The plan was for me to be back in time to pick up Mary from school after two, so we had to hit the road.

It was cloudy as we headed south on I-75 but we didn't expect the downpour we got! Boy, that was a lot of water! And, of course, with all the water came the idiots who 1) drive without their lights on, and 2) don't slow down! There were cars careening past us, blowing buckets of water on the windshield as they passed by. Sure enough, it wasn't too long before we saw one of them on the side of the road waiting for a tow after sliding off in the rain.

We made it safe and sound, though, to Dayna's apartment. She didn't have much with her, so I didn't go upstairs. We said our goodbye, hug, hug, kiss, kiss, and I was off again to drop another 11 quarters worth of toll money on the turnpike.

I pulled out at the service plaza to hit Starbucks and then I was off again, heading back to Lake City.

A few miles before the last toll my cell phone rang. I rolled up the window, turned off the music and answered only to hear Dayna crying hysterically! I couldn't understand what she was saying and asking to repeat it while looking for an exit.

There are virtually no exits on the turnpike!

She's crying. And I can only make out a word here and there. I'm thinking some mad stalker ambushed her on her way up the stairs to her apartment and trying not to crash into another car. I started to pull over to the side of the road when she started talking slower and I was able to make out a little bit more of what she was saying.

Her boyfriend, Ryan, had called her and broke up with her.

Over the phone.

The minute she got home.

(The bastard!) (sorry, the mama-bear comin' out a little.)

I couldn't understand all the details, but tried to get her to calm down a little. It wasn't too long before the tears turned to anger and I knew she would be okay.

They had been planning on moving to Los Angeles together. He is about finished with his degree in film and has an internship lined up in L.A. this summer. They've been planning now for quite a while. She's been in contact with all of our family out there to give them a hand finding a place. She had no idea where this was coming from.

When we got off the phone, she was okay; not great, but okay. She was getting ready to go to work and told me she was sure the girls at work would be happy to plan the revenge.

I got back to town with 15 minutes to spare before Mary got out of school!

I had such a good time with my girls that weekend! Dayna needed some mom time, even though she's 20 and won't admit it. We're moving out of Florida, and though it's only a couple hours away she's feeling we're abandoning her a bit. But we had some laughs, ate a bunch of junk food, and did what we love to do when we're feeling down...drive.

Dayna made it through her time at work that Monday and before the week was out had gotten ahold of that boyfriend and got to the bottom of things. They've gotten back together. He was feeling a bit scared and unsure of things and thought he'd break up with her before she broke up with him.

She got in his face and said, "Ya know, you could have talked to me about this stuff and we wouldn't have had to go through all this!"

They're better now.

And I think she plans on buying him a new tooth brush.

You really don't want to know what she did with the old one.

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