The annual Pungo Strawberry Festival kicks off Memorial Day here in Hampton Roads. It's a fair drive from the beach, so I'm certain to have my FlowCushion along for the ride. I'll need the energy for picking strawberries at the many area farms and strolling the fairgrounds to browse the arts and crafts. Thankfully, the cushion will support me on the way home after I've filled up on strawberry shortcake!

I'm certainly feel more so now that my comfort levels have increased. I'm glad, too, the trip to California didn't wear me out, so I'll have some energy left for my weekend jaunt to Florida. Yes, I couldn't have received my FlowCushion at a better time with all of these book events to attend.

This weekend is the annual Romantic Times convention, held this year in beautiful Daytona Beach. I'll be down Saturday for the book fair, where over 250 authors will sign and sell their latest releases. Not just romance, either - mystery, suspense, mainstream and "chick lit" are also represented. I look forward to seeing old friends and perhaps making new ones. If there's time, I'll stop at the Sunglow Pier for a batch of shark bites and a pitcher. We used to stop there every year we went for Spring Break when we lived in Florida. That reminds me, too, I'll need to stop at Miller's for the last Bike Week t-shirt. I'm about four years behind on my collection.

If you can see the twisted, turning road etched in the faraway mountains, you should consider getting a FlowCushion if that's your daily commute! 101 and 1 along the California coast was my weekend jaunt as I visited a few California missions for the purpose of promoting a work of fiction for their inventories. Five to be exact - Carmel, San Juan Bautista, Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and La Purisima.

Overall, the weather was lovely and the views spectacular. The seat cushion kept me comfortable not only on the long plane to Oakland, but all through the drive down to San Diego (yes, this was an epic trip) I definitely wanted to take full advantage of the time I had there, and see as much of the landscape as possible.

Living in Virginia Beach, we don't have mountains obviously, and seeing these beautiful multi-million dollar homes lodged in the range trailing down the state was an impressive site to see. I took advantage of an extended stop at Pepperdine University in Malibu to take pictures of the gorgeous campus. Unfortunately, my tight schedule did not allow lengthy stops until we got to San Diego, so I didn't get to play movie buff tourist.

If I could be thankful for one thing, though, is having the alternating pressure seat cushion for the flight home! My flight from San Diego to Houston - my connector - was delayed two hours due to inclement weather that froze airport operations in Texas. Since I'd had a rough ride, I kept the FlowCushion on and napped until we got off the ground. When I couldn't move around the cabin, the cushion helped ease the discomfort of the prolonged trip home. A definite comfort, and a definite keeper for the next long trip.

...right back where I .... actually, I've not been to California before, so the song doesn't apply.

FlowCushion, however, does. This flight to Oakland from Norfolk airport will be the longest I've taken in a while, so the alternating air pressure cushion is definitely a must for the duration of the trip. I'd been advised more than once to get up and move around the cabin whenever possible, which I plan to do. We all know prolonged inactivity can contribute to blood clots in the leg veins, deep vein thrombosis. Having the FlowCushion for support will help to reduce those risks. Unfortunately, it won't be able to do much for the airplane food.

This weekend we are off to Baltimore for the annual Maryland Writers Conference. I've been asked to speak to authors on how to get a book reviewed, so I've been busily preparing that speech. I suppose I could write more of it in the car on the ride up, since I'll have the FlowCushion handy. It was a comfort to have for the last drive up DC way; if only the Orioles were in town for the weekend, I'd have it with me in the stadium.