Greeting customers at Kiehl's in Chicago

Greeting customers at Kiehl's in Chicago, originally uploaded by kfoz.

Here is Queen Bea, who sat with me at Kiehl's on Saturday while I signed books at a fundraiser for New Leash on Life. It was part of my midwestern tour, which also included stops at the Wisconsin Library Association in Green Bay, a reading at Reader's Loft, two events with CARE in Evanston on Friday and then the Kiehl's event Saturday followed by a reading at Quimby's and a stop at the ARFHouse fundraiser. There are many more photos to come.

What was difficult was the flying. My flight from Green Bay to Chicago was cancelled, so I had to rebook, flying from Green Bay to Minneapolis to catch a flight to Chicago. That flight was also cancelled. Then I ended up back on an American flight, which is where I had started. But since I got a ticket quickly while 42 others were on standby, there was some controversy at the gate. Also, in the midst of all this, I was selected for a special screening and search process. On the way home today, the train was delayed on hour on the way to the airport, the airport departure screens had mysteriously deleted all New Orleans flights and by the time I figured things out I was a few minutes too late to check my bags, which meant I had to give up my Kiehl's products, because they were larger than 3 ounces. And then the flight was delayed because the crew couldn't get to the airport on time. They were in the train behind mine.

Fortunately, I got to smooch with Bea and a few other great dogs. And raise some money to take care of them. Otherwise, the travel delays would have really driven me over the edige.