The media bus is en route to Miami - meet us there or connect to us from your home

They laughed when I suggested to the sports media of Iowa that it pool its funds and charter a bus to Miami to cover the Orange Bowl.

Well, they didn't laugh, really. They didn't find it particularly humorous at all. If these scribes don't think of it themselves, they don't think it's amusing. That's not the least bit true, but it makes for a better story.

But the bus is rolling -- it's in Kentucky or Georgia or West Virginia or somewhere right now. I can't tell. It's night. And it's very foggy. Of course, that's just inside the bus.

Anyway, our Gazetteonline Orange Bowl coverage commences Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale or Miami, wherever we find a motel that takes the likes of us.

In seriousness, due to the laws of nature we can only be in one place at one time. However, with rental cars and Global Positioning Systems, we can get around. If something is newsworthy or just plain interesting in south Florida from now through the Jan. 5 Orange Bowl, let me know.

I intend to have plenty of text, video and photos here at the Hlog from this Wednesday afternoon through the hours after the Orange Bowl. Keep checking back. I'll try to keep feeding the beast. So will Mr. Morehouse and Mr. Dochterman, and Gazetteonline will have photos that, if lined up, would stretch all the way from South Beach to North Liberty.

If you're going by bus (or SUV or auto or RV or motorcycle) to Miami for the game from Iowa and have tales to tell about the trip once you're there, drop me a note at mike.hlas@gazcomm.com.

I'm not really going by bus, you see. I couldn't get anyone to ride that far with me. Plus, I don't like all that (ahem) fog.