Don't take it personally.
I think the biggest reason I was upset was just that I was really looking forward to putting faces with some of the Pelican names I see each day.
Oh... and that I had to put up with a grumpy wife all day.
I never did commit myself to coming out because I had to take off from work to be there - and wasn't sure I was going to be able to do that. I ended up swapping it for my race day next weekend.
Next time, maybe we will do more advance planning and try to have a better communications network. Maybe a telephone tree?