Back on My Own

As I was out that way already to pick up my car from the airport (as Meg and Jason had to drive it there to get off okay) I stopped by a repair shop to get my air conditioner looked at. As I waited, I walked around the corner and found a sports bar called "Winners" for somewhere to eat since I was starved. Had a bowl of chili and a hamburger and both were very good. Some retired Navy guys were hanging out there (it was only about 3 or 4 in the afternoon) and they chatted with me because I was still in uniform. Got home and cleaned things up a little, then talked with Meg for a good while. Even read in a book for a while (I organized all my mounds of books, sorting the ones I want to read next).

Today I made the most of my time... woke up after eight and a half beautiful hours sleep, had a simple breakfast, played my instruments, then loaded up the laundry and enjoyed a gorgeous walk on the beach as they dried. Did a little shopping as they washed... I love the location... where else can you do all that when you do your clothes? Upon returning and after putting everything away, I made some fresh spaghetti noodles for my leftover sauce with Italian sausage and mushrooms and watched the current Netfilx film from the mail: Michael Collins (1996) with Liam Neeson and Alan Rickman. After that, I baked another pumpkin pie, took a walk over to our private beach (right at sunset!), then set out for Pembroke Mall upon returning. Picked up some frames at Michael's, and had a little business at Bed, Bath & Beyond. Needed to return something, and pick up a chopper for baking banana nut bread tomorrow. Because I couldn't resist, I picked up a delicious roast turkey salad at Panera, along with a little guac from Chipotle. Was going to watch something else tonight, but I caught up online instead.

Jw

With Family!

So on the evening of the 15th, Meg, Jason and Jonna arrived in Norfolk to spend nine days with me! The first two nights were very brief and very late, since work took so long. And Thursday evening, my Darling Michael came for a long weekend at the same time.

We spent our first night together having some of Jason's chicken curry as we watched Persuasion from Netflix. The next morning Meg and Mike dropped me off in Yorktown, then picked me up in Norfolk that evening. And while they were there, I took them on a tour of the ship, from the bridge at the fourth level to my berthing on the third deck. We were all pretty tired by the time that was over, that we drove straight to our favorite local Italian place in Ocean View, Franco's By the Sea.

The weekend was marvelous. Saturday we drove out to Cape Henry to have a look at the lighthouse and the beach near the First Landing memorial. We even saw dolphins not far off shore just before we left. There were also lots of little crabs with homes in the sand. That night we had steak for dinner, along with stuffed mushrooms and fried (or mashed) potatoes.

Sunday was especially relaxing; slept in a long time, and had another wonderful breakfast at home. I baked a pumpkin pie and a chocolate cake in the morning. Mike and I took a leisurely stroll around the neighborhood together later on (after I finished mowing the lawn), then we went and picked up dinner at the Sunset Grill on Willoughby Spit and ate while we all watched The Court Jester again together. That was the film we watched on our first visit... back in 2009!

The 21st to the 23rd, it was just Meg and Jason and Jonna again. I got home between 2:30 and 3 every afternoon, and I adored just hanging out with them. Monday we made burgers with blue cheese on top, then Tuesday, we went out to El Azteca on Little Creek Blvd for some fantastic Mexican. While we were out there we stopped at two thrift stores for poking around and Walmart for a little errand. It was wonderful fun. Our last evening together, we made spaghetti at home. Meg beat me at Phase 10, and I held Jonna as much as I could.

Jw

Finally, Peace and Rest

In the month of August so far, a day and a half to spend as I willed (not counting five hours on Tuesday, and Thursday afternoon and evening).

(During the few hours on Tuesday, I mowed the lawn, sorted through the mail and swept the floor, besides going out for dinner at El Azteca, my favorite local Mexican place before I had to return to the ship. Thursday after work, I stopped by the movie rental place and tried out Game of Thrones... turns out the amount and type of pornography and gore is way too much for my tolerance level... no more for me. I finished out the evening by listening to First and Second Timothy while I wrote on the other blog. I needed a mental washing. And I also got to talk to Mom for over an hour... that was really nice.)

Oh, my gosh... where did I start? When I was let off from work on Friday afternoon, the first thing  I did was stop for a late lunch at the sushi place on Hampton Blvd with the all-you-can-eat special. After that I spent a good hour picking things up for the ship... and then I really was on my own time.

Spent some time online, talked to my sister about some plans for October, then went to Walmart to pick up new bedsheets and pillows, and birdseed for my wild pets. They didn't have the cheap standard pillows... so I broke down and bought the expensive downy pillows... and I'm so glad I did! They are so much more comfortable! Shopping always takes longer than I mean it to, but I was still in plenty of time to go swimming right afterwords as I planned. The odd thing was, when I got to the indoor pool, they told me they were still closed for 20 minutes or so because of the lighting storm that last struck 10 minutes beforehand. I was dumbfounded as to why they'd close an indoor pool for a storm... but it afforded me time to finish the chapter in a book I was reading that happened to be in the car. Finished just as they opened, and managed to do a thousand yards in twenty-five minutes.

Came home, cleaned up, spent a bunch more time online, had only a P&J for dinner, and finished the evening out with a phone call to my Darling for nearly two hours while lounging in my comfortable bed.

Today, glorious today, I slept in til 9, made myself a wonderful breakfast, painted the door to the shed outside (it was badly in need of a new coat... and I so enjoyed making it look like new), bought a futon for the extra bedroom (I have guests coming!) and did the laundry in Ocean View. I picked up a few things at Rite Aid across the street and read in The Templar Knight along the shore as the stiff breeze blew small waves continually onto the beach (instead of watching Titanic on ABC Family inside... what a choice!) while waiting. I laughed to myself as Celine Dion's My Heart will Go On played during the credits while I folded my clothes... what fun my sister and I used to poke at that. What a blast from the past! I was 14 when that came out. I remember hearing about it from the girls on my Jr. High basketball team, how wonderful it was. Then I went to see it with my family... I've never been so miserable in a movie theater. I finished up folding as Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame came on... what was this? a bad '90s movies marathon? I went back out to the shoreline to read more Arn even though my laundry was all done. It was so beautiful, breezy and relaxing.

Back at home, I broke out my French horn and warmed up, remembering the fingering for all the notes... which came back to me pretty easily. It was as hard as ever to know what note to start on though... the horn can play so many notes without any valves involved; sometimes it's hard for me to hear where I am. It was a real joy to play again... I think I shall do this more often. To continue feeling like it was the '90s, I even broke out a coloring book and did a page and a half.

Had a dinner of a couple steaks, green beans and peaches... and later on tonight I had some nachos. Watched The Young Victoria for some entertainment, and enjoyed it as much as I remember I did before.

I feel so refreshed... it's so good to take a break once in a while... or a month.

Jw

Long Weekend with My Dearest Family

I was able to go on leave, starting Thursday afternoon (the 21st) and ending very early this morning in order to have ample time to visit with my parents who were driving over from visiting my Grandparents in North Carolina and my husband who flew in for the occasion.

It was a good thing that Mom called me a couple hours before they arrived. I took a nap immediately upon getting home... still in my black turtleneck and long johns. This gave me time to straighten up the house a little and do the things I was putting off for so long... like clean off the table and do the dishes. They arrived just when they said... around 5:30. Showed them the house for a second, then we went to check in to their motel along Ocean View Ave. They even had a room with a view of the bay! Then I introduced them to our nice, local seafood restaurant, the Ship's Cabin, another couple miles up the road. Mom tried scallops for the first time, Dad had some well done swordfish, and I was happy with jumbo shrimp. We were the only ones in the dining room for a long time (and at a booth by the window on the bay) and had a good time just sitting and visiting. They were duly impressed with the piping hot, delicious bread they serve. On our way to pick up Mike from the airport (just afterwards) we swung by the local grocery store to pick up the makings of the next day's dinner. Also stopped by Hampton Blvd. to get Mike a late night snack of his favorite fried chicken so he would have something to eat after a weary journey.

Friday! We had a big breakfast at home, and my, was it a pleasure to host my Mom & Dad. We had eight scrambled eggs between us, bacon, toast and muffins, besides milk and juice. Since the weather promised to get worse the next day, we decided this would be the best for a trip to the Jamestown Settlement, just a mile south of the original archaeological site (will have to go back to see that sometime soon). I loved the people in costume, and especially the firing of the sixteenth century reproduction rifles. And the reproductions of the Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery were very interesting to look over. We came back the long way around, crossing the James river by ferry to Scotland, then stopping in Surry for gas and getting back on I-64 via the James River Bridge and Mercury Blvd. When we got home, we made a feast for dinner: 2 hamburgers each, french fries, applesauce, and corn-on-the-cob. Then we set my laptop on the coffee table and sat down to watch a Bugs Bunny cartoon and the film Thor because no one wanted to say goodnight yet.

Saturday we managed to start a little earlier with more of a rest. Along with what we had the day before for breakfast, we added Eggo waffles to the mix, as well as eggs individually prepared. On the agenda this day was a trip to the Naval Base for a tour of it and my ship. I didn't mind coming in like this on my day off to show them around; it ended up being a lot of fun, and I know they all enjoyed it too. Finished going around the base, then we stopped at the NEX complex so Mom could get a magnet. :) Right from there we headed off to Virginia Beach to a Cafe Theater to watch last year's Les Miserables with Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway and Russel Crowe... all of which I usually like, and which I was very surprised at their ability to sing. I thought it very bold of Hollywood to do a musical; although long, it was very well done. We went back down Independence Blvd. to V.B. Blvd. where we had a marvelous dinner at the Macaroni Grill just before the rush. I got a build-your-own again with bow-tie pasta, Alfredo, chicken, mushrooms, asparagus and sweet peas. So good! Went back home and watched OSS-117 (with our famous French couple from The Artist) and laughed at it's silliness. Unfortunately, Mom & Dad's time was short here as they had to drive back to North Carolina in the morning. It was a wonderful thing to show them my place here in Virginia.

So Mike and I had a wonderful Sunday and Monday to ourselves. Sunday morning, we took the Lord's advice and rested. And how sweet that was! We went to breakfast at the Sandfiddler Cafe just after noon... and then we continued on to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel (a 17.6 mile span), stopping at the gift shop (LOL), then going on to Kiptopeke State Park on the bay-side of Virginia's Eastern Shore. We walked along the beach, listening to the waves and the tinkling of the broken shells as we picked up a few good shells. There was only one other couple there and they had a very playful pup with them. After returning to Virginia Beach, we had dinner at the Abby Road Pub & Restaurant for some Beatles-themed burgers. Not only did we listen to Beatles songs on the way there, but they played lots of them as we ate. Poor Mike could barely finish his dinner, he was singing along nearly the entire time... lol! For laughs, we watched the world's worst movie ever (accompanied by Rifftrax), which is Birdemic: Shock and Terror from 2005. Goodness, it was so shockingly awful... it's not even worth mentioning.

Our last day of this marvelous weekend, and we took a day trip down to North Carolina. I have always wanted to visit the Wright Memorial at Kill Devil Hills (near Kitty Hawk), so we did. The fact that Roanoke Island (the lost colony) and one of North Carolina's 3 state aquariums were nearby didn't hinder us either. It was less than a 2-hour drive each way, and on the way back we were treated to a lovely sunset nearly the entire way as we listened to some Newsboys praise music. Everything we saw was really lovely... and it wasn't crowded at all since the weather was so invigoratingly cold. Back in Virginia Beach on the way back home, we stopped at Red Lobster to spend our Christmas gift cards for our goodbye dinner.

Very early the next morning (3:45 wake up!) we got ready fast and I dropped him off at the airport on my way to the ship for my duty day.

Jw

Here and There Again

Yes, Rings fans, I've been reading The Hobbit. And what a fun journey it's been... the book and my weekend.

Stayed at the Best Western in Mayport again... dropped off at the door by the duty driver. Watched the incredible end of Game 3 of the Yankee's ALDS, and both of former Mariner Raúl Ibañez's home runs to win it (in the 9th and the 12th). It was very neat because I was talking with Mike when they flew, flew away. What can be better than having your wife give you a play-by-play of a miracle win by your favorite team when you're apart? :)

That was Wednesday night! Thursday morning I picked up the Hertz car, had a great breakfast at the Third Street Diner, stopped by The Bookmark, and nearby Atlantic Beach, then stopped at the outdoor Starbucks on the corner of Atlantic Blvd and posted to my Navy Times. Dropped off my ballot at the Post Office on the way to the ferry, stopped at Singleton's for some shrimp cocktail, rode across the St John's river and went to Amelia Island to walk around and look for shells. I found a couple broken conchs, but also over a dozen horseshoe crab skeletons. Loved just walking along the edge of the surf with the wind and the bright blue sky.

Then I had to get downtown for the symphony concert... parked for half-price at the garage... and enjoyed a wonderful concert featuring the symphony's enormous pipe organ and a famous organist from Germany. It was open seating, and I was able to get one of the normally expensive, raised seats to the right... perfect for watching the fingers fly over the keyboard and the violins. There was a Bach solo to begin, then a Handel piece including strings and oboes... a modern piece by a French composer in the 30's (strings and timpani), and finally a 20-min piece commissioned by the symphony (and a couple in attendance), written by a Florida resident (also in attendance) on variations of that familiar circus song... famous as The Most Wonderful Night of the Year. I had visions of Dick van Dyke pretending to do the tight rope in Mary Poppins all night.

It was Michael's birthday, Thursday, and unfortunately, the Yankees dropped the game that to Baltimore... but we Skyped afterwords, and talked for ever and ever, just like old times... and it was really nice! Had a king bed at the Hampton downtown... and it was awfully comfy!

Got up Friday morning, not believing how much time I still had off, and had a continental breakfast in the lobby, the returned to my room to watch Hachi: a dog's tale, an updated rendition of the real thing in 1920's Japan. When the widow discovered the dog was still waiting for her husband at the train station ten years later... that made me cry. It was a sad story, but fun to watch. Since it was time then to check out, I capitulated and gave up my room.

Went to the nearby Museum of Science and History, mostly to watch the planetarium show, as it was supposed to be geared for kids. I loved the two shows they let us see... one on the night sky and constellations, and the other talking about how Earth is an oasis in the universe. Every time I remember that, and think about how huge and ordered everything is, it makes me consider how much God loves me. When I see the Earth from space (as in the animations) I think about how God condescended to come down to that little planet and do what he did. And that made me cry too... for joy. They had other neat things at the museum... a whole room devoted to Florida's marine mammals, and another with a mini zoo... and then a walk-through of Jacksonville's history.

From there I crossed the river back to downtown and checked out the toy soldier shop I found out about in a visitor's guide magazine in the hotel room. Troops of Time... finely painted tin soldiers from all sorts of periods of warfare... I ended up buying two... a WWII Sailor, and a crusader knight with a horn. The guys in there were very happy to show me everything as I was the only customer. Even gave me an orange juice to drink from their fridge while they packed them up for me.

On my way to the toy shop I passed a busy small-town sort of main street and an antique store with a 48-star flag in the window. When I stepped inside to take a look, I was amazed and pleased to find that it was a cloth one in great condition for an affordable $19. Very happy indeed! I've been wanting something like this for years! Then I had a small-size sausage and mushroom pizza at a local shop next door... a place that's been running since 1976! After finishing, I hopped in the car and decided now was a good time to go down to Marineland for the next day's adventure. Stopped at a local motel (villa) in Palm Coast. They had a rustic stone wall covering inside and out that felt very extravagant... but wasn't. :) Turned on the TV for more baseball, but found a family station that was playing a very funny episode of We Love Lucy, one of the later seasons, I presume. When that ended, I turned it over to the game just in time to see the Yanks clinch the series. After talking with Mike for a short while, I stayed up watching a couple episodes of WENN (2 for the Price of 1, and Hilary Booth, Registered Nurse)... and some snippets... I Gotta Sing, Grace Cavendish, and the beginning and ending of Happy Homecomings. It was a wild mash, but it was also lots of fun. Turns out the snippet from Grace Cavendish and the end of Homecomings both have those silly slapstick routines. It was good random planning. :)

Next morning (Saturday the 13th), after a bagel and a banana, I headed back north a bit to the Fort Matanzas National Monument, which turns out to be a bookend to the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument I saw in St Augustine the very first week! It's just down the river from San Marcos, and was built 50 years afterwords to defend that approach to the city. There was a free ferry ride across the river, and a 1/2 mile nature trail that allowed for a beautiful walk in the woods. And across the street from the monument, there was a public beach access. Took another walk on the beach and enjoyed it a bunch. Just a beautiful day! After that it was back to Marineland for a lunch (burger!) and a swim with the dolphins.

I was hoping for a session all alone, since I was the first to register for this time slot the day before, but 4 other women had signed up as well (one from Lebanon, and two from Germany!). First they told us all about the 12 dolphins they keep, especially the record-breaking oldest dolphin in captivity... turning 60 yrs old this February! Life expectancy is estimated at 30 years, so it is indeed remarkable. We learned a bit about their skin, how it's best to not scratch them, then we changed, got into life vests (really? the pool is only like 20 feet deep... lol), and walked out onto the concrete "beach". We got to pet, rubbing sides, belly, fins and flukes with flat hands. We got to throw her little fish (our dolphin was a female named Pebbles), watch her swim under us, and tell her to do things with trainer's hand signals (I got to make her open and close her mouth when she was right up next to me!). There were also lots of pictures taken, but we'll see if they ever upload them to their site.

After drying off and changing, I made my way to Red Lobster for dinner... of shrimp and snow crab. I read quite a bit in The Hobbit between courses of my endless shrimp scampi. LOL! Stopped by Panera in Jacksonville Beach for coffee and a cookie, and I felt fully at peace as I drove through soft rain, listening to soothing piano music. And then I made full circle, returning to the Best Western where I started out at. The Yankees went into extra innings again, due to Ichiro and Ibañez catching up the 4-0 deficit in the ninth with 2-run home-runs each, but maddeningly, lost in the 13th... because they couldn't hit anything else, while the Tigers did. Chatted and put all the pics from the weekend on Facebook... and after Mike and I finished talking, read a bit more in Bilbo's adventure with the dragon. It's hard to put down.

Today, I got up in time to take a shower before church and get there just in time after checking out. Another fine sermon from 1st Peter... and very pertinent to the congregation as they decide on a new pastor next week (it's all about what church elders should be like). A couple sitting next to me chatted me up during the "greet one another" time and ended up inviting me to lunch with their friends afterwords. They treated me out too... so very nice of them... and we chatted a long time about the Navy (he was a retired O-6 - captain-) and about our various marriages. They gave me their phone numbers, and said I was always welcome anytime! I really feel like I've been led to my new church home, if the home-port shift is for sure. They blessed me (and Mike in spirit) as we hugged and said goodbye. How good God is to me!

Afterwords, I got some orange juice from CVS to combat my little head cold (it's developed into a runny nose/cough now), then went to the NEX and bought more than I was planning (but also found a Christmas present for someone), and then stopped by Walmart to get a new cheap pole for fishing this week. And here I am at Panera again (chicken noodle soup!) while I write.

What a great time! My bank account is signing with relief that I will be back on duty tomorrow! :)

A Fun, Full, Friendly Weekend

It was last Sunday that I wrote all about last Saturday. That day I took pretty easy, getting the phone camera fixed, getting a haircut in the same mall, having lunch at Panera Bread, returning the car, crossing the river on the ferry for the first time in the taxi on the way back to the ship. So glad I found out where it was! Everything is so vague and confusing until you see it with your own eyes. So thank goodness for the cabbie who suggested it.

This weekend started out on Friday night. After finishing Black Beauty in my rack, I decided to go ride the bus to the Town Center Mall after they announced it was leaving in a half-hour from the parking lot. Turned out the other people I work with (who got off earlier) were still waiting for it too. So I joined them for dinner at Applebees (it was also a birthday celebration). Such good food! I had a small steak with veggies and a decaf coffee.

I had come prepared to stay overnight if I decided to plunk down for a hotel... and I'm glad I did. Happened to see on Google maps that there was a hotel just around the corner there... the Homewood Suites by Hilton. Figured it would be super-expensive, but after I showed my military ID, I got $50 off the price, making it very reasonable. Staying in such luxury was so very nice after a solid week on the barge.

Next morning I explored the mall until I could get picked up by the car rental place... got a neat book from B&N about the English Monarchy, and flipped through books about Masonic history and about misunderstood Catholic beliefs. Brief little religion class. :)

Then I got the car, a little red Chevy Aveo... and then returned to the mall for lunch at Chipotle, and a browse through Best Buy for a couple movies to watch. Then I had a walk-in full-body massage that was exactly what I needed. The rest of the day I spent exploring the islands north of the dry dock (on recommendation from the taxi and Hertz drivers I met over the last two weekends), and then picked up a few of the food service people from the ship for a dinner together at Golden Corral.

Sunday was so much fun!!! I picked up my friend and sponsor, Cassie, from the ship and we spent the rest of the weekend together. First to Walmart to get a few things (I bought a cheap fishing pole for the barge), then sushi for lunch (I tried eel! I liked it! We also had shrimp, salmon and avocado.), then back to Amelia Island, north of the ship, to go horseback riding on the beach! What a find that was from Saturday! It was a lovely, hour-long ride on Western saddles. Too bad we couldn't go faster!

There was no plans beyond this, but I had an hankering to see Fort Clinch (a Civil War era fort) at the tip of the island and at the northernmost point of Florida's coast. It was a lot of fun, especially with a friend. A volunteer told us all about the history, and we enjoyed walking the walls and going through the few brick buildings. I loved the detail of the 1864 US flag flying above the compound.

From there we returned to the mall, had Chipotle for dinner, stopped by a sporting goods store, went back to the hotel, went swimming, then walked to a nearby ice cream parlor for a treat, and watched one of the films I bought the day before: My Way (a foreign war film about a Korean runner and a Japanese colonel in WWII... from Manchuria to Siberia, to Normandy, France... what a story!) before going to sleep.

Monday, after breakfast, Cassie got picked up by another Sonar Tech, and I went back to Walmart to get a cheap bike and take it back to the ship. Then I crossed the ferry to get back to them at the beach, and went swimming in the warm Atlantic with them for a short while. Had dinner at the Third Street Diner, on my recommendation (had sandwiches), then went to the movies... I saw The Expendables 2, and laughed my head off, especially at Chuck Norris. The others saw Dark Knight Rises again, and I poked my head in until it was done. We headed back to the ship after a Whataburger for a late dinner.

What a time I had!

This afternoon I got off around 2:30, since it was my early day, and planned on finding a Starbucks for some Internet. Well, the bike had a flat, so I waited for the ship's bus to get me to Mayport so I could get a cab and a bike shop. Unbelievably, it all worked out! Thank you, Lord! Even though the shop I went to was supposed to be closing when I got there. Anyway, found a fantastic seafood grill for dinner, got a book at the bookstore nearby (a compact Nat Geo picture collection) and then biked to the Starbucks down the street... way better than I was planning! :)

Time to get back though!
Jw

First Day of Liberty

And I spent it in Saint Augustine. Because I didn't have a rental car reservation, it took me an extra hour getting here; other than that, it was a perfect day. Took a taxi from Mayport, where we were dropped, to a rental car place on the coastal blvd. And that happened to be right next to a wonderful, local diner, where I promptly ate breakfast at 11:30 for my first meal of the day.

Realized I didn't need GPS, since that was the same coastal road (FL-A1A) that went straight to St. Augustine. Beautiful drive, with lots of views of the ocean. It was hard to stop for the pedestrians though... just a little triangle sign for crosswalks across a 55mph highway. Didn't even come close to hurting anyone... it weirded me out though.

Like Ponce de Leon in 1513, the first thing I did was visit the Fountain of Youth. They had little plastic cups filled with water from the spring to drink. It was a very little spring, and at this late date it is pumped 200 feet to the surface. At the same center, they had a very neat planetarium show, pointing out the constellations and which the Spanish would have used as they sailed across the Atlantic. It was the best planetarium show I've ever seen... maybe because they were talking about a specific point and not just spouting random astronomical facts. There were a few things about sixteenth-century navigation that I didn't know... like they measured the movement of the big dipper from the north star sort of like a giant sundial in the sky. They also had a cannon firing demonstration and a globe that outlined the voyage they made... but I heard the gun from a distance, and only saw the globe on a postcard because the planetarium show went a little long. I avoided buying bottled fountain water in the gift shop. :)

From there I drove across the Matanzas River and visited the St. Augustine Lighthouse (1874), climbing 219 stairs 140 ft. up for a fantastic view of the city, rivers, countryside and ocean. They had a cool little museum in the light-keeper's house.

At this point it was getting to be later in the afternoon and I was getting hungry again. But first I decided to go back across the river to the downtown and visit the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument, a fort built out of stone and coquina (a hard mixture of shells and sand) from 1672-1695. The fort was impregnable, and was never over-run. It passed from the Spanish to the British to the United States, always by treaty.

After satisfying myself with a few neat things from the gift shop (patches, a picture booklet of all the Civil War battlefields, and books about the Underground Railroad and the Signers of the Declaration), I walked along the waterfront and across the bridge to the seafood restaurant I had spotted earlier for a fantastic lobster dinner (they had a special).

Did a little more exploring after that... drove a bit north, scouting for motels, and ended up stopping at the Fort Mose Historic State Park. It was really just a wetlands, since the 1738 fort site is now under water. But I did see lots of birds and took pictures of the beautiful sunset.

It's been a wonderful mini-vacation so far!
Jw

Virginia, With My Husband

Tuesday, June 19, was check-in day, but I was done by nine. Found The Pancake House, for a great breakfast place, and then later on, a local Italian place after checking out all of our military housing options. Returned to our final choice in the afternoon to meet with the manager. A very busy day!

Wednesday also done early after urinalysis. Got the lease at the housing office in order to review it at the hotel. Sort of a low-key day... took a look around Ocean View and the Willoughby Spit before returning to the housing office to sign the lease. Got take-out Chinese and brought it back to the hotel for a quiet night.

Thursday's Indoc didn't last too long, emptied the car into a public storage locker nearby on the way back to the hotel. Had Popeye's Chicken for lunch, then the evening on Virginia Beach... aquarium, walked on the beach, got fingers and toes wet in the Atlantic, rode on a Ferris Wheel at the theme park, got a stuffed penguin (named him VeeBee) by throwing darts at balloons, had seafood on the pier.

Friday went through Hampton Roads to visit Yorktown on the peninsula. Stopped at a great little diner on the way back. Lots of traffic!

Saturday we visited Fort Monroe on our way to Historic Williamsburg. Did it on recommendation from a friend, and didn't realize how long it would take. The place has been visited by nearly everyone... Robert E. Lee was stationed there, McClellan came through during the peninsula campaign 150 yrs ago this year, Abraham Lincoln visited, and Jefferson Davis was imprisoned there. Other notables... Edgar Allen Poe was stationed there, and Pershing came through too. And it was the nation's artillery school before Fort Sill.

Good grief! And then we realized we were on our way to a place you just can't see everything even in a full day. So, we did our best and will indeed return. I loved the courthouse, the parish church, and the George Wythe House best. The last house we toured had mostly original furnishings, so there was a period tour guide who acted as if we were visiting the family.

Sunday morning, the 24th, we found a different breakfast place near the airport. Turned out it was a good thing we went right to the zoo, since it only took us an hour-and-a-half. Kind of small and outdated, but the giraffe and tiger exhibits were the best ever! Came back and packed Mike's carry-on, got some fried chicken to go, then dropped him off at the airport.

Four Days with My Darling

Friday, the 4th: 10:00am... I was let out of class before the little bit of cleanup started, and by 10:30 I was changed and picking up Michael at the airport. We immediately went to Perry's Breakfast House on Pacific Hwy, as neither of us had eaten yet. It was as busy as ever, but we were quickly given a table. I ordered decaff along with my Darling, as I have developed quite a taste for it (with creamer and sweetener). It was too early to check into our hotel in Mission Valley, so we went home for a good nap before we did much of anything. I sent off what I had written so far on my assigned Navy article, then we decided to go to the Cabrillo National Monument for a walk along the coastline. The weather was perfect... bright sunshine, cool breeze coming off the Pacific. We looked in the tide pools, skipped stones, and got our hands wet. Liberty Station was on our list because I wanted to add Michael to my bank accounts, but it had closed by then. On a whim, I thought it would be neat to take a walk along the waterfront, so we spent a good bit of time enjoying the weather and the romping dogs. On a park bench we narrowed our dinner choice down to Sammy's Woodfired Pizza, just on the other side of Liberty Station. Mike had a thin crust Hawaiian pizza, and I, chicken breast over asparagus. Now able to check into the hotel, we napped, Mike posted his songs, and we had a very nice evening together.

Saturday, the 5th: "Family Restaurant", just up the street from the Howard Johnson we were staying at (on Hotel Circle South), is a breakfast diner that we tried out for the first time. I loved their corned beef hash... and we shared a ginormous California Waffle that had lots of strawberries and whipped cream on top. Just around the corner, towards Old Town and up the hill is the Junipero Serra Museum, built in the style of the original Franciscan mission and Spanish fort that occupied the same site hundreds of years ago. This we visited next, walking through the main room and up the tower for a wonderful panorama of the area, overlooking the river, Mission Valley and Mission Bay. And they had dozens of old-time pictures and lots of memorabilia from the 20's, when the museum was built. After a brief stop at home and at Walgreen's and at the library (for Mike to meet my friends there), we went to the Padre's game that afternoon. We had some Friar's Franks, lemonades and peanuts. They lost, 4-1, but we were able to see a home run and a few great plays. The Old Spaghetti Factory, being two blocks away from the stadium, was the perfect choice for dinner. And we were treated to a large full moon outside the hotel... the same type that graced the sky when Mike first visited me here in March 2011.

Sunday, the 6th: I was finally able to introduce Mike to my friends at Mission Village Christian Fellowship. It was a lovely service... Andy led some outstanding worship, and Pastor Carl spoke about keeping up with knowing the Lord through quiet times. Afterwords we returned to Perry's for breakfast (and a blueberry waffle this time), went home to pick up my dress for the afternoon wedding of Josh & Jacquie (from small group), and had a nap at the hotel before going to it. There was a break between the ceremony and the reception, so I drove Mike and I a little further down the road to see Mission Trails Park, where I had been hiking a couple times. We even got out to see the Old Mission Dam (still in our dressy clothes). The reception was at the Admiral Baker Clubhouse, and they had lots of nice things to eat. If that wasn't enough mingling with church friends, Aku (also from small group) had a college graduation open house that evening. We stopped in for a few minutes, but the both of us were very tired. [Here's the story on the Admiral it was named for.]

Monday, the 7th: A wonderful day with a slow start (I had school for a few hours in the morning). We had breakfast at Ricky's, another diner near the hotels, serving breakfast all day. I tried out a BLT with an egg... mmm! Then we stopped by the base to print out Mike's airline ticket, stopped at the bank to finally add him to my accounts, then went to Sea World as planned. They let us both in for free because we both had military IDs. With only 3 hours remaining to enjoy it, we maximized our time wonderfully. Saw five species of penguins in the Penguin Encounter: a huge room with hundreds of penguins jumping in and out of the water, saw the polar bears, beluga whales getting fed, and a mammoth walrus chewing on sardines right up against the glass. Stopped by Turtle Reef, then fed very vocal sea lions a few sardines at Pacific Point. Very glad we were in time for the final Shamu Show of the day. Loved how the big orcas jumped so high! And we were two rows above the highest splash. :) For the final half-hour we looked in on the otters (they were in the middle of a fight when we arrived) and the dolphins, then rode the Sky-Tower for another wonderful panorama of the area and bought a photo. When exiting, Mike spotted a mama duck with seven tiny babies in the pool under the tower, so we stopped and watched them until it was time to leave. For dinner, we went directly to Red Lobster, just across the river on Sports Arena Blvd. It's practically our tradition to eat there the last night. Back at the hotel we looked through a library book of historical photos of Oklahoma City, that Mike brought to show me. Then I showed him an episode of Foyle's War, and he enjoyed it as much as I do.

This morning we had to say good-bye. I drove him to the airport with ample time for me to go back to the hotel and change into my uniform before class. I already miss him, but oh, what a wonderful time we had!

Jw

Running All Day

I wasn't hungry enough for breakfast, so I skipped it completely. I left around 8:20 for the Coronado beach clean-up I told the Lt. I'd volunteer at and write about for her. It was rather confusing trying to locate where it was held though. I drove up and down the strand at least three times before I finally decided to get off at the beach state park, even though it was on the ocean side (since the email said it would be the bay side). I soon found a group of people in bright yellow Navy PT shirts... and if it wasn't for them, I would have never found anyone! They were as lost as I was, but we finally ran into the right people after someone made a phone call. The guy I first interviewed for an article was there with his whole group, as well as Sailors from other commands. The Senior Chief I met before interviewing the one guy pointed out the coordinator guy to me and I got his contact. Thankfully! I was worried for a while about getting anything from anyone. There were about 60 people there, and we gathered over 150 lbs of trash on our swath of beach.

I was hungry by the time I was on my way home... around 11:30. Went to the base to clean up, then stopped by Panera Bread for my favorite sierra chicken sandwich and chicken noodle soup. Then I swung by the library for a couple hours. Didn't quite intend to stay that long, but I usually never do. :) I just keep shelving, shelving, shelving. I think I'm a little crazy, I enjoy it so much. I did books this time for the first time in a long while. Was able to help a couple patrons too.

Back at home I watched the first of two 1862 episodes of The Civil War before it was time for the class party. Most everyone came, meeting at the Olive Garden at 4:30. It was a fun time... we awkwardly used our first names with each other; I was sitting between Witte and STG2's wife and across from Hibbard and her boyfriend Matt. I enjoyed lasagna and two bowls of my favorite soup, the Toscana. STG2 was hilarious... he had four bowls of it after I let him know the refills were free. :)

Then eight of us crossed the street and played a game of laser tag. It took a long time to get in, because the place was super crowded, but it was a lot of fun. I was ranked 14th out of 36 players, and managed to blow up the blue base. I was breathing hard, like usual, by the time we were done... I think one game is 15 minutes. But it was 8pm by the time I got back in my car.

Came to chat, but I was too wiped out to stay very long. Good night, world!

Jw

Movies, Movies, Movies!

Wednesday I was worried I wasn't going to be able to make it to the librarian's birthday/retirement party at 11:30... at one point we were told we'd be staying late for a quick walk-through of a lab... but it was recanted. :) I made it there right on time. Some people were waiting for the doors to open, since it was another hour before the library actually opened. So I used the back entrance that was left ajar and had some very good locally made supreme pizza and strawberry cream cake with Mark, Ieda, Pam, and Liz, along with a few others; only one other volunteer, I think. Pam made some wonderful nut-filled brownies, and there were fresh strawberries besides.

I ended up working for an hour, putting away all the audiobooks and youth DVDs. While refiling them, I picked out a set of 1940s Donald Duck cartoons, the first three episodes of The Lone Ranger (1949 - where they set up the story and behave much like a radio show... narration, abrupt endings and a storyline continuing "next week"), Snow White, and a film from 1945... Mildred Pierce, with Joan Crawford and Eve Arden. For the rest of the day, I watched them one after the other, except for Snow White, which I watched this evening.

But Wednesday evening, after sitting down so long, I decided to get in the car and drive after the sunset to Ocean Beach, just a couple miles down the road from the library. It was the street market night, so I parked far away, knowing nothing would be available close by. Took a short jog on the beach before getting a little snack to eat at the market and drank in the beautiful sight. Big clouds out to sea as the sun melted into them.

Jw

Before the Weekend

Today after class, the sun was shining so brilliantly that I thought it would be good to visit Ocean Beach for a few hours. It's only a 10-minute drive to the coast from my house, so it wasn't a big deal. Took my little folding stool and some note cards & pen and soaked up the afternoon sun while I transferred some verses to a flip - card set so I can work on them easier sometime. Returned to my car to warm up for a while out of the stiff breeze from the ocean, then took off walking a few blocks south to downtown Ocean Beach where I had my first experience with Hodad's (since 1969). Had a chocolate shake (that came with a scoop of ice cream) and a very big burger... a 1/2 lb. with lots of veggies! Even more than I could fit in my mouth at once. Very good! Enjoyed it much.


It was dark when I walked back, but it was only 6pm-ish. Finished up listening to "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" and returned that to the library on my way home. Interesting at times, but also pretty cliched. Back at home I watched an awesome documentary on the Wright Brothers called "Kitty Hawk"... with Niel Armstrong and John Glenn playing the voices of the brothers when they read their correspondence. There were lots of neat pictures taken by the Wrights themselves and obviously, people with them, as well as footage from flight demonstrations in Europe and America in 1908. How impressive! After talking to Michael, I quickly packed my bag for tomorrow's trip and finally got to bed.

Jw

Well, Why Not?

A Lutheran Church Bell Choir performed at Mission Village Fellowship today! That was a fun way to bring in the advent season! And the pastor gave the first sermon of four, dealing with concepts related to Christmas. The first was a message about "Hope" and what specifically it means related to Christianity. And the food afterwords was good too... veggies, meat - cheese & crackers, wonderful sugar cookies, and even a little pumpkin pie.

I decided that I wanted to take the coaster train an hour up the coast today, to Oceanside. I had been curious the other day and checked out the prices while waiting for the trolley and found that a round trip ticket was only $11... so why not go exploring? So I did! The earliest departure after church was 12:30, so I killed a little time by checking out the free museum on the corner of Old Town, just across from the transit center. That had neat displays about history of the area and several large vintage photos upstairs as well. I was glad I got there as early as I did though, because there were lots of folks on their way to the Charger's game at Qualcomm Stadium in Mission Valley, and parking spots were filling up.

The Coaster came right on time, and continued on a tight schedule. Got an upper-deck seat on the side closest to the ocean. Boy, what a view! It started out on the east side of I-5, cutting its way alongside canyons, but right after Torrey Pines State Park between La Jolla and Del Mar It went under the freeway and ran alongside the ocean! My favorite sight! There was a bit of a drop-off down to the wide beach, but that just meant we had even a better view. Saw dozens of surfers and more people walking or running along the shore.

It took an hour to get to Oceanside, with five stops between it and Old Town. I'd like to visit at least three of them sometime. :) I had no idea about what was in Oceanside, but I was pleasantly surprised. Neat little shops, lots of military surplus/uniform outlets (as it is located just south of Camp Pendelton), nice places to eat, and a lovely beachfront and fishing pier. It was unpretentious, and not at all like a tourist trap. Stopped in a few stores and finished some Christmas shopping, had NY style pizza for dinner along with a dish of spaghetti and garlic bread and I sat and watched the sad Chargers game on the flat screen TV on the wall. Then I walked out to the beach, took a few pictures and returned to the transit center. Had a frozen yogurt treat along the way, flavored mango with little hunks of raspberry, kiwi & strawberry. Neat shop: it's called The Red Cup. You dispense your own yogurt and pick your own toppings then pay by the weight.
(here are the photos, posted to FB)

The 4:33 Coaster was the only one back to SD, though, so I could not miss it! Turned out it was the perfect time. Allowed for three hours in town, a perfect viewing of a gorgeous sunset, and got me back just in time to pick up Laramie from the train station downtown so we could go to small group.

Small group was smaller than normal, but we had a marvelous time anyway. Tough topics on theology. Since we are descended from Adam, we are sinners. Then if we trust Christ, we are spiritually reborn in him, but still live in the flesh. Loved the chapter talking about what that actually is. It's our physical circumstances here on Earth... a person's background and talents. Putting our confidence in it and satisfying its desires is what makes it at odds with God's Holy Spirit. Now that we are saints, purified and perfected by Christ's sacrifice once for all time, we have the choice not to follow the desires of the flesh: putting confidence in our ability to provide ourselves with comfort or education or status, to name a few of the not so conspicuously bad ones. To quote the author: "The flesh is a way to think... it encourages self-effort... it seeks identity and purpose... it is not the old self. We choose to depend on it or the Spirit at any given moment... Before we were in Christ we had no choice but to gain identity and a sense of fulfillment from the flesh. But now, as children of God, there's a battle within us... When we walk after the flesh, we're not being ourselves... depending on the flesh goes against our [new] nature... because of our new identity in Christ, being ourselves and expressing Christ are one and the same... our new self and our union with his Spirit cause us to want what he wants... he has installed within us an intense and never-ending desire to find fulfillment through expressing his life."

Wow! It was fun to talk about. We shared our conversion stories... came up from a quote in a previous chapter: "The real thing isn't about trying hard to act differently. Becoming a Christian is like dying and waking up the next day as a totally new person." Technically, this is true, but it doesn't always feel like it. For instance, I feel as if I have always been a Christian. I don't remember a "night & day" feeling... when I was very young I had nightmares about an animated Bible story, of all things. Got up, talked with Mom, and she said I didn't need to be afraid... I needed to trust Jesus. So I did. I made it my own when as a teenager I took 5 minutes to think over if I really wanted this to be my life. There was no way around it; I couldn't deny it.

Goodness, what a day! What blessings!
Jw

Slower Days

Yesterday I slept in too late to go to the Mission Village church, so I tried out the "Divine Protestant Service" at 10:30 on the sub base. Tiny little chapel, but very pretty. It has wood paneling, a dozen or so wooden pews on each side of the single aisle, a wooden pulpit to the back right of the room as you walk in, and a big cross with an open Bible on a table in front. I sort of figured it'd be rather traditional... the Catholic service is in the same building at 9.

The Chaplain opened the service with a reading from Colossians 1. I thought, "Wow, he starts with the sermon"... but that was just the welcome. :) We sang a few familiar hymns, including Fairest, Lord Jesus, did a bit of corporate prayer, then heard from Mark 4, where Jesus calms the storm. He went through the disciples actions and related that to how we should respond to trouble. It was a pretty good service, and I was pleasantly surprised.

My plan to go shooting at the gun range didn't pan out that afternoon though, because the guy I was going with stood me up. The joys of dealing with other people.

I did end up watching the movie I picked up at the library on Saturday... "84 Charing Cross Road" (1987, Anthony Hopkins, Anne Bancroft), and I enjoyed it immensely. Afterwords I went out to the Chinese Buffet on Sports Arena Blvd and thoroughly enjoyed their won ton soup and shrimp-fried rice, among other things. Then I stopped at Target for a new alarm clock, but couldn't find anything satisfactory. I did browse practically the entire store though, looking at the newest pocket camera (with 18x optical zoom! - Nikon S9100) and a few smart phones, a Rolling Stone special edition of the Beatles's albums... and other things. I found the metal wallet with accordion slots as advertised on TV, and I absolutely love it.

~

Today I did do what I planned. Stopped at McDonald's for oatmeal, juice and a sausage biscuit... on my way to Cabrillo National Monument. Got at the park at a quarter to ten, and didn't leave until one. Decided to get an annual pass this time, and if I go more than twice in the rest of the time I'm here, I will come out ahead. :)

Explored all the tide-pools for a long time; took lots of pics of the rocks, waves and crabs. Slipped and fell on my rear at one point... but barely even got wet. Had to carefully navigate across a steep ledge that was only a foot or so wide, but there were lots of hand-holds, and it was only for a couple feet. lol :) I then drove up to the top and got pictures from the lighthouse and visitor center.

For the rest of the day I did a little more shopping. Found some new shoes at Payless for a steal! And finally got an alarm clock at CVS... but found out when I returned that my old one still does work... just needed to take out the batteries and put them back in! So now I must return to CVS.

Had a burrito at Chipotle for a late lunch, then watched "Hellcats of the Navy" (Ronald Reagan, with an introduction by The Chester W. Nimitz). It was a present a while ago from my Mom and Dad. Otherwise, I've done my laundry and otherwise readied myself for the Navy tomorrow.

What an exciting, fun (and very long) weekend!

Jp

The Weekend (18-21 MAR 11)

This is from the last day... sunset on San Diego Bay. The city is behind us and my base is a ways down the beach to the right.

Since my instructor was nice (and I did well on the test), he let me go early last Friday in order to meet up with Mike. It was 1130 when I walked off base, and I soon found out Mike had just picked up the rental car. We met outside the Starbucks, across from the front gate on Laning Rd. and had salmon at the Greek Cafe next door. Mike's hotel was within walking distance from the base, so he checked in next... and we were both pretty wiped out. He hadn't gotten much of any sleep, and I had gotten up at 4ish myself for a two-hour watch that morning. We spent the majority of the day just lazing around... and it was really nice.

The scheduled event of the day was a symphony concert downtown. So we rode the trolley (to avoid having to park), had dinner at a burger place, then enjoyed some delightfully soft and beautiful tunes (including one of Haydn's London Symphonies). Near the end, I couldn't keep my eyes open, but I think I was able to drink it all in anyway. Mike drove me back to the base and we shared a moment together on the water's edge, where you can see the lights and skyline of the city straight ahead, across the bay. And we had a full moon!

Saturday morning I walked to the motel to give him time to wake up after I called (this worked out very well for Sunday too). :) And then we had breakfast at Denny's (a block or two away from his motel... it was a great location!). The rest of the day was spent at the illustrious San Diego Zoo... and we were both duly impressed. We worked our way through practically the entire place... in around 7 hours... :)

Loved the flamingo pond (with the ducks and peacocks), the aviaries (with the pheasant-peacocks, and lots more), the polar bears, the pandas, the tiger, the capybaras (and their baby), the elephants (near where we had dinner - and where we had a close-up hummingbird encounter), the tapirs, the okapi, the giraffe, the bears, the hippos (and a baby), the rhino, the many monkeys & apes, but most especially the pair of lions... the lioness was rather upset. As we were walking up, we heard some roaring, and I assumed it was the recorded sounds, like they had for the tiger. It was the real thing! At one point I got up right next to the glass, leaning on the side. The crowd was taunting her, partly because they were excited... and partly to get interesting pictures... and suddenly she stood up on her hind legs and pawed the glass a few times right on top of me. Never had I pondered how big lion's paws are... :) Thank the Lord for the glass! We all would have been mauled that day.

It was much fun to share my laptop for chat back at the motel. It was almost as novel as the one from Chicago, the weekend I graduated boot camp.

Sunday morning we started out a little later. Went to Ocean Beach for breakfast at an old-fashioned diner... mmm! I'll have to go back! I had some delicious corn beef hash and eggs and a biscuit with sausage gravy. When we finished, we kept walking down the main street to their landmark fishing pier and walked all the way out to the end watching the pelicans and cormorants go diving for fish. It was incredibly windy, so we didn't stay out there very long. :)

Back in the car again, we headed directly for Balboa Park again... this time to explore the Art Museum (which I hadn't seen before) and then to have a fancy dinner at my favorite place... a treat for my birthday. I had Atlantic cod, and Mike had the roast duck. MMM! It was a shame that they canceled the Globe's play... but it just meant more time talking and relaxing together.

Saying goodnight wasn't hard because we still knew we had one more evening together after school on Monday... we started new material, so I was able to pay complete attention. :) But as soon as we marched out, I was gone and getting ready to meet Mike again. We went and spent a few minutes walking along the bay front...

... went to In & Out for some old-fashioned hamburgers, then spent our time watching an episode of McHale's Navy, reading in our book together and talking before the time came for our final goodbye.

I'm not sure if "fantastic" well enough describes the good time we both had... but it sure was like the stuff that dreams are made of.

Jp

By the Sea

Today is a day where I really lamented not having my camera (it's in the mail, coming this week). The ocean, topped with bilious clouds and the sun streaming through them was so... pretty. Words can't come close. It was so relaxing. I walked the length of the beach for about a half-hour, finding all sorts of shells and little piles of seaweed, and for the first time, two jellyfish... which I found fascinating. I then sat and soaked in the salt sea air for another half-hour near the boardwalk that juts out into the sea.

But that was after taking a long time leaving the barracks. I had some internet things to do, including looking up the 923 bus route that goes up to the library and then on to Ocean Beach. I was there long enough to have lunch at the galley at 1100, and then set off in order to volunteer at the library. The bus stop at the intersection of Nimitz and Rosecrans was "temporarily closed". So in frustration I leaned my head back and groaned. I continued to walk the entire way... but then again, as the Lord always blesses, no matter the bus schedule, I was able to have about a half-hour's chat with my dear friend Julie while making my way up the hill.

Before I started shelving books, I made a couple photocopies of my favorite pages in Jane Eyre... lol... and read them a few times. I had a guacamole burger at the grill across the street when the library closed (around 2:30), and then decided I'd keep walking towards Ocean Beach to explore. The total distance from base to beach (via the route I walked) is just about 4 miles exactly.

After my beach time, I explored downtown a little, discovering they have a lot of antique shops. One it particular was very neat... and I almost broke down and bought a painted, revolutionary war tin soldier. They also had 30's type music playing so it felt very retro.

For dinner I had an Italian ham & mushroom pizza... and a cup of hot chocolate. It warmed me up wonderfully, as it was rather cold out with the sea breezes. By the time I was done it was 6:30 and very dark. Too my consternation, I found I had missed the last bus back and therefore, had to walk all four miles back. Made it to chat at exactly 7:59... for a much needed sit-down. :)

Jp

A- Nixie Way on base, B- Point Loma Library, C- downtown Ocean Beach

Monday's Mirth

Couldn't believe I didn't get out of bed until 1230... ! but I did. I laid there for a while, so it wasn't that I needed all that sleep... I needed the rest. I proceeded to read a good portion of Jane Eyre for the rest of the day, getting a lunch at a Greek cafe, and dinner at Panera Bread in Liberty Station, as I read on a bench near the little inlet where the shore birds hunt and play. There is even a bit of a beach access, where you can walk on the bit of sand to look at the hundreds of oysters, mussels and barnacles and overturn rocks to find scattering crabs. I had a ball.

Jp

Drained

Yesterday was highly emotional for me... and I suppose the 90 degree weather didn't do much for me either; last night I felt rather wiped out. Sleep was magnificent, but I woke up at 6:30 this morning anyway. In a burst of activity, I drove over to Carkeek park in North Seattle on Puget Sound to walk on the beach. It's a lovely park, and nice and quiet at 8:30 on a Saturday morning. There's a pretty trail along a salmon spawning creek to the beach over a bridge across the coastal railroad tracks. I only had an hour to spend, but I enjoyed every part of it. Even getting splashed on my left leg by a sea squirt! :) There are lots of little tidal pools there and at one I saw quite a few baby sculpin fish, tiny crabs, inch-long krill-type animals and bunches of feeding barnacles. They had a nice place with lots of florescent green seaweed for a canopy. On my way off the beach I saw a molt of a male red rock crab just sitting there.

I tore myself away from the beach in time to get to the event and reason for driving out here: the Husky Alumni Band was leading the parade for a small community summer celebration in Queen Anne, which is up the hill from downtown Seattle. I had never been there before! Gosh, it's steep getting up there! We had a small band of 17 show up (I was the only mellophone, of course). We stayed in the shade of a tall tree for the hour before the parade started, and the parade itself only lasted 15 minutes... only once through our list of five songs. The community center paid us $600 for our trouble, and that all goes to the scholarship fund for the varsity band.

It's a good thing the parade was short! I forgot to drink water before going, and although I had a glass of orange juice with my eggs this morning, I was seriously needing a drink. I saw a few stars on the beach, once or twice even. So immediately after the gig, I found my way to Safeway and got a cold bottle of water for free with a purchase of a tasty turkey & bacon (and avocado) sandwich. Yum! And they had free Wi-Fi and I got online for a second with my iPod touch that had come in the mail Friday afternoon. I got it for mobile Internet, free digital books and an application called "starmap" that uses GPS to show you what you're looking at in the night sky. So totally cool!

After getting back home around noon-thirty, I read a bit in my War of 1812 book and then slept sitting up on the couch for about 45 minutes. So good. The dog wanted a walk... but we only were out for little bit. It's so oppressively hot and sunny... poor boy.

Mom and I are just now going to go visit the FC at their new place for a bit and then I might lay down again when we return. I was thinking about doing a run just to boast that I could do it, but I figure it's not worth it. There will be better days for that. :)

Jp

On the Go

Ooh, is today fun! My friend Julie and I took off from her place a little after nine this morning. I was a few minutes late, but it ended up not mattering... the ferry took off at ten after ten, and there's no rushing the ferry!

Last night I dreamed all about going on a trip somewhere and forgetting to bring anything at all beyond my camera and a pair of socks. I woke up, thank goodness, and got ready rather quickly, doing everything in the last minute.

It was a lovely drive from Kingston to Forks... about 3 hours. There were towering firs with thick, brilliant green moss and low-lying clouds and a greenish-blue lake. We saw two bald eagles in trees right next to the road as we passed by the lake. One was right next to a turn out, so we stopped and took pictures of him. Golly, he was majestic. [click on the picture to see him up close.]

We got to town right around 1 o'clock and after checking in at the motel (which is very cozy, as they claim) and eating our snacks, we headed out to La Push on the coast to walk on the beach. It was misting while we were out, but it was great to smell the sea and look at the huge waves crashing and pick up interesting beach stuff. Julie found a dead purple starfish that was very neat... but also very smelly. :) We walked up and down the beach and pretty soon we were covered with salty spray and misty rain. And we saw another bald eagle, in flight this time! A bit more back up the road, we stopped at a trailhead for "Second Beach". The trail was so muddy! I held on to the legs of my pants to help them not get soaked. When we got to the beach, the tide was very high, so the only thing to walk on was the stacks of very slick logs strewn about. I only slipped once or twice... but not detrimentally.

What fun! What a day! We then returned to town, stopped by the grocery store, crashed for a second in our room and then went out to eat at a nearby pizza place. We had Italian sausage with mushrooms and the nicest, thickest mozzarella cheese I've ever had. And right now we're taking a break and relaxing before we do more relaxing by watching Libeled Lady again! Yay!

Oh, what fun!
Jp

[ps... not only did we watch Libeled Lady... but I also brought along Double Wedding... at the risk of being redundant, we watched that too! I don't think I've ever seen such slapstick before... lol]

Westport

I took a short one-night trip with the fam on Saturday to Westpost, half-way down the Washington coast. We left in the morning, around 10 am (nice, little, desperately needed sleep in) and arrived around 2 or 3 in the afternoon. We took Spiffy with us, and he spent most of the ride on the back seat, sitting up and looking around. Meggan and I played Phase 10 while Dad and Mom rode up front.

Dad was making the trip in order to fish on Sunday morning, but the weather on Sunday was forecast to include gale-force winds and driving rain, along with swift currents - too swift for bottom fishing. So all the charters were cancelled. Meggan, Mom and I were there to sit on the beach. Both Saturday and Sunday.

So after some time in the hotel room, reading in the Andrew W. Mellon biography (I started working on it!) and writing down notes, while Meggan just read... my parents returned from the docks with the weather news. Dad then took Spiffy for a walk on the docks as Mom relaxed and Meggan and I returned to our relaxing studies. :) (they are!) What's hard is not having any time for them at home!

That evening, around 4:30 or 5, Dad returned, with a whole tuna, freshly filleted. He had ran into a returning fisherman and bought one off him at an extremely good price. After loading it in the cooler we had brought with, we went out to dinner. There's this cafe place that we ate at last year, that has the best clam chowder I've ever had. That's where we went. While we were waiting for our order, Dad took me across the street to the place where he got his tuna. There were still more that the guys were working on. Tunas have dorsal fins almost as long as their bodies! And their thick sides narrowing down to a tiny tail is just amazing!

Anyway, we went in the front store as well, and there I found a cup of crab cocktail, ready to be eaten. I got some of that and it supplemented our dinner extraordinarily.

After we finished - I had a BLT along with clam chowder - we drove to the beach in time to see a brilliant sun hanging low in the sky! It was very beautiful. Mom stayed up on the bank above the beach and the rest of us both stayed with her, and went for walks out on the beach below. Spiffy got pretty tired on all those walks. Out on the beach, there were literally hundreds of sand dollars - almost as many as there were stones. Needless to say, it was a lovely, relaxing time together.

Back at the hotel, after stopping for some ice creme sandwiches, we watched an episode of season 2 Mission: Impossible on Meggan's laptop. And then Meggan and I stayed up a little more working on our various projects. She, writing her dissertation on truth in fiction (Philosophy from the U of Miami); me writing WENN history. LOL! Meggan suggested to me that I find some build-your-degree program somewhere to get some sort of credit for this project. Focusing, of course, on the history of American culture in the early '40's based off of the various episodes of Remember WENN. I'm not sure if that's entirely possible, but Meggan reminded me that many philosophers have done their works on Star Trek, with relative success.

We slept in again, and found, when we awoke, a torrential downpour. So it would be pretty horrible to try and sit on the beach, unless we wanted to try swim-walking. We went to our favorite breakfast place, an old-home-style cooking cafe called "Barbara's By the Sea". And you can see Barbara, herself, cooking in the kitchen. The wait is a little longer than normal, but your food is "just like mother used to make", without a doubt. My cheese and sausage omelet with hashbrowns and toast was savory. Mmmm.

We didn't have anything to do there after breakfast, because of the rain, so we were forced to leave for home a little early. On the way home, I picked up writing my next fanfiction, and did that pretty much the whole way home, with a break for one game of Phase 10.

Back to normal... until next weekend, when I go to Eugene, OR, for a silly football game. I'm really going just to hang with my friends, play the Husky songs again on my mellophone, and march an abbreviated field show.

Who cares about football.... :)

Jp