Well, it was my first anniversary. :) My command gave me a "96", meaning I had four days (including the weekend) to have special liberty... it wasn't counted against my earned leave days!
I had to report for Indoc training Friday morning, but other than that I had that day off as well. Mostly waited around for a ride to the airport, and then enjoyed a night at a swank hotel before heading off to see my Darling, Michael, the next morning, early. For the first time ever, I added costs to my hotel tab, eating at the restaurant in the lobby and getting a late-night snack and toothpaste from their little pantry after I got back from a shopping trip to the nearby mall. Found a very nice, purple silk evening dress with a flower print for the wedding, plus shoes and purse! I walked the mile+ to the mall, but got a cab ride back, as it was dark and I had bags.
Saturday morning, the hotel provided a van ride to the airport and I was there in plenty of time. TSA was a breeze, and I had printed out my tickets the night before at the hotel. Didn't have long to wait before I boarded... and soon we were off! I was so excited to see my husband! It had been three months!
Landed in Charlotte, NC, a little late, then found out what gate Mike would be coming in at. He ended up being a little early, and we talked on the phone as I saw his plane taxiing to where I was waiting. While on the phone, I heard his pilot announce they had to wait a moment for another plane at the gate. I was dumbfounded, as the one they had on the arrivals board was very empty and ready... things must have got straightened out quick though, because a minute later they were coming in.
Met Mike as he de-boarded... just like in the good old days when you could meet people at their gates. We got the car from Alamo (best company for one-way trips, BTW), then stopped for brunch at the nearest Cracker Barrel as soon as we could. So relaxing and good, although it weirded Mike out a little to feel like he was back in the one in Norman just after a full morning of flying! From there we drove the hour-and-a-half north to the hotel in Winston-Salem, crashed on the bed for a full three minutes, changed into our nice clothes and were off to the nearby wedding of our nephew Scott. It's a wonder we made it through it all! We exchanged our anniversary gifts while we got dressed... I got Mike a leather wallet, and he gave me a beautiful white gold necklace with a diamond sitting inside two loops (suggesting a hug) and sort of resembling the Christian fish symbol, which is perfect for me in several ways! How sweet of him!
The service was very formal, but beautiful too. Friends of the bride sang Latin to the accompaniment of a small string orchestra up front! Tracy, who conducted our own wedding last year helped perform this one as well. It was wonderful to meet Scott and his bride as well as see the rest of the family again! After blowing bubbles as they "left", and then doing a family photo shoot in the chapel, we followed them to the reception at the courtyard of an art museum in the historic part of town. The weather was perfect for the entire evening and the food was delicious! There was a small crisis that came up from the folks watching Mike's house (they called)... but the Lord answered our prayer instantaneously (as soon as we started to pray), and it was easily resolved to our great relief. The reception went along very well... we even danced together when they played "Dream a Little Dream of Me" (lots of great classic love songs during the whole thing) and stayed for the short and sweet toasts and cake before getting way too tired to stay up any more. :)
Next morning we were able to sleep in for a while, then got the car packed before meeting family for a leisurely brunch at the hip place in town. I had a sausage and egg toasted sandwich with apple-butter jam on it! Yum! Mike tried the fried corn cakes, and also found them to his liking. From there we started our trip to Charleston, SC, for our anniversary day the next day. On our way we stopped at the North Carolina Zoo outside Asheboro (saw a flier at the hotel). Lots of fun there! Even saw them feed the seals!
It was pretty late by the time we got to the hotel in Mt Pleasant, across the big bridge from downtown, but we had already stopped for dinner in Rockingham so we were ready for bed after Mike had a smoke and we sat outside and talked for a few minutes, unwinding.
Saturday we did way too much! :) Started out with the Quality Inn breakfast (that was descent), then caught the late-morning ferry to Fort Sumter National Park. What can I say? Sort of odd to visit the place commemorating the commencement of a civil war on one's anniversary... Thanks for that, Darling! :) It was attractive to us not only because of the historical value, but also because of the 30 minute ferry ride both ways. Looked at the nearby USS Yorktown (CV 10) before we went downtown for a late lunch and for a visit to the Charleston Museum... which is the oldest museum in the country... and has everything under the sun in it! Big collection and very interesting. We also took a break on a bench before starting and when we finished. Not enough time in the day! I loved the model of the CSS Hunley sitting outside as well. Gosh, they have lots of neat stuff there!
Went back to the hotel to rest for a while before we came downtown to have a fancy anniversary dinner at Hank's Seafood Restaurant. It was so full we had to wait outside for a while, but it was worth it. I had a delicious dish of shrimp curry for the first time, and we enjoyed our decaff coffees before and afterwords!
Tuesday was a long day of driving, that Mike did nearly all the way. We changed after our goodbye dinner at Red Lobster near the Jacksonville airport, then actually said goodbye at the shipyard after having a bit of time at the Little Talbot Island State Park beach just down the road from it. What a time we had!
Jw
Showing posts with label flight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label flight. Show all posts
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Monday, May 30, 2011
A Few Hours of Happiness
Woke up an hour earlier than I thought, and it's good I did. Took all that time to go through my room getting things together that I wanted to take back with me. Ended up with my backpack full of certain books I really wanted to read. :) I'm doing more of that these days. :) All of this, including getting things together for people to bring me this month, took from 6 to 8am, when we had a lovely last breakfast together. I made the scrambled eggs myself! Oh, was that good! More oatmeal, and toast too.
Got in the car at 9:00, and ended up saying our goodbyes at 9:25. I already had my ticket, so I went straight to the security line (which took a while). They even let me through with my pizza from the trip up here... so I had something to snack on during the flight. Made it to my gate on the N concourse 15 minutes before boarding time. Simply listened to music the whole way. Nothing happened the whole flight, except for the little kid behind me kicking my seat every now and then.
I walked the 2 miles back to base and into my room. Took me about an hour from the time we de-boarded. Was very hot... and hungry. So I went to Old Town for a burger, but that was closed. Had some Mexican instead, got very full, then suddenly on my way back to the car got very, very sad. I got on the phone and Mike talked with me for a very long time, comforting me and cheering me up. :)
What a day to remember.
Jp
Got in the car at 9:00, and ended up saying our goodbyes at 9:25. I already had my ticket, so I went straight to the security line (which took a while). They even let me through with my pizza from the trip up here... so I had something to snack on during the flight. Made it to my gate on the N concourse 15 minutes before boarding time. Simply listened to music the whole way. Nothing happened the whole flight, except for the little kid behind me kicking my seat every now and then.
I walked the 2 miles back to base and into my room. Took me about an hour from the time we de-boarded. Was very hot... and hungry. So I went to Old Town for a burger, but that was closed. Had some Mexican instead, got very full, then suddenly on my way back to the car got very, very sad. I got on the phone and Mike talked with me for a very long time, comforting me and cheering me up. :)
What a day to remember.
Jp
Friday, May 27, 2011
At the End of the Rainbow
Thursday evening and this morning I had my room to myself. Hathaway left Thursday around noontime for her long weekend. It was nice to have uninterrupted free time on base even. :) I first did my laundry, since that would be bad to have a week's smelly shirts & socks hanging on the rail of my closet all weekend... :)
After dinner at the galley and finishing the laundry, I decided I'd go check out the B&N on Rosecrans... and found a thoughtful collection of C.S. Lewis writings, a copy of Mere Christianity from a friend, and a suggested Navy reading list book for my pay-grade called "Ender's Game". My roommate from Great Lakes had raved about it as well, and it was on the summer reading table.
This morning I took really slow. Woke up very early, but slept in again until about 7 or 8 am. For the first time since I got the car, I walked all the way to Denny's, with my packed laptop bag for the flight home. I walked the familiar, skinny, flower-draped, chain-link fence path between the base overflow parking and the condos. After passing a shipmate, I noticed a single mother mallard, frantically quacking as she waddled the tight path in front of me. I quickly caught up with her, as my strides were slightly longer than hers... and thankfully it was right when there was a grassy opening to a place between the condos, so she was able to deviate and avoid being devastated by being overtaken; don't think she could fly.
At Denny's I Had my usual, and the waitress commented several times about my "healthy" choices, hoping I'd enjoy them anyway... lol. I then walked back to the base entrance where I waited for the 923 to take me down the street a ways to the airport entrance. Only had to wait about 20 minutes... that's not bad for being a shot in the dark. But before it came, a taxi almost caused an accident feet away from where I sat. That sure woke me up from my relaxation and music-listening on the bench.
Anyway, there was no crash, but lots of yelling and honking. Relieved, I got on the bus, and got off about two minutes later, just steps from the airport. I was quite early, so after I got to my gate, I finished watching a movie I had just started the other night and had a snack at the only cafe this side of security for that terminal. Chicken noodle soup & a lemon bar.
The boarding went smoothly... I was busy reading Ender's Game, and was among the last to board. But I had an aisle seat on row 22, so it went just fine. Sat behind a family with three little kids who squirmed and colored in coloring books, and did rather well... but the flight only lasted 2.5 hours total. Reminded me quite a bit of what it was like to fly when I was little. I simply read in my book the whole time and I'm now about half-way through it.
When we came in to land in the gleaming city (it was only just partly cloudy with lots of beautiful afternoon sun... and a refreshing 56 degrees!), as we looked out our left-side window, there was a bright and distinct rainbow right outside. It was so close we could only see a small portion of the downward bend! And we saw more of it as we continued on... it was like landing at the rainbow's end, which is pretty much what I think of my stay here this weekend. :)
Welcomed home!
Jp
PS. And for dinner that was waiting when I got home (Meg & Jason helped get it ready) we had Mom's spaghetti with Italian sausage sauce... and after some sitting & chatting, and discussing plans, we sat down and watched "Wait Until Dark" 1967, (Audry Hepburn). A thriller about a blind lady... made me jump in my easy chair. Stayed up a bit too late... played a long overdue game of Phase 10 with Meg! ... and lost by a card. Ah, what fun! And my bed feels like one big pillow!
After dinner at the galley and finishing the laundry, I decided I'd go check out the B&N on Rosecrans... and found a thoughtful collection of C.S. Lewis writings, a copy of Mere Christianity from a friend, and a suggested Navy reading list book for my pay-grade called "Ender's Game". My roommate from Great Lakes had raved about it as well, and it was on the summer reading table.
This morning I took really slow. Woke up very early, but slept in again until about 7 or 8 am. For the first time since I got the car, I walked all the way to Denny's, with my packed laptop bag for the flight home. I walked the familiar, skinny, flower-draped, chain-link fence path between the base overflow parking and the condos. After passing a shipmate, I noticed a single mother mallard, frantically quacking as she waddled the tight path in front of me. I quickly caught up with her, as my strides were slightly longer than hers... and thankfully it was right when there was a grassy opening to a place between the condos, so she was able to deviate and avoid being devastated by being overtaken; don't think she could fly.
At Denny's I Had my usual, and the waitress commented several times about my "healthy" choices, hoping I'd enjoy them anyway... lol. I then walked back to the base entrance where I waited for the 923 to take me down the street a ways to the airport entrance. Only had to wait about 20 minutes... that's not bad for being a shot in the dark. But before it came, a taxi almost caused an accident feet away from where I sat. That sure woke me up from my relaxation and music-listening on the bench.
Anyway, there was no crash, but lots of yelling and honking. Relieved, I got on the bus, and got off about two minutes later, just steps from the airport. I was quite early, so after I got to my gate, I finished watching a movie I had just started the other night and had a snack at the only cafe this side of security for that terminal. Chicken noodle soup & a lemon bar.
The boarding went smoothly... I was busy reading Ender's Game, and was among the last to board. But I had an aisle seat on row 22, so it went just fine. Sat behind a family with three little kids who squirmed and colored in coloring books, and did rather well... but the flight only lasted 2.5 hours total. Reminded me quite a bit of what it was like to fly when I was little. I simply read in my book the whole time and I'm now about half-way through it.
When we came in to land in the gleaming city (it was only just partly cloudy with lots of beautiful afternoon sun... and a refreshing 56 degrees!), as we looked out our left-side window, there was a bright and distinct rainbow right outside. It was so close we could only see a small portion of the downward bend! And we saw more of it as we continued on... it was like landing at the rainbow's end, which is pretty much what I think of my stay here this weekend. :)
Welcomed home!
Jp
PS. And for dinner that was waiting when I got home (Meg & Jason helped get it ready) we had Mom's spaghetti with Italian sausage sauce... and after some sitting & chatting, and discussing plans, we sat down and watched "Wait Until Dark" 1967, (Audry Hepburn). A thriller about a blind lady... made me jump in my easy chair. Stayed up a bit too late... played a long overdue game of Phase 10 with Meg! ... and lost by a card. Ah, what fun! And my bed feels like one big pillow!
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
In the Nick of Time
Well, we certainly flew around today. Our flight was supposed to leave Miami at 2:10 eastern, so we got up at 9:30, had another lovely bkfst at Denny's, packed up and left for the airport in two taxis (and arrived right on schedule). But our flight to Chicago was delayed because of soupy weather there, so they told us 3:30 for the new departure. This messed up the connection to Seattle, so they bumped us off that flight and Dad got us on a waiting list for an 8:30 (central) flight. But when we got to Chicago, we found that our original flight was still there (it was in a "final boarding" status). So some of us ran ahead and made sure they didn't leave without us if they could. We got on in the nick of time, but we couldn't see any two seats together, and there were 6 of us; Meg and Jason had this same flight returning. But thank the Lord, the back row was completely empty! We all got to sit together on our original flight. :) We were a little worried about our two checked items making it by the time we did, but they were waiting for us when we arrived at Baggage Claim.
I can't believe I was in Miami this morning! How strange it is to cover the entire distance of the country in a matter of hours! Most of the trip was smooth sailing. All of our landings were a little bumpy though (which I think is FUN!) and we did encounter a bit of turbulence going over the cascades (which is also FUN). Chicago certainly was enveloped in soup... we weren't able to see the ground until we were coming down for the touch-down. And on the flight to Seattle, we didn't have a break in the clouds below us until we got at least half-way through Montana. Whew! That was a BIG blanket of clouds!
But anyway, we're at home sweet home and we already stopped off at my sister's house in Everett to collect Spiffy, who enjoyed his stay with them very much.
Jp
I can't believe I was in Miami this morning! How strange it is to cover the entire distance of the country in a matter of hours! Most of the trip was smooth sailing. All of our landings were a little bumpy though (which I think is FUN!) and we did encounter a bit of turbulence going over the cascades (which is also FUN). Chicago certainly was enveloped in soup... we weren't able to see the ground until we were coming down for the touch-down. And on the flight to Seattle, we didn't have a break in the clouds below us until we got at least half-way through Montana. Whew! That was a BIG blanket of clouds!
But anyway, we're at home sweet home and we already stopped off at my sister's house in Everett to collect Spiffy, who enjoyed his stay with them very much.
Jp
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Coming Home
Sunday, February 28th:
We got up a bit earlier this morning so we could pack our bags... everything fit in just fine, although we're coming home with more than we brought :)
So we had time for our last of long, breakfast conversations and then made sure the bags were alright and packed everything into the car and took off.
Asheville has free Internet, so I was able to start this post and post the previous one, only writing the Saturday portion as I kept up with writing pretty much every night. I was able to copy/paste, so that's how it worked out!
I spent the first flight finishing my Navy book and the second flight reading chapters 3 & 4 of Meg's dissertation. That pretty much took up the whole of both of the flights, so I did practically nothing else and they went rather quickly. Good thing too, because we had to wait for a de-icer truck to spray us in Asheville, and when we arrived in Detroit there was no crew to meet us, and when we took off from Detroit there was a delay in boarding and when we were seated, because the luggage crews were still finishing up. Gosh, I love Delta.
So we are home, safe and sound, and I'm unpacked and sorta ready to get up tomorrow for work. :) what a week!
Jp
We got up a bit earlier this morning so we could pack our bags... everything fit in just fine, although we're coming home with more than we brought :)
So we had time for our last of long, breakfast conversations and then made sure the bags were alright and packed everything into the car and took off.
Asheville has free Internet, so I was able to start this post and post the previous one, only writing the Saturday portion as I kept up with writing pretty much every night. I was able to copy/paste, so that's how it worked out!
I spent the first flight finishing my Navy book and the second flight reading chapters 3 & 4 of Meg's dissertation. That pretty much took up the whole of both of the flights, so I did practically nothing else and they went rather quickly. Good thing too, because we had to wait for a de-icer truck to spray us in Asheville, and when we arrived in Detroit there was no crew to meet us, and when we took off from Detroit there was a delay in boarding and when we were seated, because the luggage crews were still finishing up. Gosh, I love Delta.
So we are home, safe and sound, and I'm unpacked and sorta ready to get up tomorrow for work. :) what a week!
Jp
Monday, July 27, 2009
Sunday's Adventure
I slept in to a whopping 8:30! I had intended to leave by then, 
but when on vacation, who cares? Skipped breakfast again, but I did get on the freeway in the right direction. My destination this day was rather silly... but it was loads of fun! I went to Legoland... :) but not for too long. They have hour-long shopper's passes for people who don't want to fork over $65... which is a really good thing. I was interested in poking around in the stores (I was a big Lego Knights fan when I was a kid - so buying a set at Legoland was cool) and checking out MiniLand USA... where they have built Washington DC, New York, San Francisco, New Orleans and Las Vegas... all a little smaller than the originals, of course. And for buying something, they refunded the price of parking.
Legoland was only 45 minutes away from San Diego, so the trip back was much shorter! Drove straight back to University Ave., just north of Balboa Park. I stopped at a Mexican place that I saw on Friday night as I went to Baja Betty's. I had a veggie dish called "Guaco Tacos", a couple corn tacos stuffed with avocado along with sides of the usual rice and beans. Also nearby was a thrift shop, so I peeked in for a moment and found a couple books for my sister and a magazine for myself.
With my last hour before it was time to drop off the car, I went to Balboa Park and visited the San Diego Air & Space Museum.
And it was open! :) It was also very well laid out! They really crammed those planes in there! What was special though, was the actual pod from Apollo 9 they had on load from the Smithsonian. Wow! I wanted really badly to touch it, but they anticipated me and had all sorts of signs forbidding it.
I raced back to my car after finishing (and finding a patch in the store! yay!) because it was already a quarter till three, and I still had to find a gas station before returning the car to avoid a $7+ a gallon charge if I didn't. My flight was scheduled to take off at five. Everything ended up working out alright, but I was worried for a moment there when I was still trying to find one at ten till.
No problems returning it, and a stroke of luck when finally checking in: my backpack was a little too cumbersome, so I wanted to check it. Thankfully they didn't charge me the fee for it because I had bought my ticket before they instituted the fees. And they had free wi-fi at the airport! I finished a bit of Saturday's post before boarding.
The flight was uneventful in general, but I did see a forest fire from the air over California (pictured above). This flight I had a layover in Portland, so I ate a bit of dinner there and got back home around 11. My sister and mom were waiting for me (I didn't even have to call after I got my phone back from my checked bag... lol).
And I'm back...
Jp
but when on vacation, who cares? Skipped breakfast again, but I did get on the freeway in the right direction. My destination this day was rather silly... but it was loads of fun! I went to Legoland... :) but not for too long. They have hour-long shopper's passes for people who don't want to fork over $65... which is a really good thing. I was interested in poking around in the stores (I was a big Lego Knights fan when I was a kid - so buying a set at Legoland was cool) and checking out MiniLand USA... where they have built Washington DC, New York, San Francisco, New Orleans and Las Vegas... all a little smaller than the originals, of course. And for buying something, they refunded the price of parking.
Legoland was only 45 minutes away from San Diego, so the trip back was much shorter! Drove straight back to University Ave., just north of Balboa Park. I stopped at a Mexican place that I saw on Friday night as I went to Baja Betty's. I had a veggie dish called "Guaco Tacos", a couple corn tacos stuffed with avocado along with sides of the usual rice and beans. Also nearby was a thrift shop, so I peeked in for a moment and found a couple books for my sister and a magazine for myself.With my last hour before it was time to drop off the car, I went to Balboa Park and visited the San Diego Air & Space Museum.
And it was open! :) It was also very well laid out! They really crammed those planes in there! What was special though, was the actual pod from Apollo 9 they had on load from the Smithsonian. Wow! I wanted really badly to touch it, but they anticipated me and had all sorts of signs forbidding it.I raced back to my car after finishing (and finding a patch in the store! yay!) because it was already a quarter till three, and I still had to find a gas station before returning the car to avoid a $7+ a gallon charge if I didn't. My flight was scheduled to take off at five. Everything ended up working out alright, but I was worried for a moment there when I was still trying to find one at ten till.
No problems returning it, and a stroke of luck when finally checking in: my backpack was a little too cumbersome, so I wanted to check it. Thankfully they didn't charge me the fee for it because I had bought my ticket before they instituted the fees. And they had free wi-fi at the airport! I finished a bit of Saturday's post before boarding.
The flight was uneventful in general, but I did see a forest fire from the air over California (pictured above). This flight I had a layover in Portland, so I ate a bit of dinner there and got back home around 11. My sister and mom were waiting for me (I didn't even have to call after I got my phone back from my checked bag... lol).
And I'm back...
Jp
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Back in the Old Town
I left work a half-hour later than I wanted, but made it home and packed just in time.
The flight was a breeze... Zac's friend flew down with us, so my sister and I had a lovely time talking and laughing all the way down here. The topic centered around North Korea, of all places... lol
I watched the sun go down and turn red on the western horizon over the Pacific, as I was at the window on the starboard side of the craft. When we landed, we were able to see MCRD... yay!
Our hotel is in the Old Town district, relatively near where I stayed back in October, except nicer. They've got a nice courtyard area, and we're only a half-mile away from the Marines.
Movie and Pizza tonight, and an early morning tomorrow!
Jp
The flight was a breeze... Zac's friend flew down with us, so my sister and I had a lovely time talking and laughing all the way down here. The topic centered around North Korea, of all places... lol
I watched the sun go down and turn red on the western horizon over the Pacific, as I was at the window on the starboard side of the craft. When we landed, we were able to see MCRD... yay!
Our hotel is in the Old Town district, relatively near where I stayed back in October, except nicer. They've got a nice courtyard area, and we're only a half-mile away from the Marines.
Movie and Pizza tonight, and an early morning tomorrow!
Jp
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