Happy, Happy Day

Happy Thanksgiving.  Today is the day some of us will eat more food in one day than we have in the last week. So, I want to wish you all a very happy eating day.

SNOW !!

My flights yesterday were like a breeze.  Everything worked as planned even though going through Dallas made for a very long travel day.  There were empty seats on both planes and even one first class seat from Dallas to Portland that I laid claim to.

 

My Private Limo 

Bags didn’t take a detour and end up in some far away airport.  There was no damage to contents.  Even my private limousine showed up at the right airport, at the right time to whisk me away.

Yes … it was definitely a good travel day.  I'm thinking Mr. Murphy was busy with the nasty weather on the east coast.  Now I hope Saturday morning will be just as good when it’s time to return.

Happy Thanksgiving to you!   And, Happy Birthday to me!

‘Tis life on the road.

You’ve got to be careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there.

Not Happy Campers And Another Flight

We finally found the sunshine.  That’s what we wanted to find when we started south about six weeks ago.  It feels more like we crossed the border from Washington into Oregon months ago and not just weeks ago.  Obviously not everything has worked as planned.  We didn't go where we thought we would and we didn't get the weather we hoped we would.

Thus, when we pulled into the Phoenix area ... we thought things were coming together.  We also figured we’d dig out the monthly fee and settle in for a WHOLE month.  However, once we pulled in to where we had planned to stay, we changed our mind.  We decided we weren’t going to do it this time either.  We were a little disappointed with what we saw.  It’s not that we hadn’t been here before.  We had.  Then, we had been content with the RV facilities, pleased with the location and the price.   However, everything seems to have gone downhill.  Other than the sunshine, that is.  The sun was shining and that we were happy about.

Utility trucks have moved in and junk has been allowed to accumulate around other sites. We can tell by the flat tires on the RVs that some have no plans to move in the very near future.  We paid for a week.  That’s enough time to get back from my Thanksgiving travels and look for another place to stay.    Are we Happy Campers  …..  nope but it works.

First on the agenda is figuring out my flight to Portland.   As Mr. Dahl reminded me, the busiest travel day of the year is just ahead.  There was a time I would refuse to fly during this period.  However, revenue  passengers don’t stand-by as often for earlier flights because they now get zapped with a big fee.  Obviously, I like that because it means I can usually tell how full a flight is before I decide to “try” for it.  However, bottom line …. if there isn’t a seat available, I don’t go.  There’s a good chance I might be hanging around in Texas waiting for the last leg of my flight north. 

Justin sent some souvenirs back with us so those souvenirs need to get to his folks.  Thus,  I have to check bags.  Some airlines charge extra for those bags.  Since I don’t want to pay that fee I’m limited to the airline I can hitch a ride on.  The last 7 legs of flight this month have worked as planned so maybe the next 4 will too. 

Of course, there may be one more problem tomorrow …. it’s called storms in the east.  That may work in my favor or it may work against me.  Here’s hoping the planes get where they’re supposed to but not necessarily the people who are booked on them.

My fingers are crossed.

 ‘Tis life on the road.

You never really learn to swear until you learn to drive.

Leaving Vegas’ Nasty Weather

Our idea of spending the winter in one of the Southern states had everything to do with escaping the cold and wet winters of the northern states.  We wanted beautiful sunshine, clear blue skies and warm temperatures.  Most years that’s what we’ve found … most of the time.  This year has been very different.

When we pulled out of Washington state and headed to the Oregon coast, we had nice weather.  Our timing was perfect.  It was just like we hoped it would be.  However, as we traveled farther down the coast we ran into very dense fog.  We actually didn’t say goodbye to the fog until we were south of South Francisco.  From there we made a mad dash towards Bakersfield.  Finally, the sun was shining down on us and it was definitely nicer traveling under the blue skies. Finally.

We enjoyed many nice days in Las Vegas until recently.  After all this is fall and winter is just around the corner.  Sometimes we tend to forget that.  However, the recent weather has reminded us of that. It’s been cold, the wind has been blowing and the clouds opened up with buckets of rain.   We didn’t like it one bit.  Thus, once we returned from our trip to Virginia, we decided it was time to head a little farther south. 

  

First we needed to find an opening in the weather to reload the kayaks on the Jeep.  Well, we never really found that opening but at least the rain slacked a little and the winds weren’t as strong.  By noon on Saturday we were ready to get on the road again.  It wasn’t a nice day but it was better than the day before.

Our drive was to be a short one.  We were only going as far as Kingman.  We really did have a mission.  A prescription was waiting for Terry at the Wal-Mart in Kingman. 

 

We did see a break in the clouds and even a little blue sky in the afternoon. We were just hoping it would stay that way.  It didn’t.

Yes.  Christmas is coming----

 

The Wal-Mart in Kingman has signs posted in the lot indicating that overnight camping is not allowed.  However, we had stayed  overnight before at that Wal-Mart.  We knew the city ordinance against RVs spending the night was not enforced.  .Besides if we got kicked out, we figured the other dozen RVs would be kicked out too.  Needless to say, we didn’t worry about it and parked the motorhome in their lot anyway.  Then, we went down the road and had dinner at Cracker Barrel. We hadn’t seen one of those since we pulled out of Arizona in the spring.  I love their catfish!

Sunday morning rolled around and we woke up to more fog.  Go away, Mr. Murphy!  We figured the next 200 miles would put us in the weather we had hoped for. Well … not quite.  it took almost the full 200 miles to get out of the dark clouds.  The good thing was that we were behind the rains.  We could tell we were following them by the puddles all over the roadway.  All in all it was an uneventful drive.  We like uneventful drives. 

Finally we pulled into the Scottsdale Elks.  Hmmm …. not sure how long we’ll stay though.  One of the first things on the agenda is for Terry to call his mother and let her know he’s close.  The second thing will be to figure out how I’m going to get to Portland for Thanksgiving.  Then … after that what’s next?  We have yet to figure that one out.

‘Tis life on the road.

It finally happened.  I got the GPS lady so confused, she said, "In one-quarter mile, make a legal stop and ask directions."

Williamsburg and End of Visit with Justin

 

After gathering up Justin on Monday at the pier, eating and changing clothes, it was soon time to tell Terry’s brother good bye.  He was heading back to Roanoke and the three of us were left to entertain ourselves.  We found that was no problem at all.

Justin wanted to pick up his bags as there was no way he intended to stay on base while we were just down the road at the Navy Lodge.  It seemed all we did for a while was eat.  I mentioned we had eaten at Joe’s Crab Shack for lunch.  Then, we at at Ruby Tuesday’s for dinner.  We definitely ate and ate.

He wasn’t used to a BIG bed!

Tuesday we took another little ride a bit north.  The sun was shining but being outside was still a little cold.  The wind was blowing and we bundled ourselves up.  Our trip north took us to visit Colonial Williamsburg.  After getting the program for the day, the first thing Justin wanted to see was the “storming of the Governor’s palace”.  We toured some of the old buildings and watched reenactments of the times.

Phone needed to be reactivated

Shield’s Tavern was where we had decided to go for lunch.  We had to eat there because the founder of the Colonial tavern, James Shields,  was an ancestor of Justin’s.  He actually wanted to reclaim the tavern but thought it best to not make a scene.  We wandered around the town checking out the different stores and displays but soon headed back to the hotel.  It was just too cold to hang around as long as we had originally planned.  

We hadn’t made any plans for the evening but soon came up with a plan.  It had been a long time since Justin had been to a movie so that’s where we decided to go.   There was a movie theater right down the road.  Two of the movies were thrown out for consideration … Gravity and Thor.   We opted for Gravity.  MISTAKE!!  There were great reviews for Gravity and two great stars so how could that be a bad choice?  It was.  Graphics were great but all three of us were very disappointed.    Matter of fact, there were only two people in that whole movie and most of the time was spent breathing.  Since we were all very disappointed with it ….. we decided to stay and also see Thor.  That one we liked.

Time was getting short.  Wednesday was departure day.  We decided not to make any plans for the day.  Hanging out and more eating was all that was on the agenda.  Boy, I’m going to have to start another diet just to get rid of all the food I’ve piled on over the last few days.  At least I decided to get on the scales when I got back just to see how much I needed to lose to make up for the last four months when I've been diet free.

 

Eventually, it was time to think about heading to the airport.  Justin dropped his bags back off at the ship but we dropped him at the local NEX.  He still wasn’t ready to spend a lot of time on base and on the ship. 

The flights looked good so we weren’t too worried about whether we’d get a seat or not. We knew it would be a very late night.  Our body time zone was really confused.  Arrival in Las Vegas was 11:00 pm but were our bodies saying it was much later?  We were definitely tired.  

We still weren’t through for the day.  Instead of driving the 90 mile round trip later in the day to pick up Duchess, we checked to see if we could pick her up then.  We figured Shelley’s cats would be happy to see her leave.  We finally crawled into bed around 2:00 AM (PST)  … regardless of the time zone, it had been about a 22 hour day.

Shield's Tavern

Restaurant area

What’s next???  Well it’s time to start thinking about another flight.  This one will be the flight to  Portland for Thanksgiving.  First we need to think about moving a little farther south.  It’s raining and the wind is blowing and it’s downright nasty here.  We have one little issue.  We took the kayaks off the Jeep while we were in Las Vegas because parking garages around here don't accommodate that height.  In order to leave we need to get out in that nasty weather and put them back on.  Like I said, it's nasty and cold outside.  However, there is a little window according to our trusty weatherman.  It's arriving around 10 AM today.  So, on top the kayaks will go and we'll be heading down the road around noon  ..... we think.  A least that's the plan.

Time to head back to the ship 

.
‘Tis life on the road.  

I'm all about sharing the road with other drivers—as long as they use the part that's behind me.

Double J – Jamestown and Justin

 

  We’ve been on “vacation”….. well, kind of on vacation.  I guess if we’re staying in a hotel, we should call it vacation.  However, I can certainly say that the last week has not been relaxing.  We’ve been, running like crazy.

First, there was the fast trip to Portland and back.  Then, there was the trip to Virginia which was back to back with the first one.

Our Virginia bound trip required we take Duchess to my cousin’s place.  She lives on the opposite end of Las Vegas than where our RV is parked.  We had very poor timing for that.  l can vouch for the fact that Las Vegas has horrendous 5:00 traffic!  A few hours later that chore was finally behind us and we were trying to get some sleep before the alarm clock starting ringing at 3:00 AM.  

 

Saturday morning rolled around and we were on the plane from Las Vegas to Dallas and then another one from Dallas to Norfolk.  Everything worked like clock work and exactly like we hoped.  Getting our car rental was a breeze but since we had forgotten the GPS, getting to our hotel was a little

confusing.  Thank goodness, I remembered the WAZE App on our iPhone because it certainly made travel easier than it would have been.  Eventually, the Navy Lodge came into view. Terry’s brother, Tom,  had driven down from Roanoke and was waiting for us in the lobby. He was far more familiar with the area than we were.  He had been stationed at the local air force base as a JAG but even that was sometime ago.
 

Sunday we decided to take a short jaunt to Jamestown.  We had been there before but a long, long time ago.  Besides, we needed something to do  to pass the time.  The only thing we actually had on the schedule for Sunday was the meeting on base later that evening.  We had plenty of time to kill.

One Jamestown Settlement area is funded by the National Park Service and the other is by the State of Virginia.  The original site is still there and they are in the process of rebuilding it.  Right down the road is a replica of Jamestown with individuals playing the part of people who lived during that time period.  It’s definitely an interesting place to visit.  Lots of time can be spent in this area.  We loved it the first time we visited and loved it the second time too. We didn’t have enough time to spend because too soon it was time to head back.

The Norfolk Naval Station is the largest in the world.  We decided to get back early so we could figure out where to go just so we wouldn’t get lost or be late.  i wanted to be real early but with two men to pull along with me, I wasn’t quite as early as i wanted to be.

 

The meeting at the base was packed.  Rules were gone over and instructions for the next day’s arrival  were given.  There were a few do’s, don’ts and can’ts .  The USS Gravely would be spending the night a few miles off shore.  Arrival at the pier was expected to be around 10:00 AM.  It was suggested we start showing up at the designated pier at least by 9:00 AM the following morning.  With the news that traffic could take close to an hour or more, I figured we better be on the road pretty early.  You’ve got to remember that our Pacific Standard Time (PST)  bodies were functioning 3 hours earlier than the local time zone.  Thus, 9:00 AM really meant 6:00 AM which meant we probably should leave much earlier.  We needed to think about that.

It was back to the hotel.  The next day would definitely be another busy one and one we had looked forward to for over nine months.  The morning came early and we pulled out of the hotel parking lot at 7:30AM. ….. 4:30 AM PST.

 

There were definitely characters on the pier!

 

 

The pier was packed.  In addition to security, family and friends, there were news crews, radio stations and even a Navy band to greet the ship. A large tent had been erected overnight. drinks and snacks were provided as well as other hand outs. .

Right on schedule the ship came into view. It was being guided into place  by two tugboats.  The crew, dressed in Navy Blues, lined the decks.  It was an awesome sight.  First to get off the ship were the new fathers.  Then, the mass exodus happened. Eventually, we found Justin.  He was ready to get out of there.  However, he did offer to give us a guided tour of his ship before we left.  Now that was interesting but I could only taken pictures of the chow hall and the entertainment lounge.  The restricted areas even required that we left our bags outside of the rooms.  I’ve been on ships before but this tour was much more detailed and very, very interesting. 

 





 

Back at the hotel, off came the uniform and on went street clothes.  Justin had originally indicated he wanted to do Chic-Fil-A but when we suggested other places, he was just happy to eat off the ship …. anyplace.  Where’d we end up?  We ended up at Joe’s Crab Shack.   Actually, that was the first of our big meals.  It seemed we were always eating.  Justin certainly knows how to put the food away and especially food not served on ship.  We could have sworn he had hollow legs.

We had a lot to catch up on and lots to talk about.  That we did. Over the last nine months he had been many places and seen things he had never seen before.  It was also interesting to get his personal take on his recent experiences. Of course, with his own job duties there were things he would not share.  He said we might learn more in about 30 years.  Doubt we’ll ever know the rest of the story in our lifetime but that’s okay too.

 
 
 
 
 









‘Tis life on the road.

If everything comes your way, you are in the wrong lane.

Homecoming ... Finally !

Monday was the day.  Homecoming was finally here even though it was about six weeks late.  The USS Gravely arrived at its home base in Norfolk, Virginia.  We were there to welcome it back along with our grandson., news media, bands and hundreds of other people.

Details to follow … in a day, or two or three.  We’re mighty busy right now with little blogging time.

'Tis life in the air.

Up, Up and Away

 

Trip one is almost behind. I’m writing this on the flight back from Portland. Arrival at the airport was uneventful. We all like uneventful trips. It’s much easier to get through security now than it was even a couple months ago.

 Security requirements are changing again. There were no TSA agents yelling about liquids in the quart-sized plastic bags or removal of shoes or laptops.  Even the necessity to shut off all electronic devices prior to take-off has changed.  Yippee!!

The closest I came to SNOW!

The trip was uneventful but didn’t go exactly as planned.  When I showed up at the gate ready to put my name on the standby list, I discovered the flight was full!! I could hang around and chance it …. Or, I could opt to take a flight that went through San Jose. That’s what I did.  That was just a little hiccup.

This was my first trip taking my new little tablet instead of my laptop. I was beaming from ear to ear when I pulled my tablet and keyboard out to show Tammi and Robert. I knew they had two iPads but I like my Windows 8 tablet much better than the iPad. I was bragging but shouldn’t have been because I also know both my kids and their families are addicted to electronic gadgets. Our son even has a water filled radiator component for his computer. My little tablet was certainly beat because Robert pulled out Tammi’s Microsoft Surface Pro. With an Intel i5 processor and 4 GB of ram  in a tablet, I can really see where my laptop may become history.

It’s always nice being with family. I like that best and I got a chance to spend a little time with everyone. Our family always shows out in force for special family events. With Sandi’s induction into National Honor Society we were all there for her. Well, all of us that could be there that is. We were the biggest group of all in the very small library.

Pictures and more pictures were taken.  I haven’t had time to fiddle with many yet.  However, I’m always amazed with the pictures that are taken by others. It seems there is usually an old lady
in some of them. I wondered who the old lady was for a while. Then, I realized it was me. When did I get old? I don’t feel old inside.

See what I mean?  Who is the old lady?

Desserts were provided so we opted to eat dessert before we headed off to the local Mexican restaurant. With lots of conversation and very full bellies we eventually called it an evening and went our separate ways. The next morning was to come early and early it did. By 4:30 AM Tammi and I were at the airport in Portland. She travels on her job about three days a week so these early departures aren’t really unusual for her. It certainly was for me though.  Portland is a rough airport to go standby at.  Flights are usually full.  I needed an early morning one and then needed to hope some folks didn't get up early enough to catch their flight.  It worked.

I even had time to check on the cabin.

There were no lines getting through security. I was flying American this time instead of Southwest and had a little TSA pre-checked printed right on my security document! What a breeze it was!  Obviously, I’d much rather fly on American than any other airline. Things were looking good especially when I arrived at the gate and discovered I had been given a first class seat. Things were good until …. I also discovered I had forgotten my headphones!! I had loaded movies on my tablet but now had no way to listen to them.  . 

I even took a picture of the lake.  Can you see it?  Neither could I.  It was pretty foggy there.

It’s interesting watching fellow travelers. I’m always amazed when I fly first class at the number of people who start drinking early in the morning before take-off because it’s free and stop only when it’s time to land. It just amazes me … I’m thinking coffee and they’re thinking booze.

With all this time to write I wrote so much I had to edit out most. I had gone way beyond my self-imposed word count.  Well, the flight is almost over. I’ve pretty well entertained myself without the headphones. I wrote the blog, took pictures, drank coffee, ate breakfast and played a couple games of Spades. I even got a chance to charge my phone and tablet since I was sitting in a seat with an outlet. I have an hour layover in Dallas and I’m hoping to walk by a little store on the way to the next gate where they sell headphones.

--------------------

Flight 2 .. Dallas to Vegas -- I got an excellent aisle seat.  Thank goodness I didn't have to stuff myself into the middle. With my new headphones it was movie watching time ... well, in addition to conversing with the flight attendants and getting all the freebies that were offered.  Life is Good!  Oops ... it won't be so much when I get back to the Vegas airport.  I lost my ticket to the Jeep I parked at the terminal.  Now that won't be fun!

The rest of Thursday will be spent unpacking, doing laundry and re-packing as we get ready for Trip 2 the next day and on to Norfolk.

Tomorrow will be like Groundhog Day ... I'll be doing this all over again except different airports..

‘Tis life in the air.

Drive into your future looking at the open road ahead
rather than into the rear-view mirror of your past.

All Stressed Out From Travel Planning

Traveling by air isn’t what it used to be. There was a time when it was easy to just pick a flight and take a bag with the bare essentials ...  a camera, film, clothes and toiletries.    However, electronics has changed how I travel.  Perhaps, you could say I wasn't addicted to electronics in the past.  At least not as much as today even though I did have a Sony Vaio Picturebook laptop.  Anyone remember those?  At just over 2 pounds with a huge 12GB hard drive and a long-life 5 1/2 hour battery it was before it's time ... kind of like a tablet.   It was a great little machine for storing digital pictures on the road. 

With three trips on the horizon within the next two weeks, I've been stressing with the flights.   Sunday I started looking for cords, chargers and other necessary gadgets.  My laptop wasn’t going but my tablet was.  The difference with a tablet is I needed to pack gadgets to make other gadgets functional.  So, into a bag went the charger, bluetooth keyboard and mouse.  Since it only had one mini-USB connector, I needed a converter and a 4port hub.  Then, I threw in a thumb drive plus an AC charger. Since the flights were long I figured I better also put in a  DC to AC plug.  I wasn't done though.   Next I tracked down batteries, SD cards, my camera and iPhone charger.   By the time I finished I had two little Ziplock bags filled with miscellaneous paraphernalia.  I couldn't take everything and figured I probably wouldn't use much of this stuff either.  My goal on the first trip was to travel with one backpack only.

The worst part of the planning was making sure I could get to the desired destination when I needed to be there. I could have actually bought tickets but buying three sets of tickets within a two week period was actually not what I wanted to do.  Since I knew I didn't have to .... I didn’t.  The chore was finding flights that I’d be able to travel standby on without worrying too much about not making a flight. Obviously,  I needed a little creativity in my travel plans. This was the plan from Las Vegas to Portland and the return but with all plans I'm good at writing this stuff in chalk and erasing if it doesn't work out.  

A change of clothes, cosmetics, electronics and the added snacks for in flight travel, were soon stuffed in the backpack.  My first flight is scheduled to leave Las Vegas on Tuesday and arrive in Portland nine hours later.  I know . .. I know.  It’s not that far.  Well, it is if you have to travel to Dallas, Texas first!!  That’s what I have to do both going and coming.  Arrival time in Portland will be close to midnight allowing the next day for Sandi’s National Honor Society initiation with a before dawn return flight the following morning.   It sure would be nice to be able to stay a little longer but that's impossible.

It will be back to Vegas for one day to do laundry, secure the coach and get Duchess settled in with cousin, Shelley before we rush off for another flight the following day.  Destination --  Norfolk, Virginia. Yes, that's right ... Justin's ship will be arriving back from Syria's coastline.

Going

Returning

The flight we hope to take leaves just before midnight and arrives about 12 hours later.   That’s certainly a long time for that distance but again we aren't going direct.  We're going by way of Miami. The return flight isn't quite so scenic.  Thank goodness.

Do you think our grandkids realize all the effort and stress that goes into these trips?  I'm betting not but I can guarantee you that they will always remember that we were there.

We get a break before the next flight which is over Thanksgiving and back to Portland.  Some of that time will probably be spent doing catch up from all the lack of sleep the next few days will bring.

---------------------

After I wrote this blog and just before posting I decided to make one more change.  I may agree to the return flight from Portland to Dallas to Las Vegas but I really didn't want that same itinerary on my way there.  I was tired just thinking about it.  Thus ... this is what I decided to do instead.  I changed the plan.

Going

Returning

Could you keep up with this?  Those flights aren't actually so unusual for us.  We've been known to go west from Dallas to catch a flight from Los Angeles to head east to London just to get good seats  .....  I bet you’re thankful you don’t travel with us. 

‘Tis life on the road … or, is it the air?

When all's said and done, all roads lead to the same end.
So it's not so much which road you take,as how you take it.