Road Trip

When you have extra time off and you have two small kids... you make moving across the country a two week affair. We spent many hours in the car but also had many adventures along the way.

We hiked through Rock City on Lookout Mountain, GA.

We spent four days in Washington D.C. enjoying the fall colors and many museums.

We visited the Kruger Street Toy and Train Museum in Wheeling, WV.

We visited the best (and largest!) children's museum to date in Indianapolis, IN.

We rode to the top of the Gateway Arch in St Louis, MO.

We were the only patrons without cowboy hats at a restaurant in Oklahoma City, OK.

We spent the day at the zoo in Amarillo, TX.

We watched the fishies at an aquarium in Albuquerque, NM.

We hiked the rim and explored the museum of the Meteor Crater in Winslow, AZ.

We had one very long adventure across the United States. It's fascinating the diversity of this nation.

We're back!

It's been a bit of a whirlwind around here as we prepare for the next phase of Dustin's career. I've been back and forth on whether I wanted to continue writing this blog. Ultimately, it becomes an effective way for me to journal, which helps us remember all the smaller adventures as the years pass.

So we have a bit of catching up to do.

First up, our family grew! Meet Elizabeth.

This little princess completed our family in April.

Her birth story is a bit more chaotic (emergency room!) and best told over laughs in person. Our family of four is now moving to the desert of California. Stay tuned for more adventures!

A Change of Pace

I've been a rubbish blogger as of late. We have been out and about enjoying our last few weeks in Japan together. Many of our adventures were repeat spots of places that we just had to visit/eat/enjoy one more time. I tend to get very sad and mopey when I think of leaving this wonderful, exciting country.

But it is time for a change of pace.

And a super big change of pace it will be. For the first time in eight years we will not live on/near a Marine Corps military installation. I know, gasp. It's terrifying and exciting all in the same breath. I'm glad to be away from the constant influx of 18-22 year olds, but I'm sad to be away from the military network and shared community.

Dustin was selected for recruiting duty and left today for two months (only 59 more days to go!) of training in San Diego. From the information we've gathered from former, current, and career recruiters it is the hardest job in the Marine Corps. I'm confident that Dustin will succeed in it.. he's got a knack for reading and understanding people. Again, a huge change of pace from working in the fleet.

So where will we live? Not sure on that one yet. Where will our baby be born? Not sure on that yet either. Lots of unknowns at this point.

We just know it will be completely different. And we're ready for this next adventure!

Base Housing

Oh, I am so tired. Today we explored Hiroshima (more on that later) and I hear my pillow calling my name. It was a very full day... but I realized I hadn't updated in a really long time. We have housing! We are out of the temporary lodging facility and in our own house. Even better: we have all our stuff!

In the breezeway

Backyard - we are the bottom

Small patio, yard, and shed

Because we don't have children we only qualify for a two bedroom, one bath. It's enough space for us, although the single bathroom sink has already proven to be an issue. We also got Zero back! She has enjoyed exploring her new domain and marked every corner in the backyard.

Both of our shipments were here so they were delivered on our first day. It was very nice because then we didn't have to use any of the loaner furniture. (The base will give you loaner furniture until your things arrive. Couches, mattresses, etc.)

Moving team

The Japanese moving company was phenomenal. They tape up the doorway to prevent any scuffing and took off their shoes on every trip from the truck into the house. They also put together all the furniture that was taken apart... even some of the things that I had done. The whole side of the moving truck lifts up. Pretty nifty if you ask me.

Both shipments were in the house in less than an hour.

The dishes and glassware were perfect. Unfortunately, every piece of wood furniture we have got chipped, scratched, or dented. Oh well. Not sure how they will reimburse us for it yet.

The kitchen is wonderful and I have enjoyed filling every drawer and cabinet with our things. The floating island can be moved anywhere, although I have it locked in the center. For those that remember the Midway Park house... this is a definite step up. The biggest thing I noticed was how clean it was when we moved in. (Key word there is 'was'. Right now it looks like a tornado came through). The Japanese contractors cleaned every inch of the living space. Much better than anything I saw moving into rentals back home.



We have an extra bedroom for guests and a large living room for more beds... just sayin'. :)

Flying Daze

Someone wise (Val) just reminded me that this is still an adventure. So as I tell the story of our last few days I will try to remember it. As I write this we are still stranded/stuck/tired/stinky at the Seattle airport in Washington. It has been a rough few days.

Monday we flew in to Jacksonville, NC to pick up Zero and drive closer to a neighboring base for her vet appointment.

Tuesday morning had us at the vet enjoying our last day in North Carolina before driving up to Raleigh. American Airlines has been added to the ban list because of all the issues we had flying with Zero. We spoke with 7 different associates and 4 of them had never heard of a mandatory four hour pickup on cargo. It is too hot in the South to have Zero fly with us so we were sending her ahead early in the morning. She would then wait in Seattle for us to arrive that evening. Unfortunately we got some poor information. A kind soul finally let us change our tickets to fly first thing in the morning and have Zero fly with us.... at no extra charge.

Wednesday

4AM - Drop Zero off at cargo. Say teary goodbyes coupled with Dustin's reassuring comments.

6AM - Boarded our Chicago bound flight. Flight is delayed 30 minutes.

7AM - Arrive at Chicago on the furtherest possible terminal from our connection. Dustin and I run (and I mean run, no jogging or skipping here) to our next gate. We arrive as they are boarding. Once on board we asked the captain to ensure that our dog made it on board. They hadn't even gotten her off our last plane yet, but he put a call in to rush her over. We waited 20 minutes, but we got her on board!

Once in Seattle we had nothing to do. It was 10AM PST and we were both tired and hungry. We put all our stuff outside under a metal art sculpture and took a nap. I got sunburned. Finally I got tired of the smell of mildew and urine and called Fred to get some hotel information. Doubletree is pet friendly so off we went.

Wednesday R&R

Thursday: For some reason the government flights require us to be at the ticketing counter at 2AM. Not sure why the government is all about the "hurry up and wait." We were first in line for the family line and got good seats right behind the bulkhead (lots of leg room and 3 windows). Zero didn't have to be back for three more hours so we decided to go back out to our metal sculpture.

Thursday 3AM

We ended up freezing out there so we snuck Zero inside the terminal under our blanket and grabbed some sleep. Security was peachy.. I got selected for the patdown because I forgot my chapstick in my pocket. Finally at 8:30 we get on the airplane and are ready to take off.

But, alas, it was not meant to be. The plane was having mechanical problems so we sat there for an hour before the airline decided to let us deplane. Then it was a thirty minute waiting game. Thirty minutes passes, update on how they are still working on the issue and will let us know again in thirty minutes. After 2 hours of this some of the families were getting upset. Some of the men (yay military, gettin' somethin' done!) got together and told them to reschedule for tomorrow or give us more concrete information. After some negotiating we were told we could pick up our pets but not our luggage and we would try again on Friday.

We were put in the Clarion near the airport. Zero was not a happy camper. It was noon by the time we made it back to the hotel so we slept for a little bit. I would not recommend this hotel. A huge spider was crawling up the wall and a man used his key and walked into our room!

We were disappointed to learn that we were very far from downtown Seattle and didn't have anywhere that we could even get high enough to see the Space Needle. Instead we opted to walk the streets with Zero. We found the largest hill we could and climbed to the top and were rewarded with this:

Mt Rainier

Friday: So here we are to Friday. We have been in these clothes since Tuesday and are ready to go to Japan! Hopefully everything will go smoothly this time!

Waiting...

Our Plane

Last Moving Day

Goodbye North Carolina. You will not be missed.

Almost Gone

This is our last weekend in our home. I will miss it terribly and worry that something dreadful might happen while we are gone. I love this house and have enjoyed that last 18 months in it.

The last few days have been a nightmare of checking out of Camp Lejeune, last minute errands, and packing. The military is great, but it is still a stressful time.

See those bags under my eyes! I long for a full night's rest on a mattress! Oh well, tomorrow is another day.

Moving Day!

Today is moving day. Really it should be titled Moving Day #1 as it is the first of four. This is when all the big stuff finds temporary homes in triple thick paper, corrugated cardboard, and (a surprise) metal containers. These metal containers are like miniture eighteen-wheeler trailers and our couch perfectly fits right in. Kinda one of the coolest containers I have ever seen.

I have been looking forward to this day for a while. It is one more benchmark to mark off the "go to Japan list" and another tick off "days till Dustin returns home." So this is how it went:

At 8:00 AM I awaited the movers arrival. Sharpie. Check. Secured special documents. Check. Locked Zero in kennel. Check. I am ready.

At 9:30 AM I got my cell phone out to call as they pulled up in the driveway. If only I knew that trick worked earlier.
By 10:45 AM They had packed up the entire house.

At 11:00 AM They left for a two and a half hour lunch.
Finally, by 5:00 PM I had an empty house with a lone (and uncomfortable) air mattress.

Pretty cool. Especially since I just sat around and watched television. Which was very boring. How do these wives stay home all day?! I was bored and almost fell asleep after reading for two hours. I finally settled on a four hour marathon of VH1 counting down the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.

...which was depressing since I hadn't heard of many of them. But, alas, the goods are being loaded onto a ship bound for our new home and will travel ever so slowly for the next 72 days.

Moving Day #1. Check.