Thank a Veteran

 

Success is how high you bounce when you hit bottom. -- General George Patton Jr

 

Yesterday we celebrated the 236th birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps.  Today we are thanking the veterans for their service.  Being raised and living in the United States we have a lot to be thankful for.  Much of our thanks go to those who served and are serving today in the military.  It’s because of them that we can enjoy the freedom in this country that many others throughout the world have never experienced. 

There are two blogs I read this morning that I would like to link here.  They both reflect back on their fathers who were POWs during WWII.  Both are definitely worth reading.  The first one is here and the second one is here.

My father was from Kerrville, Texas.  Uncle Sam claimed him and moved him from there to Fort Worden in Washington State.  Instead of moving back to Texas after the war he settled in Washington, married my mother and spent most of his life fishing in the waters around Port Angeles.

Terry was in the US Navy and spent time along with many of our generation in Vietnam.  He didn’t spend his time in the waters off shore as many sailors did but spent his time on land in Vietnam.   For the first time TV brought that war home to most Americans.  Those of us who had loved ones over there were glued to it.  Not only did the battles of the day cover the news, it was probably the first time coverage of protestors was on every channel.  Remember when?   He can also tell you about the spraying of what they now call “Agent Orange”  almost every single day for the time he was there.  Amazing what they’ve learned about it after the fact.

As most of you know, we also have a grandson, Justin  who has followed into the footsteps of his grandfather with military service.  He is now serving in the US Navy going through schooling in Pensacola, FL. We are proud of his choice and want Uncle Sam to keep him safe.

We were invited by our neighbors, Sue and Marcus,  to attend a birthday party with them on Thursday.  Actually, we went to two birthday parties on Thursday.  The first one was a big bash thrown by a Marine veteran.  It was the 236th birthday of the Marine Corps.  It was a fantastic party.  The party was put on and totally paid for by the Marine veteran, Jim.  Even souvenir Marine Corp glasses were given to everyone in attendance.  It was an amazing event.

Our second party  was a birthday party at Filly’s – another local restaurant and lounge where Kerry and Brant were scheduled to entertain for the evening.  Actually, this wasn’t a planned birthday party but since we were invited to share part of the birthday cake, we did.  This is another local dive that was amazing.  Again, entertainment was spectacular and so was the company we were with, Jim and Sandie.

Now with all that activity on Thursday, it didn’t mean we had time to spare.  We didn’t.  We had to get in a little ride.  We did just that.  We jumped on our quads and took a spin in the desert.   I also brought back a souvenir from our little outing.  I do that more often than I want.  Notice the little cactus on the tire.

How did we ever have time to work?  And, Marti thinks she just might get bored.  HA!

Arriving at Naval Graduation Location–Great Lakes, IL

A man travels the world over in search of what he needs and returns home to find it.

We arrived in Chicago almost exactly 48 hours from the time our plane took off again back to Seattle.  It’s been a very, very busy 2 days.  Actually, that’s even a gross understatement.  The beginning of this trip started even earlier than that as mentioned in the post just prior to our departure as the wake up call had us getting out of bed close to 1 AM on Thursday morning.  I know that’s early and no plane I want to be on departs at that time.  However, we had to get up, get dressed and then take about a 120 mile drive from our parked motorhome to the Seattle airport.  Did we sleep on the plane?  Of course we did not.  We just didn’t realize how busy the rest of the day would be.  It was busy.

Our plane arrived about 4 hours later in Chicago.  Then, it was to the Hertz car rental bus to pick up a bummer of a rental vehicle.  I used to rent from Hertz lots when I worked so became part of the Hertz Gold program.  It’s just easy to rent from Hertz now because I don’t have to go to counters or stand in lines.  It’s all processed and ready with the car waiting.  I’m sure most know how it works.  Usually I get a fantastic car with upgrades even though I always book the lowest vehicle listed.  The deal is that most locations don’t have compacts in stock because no one wants one.  This time the free upgrade was a van that was backed into the parking spot.  I thought that was great and instead of walking around the car and checking it out like I used to do,  we just took off.  Not only did the car rattle, growl, and shake, it also had dents and marks all over it.  Am I exaggerating?  I can’t say that I am too much.  We called Hertz at the airport and left a message for them to return the call within an hour.  The next time we talked to Hertz was when we returned the vehicle Saturday morning at the airport.  In other words, they didn’t bother to call back.  I won’t forget to check it out next time.

 

From the airport we drove north to Great Lakes, Illinois and home of the Navy training facility.  It only took us about 45 minutes and thank goodness it wasn’t during rush hour.  We probably would have been a few hours later.  However, traffic was good.  Once we had checked in at the Navy Lodge which was close to the location where graduation would be held for the recruits, we were off to the airport in Milwaukee, WI to pick up Lee and Sabrina who had flown on Southwest Airlines.  That was another 50 plus miles north.  No, they didn’t fly in with us on American.  Remember, we mostly fly standby.  However, this time the flight was pretty full and we weren’t sure they would make it on a stand-by basis flying at the level of priority they would have to fly.  There is no way they wanted to miss a flight and miss Justin’s graduation.

Needless to say, by the time we had driven to Seattle, flown to Chicago, driven to  Milwaukee and driven back to Great Lakes, we were all extremely tired.  However, we still wanted to figure out how to get into the base the following morning for the ceremonies.  We had to do a little driving around and scoping out the path for the next day.

Then, to the Exchange to purchase graduation souvenirs and off to dinner at Flanagan’s.  Again, we were exhausted.  Friday morning was going to be another early one.  The gates at the base opened at 6:30 (aka 4:30 our current daylight time).  We had been warned to be in line early even though the ceremony didn’t start until 9:00.

There was no TV that night, no computer that night and just a shower and hop into bed.  We figured Friday would be another very busy day.

Another Early Morning

Fragile. Do not drop. -- Posted on a Boeing 757

I mentioned the other day how I don’t mind getting up but it’s the getting ready to go anyplace when I drag my feet.  Thursday morning is going to be much worse than other mornings.  Our alarm is set to go off at 1 AM and sometimes that’s when I actually roll into bed.  When it’s dark and when it’s cold and rainy, it’s even harder.  Obviously, I’m not looking forward to it.  We are flying out of the Seattle airport instead of the much, much closer Portland one.  It’s because the flights are non-stop and they aren’t as full.  Terry and I are flying on American while Lee and Sabrina are flying on Southwest.  At least they both depart from Seattle at the same time.

Duchess and Jordie have been dropped off at Tammi’s place for a couple days.  They are in charge of kids and dogs while we attend Justin’s graduation from Navy bootcamp at Great Lakes, IL.   We’ll only have a few hours with him on Friday.  Saturday he departs for Pensacola, FL for his “A” school.  You can imagine that camera batteries and video camera batteries are all charged up and ready for action.

Lately I’ve been transferring programs, files and photos over from my previous laptop to a new one I purchased last week.  I really hate doing this.  It’s a lot of work but it gives me a chance to sort out and eliminate stuff on the old computer during the transfer process.  The hard part is finding all the software and serial numbers.  Some were downloads with activation codes sent via email.  Those are the hardest.  The good thing is that I’m almost done.

My bones can tell it’s time to start heading south.  Bones are a good indicator.  It’s rained a bit and that rain just gets to my bones.  It’s a wet cold.  We’ve really had some gorgeous weather but it’s been short lived.  The weather prediction for the next ten days isn’t going to be pretty but we’re watching it.  Soon after that it’s probably on the road again.

For now it’s past time to hit the sack.  Wake up call is in 4 1/2 hours.

Shopping at Amazon.com

Anyone who believes the competitive spirit in America is dead has never been in a supermarket when the cashier opens another checkout line.

 

Amazon.com is one of my favorite places to shop.  You can find all kinds of stuff at great prices plus they will actually ship it to you without much of a hassle.  Well, most of the time there isn’t a hassle.  I did have a hassle one time but it wasn’t really Amazon’s fault.  I bought something from an independent who was selling through Amazon and not Amazon itself.  We were in Palm Springs at the time and seller refused to ship to a general delivery address.  I had to agree not to dispute the charge if I didn’t receive it.  I received the item just fine.  Every other time ordering from Amazon has been literally perfect and I don’t even have to go to the store. 

I love the Amazon adventure.  It’s the first place I check especially when looking for little gadgets or odds’n ends.   It’s easy and cheap compared to the hours required and $$ spent if I did it locally.

Since we wanted to record Justin’s graduation at boot camp, I needed more batteries for my little video camera and at least one more SD card.   While online I also discovered a handlebar clamp that would hold a camera while out in the desert with the ATV.  Amazon is addictive! 

The other part about shopping at Amazon is that Terry is also aware that prices are lower there.  However, his shopping was a little more costly than mine this time.  Guess what he found?  He found a winch for his ATV.   He’s a happy camper because the winch is now on its to him.

Besides we have RV friends who work at Amazon so we want to be sure the company stays in business and they keep their job!!  I hope our little purchases help.