Day 28 - Everything is BIGGER in Texas

Friday marked the first day of our long joint road trip from Austin to San Diego. We got up early, loaded up the Audi and hit the road by 9am. We headed south towards San Antonio so we could jump on 1-10 West, and we figured we may as well make a stop to see the "Cradle of Texas Liberty," i.e., The Alamo. As a kid I was subjected to many school field trips to the site of the most infamous battle for Texas independence, but of course cared more about whatever social dramas were occurring in my class at the time to pay attention. It was cool to go back and appreciate the monument for what it is, and Kevin appreciated all the history too. Remember the Alamo!

My good friend and college roommate, Katy Mimari, is a San Antonio local and a very successful entrepreneur. A few years back, she launched her own line of fabulous baby bags and accessories called Caden Lane and did so well that she has expanded into chic baby bedding and clothing under a line called Nursery Couture. Her business has exploded and you can find her bags everywhere from Nordstrom to the hottest boutiques in town. She has designed nurseries for celebrities like Tori Spelling and Ashlee Simpson! She opened her own store in San Antonio, so I HAD to check it out while I was in town. Her stuff is so cute! If anyone is interested, check out her website http://www.cadenlaneco.com/. Its adorable!

It was lunchtime when we headed west out of San Antonio, so we hit a local "country cooking" restaurant just outside of town called Po-po's. The billboards hailed it as having the best chicken fried steak and fried chicken in Texas. As we parked and approached the entrance, Kevin noted that we really needed to be fast so we could get on the road and make some good progress. It was as if God heard him, because this sign greeted us at the door. I almost peed my pants laughing. By far, the best sign I have seen so far!

After an artery clogging lunch, we hit the road traveling West for several hours. There is not much IN west Texas, so there really isn't much to say, but we made good time and pulled into our planned stop for the night - the Harvard Lodge and Suites in Fort Davis, Texas around 6:30pm. Now, this place is a total misnomer. I would describe the design as a cross between modern dude-ranch and a hunting lodge and no where can you find any references to the famous Ivy league university or its alumni. That being said - we were extremely pleasantly surprised with the place and its staff. We had a reservation to stay at their Ranch Suites which is located 7 miles up the road on a ranch run and owned by the hotel. Kevin was bouncing up and down with glee at the prospect of staying at his first ranch, and it would NOT disappoint. Once we turned down the gravel road towards our "suite," we were greeted by several types of livestock not usually seen by many New Yorkers. Horses, cows, longhorns, deer and buffalo were just a few of the critters we were sharing the road with, and we had to stop a few times to let herds pass before we could drive on. The animals all appreciated Kevin's efforts to communicate by rolling down the window and yelling "MOOOOO COW" at all of them. I don't think the buffalo liked it though.

When we arrived at our room, we were very excited! It was remote, clean, tastefully decorated and nestled on a clearing in between the Davis Mountains. The ranch manager and a few of the local dogs greeted us as we drove through the gate and showed us to our room, which was awesome!

The only creepy part I would say was the mountain lion skin mounted on the wall. The fact that the head was still there was just a little weird.

That night, we nerded out and went to the University of Texas McDonald Observatory that is located in the area. They have something called a "Star Party" where they let the public come in at night and view the stars and the planets through their high-powered fancy-schmancy telescopes. They open the doors around 9:00pm after the sun has gone down and have astronomers on stand-by to show you the constellations and planets. That night, Saturn was close enough to be seen as well as several star clusters. We saw the moon up close too! It was really cool and after we finished our star-gazing we drove back down the mountain in the dark avoiding javelinas and other wildlife to our ranch house.

Miles travled: 530

Total travel hours: 7

Stops: San Antonio, Boerne, Fort Davis

Days 26 & 27 - Austin, TX

Wednesday and Thursday were lazy, hot days in central Texas. No organized activities were planned, just a few errands and sightseeing we had always wanted to get around to doing, but never had all the free time. We had a small scare with the car when the engine light came on Tuesday night as we were driving home from a movie. We scouted out the only Audi dealer in town and hit it first thing on Wednesday. Fortunately, it was only minor and was remedied fairly quickly.

On Wednesday night we had dinner in downtown Austin at Cantina Laredo. Local reviewers categorize the fare as "upscale Mexican." We categorized it as "average Mexican." Since we were already downtown, we decided to hit my favorite bar from my college days - Cedar Street. Located on 4th Street, it is actually a few streets shy of the famous 6th Street bars, but just as fun. They were featuring a live band called the Spazmatics - an 80's cover band clad in headbands and pocket protectors. The lead singer was great! Below is a picture of my sister and I in the courtyard watching the band play.

On Thursday we decided to check out a local watering hole - literally. A spring-fed pool located among the cliffs on the outskirts of town called Hamilton Pool is a popular place to cool off in the hot Texas summers. When there is a not a drought, a waterfall is constantly streaming down the rocks - but the rain levels are way down right now, so no waterfall for us. The water was about 72 degrees, but felt much colder. It was about 94 degrees outside that day, so it was pretty refreshing. A fun way to spend the day!

After we left the pool, we drove down to the UT campus to hit the Co-op (what we longhorns call our bookstore) to stock up on UT gear. Since I graduated, the Co-op has erected a giant orange Bevo in the old parking lot for tourists to take pictures in front of since the real Bevo is somewhat tempermental.

Day 25 - The Beard

As an act of rebellion, Kevin has refused to shave since his last day at the squadron in D.C. Partly out of curiosity and partly out of his secret desire to look like a mountain man. It took about 3 weeks of this exercise before he finally got too irritated (pun intentional) and decided to shave it off. For posterity's sake, we snapped some pics and then drove straight to the local barber shop for a close shave. Take a long look, because I don't think we will be seeing this again anytime soon.

People who thought Kevin could "pull it off": Tara and Gretchen
People who thought he should shave it immediately: everyone else.

Day 24 - Memorial Day

Monday was our long anticipated day to hang out on the boat on Lake Travis in Austin. The weather in central Texas was hot with clear skies - perfect for cruising around on the lake. We tooled around the clear green waters most of the afternoon, making a few stops to jump in and cool off as needed. The lake was crowded but Kevin was still eager to give it a run in the inner tube a few times. It was a perfect day in central Texas with family and friends.

For dinner, we hit a local restaurant called the Iguana Grill with my sister Suzy and our friend Gretchen just in time for the sun to set over the lake.

On this day, we remember all the men and women of the armed forces who are serving our country and those who have made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom. Thank you for all that you do!

Day 22 - Nashville, TN to Austin, TX

Saturday was Kevin's second leg of his long lonely drive to Texas. He hit the road by 9:00am towards his first scheduled stop - Memphis, home of The King. He had never been to Graceland before so he was excited to check out this legendary mansion. I had been to a wedding in Memphis a few years back and checked it out myself, but found the neighborhood a little "lacking." It seems the demographic has changed quite a bit from the years when Elvis ruled the Billboard charts. So, Kevin locked the doors, rolled up the windows and headed to Graceland. The place has now been dubbed "the biggest tourist trap Kevin has ever seen in his life." Buses and tourists with fannie packs and shorts packed the streets in front of the house in crowds as thick as a peanut butter and banana sandwich. He could barely make his way to the gates to see the place and only managed to get a picture in front of a sign. After he paid $10 for parking (which he thought was actually the entire admission fee), they tried to pry another $28 to get through the gate and $60 to get the "Blue Suede Shoes tour." He noted that there were 3 different Elvis impersonators actually in line for the tour - probably not their first time. After turning that down, he said a not-so-fond farewell to the Volunteer State and drove on to Arkansas.

Arkansas did not get better reviews. He drove across the state in a whopping 4 hours and even passed through the hometown of our most ridiculous president, Bill Clinton. We both agree that the union would do just fine without this state.

By the time he crossed the border into Texas, he was delirious. He did appreciate the big sky and wide-open plains, but had his fill of 18-wheelers and the Dairy Queen signs that line the entrance into the Lone Star state. He raced into Austin with the sun roof down (at night) and the music up as loud as it would go to keep him awake and alert. He finally got to my mom's house around midnight where I was waiting with a beer to reward him!



Miles traveled: 900
Book on tape heard: Horse Soldiers
Weirdest sight: any of the people he saw at gas stations in Tennessee

Day 21 - DC to Nashville, TN

On Friday morning, Kevin woke up early and began the long drive from D.C. to meet me in Texas. Since our house in Alexandria is vacant, he spent the night at Jack Berrigans and said farewell to his old friend before hitting the highway. Its impossible to do the drive in one day, so he planned on stopping in Nashville, TN for the night. He broke up the drive by making a few stops.

The first stop was in New Market, VA, the site of the Battle of New Market from the Civil War. According to Kevin, the South won this battle and forced the Union and its army out of the Shenandoah Valley with the help of VMI cadets. He stopped for about a half hour, walking through the expansive battle fields before moving on.

A little farther down the road Kevin decided to stop in Blacksburg, VA - home of the mighty Hokies from Virginia Tech. He toured the campus and football stadium, had lunch at the Hokie House and snapped a few photos. He said the campus was lovely, but seeing as how VT is a big rival for Kevin's Boston College Eagles, I don't think he will be cheering for their football team any time soon. See above photo.

Kevin rolled into Nashville around 9:00pm and checked into the Marriott Courtyard near Broadway (Nashville's main drag). He walked down Broadway and grabbed some world famous BBQ at Jack's which features sauces from all over the country including Texas, Tennessee, North Carolina and Kansas City. He reports that he liked the Texas sauce the best! After polishing off his Tennessee pork shoulder, he headed further down the street to Tootsies for some of Nashville's famous live country music. Kevin stuck around for a while to watch the Cavaliers play the Magic and then walked back to his hotel around midnight to get some rest for the next leg of his journey.

While Kevin was driving, my mom, her boyfriend, my sister and brother and I took my mom out to dinner for her birthday. We went to the famous Austin landmark, The Oasis. This local favorite was packed with people who were hoping to get a table outside on the patio overlooking Lake Travis so they could catch the clear views of the sunset. It was a perfect clear evening and we all had a great time!

Day 20 - Kevin heads to D.C., Mom's B-day

On Thursday, May 21st Kevin began the drive from NY to DC. He got up early so he could get there in time to do some last minute work on the house in Alexandria. Our renters were scheduled to arrive for a walk-thru of the house that evening, so Kevin wanted to patch up a few holes and touch up some of the paint. When he arrived, he found that our roses were in full bloom! I didn't get to see them in person this year, so Kevin took a picture.

Thursday also happened to by my mom's birthday (I won't say which one). My sister, the chef, and I made her a homemade mexican dinner and her boyfriend flew in from Dallas to join us for the occasion. We topped the evening off with creme brulee and presents and had a nice evening at the house. Happy Birthday Mom!

Day 19 - Baseball and Babes

Kevin stayed behind in NY while I went home to TX so that he could go to a game at the new Yankees stadium with his brother on Wednesday night. A life-long die-hard Yankees fan, Kevin had attended the final game at the old stadium before its demise and was a little skeptical as to whether or not the new stadium would measure up. The Yanks were playing the Orioles at 7:00pm, so Kevin went to the stadium a few hours early to give himself a stadium tour and catch some of the batting practice.

The final report on the stadium is that the historic nature of the franchise has been well preserved while also updating and modernizing the public spaces. Unique memorabilia can be found tastefully displayed near large plasma-screen tvs that broadcast the game throughout the stadium. The food choices have vastly improved with everything available to the fans from hot dogs to sushi. Overall - the Yankees fan gives it a thumbs up! The Yankees won 11 - 4. The first picture above is of Kevin and his brother, Patrick, at the game.

I spent the day in Austin hanging out with my sister Suzy before heading to my friend Gretchen's house for a little "Girls Night In" with her and Lauren for the evening. Due to a happy coincidence, our friend Georgia was also in town from D.C., so the four of us spent the evening catching up and solving the worlds problems into the wee hours of the morning. The four of us White House alumni spent alot of time traveling and working together over the years so we had alot to talk about! There is nothing like a familiar face in a old friend. I miss seeing and hanging out with these ladies more often. It was great to see girls who I will always consider good friends and get some quality girl time.

After many drinks, I decided to try and take a self-portrait of all of us using my camera's timer. That is my pathetic attempt above.

Day 18 - The Wedge

On Tuesday, I was scheduled to fly from JFK to Austin ahead of Kevin while he stayed behind for a few more days in Peekskill before beginning the long drive to meet me. My JetBlue flight was scheduled to leave at 1:10pm so we took off a little early so we could hit one of Kevin's favorite deli's on the way to the airport.

The place is called Rocky's Deli and is located in Millwood, NY. He has taken me to this legendary out-of-the-way joint on a few other occasions, and I have to admit that those guys know how to make a mean sandwich. I am from Texas and fully admit that I am no conissiuer of chicken parmesan, but the way these guys slather it on there with tons of sauce and extra mozzarella makes your mouth water. I also admit that while we Texans have our Tex-Mex and BBQ down, those funny talking yankees have cornered the market on sandwiches and pizza. The problem that I have is with what they call it - a "wedge." Now, for those of you who don't know (which I assume is the majority of this blogs readers), a "wedge" is the term that a small community of folks who live within a 20 mile radius of a particular area of NY call a sandwich. Rocky's just happens to fall smack dab in the middle of this community. So, if you want to order a chicken parmesan sandwich - you instead would order a "chicken parm wedge." If you make the faux pas of calling it a sandwich, be prepared for disapproving looks and sneers coming in your direction. I discovered this term when I attended a christening shower in the area and was told by the host that there were going to be "drinks and wedges" for refreshment. My blank stare prompted Kevin to explain the situation. You can imagine my confusion!

I have asked MANY people, MANY times why they call it a wedge and no one can even muster up a fake story for me. Your first thought might be - does it look like a wedge? Is it in the shape of a wedge? No. It is not. It looks just like your regular old sub sandwich might look, a la Subway and the famous $5 footlong with its own song. This is the only logical guess that I could muster, so if anyone has a better excuse - lay it on me. Otherwise, I am going to continue to question the legitimacy of this name and cough it up to bad breeding.

On this occasion, Kevin thought it would be funny to make me order lunch so that I would be forced to use the term. Seeing my horrified face at this prospect, he continued the plan once we got inside and refused to order from the guy behind the counter. Annoyed, the frustrated deli worker looked at me for the order, but being the stubborn woman I am, I also refused to order, pretending I wasn't ready yet. Eventually, this hilarious game came to an end when Kevin gave in and ordered for us. I gotta tell you,....it was worth the wait!

I barely made it to JFK in time thanks to some unexpected traffic on the Van Wyck. I thought I would still be okay since Jet Blue has their own terminal, but once I checked in I still managed to get stuck behind a family of 5 who didn't speak English and who had apparently never flown before. I did my best to help using some broken Spanish and wild gesticulation. After I got through the insufferable security line I ran to the gate as they were closing the door and made it to my seat just in time to tune into some Fox News on my Direct TV at my seat.

Miles traveled: 1,747
Strangest sight: A woman eating sushi in the seat next to me on the plane

Day 17 - Greenwich, CT

On Monday after we returned from St. Kitts, we had planned to drive to Greenwich, CT. We weren't planning to visit one of the wealthiest towns in America for shopping or sailing, but to see Kevin's brothers and sisters-in-law. Jack and Tara just got a new pad in the trendy neighborhood to make room for the newest member of their family expected to arrive this summer. We thought we could help to christen the place with some overpriced mexican takeout and several bottles of wine! We were really looking forward to some quality time with them and Pat and Deb before we bid our official adieu to the East Coast.

We arrived at their palatial estate once they got home from work, and they graciously offered to give us the grand tour! The open-aired layout is perfect for entertaining, and the large bedrooms with new hardwood floors throughout are nothing short of luxury! Master Luke made us all feel right at home and immediately began entertaining the guests.

After a yummy dinner from the Boxcar cantina, a local organic mexican restaurant, and several bottles of wine, the guys went to watch the Yankee game in the living room while the girls sat in the kitchen and solved the worlds problems. Luke got himself a bath and posed for some pics. That is him sporting the red mohawk and hamming it up for the crowd in the picture above.

The Duffy siblings and the wives all get along REALLY well and we always have a boozy good time when we get together! It was great to hang out and we hope that everyone will come visit very often!

Days 13-16 - St. Kitts

The rest of our vacay in St. Kitts was perfect. We had our clothes, the weather was great, the food was good, the gambling was okay and there was plenty of relaxing by the pool.

We got restless one day and decided to take a ferry to the adjacent island of Nevis. Its about a 45 minute ride over to the much smaller sister island that only has about 12,000 inhabitants. The island itself is "rustic" at best, but we managed to make our way to a famous beach bar called Sunshine's where they serve their own homemade signature drink called the Killer Bee. Apparently if you have too many, the locals refer to it as "getting stung." We sampled a few and then made our way over to the birthplace of Alexander Hamilton. Who knew that he was born there? His boyhood home is still intact right on the coast. We checked it out and then headed back to St. Kitts before nightfall. The whole day trip was just enough "culture" for us.

We flew back to New York on Sunday night with no travel hiccups to report!

Day 12 - St. Kitts and the 5 B's

We were determined not to let our first full day in paradise be ruined by the lack of clean clothing, or any clothing at all for that matter.  We planned to adhere to the 4 B's:  Breakfast, Beach, Booze and Betting.  We managed to get all of them in, and even added one last B - Bags!  They finally came in around 6pm and we were able to get some clean clothes before dinner.  

The weather was great - mostly sunshine with a few clouds here and there.  We lathered ourselves in SPF 30 and 45 respectively and blinded everyone with our snow-white skin.  All-in-all a great day! 

Day 11- Travel to St. Kitts...REALLY??

Kevin and I had planned on redeeming some of the thousands of Marriott points he had accumulated over the years while traveling for the White House by taking a luxurious vacation somewhere tropical and beachy.  After months of discussion and research, we decided to go to St. Kitts.  For those of you not familiar, it is a small island located in the Carribean - somewhere in between Puerto Rico and Barbados (see map above) - where the rest of the sainted islands are found.   We chose it because the Marriott had a great all-inclusive package that we could take advantage of, and because Kevin has not spent much time in the Carribean.  We justified the splurge as a post-White House reward to ourselves for all of our hard work and long hours away.  Everyone loves a beach vacay, and we were jumping out of our pasty white skin with excitement.  As a point of history, our travels together are typically plagued with flight cancellations, bag losses, illness and late arrivals.  From our first vacation together to our honeymoon, we are consistent if nothing else. 

On the morning of Tuesday, May 12th we were scheduled to leave New York's La Guardia airport on a 6:30am flight through Miami and then to St. Kitts.  I hate getting up early for flights, but Kevin kept reassuring me that this plan would get us to the hotel by 2pm, leaving plenty of time for us to hit the beach on our first day.  The early flight meant a 4:00am alarm.  As we were getting ready that morning, I noticed Kevin's cell phone ringing and that American Airlines was on the caller ID.  Thinking it was just a confirmation call, I picked it up.  Unfortunately, it turned out to be a cancellation call where the automated voice told me that our flights had been cancelled and that we were scheduled on much later flights that would get us into St. Kitts the next morning.  Kevin immediately called a real human being and negotiated to get us on another EARLIER flight out of JFK - which is a little farther than LaGuardia from Peekskill.  This was the only other flight that could get us to St. Kitts that day. A high-speed chase ensued in Kevin's mom's Rav 4 and we arrived at the airport about 15 minutes later than the minimum 45 minute check-in time.  After being told that the check-in for that flight was closed, we put on our best pouty faces and persuaded someone to check us in at the first-class counter.  She obliged, but made no promises about our bags.  We should have known then.  

We made it to Puerto Rico on time with a few hours to spare and took the scariest propeller plane from there to St. Kitts in a tropical rainstorm.   I have flown into a lot of scary airports in my day, but this one was one of the most remote I have ever seen.  Kevin still has marks on his arms from my nails. Going through immigration actually took a long time for a plane with only 20 people on it - I am guessing due to the interrogation that we all had to go through about our health and whether or not we had the swine flu.  

Sure enough, our bags never made it.  Not only that, but there was only one flight into St. Kitts a day, and there was no hope on getting our bags until AT LEAST 5pm the next day.  I had luckily packed a bathing suit in my carry-on, but Kevin had nothing.  We spent the afternoon hitting the overpriced gift shops where Kevin got new trunks, a t-shirt and some flip-flops.   Good times.  

The St. Kitts Marriott Hotel and Casino is nice and the staff is very helpful.  They upgraded us to an Executive Suite that is bigger than our house in Alexandria and have stayed on top of the baggage situation for us with the airlines.  We are going to repay them by losing our money at the casino and frequenting the gift shops for sundries.  

Day 8 - Farewell to the East Coast Party, NY Style

On Saturday, May 9th, Mr. and Mrs. Duffy hosted a "Farewell to the East Coast" party at their house with all of their friends and the extended Duffy family.  Double D (Mr. Duffy) manned the grill and produced a dizzying amount of burgers and dogs for the group.  Tara brought several pounds of the Carey family pulled pork recipe while Deb made a yummy healthy pasta salad - minus the secret sauce :)  Mrs. D was the Hostess with the Mostest making sure everyone had a drink in one hand and a plate in the other.  Everything was yummy and the booze flowed all night and into the morning.  I don't remember much of the end of the party, but I do recall watching a video of Patrick Duffy doing a singing and dancing routine to the classic hit, "Every Little Step," by Bobby Brown.  I believe it was filmed sometime in the 80s (based on the dance moves and the sweet outfit Patrick was sporting).  I am sure if you are ever at the Duffy's they would be happy to play it for you upon request. I highly recommend it. 

It was the first official party held at the new Duffy home in Peekskill, and by the looks of the house the next morning, anyone would say it was a success.   Thanks to all of the Duffy clan for sending us off properly and for being so supportive!   

Day 7 - Jane Wayne Day

Friday, May 8th was Jane Wayne Day at Quantico. This is an opportunity for the Marine wives to come to the base and basically pretend to be a Marine for a day. Why do they call it Jane Wayne Day? Beats me. Apparently this is name used at Marine bases across the country for the day that the "spouses" get to come up and participate. Was John Wayne married? Was he even a Marine? I am pretty confused about this. The flier advertising the day's activities was emblazoned with a woman in chaps, cowboy boots, a cowboy hat, a pink bandana around her neck and holding two pistols. For me, this implies something with more of a "Dude Ranch" feel, but I knew better. I still wanted to go. Go figure.

The activity schedule for the day went something like this:

8:00am - gather in the "Ready room"

9:00am - watch a K9 demonstration

10-12pm - shoot guns!!

12-1pm - eat an MRE for lunch

1-2pm - fly in the simulators

2-3pm - self-defense class

3-4 - tour of the Marine One helicopter

Do you see all the opportunities here to embarrass our husbands? Most of the wives think this kind of stuff is cheesy, and generally I do to, but I thought it sounded cool so I suckered Gina Trent into going with me. She is a former Marine herself, so I knew I would at least get my entertainment from watching her try to outdo the other wives! She didn't disappoint :) Once I got there and met some of the other ladies, I realized that there while there were many at home who found this kind of thing cheesy, there were still others who found it VERY exciting and who showed up ready to kick some butt and take some names. Some were decked out in camouflage outfits with cute matching shirts and hats with sequins, others were taking a more casual approach with very little clothing so that all their tattoos could be prominently seen and therefore taken more seriously. Gina and I took the middle of the road approach and went with jeans and sneakers.

All in all, the day was a blast. I really enjoyed shooting all the guns at the range. They let us shoot all kinds, (pistols, rifles and shotguns) until they ran out of ammo. We got some great pictures of us trying to look tough while shooting. Stay tuned for those. The flight simulator was VERY impressive. Inside a dark room, they have what looks to be a shell of the front of a helicopter with all the instruments and buttons. The room walls are video screens from floor to ceiling. They can put any number of programs on the screens to mimic some of the common flight scenarios that the pilots practice on regularly. For us, they put on a program where Marine One lands on the South Lawn of the White House. Luckily, Coach was there to show us how everything worked and basically do all the flying for us, while we pretended to. Thanks Coach!

Kevin spent the morning turning in all of his equipment and badges and we were able to bid farewell to DC and get on the road to NY around 4:00pm. We made pretty good progress until we got to Baltimore and hit the Friday afternoon rush hour traffic. Kevin would also like to add that Delaware sucks. All in all, our first leg of the actual road trip was pretty uneventful and we arrived at Kevin's parents house in Peekskill, NY around 10:30 pm.

MRE eaten: Chili Mac

Miles traveled: 279

Pit stops: 1

Strangest sight: A man in a Mazda Miata convertible watching TV on his laptop - while driving!

Day 6 - Kevin's last day

Thursday was Kevin's last day at HMX-1.  He made his last morning commute to attend the daily squadron morning meeting where he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal by his C.O.  For those of you who aren't up on your Marine awards, this is one of the highest awards that the Marine Corps distributes and few in his squadron get it each year.  If you get a chance, congratulate him on his shiny new medal!  

I, on the other hand, sat at the house with the industrial cleaning crew as they scrubbed our empty house from top to bottom and made it shine like the top of the empire state building. They accomplished this even though there was a well-timed water main break in the area and no one on the block had water.  It was interesting watching them try and wash windows with water from jugs that they ran out and bought at the grocery store.  Very resourceful fellows. 

To celebrate our last night in town, we went to one of our favorite Old Town eateries, Restaurant Eve.  If you live in DC and have never been, we highly recommend it.  A little pricey, but totally worth it.  Favorite dessert - "Birthday Cake"  just because :)

Days 4 & 5 - Packers and Movers (Not the same thing)

I don't think I am alone when saying that moving just plain sucks. Not only is it time- consuming and tedious, but also labor intensive and exhausting. Getting up early on moving day, you just know that it is going to be a long day filled with frustrations and expletives. Inevitably, you always plan to wear your grungiest outfit, not worry about your hair and brace yourself for challenges and problems.
The beauty of the military move is that the government actually pays for someone to come to your home and pack up all of your stuff for you! And when I say all of your stuff, I am NOT exaggerating. They will take every little thing in your house, wrap it in 20 layers of paper and pack it tightly away for you. If you don't watch the guys closely, they will pack up your trash. No joke. I literally watched one of the guys take a small half-empty plastic spice bottle (cinnamon I think) and wrap it ten times, then tape up the whole little bundle. At one point, Kevin had been walking around the house armed with a screwdriver to take things apart as they were being packed. He put the screwdriver down for 5 minutes, and it was gone. Wrapped away in a box marked Rachael's clothes probably. The catch here is that you are not allowed to pack anything yourself. They don't want to be liable on the other end if your stuff ends up broken, but you had packed it yourself. I knew this, but I still took the liberty of packing a few boxes on my own with some sensitive things. The fun part will be unpacking all of the boxes once we get there. It will be a surprise, kind of like birthday, but a birthday where someone went to your house and got all the stuff you already own and wrapped it up for you in boxes. Should be interesting. I think I will be celebrating this "birthday" with lots of wine.
So, I have to mention the classy individuals who showed up to pack all of our belongings and prized possessions. The head of this motley crew was a young guy named TJ (I think). He politely introduced himself when he arrived, but I was so blinded by the two giant diamond earrings in both ears that I don't really remember his name. They were AT LEAST 5 carats, emerald cut studs. Whether or not they were real is up for debate, but this guy was blingin' fo' sho'. Some of his other stellar physical modifications included his bald head, dark brown teeth and several neck tattoos in Old English (is there no other font for worded tattoos?), one inscribed Bethany, and another a nod to the band System of the Down. His buddies were not as notable; a rather obese guy who backed his truck into our driveway and broke a tree branch upon arrival, and another guy who wore shiny black sneakers with white skulls emblazoned all around. All of them truly inspired confidence.
So, once the first group came and packed up all of our things and left, the moving guys showed up the next day (completely different people) to haul everything away into the largest 18-wheeler truck I have ever seen. The head of this crew, and the owner of the truck, was a jolly guy named Chris. He also politely introduced himself upon arrival and got right to the business of laying down carpeting all over the house and turning it upside-down. The guys were actually very nice and personable and proceeded to chat us up as we watched them throw our things around in the truck and squeeze them into nooks and holes where they didn't belong. My wincing didn't deter them - I am sure they have seen and heard worse. This process went much faster than the day before and soon enough, our house was completely bare. A very sad sight!
I am sorry I didn't get a picture of these guys either.

Day 2 - Hungover

The worst hangovers ever.  Amount of tasks on To-Do List = 18.  Completed = 0.   

Terrible/classic Sunday movies watched:

Law & Order Marathon on TNT

Cocktail

Dirty Dancing

Journey to the Center of the Earth (worst movie ever)

Madagascar 2

Day 1 - Farewell party at O'Connells

Saturday, May 2nd is where we begin our long extended farewell to the nations capital.  Good friends Scott and Gina Trent arranged for a "small" gathering of friends at our favorite local watering hole, O'Connells.  

Someone started the evil trend of ordering double vodka sodas in pint glasses, which basically look like water glasses, but are not actually filled with water.  Evil I tell you.  I made the mistake of joining this trend and had as many as I could before Kevin started trying to temper me by substituting my doubles with ACTUAL glasses of water with lime, thinking I was too loopy to know the difference.  This worked once or twice, but didn't help. Nice try Duffy!  I saw Dan Connor drinking multiple straight whiskey drinks and other brave souls were doing shots.  Things got a little rowdy.   

The night started with a quiet dinner and ended.........., I am actually not quite sure how it ended, but I have a vague recollection of lights coming on in the bar, managers dragging us our the front door by the back of our necks kicking and screaming and then getting a cab ride home. Needless to say, our Sunday was spent nursing the hangovers on the couch and NOT accomplishing all the tasks we were supposed to get done before the movers were to come on Tuesday.  Oh, well - nothing like waiting until the last minute, right? 

Thanks to everyone who came out to say goodbye!  We are especially grateful to those who we know went the extra mile to get babysitters and rearrange schedules so they could make an appearance!  We are really going to miss all of our friends we have made over the years and we were serious about those invitations to come visit!   There is nothing like a familiar friendly face when adjusting to a new place.  We can't wait to see all of you again soon! 

I apologize for not having the foresight to take pictures, but I promise that will be remedied from here on out!