Grand Canyon, here we come! Day 7+8

Day 7

On our way to the next stop in Williams, AZ and the Grand Canyon, we stopped at (drove through) the Petrified Forest National Park from which we also saw parts of the Painted Desert National Park.

I didn't get any good pictures of Williams so I won't be posting any. Williams was definitely worth driving to, though. It's 100% tourist town and geared toward fans of Route 66. We saw the daily gun fight that night. Or at least I did. Jake had the pups and Cricket freaked out every time they shot one of the guns, which was frequent, so they took a little walked down main street while I watched.

Day 8

We decided to save the Grand Canyon for the afternoon, since I wanted to get some good shots when the sun wasn't quite so bright and there was no way we were getting up before sunrise! After some debating we decided on a 1-2 hour hike in the mountains behind Williams. The map we got from the information center wasn't the best and we ended up driving through the Kaibib National Forest for a while and then up Bill Williams Mountain from where we had a great view. We never did find the trail and the pups decided it was too hot to walk anyway. The morning ended at a beautiful little lake in the woods.

By the time we made it back to the hotel it was later than we had anticipated so we ate a late lunch and relaxed for about an hour. I got out our map of the Grand Canyon and planned out our afternoon/evening there. I had asked my dad for some sunset picture taking tips so we planned our route accordingly. After packing our dinner for later that evening we drove off towards the Grand Canyon National Park!

I couldn't for the life of me remember how crowded it was up there and I was glad we had listened to my dad and avoided the busy lookouts that the shuttle drives to.

I took a lot more pictures in the few hours we were there but these will have to do!

Fort Smith, AR to Albuquerque and Santa Fe, NM: Day 4-6

Our drive to Fort Smith, AR on Day 4 was uneventful but long. I didn't take any pictures and we only stayed there overnight. Day 5 was another very long day and drive. Again, no pictures but I have to report that Cricket and Penelope were not fans of Oklahoma or Texas. Dry and dusty and nary a blade of grass to empty their bladders on. Total failure until we found some low growing green plants right before we left Texas that Cricket deigned to pee on and Penelope luckily followed suit. Phew!

We didn't spend much time in Old Town Albuquerque so this is the best I got:

On our way to Santa Fe on Day 6 we hit the 2,000 mile mark!

 

And here is an impression of our visit to Santa Fe and the Pecos National Historical Park.

 

The weather was perfect for a little stroll through the National Park. Cricket and Penelope didn't agree. This wasn't the last time they showed us exactly how displeased they were with the heat and *all* the walking we made them do.

One last night in Albuquerque and it was off to Williams, AZ and the Grand Canyon...

The Journey Begins: Day 1-3

Bright and early on Friday, August 5, Jake, the dogs, and I left Enterprise, AL without a backward glance. Jake would have liked to leave at 4 a.m. but we ended up leaving at a much more reasonable time. 6:30 a.m. Still plenty early to make it to Atlanta to drop off my Volvo for shipping and drive up to Gatlinburg, TN.

As most of you know, our good friend Derrek is currently deployed to Iraq. He happened to join us on our cross-country trip! He's been complaining about the lack of space in the backseat...

Instead of meeting Jake's parents in Durham, NC we met them for a weekend away at a cabin in the woods. The cabin we picked was perfect (no picture!) except for the fact that it was up a windy mountain road... Joe had to drive extra careful so I wouldn't be sick all over the new Highlander!

Here's a collage of pictures taken during our stay at Gatlinburg, TN. This is "Find Waldo" kind of picture. See if you can spot Derrek!

By now I think most of you have heard the story about the black bear. For those of you who haven't: On our first (Jake swears it was the second) morning in Gatlinburg, we were (all of us!) startled awake by loud banging. Jake, still half asleep, thought his dad had gone out to the car for some reason and was slamming doors. I thought Joe and DeLane were getting up and had stumbled over something. It was 5 a.m. I decided to check on the car, which was right outside our window, and opened the blinds. I got the biggest shock in my 30 years. There was a black bear right outside our window! He was trying to get into the (locked!) garbage container, which happened to be next to our window. Can you imagine how fast my heart started beating? After about 10 minutes of trying his hardest to get at our garbage, he walked off in the direction of our neighbors. Jake and I noticed earlier that day that their garbage was NOT locked but assumed they'd lock it up before bed. Nope! The bear got his prize. He chowed down on their garbage and while he was doing that Jake decided to go out on the deck and shine a flashlight in his direction. Just to see a little better. Apparently, the bear saw him. You should have seen Jake race back inside! Haha! That should teach him not to shine a flashlight on a bear!

So that was the bear story. I didn't think I'd be seeing any bears quite so soon. This doesn't bode well for Alaska...

Alabama: The End

So here is the first update. Super late, but I'm sure you all expected that.

It starts on July 28.

After agonizing over what to wear to Jake's graduation ball I decided to go with my long black dress that I had bought for a previous ball. It didn't quite fit like it had two years ago but I thought I should probably go with the long, more formal gown, despite the fact that I should have lost about 5 lbs before squeezing into it. Turns out I felt overdressed for what turned out to be more formal dinner than ball. I could have been comfortable in my "little black dress" instead of feeling super uncomfortable and self conscious in the one I chose. Oh well!

Here's the best of the pictures. I don't like it but I thought I'd share it anyway.

August 1 + 2

And then it was time for the movers! Packers and movers to be exact. They were late on both days but got everything done. I wasn't as impressed with the packing skills as I was in Germany so we'll see how much the Army gets to replace this time around.

Day 1

Day 2

It was super hot on the second day and the two guys loading up the crates had sweat pouring off of them after only a few minutes. I felt so sorry for them! The couch ended up wrapped up but not in a crate because it's too long. I'm hoping it got lost and we get to buy a new one...

After Day 2 I sat around in an empty house with the pups while Jake finished outprocessing. Friday couldn't come fast enough!

My Three Loves

The pups are tuckered out from playing with their friends at the kennel all day and Jake...well, he's tuckered out from watching the movers pack and haul stuff around in 95 degree heat all day! He's passed out beside me right now. On the floor.

Lions and tigers and BEARS, oh my!

I guess only the bear part of the title is correct but OH MY!

A few weeks ago we watched a documentary on TV about Alaskan wildlife. Bears breaking into homes, moose charging people and more. I was starting to doubt my sanity at being excited about moving to Alaska. Then we went to the shooting range.

So it looks like I can handle a gun fairly well. Thank you Jake and Kevin for the pointers! Do I think I'd be levelheaded enough to actually shoot a bear (or a moose for that matter!) when it comes charging at me? In one word. NO. Heck, I'd do the exact opposite of what I should be doing. I'd RUN.
Sadly, Jake and the dogs are faster than I am...

The other day Jake decided it would be a good idea to tell me about an incident that happened a few hours north of Anchorage. Here's a link to the story. Grizzly Attack 


I am a little paranoid about the whole bear thing now. It didn't help that I am now looking at pictures that were posted on the Alaska Daily News website. Bear sightings in Anchorage and elsewhere in Alaska. My *favorite* is this one:

Can you say heart attack? I don't think I'd be calmly standing on the other side of that GLASS door to take a picture. What are we getting ourselves into?!

Fourth of July Weekend Fun

At Fort Rucker they have what's called Freedom Fest to celebrate Independence Day. It was the Saturday before the 4th this year. Jake and I drove out there along with Joe and DeLane who came to see us that weekend.

The main band that night was Gary Sinise and the Lt. Dan Band. Wow! There somewhere past all those camping chairs.

We met up with Heather and Kevin and their new baby Caroline there.

We ate fatty foods, enjoyed the band, got bitten by ants, and then came the fireworks. It was all worth it!

I have no idea how I did this using my cell phone camera

On Independence Day we headed up to Montgomery to see the Montgomery Biscuits play. Once again, DeLane and Joe, Jake and I, and even Kevin, Heather and baby Caroline were there!

We were going to stay for the fireworks display after the game but after there was a rain delay of about an hour we just couldn't wait. We left before the end of the game to rescue the pups and so Jake would get enough sleep before his 4:30 appointment with the alarm clock. On the drive home we got lucky and saw fireworks anyway!

It was a lovely weekend and I'm so glad Joe and DeLane decided to drive down to see us! Thank you! Also, who would've thought that we'd make such great friends in the short time we were here. I'm going to miss you Heather, Kevin, and baby Caroline!

Wine, Wineries, and a Wedding

On June 18 Jake's brother Ben and his new wife Liz exchanged their vows in a somewhat unusual but very lovely ceremony.

May I present, Bennett and Elizabeth Gibbs

Jake and I made our way to the regional airport in Tallahassee, FL on Thursday, June 16. What we thought was good time management turned out to be a big mistake because we had forgotten about the 1 hour time difference between here and Tallahassee. Oops. So Jake being the pessimist that he is "knew" that we were going to be late for our flight because we had to drop of Cricket and Penelope at their "resort" (which included a great pool the girls didn't use) which was a 15 minute drive from the airport. I, being a bit more optimistic in nature (okay, just occasionally, but this was one of those rare occasions!) tried to reassure Jake that we'd make the flight, barely, but we'd make it. Needless to say, after about 15 minutes I decided silence would serve me better and we rode to the kennel without exchanging more than a few words. By the time we got to the kennel and didn't run into any traffic on I-10 we were back to normal cheerful selves (haha!), rushed through the registration and made it to the airport with time to spare. Well, 20 minutes before boarding but TIME nonetheless. Phew! Both flight were uneventful and we made it to Fresno, CA ahead of schedule. From Fresno it was another 2 hour drive to our destination at Paso Robles, CA. Has anyone ever needed to wait 25 minutes at the car rental desk for ONE family renting ONE car to finish their transaction? RIDICULOUS! It took us a grand total of 3 minutes to give the lady behind the desk Jake's license and get the keys to our prepaid Subaru Impreza rental car. On a side note, what a crappy little car. Most expensive in it's class and gets the worst gas mileage to boot. Why would a car rental agency purchase such a gem? Your guess is as good as mine! We're on the road by a little after 10 p.m., which is midnight back in Enterprise. We make it to the hotel without incident and fall into bed for a relatively short nights sleep. What a LOOOOOOOONG day!

The next day started fairly early considering how late we went to bed. It also started with wine tasting at 10 a.m. Not sure I would do that again. I stopped "tasting" after the second winery. I got my nails done with the brides maids around lunchtime and met back up with Jake at the hotel before the next wine tasting. Yes! More wine tasting! This time it was a group wine tasting with all the wedding guests who were already in town. Jake went to the wedding rehearsal (he was one of the groomsmen) and I went to another wine tasting. Two more wineries to add to the list. We ended up buying a LOT of wine, which is now waiting for us in Ben's wine cooler. At least I hope it's still there! We'll be stopping by Hanford, CA on our way to Alaska to visit and pick up the wine. The rehearsal dinner was downtown Paso Robles at a little cafe. Delicious food and interesting conversation. We decided to make it an early night and headed back to the hotel. I hear we missed out on a wild night of dancing and drinking. I enjoyed a dreamless sleep instead :)

Ah...the day of the wedding! The Gibbs family minus Ben and Liz went to see Hearst Castle in the morning. It was pretty much what I remembered from way back when. Over the top ornamentation and a touch gaudy.

We grabbed a quick sandwich for lunch and then relaxed for about an hour before it was time to get dressed and ready for the wedding. Jake and FIL left with the other groomsmen and MIL, SIL and her husband, and I took the wedding shuttle bus up to the winery/vineyard. I'm glad I didn't have to drive. What a narrow and winding road! What a venue, though! The view from the top was stunning and totally worth the queasiness I felt on the drive up! After pictures and socializing it was time for the ceremony.

Jake looking snazzy in his ill-fitting tuxedo and the beautiful venue

So yes, the ceremony. Um. It was short. Very short. The officiant stumbled through the greeting, the vows were exchanged, and VOILA! You may kiss the bride and may I present Mr. and Mrs. Bennett Gibbs. Yup, that was it. The vows were very sweet and Ben and Liz looked radiantly happy so overall it was a great ceremony. Jake would've loved for ours to be so short! I really enjoyed the reception afterwards. The h'ordeuvres were mainly stinky cheese and white bread, which was terrific! Jake won't let me buy stinky cheese because it stinks up the fridge. I got my fill that night! Dinner was also delicious. Mexican something or other. It was served family style which was nice since you got to choose what and how much of something you wanted. Jake was happy with all the veggies and I was happy with the still very raw beef strips :)

What an awesome view!

Jake and I. By the time this was taken it was COLD up in the mountains...

The rest of the night was spent talking with friends and family and drinking white wine (me) and beer (Jake). Jake also had a little flask (gift from the groom) filled with whisky. Needless to say, he was not sober on the ride home. Thank god for the shuttle!

Our flight back home was early the next morning. We had to get up a few hours after we went to bed since we had that 2 hour drive back to Fresno. It took me 20 minutes to wake Jake up. Seriously. He was OUT COLD and still drunk. Bad combination! Jake did not drive to the airport. He was asked to relinquish his keys to his designated driver, Joe :)

Two uneventful flights later we landed in Tallahassee, picked up the dogs, and drove on home! It was a very lovely weekend out in California and I can't wait to drive out there next month to see Ben and Liz again and to do some more sightseeing!

Staff Ride to New Orleans

Jake and I had a lovely early weekend in New Orleans this past week. The trip was supposed to be a staff ride for his small group from the course he's taking but it ended up being vacation. We did go see the USS Alabama battleship in Mobile, Alabama, and the Chalmette Battlefield, site of the Battle of New Orleans in 1815 and the group went to the Coast Guard Station where they played ultimate frisbee against a group from the CG and sat through a briefing talking about the benefits of joining the CG. We also went to the D-Day museum in New Orleans. I believe the point of a staff ride is to analyze the site of a battle. Detailed analysis. Ha! That's not what these guys did. We went to the visitor center at the battlefield, looked around, walked around the battlefield and left. Not much analyzing going on!

Day 1 - Wednesday, June 8

The trip started out at the USS Alabama Battleship in Mobile, AL. I believe this is where Debbi got lost when she was little...

We then drove on to New Orleans and checked into the Clarion on Canal Street. Hm. If I had had anything to do with it, we would not have stayed there. It was an okay location some of the time, a little seedy most of the time. The room looked okay but was run down and not all that clean. By the way, I was NOT the only one who had these complaints about the rooms!

The first impression we got of the French Quarter was Bourbon Street at dusk.

 
Ick. The stench was horrible! And of course we got to enjoy seeing all the seedy bars and strip clubs. Fun. We walked a little farther and ended up in a much nicer part of the French Quarter down by the French Market, had an okay dinner, found an Irish bar and went back to the hotel after a drink or two.


Day 2 - Thursday, June 9

Day 2 started early because the group went to the CG station for the game and briefing. The spouses decided to walk down to the French Market together before we met up for lunch and the D-Day museum. The walk downtown took us about 1.5 hours (usually about 20 minutes) because one of the spouses has two little girls who jumped and skipped the entire way. They were just too cute! The flea market down at the French Market was nothing special but fun, nevertheless. It started raining and was drizzly so we took the street car back to the hotel and met up with the various husbands either at the hotel or at the museum.

The museum was a little overwhelming for me. Lots of pictures of dead soldiers and very depressing. Jake and I didn't stay long and headed back to the hotel. After Jake took a little nap we headed out again to explore some more of the French Quarter and get dinner.

We went to the Red Fish Grill for dinner. What a fabulous choice! I haven't had such a good dinner at a restaurant in such a long time! I had the mahi-mahi and salad and loved everything from the first bite. Wow. Jake really liked his bbq oysters and soup, as well. Yum! After dinner we took a group historic carriage ride around the French Quarter and had a great time. It was the perfect time of day for it. Right at dusk with a cooling breeze coming of the Mississippi.

Jake had a carrot for Andy the mule and Andy chose that moment to slobber all over Jake's hand.


Day 3 - Friday, June 10

The day started off with the Chalmette Battlefield...

...and continued with a swamp boat ride. We saw a bunch of alligators up close, lured by marshmallows :)

We ended the day with a visit to the Audubon Aquarium and another yummy dinner.
 

Day 4 - Saturday, June 11

We left New Orleans right after breakfast with the intention of getting home as early as possible to pick up the dogs and save a little money. We ended up going to an outlet mall off I-10 which I spied on the way down and spending a little MORE money :) All of my nieces and nephew profited from the stop at the outlet mall...

The pups were excited to see us and got a bath right when we got home. Filthy pups after 4 days at the kennel playing with so many other dogs all day long!

So the trip ended up being a lot of fun. There are more pictures at the top right of my blog.

I finally found something to spend Jake's money on in Enterprise!

Every month the course spouses get invited to a social event that is organized by the company's FRG (Family Readiness Group).

This past month, last week to be exact, we were invited to a pottery painting event in downtown Enterprise. I decided to go since I skipped the last one for numerous reasons. It ended up being a whole lot of fun and I painted two wine goblets and may go back to do some more!

My masterpieces:

I'm thinking about painting more of the same so I have a set of 4 or 6 but I may also find something completely different. The girl who owns the art store has a bunch of great pottery pieces that you can paint. She also has mosaic pieces and some other stuff.

Drive-In Movie

Jake and I went to the local drive-in Sunday night and watched Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.

I love going to the drive-in. Next time around we'll probably back up the truck so the bed faces the screen and get comfy with blankets and pillows. We were worried about being swarmed by bugs so we stayed in the cab. We ended up rolling down all the windows because it was so hot and we didn't get bitten by any bugs so next time...

I definitely recommend watching the movie! I loved the mermaids and Captain Blackbeard and the whole thing was just very funny again. Penelope Cruz makes a wonderful substitution for Keira Knightly and Orlando Bloom and I'm so glad they are no longer part of the cast. I really couldn't tell that it's a different director this time around, either. I hope they keep popping out more sequels!!

Back in time...sort of

So Friday we drove down to Gulf Shores for a day at the beach and for some reminiscing. There is literally nothing left of the Gulf State Park Hotel and Convention Center we used to stay at. Not even the pier is the same! They built a brand new pier and bulldozed the hotel. Here are before and after pictures:

I got this picture off the internet. The only one I could find of how it was when we used to go down to Gulf Shores.

This was taken on Friday. As you can see, there is nothing left of the old resort. The picture was taken from the new pier. I forgot to take a picture of the pier.

We had a great time at the beach. The water was great, not as clear as Panama City Beach but nice and cool. Jake got a sunburn because he insisted on using SPF 30 on his super pale skin. He's learned his lesson. He will be using SPF 50 exclusively from now on. Especially when we're at the beach at noon...

Versions of Fetch

Jake got home early today so we took the dogs for a quick walk on post. We ended up at the dog park there where Penelope had to show off her fetching skills. Sort of. As you can see, we need a second squeaker ball to make it worth her while!

 Cricket hasn't really caught on...

We're Moving to Alaska!

So I think the blog title gave it away but I don't think everyone knows yet that Jake's new duty station is Fort Richardson, Alaska. How exciting! His report date is September 29 so we'll be leaving Enterprise, AL sometime between the beginning of August, when his course is over, and mid September. We're planning a 3 week road trip. Cross country and then up through Canada all the way to Anchorage. Again, so exciting! I have most of the trip planned out already, even though we don't know what dates we'll be traveling. We'll be stopping along the way at numerous National Parks and Jake's brother in CA and his sister in Seattle, WA. More on that and the whole itinerary once I know the exact dates.

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to my new blog!

I decided it would be a great idea to start a blog for the express purpose of keeping family and friends involved in our lives. I'm terrible at keeping in touch, as all of you well know. This way, at least you'll know what's happening over here in Alabama!

I will upload pictures regularly. Feel free to comment on any of my posts and pictures. I look forward to reading them!

Hugs all around,
Catie