Tag Archives: Military

World Traveler

Posted by on August 28, 2012 No comments

Huge sorry for the lack of content for the last few weeks. Things have been a tad bit hectic as of late. You see, I have been traveling around for work and working very long days, so I haven’t had a lot of time to write. After the London trip I went back out to North Carolina for a week, and then off to Arizona for a month or so. The downside was a serious lack of time, but the plus side is I got to see some cool stuff and even take some great pictures.

I was down in Sierra Vista AZ and the landscape looks amazing. Armed with my trusty camera travel kit (aka, “My Bag” stuff to the right —> ) I set out to capture some great sunsets. Below are the results:

Sunset at Sierra Vista
Looking towards the mountains in Sierra vista lends to a great sunset shot.

Tombstone Cemetary
In Tombstone AZ, just about a 30 min drive from Sierra Vista, there are two cemeteries. The one most people know is Boot Hill, which is where the victims of the OK Corral are buried, and then the main cemetery, where everyone else goes. The real one is MUCH better looking (Boot hill looks like someones Halloween decorations).Cross at Sunset

The graves there date back to the foundation of the town.

For comparison, here are the Boot Hill graves:

Seems Safe
While venturing out (by myself) I ran across this sign and thought it might not be a good idea to be out, at night, so late, alone.

Shot for a shot
Back in Tombstone, at Big Nose Kates Saloon, I had a great shot of this whiskey. When the Barkeep asked if I wanted a picture of the bottle, he whipped out all the props for it!

After one of the trips to Arizona, I took a side trip to Parris Island South Carolina to watch my Son (who, you may remember, went off to the Marines) graduate Basic Training (aka, boot camp (aka, 3 months of hell)). Proud Father is Proud.

And lastly, not that I am back, I am trying to get back to normal. This means attending events like the local DC Metro MINI’s annual picnic! Where we got together and took this great shot:

Click to Super Embiggen

So, yeah. It’s been a bit busy. I will try and keep things updated more now that I am home (for now)

A swirl of emotions

Posted by on May 22, 2012 4 comments

It’s not often I write about family things on the blog here.  Usually it’ all about me.  Ok, it’s almost always about me.

FINE…. it’ all about me.  Except when it’s not.  This time it’s about Andrew. (and a little about me)

Sunday we dropped off Andrew so he can step off on the next leg of his journey through life.  He joined the Marines.  Now, if you know me at all, you know that me and Marines don’t typically get along.  Lots of experiences from my past years in the military have led to that.  But, I understand why Andrew decided to go that route (for the most part) and I respect his decision.  I am always proud of him when he sets his mind to something and works to accomplish it.  He set his mind on becoming a Marine, and through hell and high water (and a stubborn old father set in his ways) he went off to accomplish just that.

The picture you see here is the last picture we took of him as we dropped him off.  I have no doubt that he will return triumphant, and very different from how he appears now.

Last night we received his arrival phone call, albeit at 2am, of:

  • I have arrived safely at Parris Island.
  • Please do not send any food or bulky items.
  • I will contact you in 3 to 5 days via postcard with my new mailing address.
  • Thank you for your support.
  • Goodbye for now.

At least, I think that’s what he said.  It was 2am after all.  I squeezed in a “Good Luck”, but I am not sure if he heard me.  His voice was stressed and I could hear lots of other recruits behind him making the same call.

In the meantime, Sarah and I are now DINK’s.  We have divided up the chore list and are De-”Kidding” the house.

It’s kind of surreal sometimes.

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Some interesting info for recruit parents at http://recruitparents.com