Living on Pacific Coast Time

Lots of pictures to share... it's probably best to break it down by day:

Monday-

We woke up early and finished packing up the car...


The finished product


We made our way out of Oklahoma and into Texas



Along the way, we must have passed about one million windmills... We thought this was neat because it was an "old fashioned" windmill in the front with the new ones behind it, seriously as far as the eye could see...


On our way through Amarillo, we made it a point to stop by The Big Texan, which if you are a fan of the Food Network's Man Vs. Food, you've heard of...



Though I didn't eat the 72 oz. steak, I did make it a point to sit in the giant rocking chair--how could I not?



We finally made our way onto New Mexico and into Albuquerque...


Stopped at the Visitor's Center for a little break...




Tuesday-

Got up bright and early to hit the road and made it to Arizona...


We could see this mountain range probably up to 150 miles away--we had no idea it was basically smackdab in the middle of Flagstaff...



Flagstaff TOTALLY shocked me- I had no idea what a precious little town it was... and it was covered in tons of snow...


After eating in Flagstaff, we hit the road for another hour or so to make it to Grand Canyon, AZ to spend the night. Of course we got there after the sunset... so we grabbed a bite to eat with Pete and Emily and then hit the sack (separate from Pete and Emily :) )

Speaking of Emily, here she is bringing up the rear of the caravan...



Wednesday-

We got up early enough to spend some time at the Grand Canyon. It was breathtaking... literally huge and made me feel dizzy (of course... I practically got motion sick just standing along the railing)


Self portrait at the Canyon...



Then we had a bit of a haul to make it to Vegas, but we pushed hard. We stopped at the Hoover Dam because it's the Hoover Dam. Had to get a little snapshot. Sweet moment happened when we had to stop at the checkpoint to go over the dam--which makes sense. Pete and Emily were behind us and as we came through the checkpoint, because we had the car filled to the rafters, they asked us to pull aside. We were both dreading having to unpack everything to assure them we didn't pose any danger and as Aaron showed them his drivers' license, the policeman noticed his military i.d. He asked to see that and through the course of conversation, discovered that Aaron's a pilot. He then proceeded to thank Aaron profusely (seriously...PROFUSELY) for what he does for our country and sent us on our way. We were SO GLAD we didn't have to unpack it all... thank goodness for that military i.d... ANYway, picture at the dam... (you might call this "a dam picture" and that behind us is "the dam road", etc, etc, etc... ha.......ha.......sigh)



This one is pretty self explanatory...


This was cool- they're building a new bridge there and it is REDICULOUSLY high and huge. There's not enough money in the world to get me to work on something like that... but that's because I'm afraid of heights. I wouldn't even want to drive over that thing...but it was neat to look at from below.


So we had been pretty excited that we'd gotten pictures of every state sign while we were driving past... then we passed the Nevada sign:

Of course now we have a picture of THIS lady... but that's okay... that was just to wet our appetite for the people we would run into in Vegas on New Year's. But that's for another post.... Happy New Year!

Heading Out

Aaron and I leave tomorrow morning with Pete and Emily to start our drive. Since we got back on Friday from home, we've been packing up the room (which somehow looks like a went off and nothing appears to actually be packed). They come to check it at 8:30 AM, then we're driving by Little Bit of Seattle one last time (which, if you ever talk to us, you know is a coffee shop that we go to daily...) and heading out. Our itinerary (barring any major catastrophes) is as follows:

29th: Albuquerque, NM
30th: Grand Canyon, AZ
31st and 1st: Las Vegas, NV
2nd: Sacramento, CA
3rd: Eugene, OR
4th: Arrive in Tacoma, WA

I tried to upload a map of our route and I'm not sure if it's going to work, but try this:


View Larger Map

Once we get there, Aaron starts in-processing stuff and I have a meeting with our Realtor to find us a house on the 5th. We'll be staying in temporary base housing until we get a place, so our hope is to find something good, not super expensive, and in a good part of town--and to do so quickly.

Hopefully we'll be able to blog some pictures along the way of our adventure, since it looks like we'll be seeing some cool stuff. So far, the weather looks like it has calmed down a little out that way, though so far, the forecast is calling for snow showers in Tacoma on the day of our arrival... nothing like a little baptism by fire into this crazy weather they've been having out there. Wish us safe travels and good luck!!

For now, I'm signing off to go and pack up some more of our things...

IT'S A GIRL!!!

No no... not me. I am not expecting. However, as most of you know, my sister and Adam are and they've found out that baby number 3 is in fact a girl--that's to add to the 2 other little girls they already have and to the total of 5 granddaughters my parents already have... girls girls girls, so many little girls. But girls are fun and sweet and cuddly and say the most tender little things. Like when I was talking to Lucy on the phone the other day and she said "I miss you Aunt Becca"... be still my heart... Anyway, here's a picture of niece number 6, yet to be named--and please notice how she already has her momma's little natural frown--so weird!! And we've got yet another baby on the way from Rod and Betty due in March- perhaps there's a boy in there???

Good Times in Enid

This is just a picture to show you where we have been living for the last month since I'm pretty sure we haven't shown anyone pics of our place yet ("place" aka "dorm"). In the left corner, you see our cute little Christmas tree and on the right hand side, you see a tribute to "our" homestate (since I consider myself an honorary South Carolinian)...



Last weekend was a weekend of celebration- from one friend's last night in town, to another friend's birthday, to a sort of "byebye Pete and Emily/Aaron and Becca" party, there were many reasons to get together. On the left you see Aaron practicing some dance moves, while I don't look so ready to cut a rug. And on the right, Aaron and me with our friend Pete (who is also being stationed at McChord and in Aaron's squadron... and we're driving west with he and his wife, Emily)....


And a celebration is no reason to forget about "artsy" photography. These were pics we cropped and edited a little that would've been deleted, but we salvaged something... they turned out pretty cute...

And here's Emily of the "Pete and Emily" duo...

In the crazy weather that has been this week (snow to ice to sunshine and the 60's--seriously today I'm not wearing a jacket), we took an opportunity to bring the camera around town. We ran into these guys, who were more than eager to run up to the fence to greet us.

They lived on this beautiful street... the one street in Enid that we've found that is surrounded by trees as opposed to fields...

And last night, we took to downtown with Pete and Emily for a little double date. They had the square decorated with Christmas lights so we of course decided to take a family picture. Here it is.

Only 10 days left in Enid... I never thought I'd say it, but it's sort of bittersweet...

Winter Wonderland

I had no idea how cold Oklahoma could get... I knew it was windy, and even though I knew that, I was not prepared for just HOW windy it could get. But on an already cold day--say a day where it's 12 degrees outside, like yesterday--it can make it FEEL like it's -6 degrees outside. Yes. NEGATIVE 6. Last week, it snowed on Tuesday, stuck around Wednesday and by Thursday it was in the 60's again. Yesterday, it was 12, today the high is in the 20's and it's snowing and I think this weekend it will be in the 60's again. I wish it would make up its mind. Anyway... there's more to talk about than just the weather...

Our time at Vance is winding down. In one week, we leave to head home for the holidays. It will be a quick few days but we're excited to get to see everyone one last time since we don't know when we'll be home again--especially Aaron since he'll be working all the time, so we hear. As soon as we get back, we pack up the car for a day or so and then start the drive to Tacoma. We're going with our friends Pete and Emily and we've decided on what should be a pretty neat route, including a swing by the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas, Sacramento and Eugene, Oregon before arrive in Tacoma around January 3rd or 4th. We've had a good run in our little dorm room on base here, and we do like the smalltown thing here in Enid, but we're definitely looking forward to having a home to put our own furniture in and just to get settled in Tacoma. It's hard to believe it was 6 months ago that we found out where we were going. Time absolutely flies...
Here are some pictures to update everyone:




A cute shot of the grandgirls that Aaron got when we were home for Thanksgiving...


Aaron and me before heading over to his family's Thanksgiving celebration...



The day after the snow in Enid last week...

Aaron and me playing in the snow...

Home Again, Home Again...

Aaron and I had to separate again after just about two and a half weeks of marriage. We were both flying out of the same airport on the same day--him to WA and me to GA, not to be reunited until the 23rd of November. I was so proud of myself when I told him goodbye- not a tear (which, over the last couple of years had become my M.O.)--only just an ever-so-slight trace of sadness. "We're each other's home base now... it's different this time..." I told myself.

It's true. It is different now. But it's almost been harder! That could be because I've been packing up all of our wedding gifts, all of my stuff from the house in town (or "The townhouse" as Lucy calls it) and the lake house, packing it all into boxes and moving it (via multiple trips to and fro) to Aaron's parents' house in North Augusta because "they" (being whatever company the military contracted our move out to) are coming Monday to get our stuff and move it on out to WA--all on my own. Talk about baptism by fire. This is my first military move. It's not even been a month since we've been married. And Aaron will (when they finally show up) be essentially unreachable. And you know what? Even if he was reachable, I wouldn't want to be calling him every 50 seconds asking him what to do and what this or that means, etc... I'm going to need to get used to this and I want to do be able to do it myself, even if I make a few mistakes here and there. He's been so sweet, walking me through bits and pieces of what to expect and the paperwork and the bureaucracy of it all and I've been pushed (or violently shoved) out of the nest and I'm officially on my own with it now. But, how hard can it be?.....right? Ahem...anyway...I'll just be glad when it's over, regardless of where our stuff actually ends up!

My time at home so far has been fun. I thought I'd feel different now that I'm married- I don't. Same Becca. Same Augusta. Same parents' house. Same parents. Same sweet friends. I got the chance to hang out with a few of them this week- some in Columbia at my old watering holes--Hunter Gatherer and then Jake's--with Matt, Mary Neil, Lonnie, Michelle, Laura, Madden, Kristi, Meg-- and also with some Augusta pals at my hometown watering hole--Bees Knees-- with Victoria and Joanna...It's good to know that I still have good friends "back east" (as "us westerners" call it). A few highlights:





Siiiiiiiiiigh....Good times.


Where was I? Oh yeah, so only 9 more days until Aaron and I are reunited and he's done with the training he's been finishing up in WA. Also, not long until his birthday--November 25th. He'll finally be my age :) What to get your husband for his first birthday as... well, as your husband??

Where The Buffalo Roam

That's where I live. Sort of. Actually, about 3 hours south of us is where we spotted a few buffalo on our way home from hiking. Said buffalo was just standing on the side of the road, like it was no big deal that he was a buffalo and he was standing on the side of the road. It was to me. So I took pictures. Like these...

Buffalo spotting isn't the only change that I've adapted to over the last couple of weeks. First of all, I'm living on a military base. (Here's a pic from just outside the gate):

My first Monday morning here, I awoke to men outside yelling "Left, left, left right left..." and one of those "I don't know but I've been told" songs. I assume they were running in some sort of formation but I don't know. Since it was still dark outside, I didn't bother to get out of bed (like any normal person) to take a gander. After I was almost settled back into sleep, I was almost blasted out of bed by Revelry playing on the loud speakers all over the base. And sadly, that also happened while it was still dark outside. Needless to say, I've started to wake up a little earlier--at least when we sleep with the window open.

My favorite thing about living on base (apart from the Commisary- can we say savings?) is the flight show I get everyday. True, it's not the blue angels. It's student pilots flying little sputtering planes for the most part--with the exceptions of T-1's (the trainers for the heavies--like C-17's--they look like private jets) and the T-38's (the trainers for fighters--like F-16's--they're very fast). It's still pretty cool to see planes constantly flying overhead- sometimes low to the ground, sometimes taking sharp turns, taking off or landing. In this picture, you can see one in the very background.

That's all I've got of the planes so far...

This past Saturday, we took a trip south to go hiking like I said earlier. It turned out to be a really fun day. It was beautiful in this part of Oklahoma with these pretty large rocky mountains, covered in huge boulders. Who knew that was in Oklahoma? We hiked most of the time (and boulder hopped... yes, I did that... and I didn't even fall)

and then headed towards one of Aaron's favorite restaurants. It's actually famous. It doesn't look like much:

But, they grow their own cattle (so they don't feed them any hormones--just grass), grind the beef in house everyday (fresh!), make their own beer. All in all, pretty awesome. They've been on the Food Network a few times and are named one of the top 8 burgers in the country. A little gem in the middle of nowhere in Oklahoma. We decided to go all out: He got a huge burger (the seismic), I got ribs and we shared one of their beers. With all of that, we had managed to save room for their homemade icecream and peach cobbler, which we also shared (we were hungry--we'd hiked all day). And then we began the 3 hour trek home.

Unfortunately, not long after we arrived home, we both weren't feeling so well. We thought we'd just eaten too much and vowed to never do that to ourselves again. It turned out to not be that so much as it was food poisoning. Now, I'm sure this is a rare happening for this restaurant- like I said, it's very well known and very reputable. The only thing we shared was that icecream... but we were SICK. We didn't get any sleep all Saturday night and we made a Wal-Mart run at 6 AM on Sunday to get OJ, Gatorade, Tylenol, etc... that would be the only time we got out of bed all of Saturday- both of us were completely out of it all day.

But my sister made a very good point: At least reason we got food poisoning together wasn't because of my cooking. So we've still got that to look forward to...