The HomeFront

Alas, Jessi and I have settled in the finest city in the world! That is right folks...we now call San Diego Home. We have spend the last 6 months in a pretty tumultuous state. But we have bought and made the first payment on a house in Escondido, which is Northern San Diego County. We are super excited about all of the excitement that comes along with owning a home. this is both of ours first home and there is a lot more to do than we counted on but there is something different about this type of work. I am not sure if it is because we know that we are putting our time, effort and money into something that is permanent or just the excitement of a new adventure but the times they are a good.
I will try to document most of the changes that happen while we move along but I can not make any promises as my time is pretty full now a days. so with that here are some pictures of the house as it was when we moved in...well those will have to come later!

Well, instead I have decided to do a new blog with the title : http://jjbateshome.blogspot.com/ check it out if'n you'd like!

Hawaii...specifically Oahu!

Wow, What an absolutely beautiful state. It is no wonder that the native Hawaiians are so upset about having so many people come in and take so much of their land. Life in Hawaii is slow. The highways still have sixty mile an hour speed limit, with 55 being the standard as you get closer to the city (or town as it is called here). Jessi and I are fortunate enough to have family that lives on the island and are willing to put us up for a couple of weeks. It has been the most relaxing of the vacations thus far. The sun makes relaxing much easier than the snow. We have spent several days doing nothing but lounging around the house and spending time with our nephews who are just about as cute and well-behaved as anyone could ask for. We made it to Waikiki and Honolulu and Jessi found tickets to one of the bands that she really likes...Motion City Soundtrack. We went there one night and saw them play. They played in a small venue called "The Pipeline Cafe." I think that we were the oldest people there who were not escorting their children, it seems to be a theme of the concerts that we have been to.
Jessi took me to a spa for Valentines day and we got a couples massage. We were both in one room and the ladies did a really good job, I thought that I was going to have bruises after she was done with me!!! It was painful, relaxing and invigorating. That is something that we should try to do on a more regular basis.
Henry, Cindy, Jessi and I all took a dinner cruise from Honolulu out in the Ocean. There was music and food and drinks. The food was good, mostly oriental, and served buffet style. We ate and watched the hula dancers do their thing. Then we went upstairs to the lookout area and saw a whale...well, the tale of one anyway.

We went snorkeling and got some pictures of some fish...but they are on an old-style camera and have to be developed, so those pictures are going to have to wait.

We also went to a luau! It was held on a resort just down the road from Henry and Cindy's place. There was all kinds of activities, from making your own lei to throwing a spear at a target. Jessi, Henry, Linda, and Vincent all got "Polynesian tattoos." Vincent's came off in the bath and it set him to crying. He was so upset that his tattoo got washed away!!! There was a hula show with dinner and there were traditional dancers from each of the original settlers cultures. The fire dancer was my favorite! It made for some interesting pictures...


We went to see the USS Arizona Memorial and stumbled across the USS Utah memorial as well. It was a touching place and very reverent. This was the perfect place for Jessi and I to end our enlistment. Our last few days of employment were spent on the beach...getting paid!
We only have a couple of days left and then it is back to real-life...or as real as it is going to be for us for a while.

Salt Lake City

Well, the next step of our vacation is a stop in Utah. It has been too long since I have spent time with my family and friends in the area. This is my nephew who is as cute as he is crazy! We got to spend a little time with him and Bart, Sarah and Jaxson. The worst part about living in England for the last three years is how much the people in our family change during the time between visits. Jessi and I are really excited about being able to see them all a lot more!

Salt Lake offered the first snow that I have seen in a couple of years and Jessi got to experience shoveling for the first time! We have been able to get to see a lot of Salt Lake and it is crazy how much it has changed in the 5 years since I was last here for any period of time. The relaxation factor has been fantastic.

Chris and I went to see The Great Buck Howard, the movie that started the Sundance film festival in the "locals showing" It was a really good movie about never losing sight of your dreams and believing in something.

Chi-City

So, We have a friend named Nikko that we met in England. He is a good guy...really funny and a lot of fun to hang out with. Well, as long as we have known him he has been talking about Chicago and how much fun it is and how we have to go. Well, two and a half years later we finally made it to Chicago and it was well worth it. We stayed right downtown and it was really neat. The whole city (that we wanted to go to) were within minutes of the hotel...as long as we were in the cab. We ate good food (Chicago Style Pizza and hotdogs) and drank good beer (312 which is a Chicago area code and a pretty descent beer) The first day that we were there was spent on the hunt for some warm clothes and the rest of them were spent recovering from the long nights( the bars are open until 4am). The only thing that could have made it a little better is if it was warm enough to spend any kind of time outside. As it was we spent the whole trip dashing from building to cab to building and the little bit of walking that we were able to do was done with the utmost care taken to ensure as little skin as possible was exposed to the elements. Lots of fun though! We are going to try to make it back there in the spring or fall one of these years. There is a lot that we didn't get to do and those times of year are supposed to be fantastic!

This is one of the many "Birthday Desserts" that we got for Nikko. I think all but one restaurant that we ate at in during our time in Chicago we had them sing to Nikko and bring him dessert...it was hilarious...his Birthday was a month or so ago! That's funny, I don't care who you are, that's funny!

Back in the States!!!

We made it! Jessi and I have made it to San Diego and have outprocessed the Air Force! We have already had some Mexican food and a walk on the beach...I think that this place could agree with me.
England made it on the plane with us. We did have to break into Eric's house to get her out but she made it through the almost 24 hours in her kennel and is none the worse for wear. Joe and Anita picked us up at the airport and had the house and our room all decorated for a home coming...it was really nice!
Yesterday we went back up to LA to outprocess. Now it is just a matter of a month of vacation and we are back to being civilians. We spent a little time in LA! it was a beautiful day...75 degrees and so sunny that our eyes (still not used to seeing the sun after three and a half years in England) were sore by the end of the day. We had lunch at a little organic cafe that was very good. I am not sure of the name of it but it was lovely. Then we went to an eclectic little bookstore and found some reading material and a gift or two.
On the way back to Escondido we stopped in a little town called San Clemente...it was so Mediteranean I felt like we were back in Crete! The town center had a lot of little shops and while you can not escape the size of American buildings these relatively small houses and shops made me feel right at home! The beach was beautiful and not too crowded. There were a few surfers and as we walked it became obvious that some people had skipped out of work early to come down and enjoy the beautiful day. I was surprised by the age of the surfers. While quite a few of them were young, the majority seemed to be older men with salt and pepper hair and when they looked out at the water they had a kind of intense ease in their gaze. Like they knew that they had to get out there, and do what they loved, but there was no particular hurry, they certainly didn't run or even walk too fast. I thought, "here are some people who do everyday the thing that they love." It was very nice to watch.
Like I said...I think that this place could agree with me.

New Year's Day

Well, we made it up to Nottingham for New Year's eve. We had tickets to see a band called Bullet for my Valentine. There was a little bit of confusion on the times and we ended up getting there just as they were finishing their set. Then the venue turned into a rock club and we hung out for the rest of the night. We chased in the new year with a shot of Jaegar and kisses all around. For Jessi and I this is going to be a very turbulent year but we are both looking forward to the craziness with more anticipation then anything and my guess is by then end of it we will be ready for some sanity!
The next day we walked around Nottingham and came across these statues of Robbin Hood, Little John and Friar Tuck. They are right outside of Nottingham castle which we walked around for a few minutes and enjoyed the landscaping...the castle, like most of the city that day, was closed.
We are back in Mildenhall and staying on base for the rest of our time here. One more week and then we are off on the next great adventure!!!