Tuesday 29 January 2008

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.

Tuesday 22 January 2008

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!


Tuesday 15 January 2008

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.

Sunday 6 January 2008

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!!!