July 2018 - How I Spent My Summer Vacation

When we last saw our stalwart heroe, they had landed in Moorhead, MN and welcomed a new family member.  Then they seem to fall off the face of the Earth.  Yeah.

, While we were gone for the winter, our house suffered significant weather related damage.  Once we got home, we both started our local jobs and started to work towards opening the house and trying to get a handle on the future.

A lot has happened, and there is little photo record of most of it.  I was torn between a number of posts without pictures and then just being busy all the time.  I finally broke my blog inaction by deciding to just talk about all that has happened and what all we've been doing.

Just after we got home, Eliza and her family came to stay for a few weeks. They were moving into a new house, but the timing left them without a residence for a bit.  It was really nice to have them here and we put both sets of bunk beds into Eliza's old room.  The kids had a small pool in the yard to play in, Brett had the four-wheeler running and there are lots and lots of LEGOs.  Alexander even came up from Texas for a bit.  "Uncle Alex!!, Uncle Alex!!"  Part of all that was us helping them move out of their old place and then into their new one.

Devils Lake High School had it's graduation and we attended the graduation party for Micah Cox whose parents helped us raise our kids as well.

There were a few events that we participated in this summer.  We participated in a Flag Day ceremony at Roosevelt Park in Devils Lake put on by the local VFW.  We both became honorary lifetime members.  You don't have to be and old guy to be in the VFW....

Memorial Day found us home instead of in Arlington, VA for a change, and we attended a program at the Memorial building in Devils Lake and helped laying wreaths at the cemetery in honor of the fallen.

A third event we participated in, was the Independence Day Parade as we often do.  We had work looming over us so we were unable to stay for the night at the Lake that we normally get to do. 

Family in June, including Laurie's birthday.  Patriotic and personal events in July, including my birthday and Eliza and Brett's anniversary.

Now it's August.  we've been working on the house and watching and following the Boston Red Sox who are having one of their best years ever.  More work on the house hangs over us and there is still the possibility Laurie will take a short travel assignment between now and when we leave for our October assignment back in Imperial County, CA.

For me, I always define The end of a blog season as when we hook up the fifth-wheel and hit the road.  Hopefully, between now and then, i'll be a little more attentive here.

September 18th - The Padres win at Petco Park

Happy New Year.  This post is appearing on New Years Day. 

It was back in September that we decided to go downtown and attend a Padres game.  Fairly insignificant event, but baseball games in a stadium are always fun.  We took the trolley downtown and walked to the stadium.  I took a bunch of pictures of basic downtown sights.  We made our way to the lounge and had a couple of drinks sponsored by Cutwater Spirits, the hard liquor company that split off from Ballast Point Breweries.  Then we walked around, had a brat, and found our seats.  The stadium never got very full, but we didn't care because we never get to games and it's always fun.  As an added bonus, the Padres actually beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 4-2.

I found this to be an interesting shot

This is a steak restaurant.  NY strip steaks..

PetCo Park

On my post about ComicCon, I included a shot of PetCo park from the Convention Center. It seemed right to post a shot looking back from PetCo.

I'm captivated by the old Western Metal Supply building that was moulded into the park rather than being torn down like the surrounding lesser factories and wearhouses were.

And yes, there was a badly attended baseball game, too.

May 26th - Friday - TAPS

Friday.
A great opening ceremony and a couple of good sessions.  At the ceremony, we were treated once again to a music program featuring Ret. Gen. Martin Dempsey and this little girl he has been mentoring with for many years.  Gen. Dempsey is there every year and spends his time in the Good Grief Camp program for the smaller children in TAPS.  They, along with an older girl and a sailor, sang a song from Moana.  There is a hallway where pictures of our loved ones are usually posted on huge banners.  This year, they had a Family tree made from construction paper with picture squares velcroed to the wall as leaves.  Very nice.

That evening, we attended the National's baseball game.  Arriving at the field, Laurie, Jeremiah and I walked around and sampled craft beers and food.  There is a memorial plaque there for the Naval personnel who died during an attack on the Naval yard sea systems in 2013.  Being one of the top teams this year, I expected them to win.  Considering they were playing my hometown Padres, I expected them to win big.  The National's pitcher had 13 strikeouts, a team record, and the bats had 5 homeruns.  My Padres made a bad showing.  I love attending baseball games and never regret any game no matter the outcome.

As the game was lost pretty early, we left before it was over.  We were not interested in taking the busses back to the hotel, but strolled down the street to find a craft brewery called Bluejacket. The area on the north bank of the Anaconda River, which flows into the Potomac, is an area know as the Naval Yards.  The area was once a major ship building area for the nation. The factory buildings are still there for the most part, but they have been repurposed into a trendy shopping area full of restaurants and nightclubs.  Bluejacket is in one of those factories.  You go through two sets of ID check to get in.  We found the staff to be a little short on friendliness.  Of course, on a Friday night right after a ballgame 5 blocks away, they were busy, but still, I expected a little more.  We found some good conversation with local people, and the list of brews was really pretty good.  It was loud, but an okay time. 

We left and caught a Uber back to the hotel.  Sitting downstairs for a nightcap, we met a group there who were a lot of fun.  Aaron, Greg, and Sheila, and a girl who seemed shy or not interested in us. lol.  USAF and Dental people.  It was a great meeting and we laughed and talked about life and kids.

Breakfast Buffet Food was much better this year

The amazing Bonnie Carroll

General Martin Dempsey (Ret)

Family tree

Friends

Massive storm before the game

This was the line for people going on the Pentagon tour.  They were pre-screening people so they wouldn't have to stand outside in the parking lot of the Pentagon doing it.  It is a great tour, though.

Tickets

A wonderful tribute

The field

Inside Bluejacket.  Obviously a brewery, but obviously also a factory

New friends

This is Aaron.