SEADOGS, SEAHORSES, HORSESHOES, & HORSEFISH

PACKERS -
Moving to Italy feels like a whirlwind. Nick and I had long check lists which included: out-processing, renting our house, and preparing for movers in the weeks leading up to our road trip across the US. We had to think about 3 different sets of movers coming to pack our house over 4 days. The first set of movers packed 900 lbs of home goods that we will need when we first arrive in Italy. You can only pack the basics like pots, pans, silverware, underwear, high heels, lipstick...you know, the basics. :) The second set of movers were at our house for 2 very full days and packed up 90% of our house, which should arrive to Italy in 2 months. (Yes, 2 months!) The third set of movers packed a few remaining items that we won't need in Italy, and put them in storage. (like our washer and dryer.) Apparently, you can hook up your American washer and dryer in Italy, but it costs an arm and a leg to run them. (I personally like both my arms and legs, thank you!) After 4 days of movers, we were all packed up and ready to drive across America. At this point, I was just praying we had set aside ALL the documents and paperwork we needed for traveling because EVERYTHING was packed and we won't see it again for 2 months. (No pressure.) :)


ROAD TRIP -

Our road trip started early on a Friday morning, July 20th. We had a 12 hour drive ahead of us with 2 very anxious kitties: Bizou and Beeker. We loaded the car with suitcases and cats and we were off! It was a little hard thinking about leaving our home. We bought it brand new a year ago, and now other people are going to live in it. I just hope they enjoy it as much as we did! We didn't get out of the driveway before disaster struck. I broke our CD player. (OK, maybe not a total disaster) I turned on the radio and accidentally hit the CD eject button, and the CD player went haywire. Hopefully, that would be the only mishap on our journey. We made it to Amarillo, TX the first night. The cats only screamed half of the way. :/ The second day, Saturday, July 21st, was a breeze; we drove 13 hours to Dow, IL to stay with our friends, the Roberts. We took advantage of being so close to our college by visiting a few friends that are still there, and Clifton Terrace Country Inn, our favorite mom and pop restaurant. Visiting our college and old friends was amazing, even if it was brief. It helps you feel grounded, which is especially nice when we'll be so far away from home very soon. Our third, and final day on the road was the longest day. We drove for 15 hours from Dow, IL to Baltimore, MD. I don't want to do that again any time soon! Nick drove most of the way, but we were thoroughly exhausted by the time we arrived in Baltimore. The kitties were definitely most grateful to be in one place for more than a night. WE MADE IT!!


WASHINGTON D.C - 

Nick would be leaving for Italy on Tuesday, July 24th, so that left us with a day and a half to explore. The first day we drove into Washington DC. Neither one of us has ever seen the National Mall, so we headed there first. I went to the National Mall with the intention of just checking things off my so-called "bucket list." What I didn't expect was how in awe I was when seeing the Washington Monument, and the Lincoln Memorial. They are enormous and stunning. (so to speak) The World War II Veterans Memorial was also breathtaking. I had an image in my mind of what the National Mall would look like, and in all the years I've seen it on TV and movies I had never realized that the White House is a part of the National Mall. It is literally across the street from the Washington Monument. I had no idea! I thought it was in a completely different part of DC. (Hopefully, I'm not the only one that thought that.) I also didn't anticipate the HUMIDITY. Nick and I walked almost 7 miles in the heat; it was overwhelming. We escaped the heat at one point in the National Air and Space Museum. Nick was in heaven admiring all of the planes, and how far we've come in aviation. I was admiring how far we've come with stewardesses uniforms over the years. :)


BALTIMORE - 

The next day we ventured into downtown Baltimore. Once again, I was shocked! I've never heard much about Baltimore, so I never thought much of it. It is a quaint combination of Seattle, Washington; Portland, Maine; and Washington DC. It's a big city, but it has a little artsy town feel to it and it's rich with history. We first ate at a little place called Spoons that we found on Yelp. They have HUGE SPOONS hanging around the room...thus the name, Spoons. I have a couple pictures of the over- sized spoons, but I have to figure out how to add them to the blog. We then ventured into the Inner Harbor. Everything in the Inner Harbor was within walking distance, so we wandered around until we saw,"THE SEADOG." It's a tour of the Inner Harbor via speedboat. Nick was adamant that we go on the tour, so I agreed. (Big. Mistake.) I probably should have just gotten off the boat, when they handed me a poncho. It was 50 minutes of listening to a tour guide tell bad jokes, bark like a dog ("SEADOG"), and then we got SOAKING WET! They warned us that we might get a little wet. They did not warn us that we would get soaking wet by a large wall of water from their 47 ton boat. (Lesson learned!) I got a few laughs from onlookers after the tour because my poncho only kept my upper half dry...not my lower half. (oops!) That boat tour couldn't change my opinion about Baltimore. I still loved it!


ITALY BOUND -

We quickly drove back to our hotel, so Nick could pack to leave on his red-eye flight to Italy. (sniff, sniff) We left for the airport 5 hours before his departure time. It sounds extreme, but the seating is first come, first serve. Nick was able to get an aisle seat on the 747. The next time I spoke with Nick was when he arrived in ITALY! In total, he had traveled 17 hours, and the only complaints he had was that the food wasn't very good, and it was FREEZING on the plane.
Nick was greeted in Italy by our sponsors, the Collins, and a dozen squadron members. In the few days he's been there, he's met most of the squadron, looked for a car, and he might have found us an apartment. (phew!)


CALL SIGN -
Nick thinks he might already have a call sign. They've nicknamed him (no pun intended) "2 cats." Apparently, they think it's hysterical that Nick has 2 cats. Most of the guys in the squadron have a dog(s), one cat, or no pets at all. No one has 2 cats! Haha! "2 cats!"


PATCHES -
Nick has also received his new patches for his uniform. One of the new patches has a DRAGON on it. Nick thought the dragon was a seahorse, but he couldn't remember the word so he called it a HORSESHOE. "There's a flying horseshoe on my patch," he told me.  Haha! You can imagine my surprise and confusion. He then corrected himself and said, "Oh, no, I mean, there's a flying HORSEFISH on my patch." Haha! At this point, I couldn't contain my laughter. "What's it called?" he asked. "A SEAHORSE," I said. There was a long pause..."oh, actually it's a dragon," he said. Hahahahahah!
OHhhhh, man,  I love Nick. He always keeps me laughing. :) I can't wait to see him in just a few more days!