Cross Country
There are four routes one can take across the USA from Washington. We decided to head south a bit and take the scenic route through Colorado since Angela had never been in that state. The trip took us 6 days. We made a few quick detours/stops along the way, to shop, sightsee and have breakfast with Angela's Aunt and Uncle.
Balancing Rock in Utah
The explorer was loaded with everything we had kept with us in Washington. It did fine on the trip with the exception of the approach to the Eisenhower Tunnel. At 11158 feet above sea level and 1.6 miles long, it's the world's highest automobile tunnel. After we passed about 10000 feet, the engine kept going faster and we kept going slower. It wasn't a horsepower issue, we'd climbed steeper grades, there just isn't enough air up there.
An old mine site in Utah
Mine cave-in memorial
Another problem we had was with our thermo-electric cooler. The DC power cord has a fuse in it but it over heated before it blew. The fuse was fused to the plastic and wouldn't come out. We stopped several places trying to find a replacement but it's a specialty item. I finally found a DC/AC power inverter that plugs into the cigarette lighter outlet and used the AC cord for the cooler instead. It was fine for the last 4 days of the trip. I've got a new DC cord
now but I'm afraid to rely on it for more than short trips.
At a rest stop
The drive through North-Western Oregon and South-West Idaho was pretty barren and bleak. Utah has kind of a rugged beauty - if you like rocks. Colorado was beautiful as always. Central Kansas has little to recommend it unless you're into endless seas of grass. Though we did break the monotony by stopping to see the cathedral.
The Cathedral of the Plains in Kansas
The rest of the trip, through the Smokies then heading South was great but uneventful. The closer we got to our destination, the less inclined we were to stop and gawk.
Kit Carson Co. Carousel
Burlington, Colorado
We arrived in Beaufort in the afternoon of the sixth day of travel and checked into the Inn on Parris Island. We stayed the night and the next day went searching for a house to rent. We found a nice place quickly, paid the rent and headed down to Georgia to see Jackson and spend the weekend with Angela's parents.
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While we were traveling and house hunting, Jackson got to stay with his Grandparents. He had a great time and even got to help with some of the yard work.
New Home
Even though we didn't have to look long to find a nice place, a lot of what we saw were in bad neighborhoods or were too small or dirty looking.
The house we chose is on Lady's Island in a decent neighborhood. It has a large fenced in backyard that is tree covered. There are hoards of squirrels back there. We are about 2 miles from downtown Beaufort and about 5 miles from Parris Island, where Angela works.
Our furniture didn't arrive until the 2nd week of August so we had to buy a few things to get by. We left our bed at Debi's place in Washington so we had to get a new bed. Also, since we gave our two couches to Alan and Sarah for when they get apartments of their own, we decided to buy a sectional for the living room.
Once our furniture arrived, we wondered if it would all fit. It did, without being crowded. The main thing we lack here is storage space. We've got too much stuff I guess, but doesn't everyone?
Jackson
Jack likes the house, he has lots of room to play. His room is good sized and there is a screened in porch out back.
We searched all over town and visited several local daycare facilities. Most of them were just nasty, dirty places that I wouldn't send a dog to. It's amazing that they pass the state health inspections. There was a waiting list to get into the Child Development Center on base so he and his Dad just hung out at home for a few weeks. We did find a fairly decent facility not far from where we live but before we made up our mind about sending him or not, his number came up on base. He just started daycare this past Monday, the 25th and we think he's really going to enjoy it there. They have so much to do and see. It's a clean, well organized place and it's good for him to have the interaction with the other kids.
Hunting Island
We took an afternoon and drove out to Hunting Island State Park. It's about 13 miles from where we live to reach open ocean. Jack was only 4 months old the last time he was at the beach. He didn't seem to care much then and spent most of the time napping.
This time around, he was kinda unsure about it all at first and didn't look too happy to be there.
After a little while, he decided he needed to check out everything and dig some holes. When we got ready to head to the lighthouse, he didn't want to leave.
We also took a quick trip out to St. Helena's Island then returned to Beaufort to let Jackson play at the playground at waterfront park.
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Folks at work had a going away party for us at Azteca. Friends from several departments came to say goodbye. Several of the "girls" from work had a private party for Angela too. All our friends and family were sad to see us go. We miss them all.
Angela's new job is with the 6th Marine Corps District. It's a recruiting command that has it's headquarters on Parris Island. They oversee 8 recruiting substations in 6 southern states.
She is the supervisor for all the Information Technology employees locally and at the substations. Her job also entails acting as a liaison between the Marines and the NMCI contractors taking over computer and network support functions in the coming months.
Beaufort is a nice sized little town located on Port Royal Island. The lowcountry, as they call it, is a maze of islands, waterways and marshes. Beaufort County has 757 islands in all. Most are salt marshes and not habitable by people. All the major islands are connected by bridges so getting around is easy.
Sunrise and sunset are often beautiful here. It's pretty anytime really. The waterways and the ancient live oaks with moss trailing the ground are just gorgeous.
All of old town Beaufort is a national historic landmark district. Founded in 1711, Beaufort is the second oldest town in the state. The historic area is packed with huge mansions. There is an amazing amount of history here.
Most everything we need on a day to day basis is here local. For malls, Costco, Sams Club, Best Buy, etc., we have to go to either Savannah (40 miles) or Charleston (65 Miles), so it's not nearly as convenient as Silverdale, which seemed to have everything all in one place.
We haven't had much time to do any real sightseeing yet, except for the drive-by kind. I need to get out and about and take some photos of the area soon so that I don't have to keep using stock photos like those above. There are some tours and events coming up in the next couple of months that we hope to take part in so I should have some nice pics from those.
August Birthdays
Zenobia: 81
Claudia: 59
Joe: 59
Laura: 12
Angela's folks and sister came up for a visit and we took them to Outback to celebrate her Dad's birthday and their anniversary. We packed away a lot of grub that night. I was still waddling the next day.
Angela and I went to a dinner party in honor of the outgoing Commander. It was held at Ollie's, which is a seafood restaurant and bar at the marina just a mile or so from where we live.
Did you miss last month's edition?
GAZETTE ARCHIVES
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