I'm Back

Did ya miss me? I had absolutely no time to post over the weekend. We were gone all day long and didn't get back to our room until late and we always went straight to bed. Here's a run down of our weekend...

Friday: We didn't end up getting on the road until 5. C had a meeting at work that ran over and then there was a fire in his shop. No damage and nobody was hurt, it just caused a delay. So, we didn't get to Virginia Beach until 8 and we just stayed at the hotel and visited with C's mom.

Saturday: C, the girls, me, C's mom, her husband, his son and wife, and his daughter all went out for breakfast. Then, we went our separate ways until it was time to go to the reunion. C, the girls and I headed to downtown Norfolk. First stop, we went to the Naval Station Norfolk and checked out all the big ships. They are so awe-inspiring. The base was cool too. It's the largest naval base in the world. And gas on station was only $2.61!! Next, we went to the Nauticus and toured the USS Wisconsin. What's really cool is that a friend of the family actually served on the Wisconsin during Desert Storm. It was neat knowing that we knew someone who had served on the ship we were on too. There's a lot to see at the Nauticus so by the time we were done, it was time to go to the reunion. The reunion was actually for C's step-dad's family and we had never met any of them before. They were nice and a lot less crazy than our own families. After the reunion, we went to Virginia Beach, the actual beach. That's a happening place. We had a lot of fun at the beach even though we didn't swim. It's definitely a party type of beach.

Sunday: C's mom and her group left bright and early for the 9 hour drive back to Ohio. We stayed and drove out to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. That was soooo cool! We had watched on the History Channel or some channel about how it was built so it was neat to actually get to drive on it. It's one of the seven engineering wonders of the modern world ya know. And the Chesapeake Bay is just beautiful. Next, we drove to Fort Story to see the Old Cape Henry Lighthouse. All four of us were set to climb it until S saw the spiral staircase she'd have to climb to get to the top. M and I were the only ones that went up. C sat with S at the bottom, lol. It was HOT yesterday and inside that old lighthouse was awful. By the time M and I got to the top, I was ready to die. Awesome views though. My legs are so sore today I can barely walk, lol. After that, we drove back to the base, grabbed lunch in their humongous NEX (that's the Navy Exchange for you civilians), and filled up the gas tank with cheap gas.

Home: I was really looking forward to getting back home. It had been a long weekend with no downtime and we were all pretty tired. And as I had cleaned the house spotless before we left, I couldn't wait to sit in the peace, quiet, and comfort of my own house. Alas! It was not to be. We walked in to a complete and total mess. The dogs had not behaved themselves while we were gone. You remember that sofa that we had agonized over buying when we first moved here? Well, it now has a hole chewed in it. I had a wicker basket that I kept all of our game controllers in...Chewed to bits and spread all over the living room and kitchen. Pee? Everywhere. Smells?? BAAAAAD!!! It was horrible. Thankfully, we had gated them into just the living room and kitchen, I rolled up the rug and put it down the hallway, we took all the furniture cushions and put them in the dining room, and I put all of our books up onto a high shelf. Lesson? Learned. Next time we go somewhere, they either have to go and stay with someone or someone's going to have to come and stay with them. Having someone come a couple times a day to let them out and feed them isn't enough. I cleaned and mopped everything but there's a pee smell that's lingering and I can't figure out where it's coming from. I HATE smells in my house.

Conclusion: Despite my idiot dogs and a rough start, it was a fabulous weekend. Norfolk and Virginia Beach is a lot of fun. We're already making plans to go back. There's so much history and so many things to see and do there that we only got to see a fraction of it all. Next time we plan on going to Busch Gardens since we get in for free, Colonial Williamsburg, Washington's birthplace and a whole host of other things. It's only a three hour drive and we can stay pretty cheap on one of the many bases in the area.

So, there ya go. I'm going to post pictures later. I have a LOT and I'm trying to figure out the best way of sharing them.