Rocky Start

Well, I sit here on the balcony looking out at the ocean and enjoying the nice weather here in the shade. I can look over and see the ocean, watch the waves crash, and be thankful that I have not had to drive anywhere today. That is where our vacation troubles have been!

On Saturday we had planned to leave by 9:30ish. Well, nothing was going as planned (should have known that!), but we finally left around 10:30ish. Our first destination was my family reunion in Marion, SC. We get there, all be it at least 30 minutes late. I am thinking at least I will still be able to visit a little after the meal. Nope. People start leaving before I finish my dinner. A redeeming point was when we were able to go to aunt Dora's house to visit with some of her family after the reunion. We leave there and arrive at the beach after 11pm. Then my little girl decided that she did not want to go to sleep until at least 1:30am! Ugghhh!

Next morning we finally get up and moving by 10am. We head down to the van so we can get breakfast only to find a flat tire. UUGGGHHHH! So we get the spare out (by we I mean Joe and Butch). Only after then do we find out that our spare is not a correct size spare for our van. It doesn't work on the front due to brake stuff, so Joe puts the flat back on the front and goes to take the back tire off to use on the front, while placing the spare on the back. While taking the luge nuts off the back tire one of the stems for the luges breaks due to someone putting a incorrect luge on previously, but that is another bowl of chowder for another time! Now poor Joe is getting really frustrated. "We will laugh at this one day" he tells me. "Not today, and probably not next month, but one day. Maybe." We take the van and drop it off to be fixed. There was a Cracker Barrel right beside it and we were able to eat while it was fixed. After a good meal we find the van taken care of with only a loose valve on the tire, whew! Praise the Lord! Go back to the condo for naps and a restart later in the evening.

Monday we head to the beach after breakfast and have an enjoyable time. Joe and I get burnt, but it is all good, right? After lunch and getting Otter and Joe down for a nap I prepare to go the the grocery store to get our food for the week. Huh...now what could possibly happen you might ask? I check the tires...all good! I get in the van and...click, click, click...click, click, click...the van won't start! UGGHHHH! Back upstairs to wait for my poor husband to awaken from his slumber to fix another problem! After the nice man from the office gives us a jump we head to find the Advance Auto. Directions from the locals over the phone have not been extremely good either day, but we find it faster than we did the Sears the previous day. The guy there checks and the diagnosis is a dead battery. Praise the Lord again! Even the $90 for that is better than a bad alternator, etc., right? Finally get to the grocery store to get our food. Come back to have grilled hamburgers, fries, and baked beans for dinner. The boys swim in the pool while Daddy cooks the burgers. It was a good evening.

Today...well, we went to the beach again this morning. The boys got an inflatable boat that they played with. Otter let me sit in the water (only on the edge) without crying (Grandmomma, she liked it until she got into the water yesterday. She doesn't like the waves and the current as the water goes out back out). Luckily there was an area that was almost like a baby pool with hardly any waves and I was able to sit with her in my lap. She was holding onto me and laid her head on my shoulder, but it was an improvement. By the time that the tide started moving in and the waves were a little more on us, she was doing much better. A little while later we were told by the "boss" that she was ready to go back. She was so wore out that she only ate half a banana before she climbed in my lap to fall asleep. So far we have had a good day! Of course we have not gone to the van yet ;), and every time the boys pray it includes "please don't let any thing else bad happen to the van." Oh the stories we will have after this vacation! Hopefully the rest is utterly uneventful!

Interesting Wedding March

A friend of mine posted this and I wanted to share it here. It was such a cute video. I thought having Star Wars music as we marched out of my best friend's wedding was unique, but this takes the cake!

The Yorktown

We boarded the Yorktown and I learned that I was going to be staying in the "Officer's Quarters." It was SO sweet! The room I was initially taken to had four beds. I learned that another member of our group was in a room by herself. She offered to share her room with me. We went and looked and it had only two beds! I like the top bunk best, which was good since she had the lower one. The first evening was rather relaxed. I once again skipped the movie Tora, Tora, Tora! A group of us adults just sat out on the side landing and talked.


The next morning we took a boat ride over to Fort Sumter. This being my fourth trip I did not do much touring around. Butch was part of the flag raising ceremony, though instead of helping raise the flags he was chosen to lead the pledge afterwards.


Later in the afternoon we had free time to tour the ships. Since the Destroyer and Coast Guard Cutter were closed I did not plan to do much touring on the sub and the Yorktown. The boys each caught me and took me on tours on the Yorktown, though. In the evening there was a big celebration at Patriot's Point. There was live music, lots of tents set up with food, and inflatables for the kiddos. After dark we were treated to a wonderful display of fireworks off the deck of the Yorktown. I decided to try out the fireworks setting on my camera. It would have helped if I had my tripod, but I did the best I could. Here is a couple of my favorite shots.

Charleston

On Friday of last week we spent the day in Charleston, SC. We woke early and drove over to E. Bay Street and parked the van. Then we walked all over Charleston! We hit the open market first. Bubba found an alligator head he just had to have! The guys also decided I needed a floppy brimmed hat to wear around, so they found a great hat for me and some sunglasses to match. We're walking...we're walking...then lunchtime at Bubba Gump. We're walking...we're walking...see some churches, stores, and other cool sights. Then we headed to our main destination. Patriots Point and the USS Yorktown! I will talk about that tomorrow. Until then enjoy some of our pics!

Rainbow Row (on E. Bay Street)

Butch and me at the cemetery at
the Circular Congregational Church

Lunch at Bubba Gump.
Joe, Butch & Bubba with the Shrimp

The Old Exchange and Provost Dungeon