Moving update

Well, as you can tell, I have not had time to work on this in a few days. But, as I type this I am being serenaded by tape guns :) We successfully got our express shipment out yesterday in under an hour! Our household goods are going out today (packed and loaded in about six hours). That will just leave the storage stuff. I plan to get back to our summer posts once this jump is out of the way! So, please stay tuned :)

Okinawa Update

Before I continue with postings from our summer, I thought I would give you an update of our move. We now have our government passports in hand! Mine will only be used when I move to Japan, then when I move back to the states. Rodney will carry his when he travels for work. For any traveling we do on our own, we'll carry our civilian passports.
I have relinquished my Chick-fil-A responsibilities into capable hands and am now spending pretty much all my time sorting through "stuff"! We are sorting into a handful of areas; we have one section that will be going out the door to DAV or friends, then an area for what will go with us on our road trip back home. Then there are the sections for the move itself: what goes in the express shipment (what you'd need on an island for two weeks), what goes in the regular shipment (household goods), then the majority of our belongings will go into storage. And the packing starts NEXT MONDAY!!! Simply cannot believe its already here......
So, yes the pack out begins Monday with the express shipment. That will actually be short and sweet. We basically have the size of a closet to fill (no, not a walk-in :), so that won't take them long to pack up. Then Tuesday, they'll pack out the rest of the household goods, Wednesday will be the pack up for storage, then Thursday they'll carry it out. At that point, we'll give the house a good "wash down" then hit the road on Friday  to make a road trip to Missouri by way of Texas!! Following our visit, we'll make our way back to San Diego and put Rodney on a plane early in the morning, Sept. 22. Truman and I will follow a week or two later (having to wait for cooler weather for Truman to be in cargo.)
So, as of now, that is where we stand. I'll post updates along as I finish up our summer excitement :)

Happy Father's Day!

Our last real outing of their trip was the Father's Day Champagne Brunch at 94th Aero Squadron :)

Torrey Pines State Reserve (again :)

When Rodney and I went to Torrey Pines State Reserve in May, we knew his family would enjoy it, so we made arrangements with our fabulous tour guide, Ann...

Views from the trail...

Gotta watch your head on this part of the trail!

Ever heard of Torrey Pines Golf Course??

"Broken Hill"

Such a cool view being able to see the ocean between the two remaining parts of the hill.

At Broken Hill...

It was a gloriously beautiful day to enjoy nature!!

Family Beach Bonfire

After Rachel's previous visit, one thing we knew we wanted to do with their mom and dad was a beach bonfire, so we made sure to get that in!!

Getting set up...

Then it was time to get our toes wet!

Even got to see some Coast Guard maneuvers! Saw some dolphins, too, but weren't able to get a picture. 

Then it was time to roast some hotdogs on the fire!

Then do some s'mores!!

Then, my favorite part of a beach bonfire---just sitting and visiting by the fire with the sound of the waves on the beach in the background---LOVE IT!!

And, we were right, Roger and Elizabeth, completely enjoyed the beach bonfire :)

Balboa Park

Our next big day adventure was to Balboa Park. Once again, we had five cameras going, so I did my best to narrow it down to the best ones....

In the Rose Garden

In the Cactus Garden

Behind me is the California Tower

Rodney interacting with the Sculpture Garden

What a cool tree!!

We really enjoyed the Botanical Garden

Beautiful Lily Pads in the Lily Pad Pond in front of the Botanical Garden

A bit more of the exquisite architecture around the park

Seaport Village and Temecula

One of our days, we meandered around Seaport Village where Roger found a chair he quite liked!!

Got a great shot of Rachel with the Bay Bridge in the background.

And, we saw some CUTE ducklings :)

Another day, we took a drive out to Temecula to see Old Town, then do a bit of wine tasting.

We thought this little arbor in Old Town made a sweet picture spot.

Then off to Wilson Creek Winery...

And, contrary to Elizabeth's story, we did not get "schnockered"!! But, we did have a fun day :-)