GrillSgt's Firepit

Virginia!

Yes, yes, I’m slow on this post.

Stephanie, the puppies and I arrived in Charlottesville, VA yesterday afternoon at about 2:30 PM and checked in to the hotel. It’s the same hotel I stayed in on the house hunting trip. It’s nice, takes pets and has wireless high speed internet access.

After a short rest, we all got in the truck, picked up the keys to the house and drove up to Ruckersville to see the house. Stephanie and the puppies approve. Juneau had a little trouble negotiating the few steps up and down to the outside initially, but she learned quick. The landlords left us a card and a welcome basket. It was so nice of them to do so. THe landlord also told me we have his permission to do whatever we need to do to make us all comfortable and safe, including replacing the fence. I think we ended up with a fantastic landlord!

I also found out that the truck will arrive on Friday to deliver our household goods. So today, Thursday, we had a day to rest. Stephanie took the time to get her hair and nails done. She looks great. While she was having that done, the puppies and I hung out at the hotel resting. When Stephanie got back we took a drive up to Ruckersville to get an idea of where some things are, like banks and other shops. Then we drove to Swift Run Gap, which is the pass through the Blue Ridge Mountains and the entrance to Shenandoah National Park. We turned around at that point and came back to the hotel, stopping to get some dinner along the way. I also found out that our move cost less than the estimate, so we don’t have as much of an out of pocket expense as we thought we might. During our household purge, we eliminated about 100 pounds of stuff from the estimate.

Tomorrow, we’ll be Home Sweet Home. Our truck is supposed to arrive at 9:00 AM and a fence guy will be there about 8:00 AM to look at the yard and, I assume, give me an estimate. Hopefully, he can put up the fence real soon.

We won’t have Internet access until Monday, but I can still get email using my phone. So keep in touch. I’ll write more on Monday or Tuesday.

Bristol, TN

Well, we’re in Bristol, Tennessee tonight. Bristol is right on the Virginia border; in fact, there is a Bristol, Virginia on the other side of the border. They are sister cities. Bristol, TN is the home of the Bristol International Raceway, which hosts NASCAR races. We hit some construction traffic just before Knoxville and again in Knoxville, which slowed us up a bit. Otherwise, a rather uneventful day.

So what did we see today?

• We passed through the Country Music Capital, Nashville.
• We drove through Knoxville, Tennessee, which is the capital of Tennessee and also the home of the University of Tennessee.
• We drove over the Tennessee River.
• Tennessee is a very beautiful state, especially the eastern half.
• Smoky Mountains

Tomorrow, we’ll finally reach our destination, Charlottesville, Virginia.

Memphis

Today finds us holed up in Memphis, Tennessee. Only had to go about 410 miiles. We left at 7:00 AM and arrived in Memphis between 3:00 and 3:30 PM CST. We got to the hotel at about 4:00 PM. We hit a couple of brief showers, but not nearly as lengthy or intense as what we drove through in Arizona. All in all, it was a pretty easy day. Tomorrow should be similar, just a little longer… about 480 miles to Bristol, Tennessee.

There were some pretty crappy drivers on the road in Arkansas; lots of tailgating, especially this blonde, tailgating biyatch in a pickup truck with a “Dixie” sticker on the back window. She would race down the road, get on someone’s ass, and ride it until they got out of the way. She did it once to me, and again later to Stephanie. On top of that, both times we saw her she had a cell phone growing out her ears, first the right, then the left. If you see her, flip her the bird for me. Other interesting things we saw…

• A sign that proclaimed Troy Aikman’s hometown;
• A sign that announced Carrie Underwood’s home town;
• A sign announcing Toad Suck Park (in Arkansas)… apparently it’s the site of an old Arkansas River crossing and the current site of Toad Suck Ferry Lock and Dam;
• Lots of roadkill;
• A definite lack of full sets of teeth (in Arkansas);
• The mighty Mississippi River (Ol’ Man River, the Muddy Mississipp; and other nicknames);

My parents drove up from West Point, MS this afternoon and spent a few hours and dinner with us. It was nice visit.

Tomorrow, Bristol, Tennessee…

Road Trip!

I know many of you have been waiting for an update… Thursday and Friday nights I was just too pooped. Saturday night found me without an internet gateway in Gallup… Sorry, no pictures;… it’s a little difficult to snap photos while driving 80 MPH with 18-wheelers all about; and we don’t really have the time to stop for quick photos as we need to be in Charlottesville, VA early enough Wednesday afternoon to pick up the keys.

The packers packed up everything on Thursday, they we’re done by 2:30 PM. Since we didn’t get to sleep until around 4:00 AM Thursday morning, we were pretty pooped. Even more, we had a plumbing problem that had to be fixed while the packers were there, so we had no running water for most of the day.

Friday, the truck arrived. Everything got loaded by 2:30 PM and the truck left. We only took up a quarter of the big trailer. Guess we don’t have as much stuff as we thought. After that, we got some lunch… our last time at Zaba’s Mexican Grill. There isn’t one in Virginia. Then we checked in at the motel and went back to the house to load vehicles and dropped some of it off at the hotel. At about 6, we went over to Mike and Stacey’s to celebrate Mike’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Mike. When we finished there, we picked up the puppies from the house and went to the hotel for some much needed sleep.

Saturday morning, we had breakfast at Mike and Stacey’s. My brother, Jim, joined us. About 9 we went and picked up the puppies from the house (we dropped them off there before breakfast) and said goodbye to Mike and Stacey. It was a little emotional for Stacey and Stephanie. Still we’ll see them in Florida for Thanksgiving, when we invade Ed (Stephanie and Stacey’s dad) and Judy’s place. We actually ended up on the road at 10:00 AM, which was an hour later than we intended. We hit some really heavy rain in Arizona, especially around Flagstaff. So we had to slow down quite a bit. Because of the later start and the slow going in central AZ, we only made it as far as Gallup, New Mexico before calling it a day. Along the way, besides lots of rain and lightning, we saw the new Hoover Dam bypass bridge that’s under construction, Hoover Dam and Lake Mead (again, wow, the lake is really low!), dinosaurs (statues), lots of teepees and signs hawking handmade Indian jewelry and kachina dolls and blankets, and some pretty scenery (when it wasn’t raining).

Today, Sunday, we hit the road about 8:00 AM.  Our intended destination was Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. We made it. We stopped in Moriarity, NM for lunch and gas, just east of Amarillo, Texas for a bathroom break (me, Stephanie and the puppies), and Erick, OK for more gas. We’re in Oklahoma City, OK for the night. Today, along the way, we saw the largest cross (I don’t know if it is the largest in the world, the US, or Texas), armadillo roadkill, lots of grass. We also passed by a cattle ranch, complete with odor… no scratch ‘n’ sniff required.

The puppies have been absolute angels the entire trip.

Our plan for Monday is to make it to Memphis, Tennessee. My parents are planning to drive up from West Point, Mississippi for a short visit. Who knows, it’s always possible that some other family members will ride with them.

More next time (hopefully, Monday night).

Italy

In 1993, I was sent to Aviano Air Base in Italy in support of Operation Deny Flight. That operation was to enforce the no-fly zone over Bosnia-Herzegovina. I was there for about two and a half months. We stayed in a small town called Pordenone, which is about a 20-30 minute ride to the base. It was probably the best temporary duty that I was sent on. I learned more Italian in those two and a half months than I learned German in the almost 5 years I was stationed at Spangdahlem Air Base in Germany.

The food was absolutely awesome. I’ve not found an Italian restaurant in the US that is equal to the little restaurants I ate at in Italy.

Pordenone is also about a 30 minute train ride north of Venice, so on a day off, a friend and I took the train to Venice for the day. Venice is a dichotomy. It’s a beautiful city, but the water is nasty. I don’t remember it smelling bad, but I can imagine that there are days when there is a foul stench in the air.

Anyway, enjoy the few photos I took in Pordenone and Venice.

Here’s a map for you to look at and see where I was. The green pointer is Pordenone, the blue one Aviano and the red one is Venice.