2 Days in Iowa / And We're Off!

We made it home on Monday afternoon, September 7. Curtis and Charlotte were reunited, and we were finally together as a family of 3 again! 

We had 2 full days of being in Iowa before we planned to hit the road again. In those 2 days, we really just focused on spending time with our families, because we know it won't always be so easy to get away and come for a visit!

We spent one whole day with Curtis' family, helping prepare the house to sell and saying goodbye to Curtis' childhood home. The next day we spent with my family - my grandparents came for a quick visit, and we met with our dear friends and mentors, Ken and Marsha. Besides all this, we worked on consolidating and packing what "few" things we had brought with us and preparing for our trip.

We left on Thursday morning, September 10. Here we are, trying to get some last pictures, but the puppies would have none of it. ;)

And off we went! The first day was our longest drive - 12 hours to Cheyenne, WY. It probably could have been shorter, but we decided to take highway 30 through Iowa and all the way to Grand Island, NE, for the sake of new roads! No matter how you go about it though, Nebraska is a big state, and it will always take forever to drive across it!

Happy to be traveling together again! Charlotte quickly decided that the front row was the place to be. It didn't matter that she had all the space she could want in the back, because we had my mom's fresh, homemade cookies in the front...

We stopped around Ogden, IA for a letterbox, and were not disappointed - the carve was fantastic! Charlotte also enjoyed wandering freely down the quiet gravel road.

I think it's impossible for us to drive through Nebraska without a severe thunderstorm going on. I won't complain, at least the clouds gave us something interesting to look at. ;)

We enjoyed watching the sun set just before we made it to Wyoming. Usually, when we do our Iowa to Arizona/Arizona to Iowa drive, our goal is to get it over with as fast as possible - which typically means either drive straight through, or maybe pull over to get a couple hours of rest before continuing on. However, we had some extra time for this trip, so we decided to take advantage of it and take our time getting back. 

Last May, we set a record time of driving straight to Iowa in 27 hours, stopping only for gas and letterboxes. This time, we now have a record for the longest time to make the journey: 10 days. 10 wonderfully peaceful, relaxing, adventurous days making our way across Colorado and the gorgeous Rocky Mountains.

The only reservations we made were for the first night in Cheyenne. After that, we wanted the trip to be as flexible as possible, just doing whatever we felt like each day and going between camping or hotels every night. We hadn't ever done a trip like this, so we tried to keep an open mind. Of course we also had Charlotte with us, which limited what we could do wherever we went. But between advice from friends, letterboxes, and Pinterest finds, we thought we could find enough to do to take up a week. It was a new adventure, and we were more than ready!

But first, a good night's sleep in a hotel. They gave us a room with 2 beds. Charlotte approved.

OCS Graduation

September 3 & 4, 2015

I'd like to start off this post with explaining some things: I know that I've been rather vague on here throughout the summer as to where Curtis was and what exactly he was doing. This was all intentional, and will be something you can expect whenever I talk about the Navy. I won't be telling locations, dates, or what he's doing. That isn't what this blog is about anyway - this is just about US, our marriage, and our adventures. This is obviously a public blog, and I don't want to take any chances. I think there's nothing wrong with being too careful. If you are familiar with OPSEC and ever think I'm sharing too much, please let me know! 

With that out of the way, here are my favorite memories from Curtis' graduation!

Curtis was able to leave base that afternoon, so we went out with our families to explore downtown Newport. It is such a charming town, old architecture mixed with modern shops and restaurants, all down the same block. Fun fact: Newport is known as being America's first resort.

But of course, among all the beauty and bustle of the downtown area, my favorite part was walking around hand in hand with Curtis. I felt like the luckiest girl in the world walking with this handsome man in uniform. ;)

After our afternoon tour, we went to a celebratory dinner for his class, where we enjoyed the short ceremony of recognition, and meeting some of his friends.

After the ceremony, with the Pell Bridge and sun setting behind the clouds.

Because we've been severely deprived of kissing pictures this summer... ;)

The next morning, we started back at the base to watch the class put on a "fun run and public beating," as Curtis called it. We watched them all run together while chanting/singing, which Curtis told us was completely for our entertainment because they never did this throughout their 12 week training. 

And finally, that afternoon was the graduation! We were able to fit in pictures before the ceremony so that we could get out of there right after to see more of Newport.

It was a little windy that day. :)

With Curtis' family...

And my family!

Finally, the ceremony! Seeing all these newly commissioned ensigns graduate together is probably the most patriotic thing I've seen - even more than visiting Mt. Rushmore around 4th of July. ;) Going into the ceremony, it felt like such a huge milestone for all the challenges faced over the summer, but it also reminded me that their careers in the Navy are only just beginning. This is just the start of a whole new adventure! 

Pass in review

Reciting the Oath of Office

Dismissed!

Curtis' company

Receiving his commissioning

So proud of him. :)

FREEDOM! Once it was all over, we took off to see more of Newport with our families. Oh, it took about 2 ½ hours for Curtis to say "I want to go back to OCS." I'm pretty sure he was joking. ;)

We headed to the coast to see the ocean and walk on the Cliff Walk - a path that goes along the coast, offering great views of the ocean, the land on the other side, and the gorgeous mansions along the trail. The sad thing is, Curtis had been here in Rhode Island for 12 weeks, and this was his first time seeing the actual ocean - he had only seen the bay on base!

The mansions here were incredible, and there were so many of them in this area!

After walking the path for about an hour, we went to Anthony's Sea Food for dinner. This restaurant was featured on the show Diners, Drive Ins and Dives and offered some amazing sea food to make our trip to Rhode Island complete! We especially loved the clam cakes and the Portuguese Fish Chowder. Some of us even ventured out and had our first crab legs and steamed mussels.  

To finish off the night, we went to find some letterboxes and see the sun set at the Castle Hill Lighthouse. Our time in Newport was super short but very sweet, and now all the memories of missing Curtis this summer are covered up by the fun we had together in this beautiful place.

Most of these pictures were taken by my mother-in-law, Julie - I was too busy enjoying Curtis to take any. :) You can visit her photography website here: countrymilephotography.smugmug.com