This past weekend, I spent a couple days in Wilmington, NC where I spent 5 months on exchange last year. The whole trip up there started out a little rough as Friday, after only a few hours sleep (yes, watching the midnight premiere of The Dark Knight was not the best idea when you have to get up and be ready by 8:30am) I stumbled down to my car around 9am, cursing the sunlight, and wishing I could just go back to bed. As I approached my car, my frown got even lower as I saw a parking ticket on my [View Full Entry]

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Well, the rental van didn't work out so we put down 2/3 of the bench seat in the Subaru, put the gear box on the luggage rack and headed out. The dogs have been fantastic - they settled right in. Our only mishap was, literally, pulling away from the house when Rowan decided to sit on Piper's lap. That was 100 lbs. of dog she didn't particularly want sitting on her. We made a barricade using the cooler to keep Rowan away from Piper and headed out again. We stopped at a gas station that had a lone picnic table [View Full Entry]

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It's a long, tiring series of flights to get to Wrightsville, but Keith has a meeting back in the states, so we are able to spend time with friends and family. Hank's new job as captain allowed them a quick trip from Charleston. Keith was very pleased with his son's ability to handle the boat, and relished the time spent on the water, with Hank. It was good to be able to see folks and catch up with gossip and news about our hometown. Repeatedly we heard "what an opportunity, to travel, see new places, experience Europe, ect" With that said [View Full Entry]

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Entry #2 The last two weeks ADam and I have been spending time at the local attractions and going to the beach. My parents live in Sunset Beach, NC. The beach is only 2 km from their house. So, I like to go to the beach when I'm here. At about 10 km long, the beach is huge. It's easy to sneak away to the edge of the beach and find a nice bit of solitude. Walking-Walking: ADam and I have been using the time at my parents house to relax and also to prepare for our upcoming adventure. The high [View Full Entry]

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Day number three together. And we haven't killed each other! In fact, I'm starting to enjoy traveling around with my own personal historian. He is a never ending fountain of military knowledge, which turns these sightseeing trips into learning experiences. Today we headed out once more to Fort Fisher. We'd wanted to actually tour the fort yesterday, but it had been reserved for a wedding, oddly enough. Yes, let's begin our lives together on a Civil War battlefield where 8,000 people died. But the wedding party was cleared out this afternoon, and we did a walking tour of what is [View Full Entry]

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We got up late this morning and decided to head out. I guess I should make clear that Jerry comes down here for vacation a few times a year, and he used to live in this area. He knows where he's going and it's not a huge disappointment if we don't see everything. So sleeping in was a much looked forward to point of this trip. Jerry coaxed me out of bed with the promise of the Fort Fisher Aquarium, so I grumped all the way to the shower and got ready, making sure to be out the door before [View Full Entry]

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Today we left for North Carolina, and discovered what true DC traffic really is. Even though we got out of town a full two hours before rush hour, we were unlucky enough to leave at the same time as all the other long weekenders. You know, sometimes we forget that Jerry doesn't work at the only place that releases early for government holidays. We'd dropped off Ginger at the cat clinic and head out on our way. We'd tried for two days to get the air conditioning fixed, but the place we went to never had anyone qualified to do it! [View Full Entry]

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It has been 8 days since I got my PADI Open Water certification here in Wilmington, North Carolina and I am still ecstatic beyond belief...I can't believe I haven't added this to my travelblog yet. I came here to North Carolina to spend a semester in the sun and get a little taste of the Southeast US, to make friends, to take my first class with 200 people, to play softball (we don't have it in Alaska), and to enjoy a whole new college experience. But along with all of this, I finally got the chance to get scuba certified [View Full Entry]

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Ride Report Cape Fear 1000 I have wanted to do a road rally ever since I read the blogs about the 2005 Iron Butt Rally. Its that 11K miles in 11 days rally that Iron Butt Association has every 2 years. I guess it is really hard to get into the rally, there are a long applicants and only a limited number of spots. I am not up for that kind of extreme riding anyway. But since I had read those blogs I had been interested in doing one of those kind of rallies. I have been looking for one that [View Full Entry]

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Untitled PierceI have been enjoying my vacation, my vacation from work and now my vacation from my bike. I am relaxing in wonderful Kure Beach, NC, the same place that I have been visiting to get away from the Army for the last three years. It's a little weird for me to say but I am actually glad to be back in North Carolina and especially Kure Beach. It has been a tough journy through the southern states of Georgia and South Carolina where the roads are so narrow and the traffic is so busy. I have some good memories [View Full Entry]

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