Fort Hike.  One day Eric and I checked out the old defenses for Brisbane on the island.  It was pretty cool and being the largest Koala preserve in AU we figured this was our opportunity to see some.  We sure did.  They were all sleeping though as it was pretty warm that day.  The views were beautiful from the top of the island.  At one point we heard a loud "Boom!" and were freaking out because we weren't sure what it was.  Then we remembered what our boat captain said when we were snorkeling.  No we hadn't been transported back in time on a Dharma Island, it was the AU Air Force practicing bombing runs on Rattlesnake Island nearby.

The one thing that did make us nervous was learning of one of the island residents: The Death Adder.  Lovely name for a snake, and apparently accurate.  That kept us aware of the trail as we were hiking.    

Being on the Great Barrier Reef, of course we went snorkeling.  It was very reasonable, the food was great too. Eric got so enamored with feeding the Batfish he stayed in the water way to long.  Good thing I brought a sweatshirt.  both of us forgot towels, but all the folks on the tour with us chipped theirs in to wrap a teeth-chattering blue Eric up in them so he could get his core temp back to normal.  The coral IS amazing there on the reef, and we were only snorkeling. I cant imagine what it is like on a dive.

Who would be a better traveling companion than Eric? I have no idea.  From the get go his trip was nutty. He missed his connecting flight in SFO because of a medical emergency on the leg from PHX.  The Plan was 3 days in Sydney for me, then we meet at the airport the day I fly up to Maggie.  I ended up traveling up there myself and meeting him at the Ferry in Townsville. Yeah ah.. no comment on the ferry terminal...

Magnetic Island, AU. When looking for a break between school, and heading to the sandbox I sought a retreat that was quiet and restful.  'Maggie' as the locals call her was just the tart for the job.  As laid back as Jimmy Buffet, and as exotically beautiful as Salma Hayek.  The masseuse we met was down from England on holiday, came over from Townsville for a day and never returned... and this is 2 years later.

Accidents Happen.  I cant wait for it to come out on DVD one of the funniest and slightly tragic movies I have seen in a long time.  I laughed so hard in parts I almost cried! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1119123/ Geena Davis is a stellar performer.

On the waterfront

Norfolk, VA. Joseph and I having a few beers and dinner before going out on the town.  Definitely a great place to hang out in Southern Virginia.  The Navy get all the good spots...

DC train station... for some reason the phrase 'Final Five' kept running around my head when I saw these guys.  Beautiful architecture in the place.

Hands down one of the loveliest ladies in Scottsdale :)

Summer in the city

Like I said..

Summertime...

One of my favorites, lounging by the pool on a Sunday afternoon with good friends.

Ah those DC nights... Jumbo Slice, Route 60 at 3am... Mario Kart afternoons, Halo.. and everywhere in-between.  Good times.

Weekends on the lake... spent a nice afternoon decompressing at one of the state parks here in Virginia. Bear Creek State Park. It was a beautiful day out. The trails were pretty flat but the cabins.. the CABINS here are amazing. They are what my tax bracket call homes.

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2549 miles. 7 days, lots of friends and family to visit. Only 5 weeks to go... I can't wait!

SCHOOL'S OUT FOR THE SUMMER
I am finally in the last phase of my school here in Southern Virginia. I am both anxious and bittersweet about heading home to Arizona. The end of this will mark the beginning of a heinously crazy time of my life. I return to a high-speed no-time for relaxing period... well almost.

I return for a few weeks then have a week of automation (computer systems) training. After that I am taking a real vacation. Australia!!! Woo Hooo. This will be my first time 'down under'. Then I return to continue trying to find new tenants for my rental properties. A couple weeks later I start the push for training for my troops until we deploy to Southwest Asia in the fall. Then return in the fall of 2010.

I dont know what I am doing with the pups. That is my biggest angst about the entire deployment. I came back from school for Presidents' day weekend and they were so PISSED that I left again. Plus I find myself reallly missing them.

More to follow....

My home for 8 hours. What was to be a 2.5 hour ride turned with the snow. 6-8". Apparently snow and trains don't fare too well. The first snag was getting stuck behind a broken train. The one that left 2 hours before ours. I'm glad I was not on that one. Next was the cargo train derailed in front of us. They backed ours up to bus us in. The engineers changed the plan after an hour and squeaked by the derailed one. Then we backed up to a station. Oh but wait some trees fell on the tracks. They got some guys out with chainsaws and cleared those. Now I am moving forward, bit they need to change tracks again. They are changing them manually, so i think that will add 1/2 hour again to this trip. Once I get to Richmond Station I still have to drive 30 min in this weather. I hope my car is not plowed in. At least they closed post tomorrow so I have no school. What a long trip this is.