Elizabeth City United Coast Guard Station - North Carolina

April 23rd Friday - Sunny Beautiful Weather - 78 degrees

We left Cherry Point at 10:00 am, we were surprised to hear a familiar voice as we were putting the jacks up and it was Trav, he was a work, and on his way to the Vet, and saw us still in our spot, so he stopped to see if he could help us in any way. Very typical of this guy, so we got to say goodbye to him again and we were off.

We traveled up route 17 through rural North Carolina. The huge fields of winter wheat are about to head out. We also saw crop duster planes flying around taking care of their duties for this time of the year. The huge fields of cotton that we saw last October are now dormant awaiting the hum of tractors that will till the ground once again. We saw many huge tractors out in the fields tilling them up making them ready to accept the seed.

The Azaleas are just beautiful everywhere along with the dogwood and we even saw iris bloomed along with creeping phlox in beautiful lavender and blue. As Lou told me we would be able to enjoy spring for the majority of the month of April.

We went through Hertford, NC, kids do you remember, that is the hometown of Cat Fish Hunter, the great ball player.

We arrived on the Coast Guard Base and found it just beautiful, and we are in the midst of a small forest and it seems nice to see grass and trees and the water isn't very far away. I have tired to include some of the pictures that Lou and I took this afternoon as we drove around the base. Many many planes and helicopters here also, along with the ships.

We drove out to the Assisted Living Home where Aunt Hettie is and talked with her this afternoon, and she is so excited that we are coming back tomorrow and taking her to her home town to visit with family and friends, she named off many folks that she wants to see. She was so glad to see Estee and told us she had her picture on her dresser from last October. We told her goodbye and promised to see her at 10:00 tomorrow even if it rained and we would tour Gumneck.

Sunday we are going to attend church here on the base then meet friends for lunch and site see again in the afternoon, then Monday morning we will start north, again taking our time coming home, as we know we are going to be busy when we hit home.

Cherry Point Marine Base - North Carolina

April 22nd Thursday - Clear - Sunny - low 56 degrees

We are at Cherry Point Marine Base - Which is part of the Crystal Coast - North Carolina’s southern outer banks.

We are parked in a RV park provided by the base, which is in view of Travis and Noell’s home. (Shawn, we are two sites down from where you and Maegan were parked) This is really convenient for all of us, we can walk down to the kids house and just leave our car parked.

Lou and I ate lunch at the Japanese restaurant on base at lunch time and then went to the Commissary to restock our shelves and

By the time we finished putting all away, it was time to go over and see the baby and his family. Wyatt has grown so much since we saw him last. Noell is so good to keep up a blog of his activities with videos and such, so the family can stay connected with all of them. Doing blog also, I can appreciate the time and efforts she puts into this project and I try to view it daily, as I do with each of my girls. I look forward to seeing them everyday, even when we are at home, but especially when we are traveling.

Lou and I spent time taking with Noell and Wyatt until it was time for Trav to return home from work, then we caught up on things and went out to dinner at the Sanitary. A favorite for all of us, we all had seafood and wonderful desserts. Lou and Wyatt were our entertainment for the evening. After dinner we returned to their house and enjoyed looking at all of the pictures Maegan and Noell had taken over Easter of their visit here. What a pleasure to see first hand that the little girls had a great time at the ocean enjoying the sand and the water. Girls, look at the sandcastle that Lou and I found at the beach on Monday. No one around so have no idea who made it, but a lot of time went into it. Maybe an idea for your next visit to the ocean.

Thursday pm

Will add a PS to the original and get it posted. Lou and I sorta wasted the day, we had made a phone call to our road assistance to check about the towing company that towed us the first time, and they asked us to wait and they wanted to contact the company first and see how they made out and they would be back with us. So therefore, we didn’t dare leave the phone and the file of info to go site seeing.

At 3:30 we decided we would get out and we drove over to the airfield and watched the harrier fly around.

We went out to eat tonight and had something I had never had, fried dill pickles, pretty good.

The picture of Travis’ house is taken from their side yard, and then I turned around and pointed the camera to the RV Park, so you can see how close to their house we are.

Also, pictures of Travis’ uniform and all of his medals, truly a grandson and his family that we are very proud of.

We are off Elizabeth City at the Coast Guard Station.

Leaving Camp Lejeune, NC

April 21st - Wednesday - rainy

We have been without internet coverage since we left Fort Fisher, therefore, have not posted to our blog. Our cell phone coverage has also been very poor also.

Today we left Camp Lejeune and drove to Cherry Point Marine Base where my grandson is stationed. We will be here for two days, then traveling on to Elizabeth City.

Our stay in Camp Lejeune, which is the largest Marine Base on the east coast. It is always a very interesting place to visit and we enjoy it immensely as it is always busy with activity.

Our camp site bordered the intercostals’ waterway, and the ocean on the other side, so lots of breeze and boat and ship traffic.

Yesterday Lou and I spent the day doing odds and end jobs, getting ready for the trip back north. He built a new wire harness for the lighting system from the RV to the car. I cleaned and caught up on all of the laundry, as we were parked very close to the laundry, finished my ironing, cleaned out the drawers and regular weekly cleaning.

As we were doing our duties we watched troops and equipment come across the bridge and go down to the barge to be loaded and taken out to the ship to be sent on to Afghanistan. We saw four buses of troops and all night last night we heard the helicopters going over our RV. We were told they were transporting troops to fly out this morning. You can note in the pictures of some of the equipment that was loaded. This went on all afternoon, so that will give you an idea of what all was entailed. Makes one remember to continue to pray for our troops that are still involved in active combat and those in training.

Here at Cherry Point, the home of the Harrier , is a much smaller base; however, a favorite of mine, suppose it is because I have a grandson and his family here. This base is not a deployment base, so these boys know they are pretty much safe for the time being. Travis is in the K-Nine division and loves the work and the dogs that he has the pleasure of working with.

We do not have internet coverage here either, but will take my computer to Trav’s house and try to post a blog each day while we are here and have a chance to check our e-mail.

We are off to the commissary to get some groceries and be ready to be at Trav’s when he gets home and then we are all going out to dinner

Leaving Fort Fisher

April 18th - Sunday Cold and windy, low 57

We pulled out the long pants and jackets this am and walked over to the Museum to take a look at the equipment they had sitting outside. All was rather interesting.

This will be real quick as DH is ready to go, and we have made reservations at Camp Lejuene for three nights and will leave there on Wednesday and journey up to Travis and Noell's home. Will post more later.

Had a phone call from a friend that is traveling in the south and he said that his home town of Troy was to have an inch of snow,so guys we aren't in any hurry.

More later