The VW fiasco

My first week in Dahlgren, Virginia I caught a horrible cold.  I was so sick I ached, my throat was sore, I couldn't stop coughing, and I couldn't sleep through the night.  I felt like a zombie as I sat in class, trying to pay attention but nothing really sinking in.  On Thursday, when my classmates headed out to go to the US Naval Academy for service selection night, when the midshipmen and women pick what ship they are going to, I was supposed to go with, but felt horrible and backed out.  My entire focus was on getting into my car, driving back to my BOQ room, and going to sleep.  The only problem was...my car wouldn't start!  After checking cables, fuses, getting a jump (worked once) and finally getting towed to the Fredricksburg VW dealer, they were able to repair it.  I ended up towing it on Saturday, and renting a car in case they weren't able to fix mine.  I received a call that afternoon, my VW was fixed, the 70,000 mile service was completed, the fuel filter was changed out, and my car was ready to go.  Whew!  Here's a picture of the car I rented (yes, it's the bright green one)...

I'm fortunate to be staying in the BOQ.  The majority of my classmates were called the week before class began to be given non-availability certificates.  I know it's easy to go home for lunch when I'm just a 1/2 mile away, and not having to deal with the gate traffic back-ups in the morning.  The only disadvantage is the room is cold - I'd say it averages 68 degrees in here, but the front desk guy told me the thermostats are actually set to 62 degrees!!  Are they crazy??!!  No wonder I got sick.  Here's pictures of my room.

Driving back across the states

In the early winter, I headed out to school in Dahlgren, Virginia.  For six weeks, I'm to attend Aegis and then Ballistic Missile Defense schools.  Brad drove with me out to Oklahoma, where we stayed for a couple days with Sally and Jerry.  Kaylee's birthday was Thursday, so we brought her presents with (headbands made by me, a DSI XL, and some other things).  Friday we were able to watch Macie's homecoming basketball game (they won), before we went back and Macie headed to the homecoming dance.

Brad stayed in Oklahoma for the weekend while I headed out Saturday morning and drove two days straight (stopping in Tennessee for the night) to Dahlgren to start classes on Monday.  I stopped for books on tape from Cracker Barrel and listened as I drove, making the hours just fly by.  I was lucky and was able to miss any significant weather on this drive also, though big storms came across the east coast both before and after my drive.  

Cookbook

I thought I'd start a blog about our favorite recipes.  Eventually, I may make it into a personal cookbook.  In reality, I just want to be able to find these good recipes quickly and not have to find those little pieces of paper scattered throughout the house!  There's a link in the sidebar or go here: http://nikkiandbradscookbook.blogspot.com/

Thoughts about Newport

While we still have a month left in Newport while I attend Prospective Commanding Officer (PCO) courses, I thought it was worth writing about some of the things I'll remember from our time here.

- Brad (and me once) flying acrobatic kites in the summer right at the Atlantic at Ocean Drive State Park.  Every afternoon the winds start blowing in from the water giving you perfect kite flying conditions.  Several people go to this park every day to fly their kites and enjoy the weather.

- Staying in three different places: the Newport Chalet - while upgraded is still an overpriced, small hotel room that smells funny; Building 447 BOQ - two rooms and a kitchen, nice enough buy across the water from Surface Warfare Officers School and the bed was so little we had to sleep touching and Brad's feet hung off the end; and finally Building 172 BOQ, just across the  parking lot from SWOS, bigger tvs, bigger bed (queen sized!), bigger rooms and convenient location.  Though it was funny when we switched to this room, Brad did it while I was on shipride in San Diego - I had suggested he see if there were any rooms with bigger beds that also had stovetops.  The BOQ desk let him check out this room and we decided to move.  Brad moves all our stuff by himself (big pain in the behind), and settles in.  The next day, as I'm getting off the airplane I get a text from Brad: "I don't know how I missed it, but there's no stove in this room."  Since a lack of a stove means the room only comes with a fridge and microwave, your cooking is really limited.  We improvised though, getting a hot plate for the room.  The best part of this room is the view - we look right out on Coaster's Harbor across Perry Rd bridge and Weenachasett bridge.  

- Toaster Ovens are awesome, I don't know how we went so long without one.  Not only can you make toast, but you can cook pizza, pizza rolls, garlic toast, etc. etc. without having to wait for the oven to warm up so you're done in less than half the time and the room isn't heated.  If you don't have one - GET ONE!

- Last night (and the inspiration for this blog), we went out to dinner for Newport Restaurant Week to the White Horse Tavern.  It was nice to get all dressed out an go on a date, eating a very nice three course meal with the addition of a cheese plate and a bottle of wine, for about 40% less than usual.  Excellent food - my favorites part was the cheese plate and the butternut bisque (I also had Chicken, mashed potatoes, corn, asparagus, and bread pudding for dessert).  Brad had ceasar salad, pork, butternut puree, asparagus, and the richest ever White and Chocolate Mousse.  All perfectly matched with a bottle of excellent Riesling.  And the ambiance - the White Horse Tavern was originally constructed as a house in 1652, then converted to a tavern in 1673.  Easily one of America's oldest taverns.  We ate upstairs, right next to a real fire in the fireplace.

- Going off and traveling the North East with Rhode Island as a base of operations.

- Checking out antique stores, flea markets, and estate sales.

- Watching the new series The Walking Dead on AMC.  About time a zombie tv show came out!

- Polishing rocks.

New England Part 3 - New Hampshire

The other place in New England that we traveled to in September was New Hampshire.  Our journey went New Hampshire - Maine - Massachusetts (the blogs are in reverse order).  In New Hampshire we had some key take aways:

1. Covered Bridges are always photogenic.

 2. When you can't find camping space and you're in a National Forest you can hike in and camp on the mountain side.

3. Regular Pringles and Chianti Classico go awesome together (especially on the aforementioned mountain side).

4. Old passenger railroad train cars are always cool.

 5. Even on the Mount Washington Auto Road you can't fit two cars wide in all places

 6. You can take pictures of rainbows from above rainbows (on the Auto Road)

7. Regardless of what the weather is like at the bottom of a mountain, it's always much colder (and windier) on top - put on your jacket and shoes (don't keep your sandals on like I did).

8. Small towns have great diners and craft fairs.
9. Not all antiques are valuable, sometimes they're just old.

10. River beds are great places to find rocks.

 11. The best part of camping is the campfire -- though more Chianti is never amiss.

New England Part 2 - Maine

Our next adventure in September took us to Maine, specifically to Mt Desert Island where Acadia National Park is located.  After packing up our campsite in New Hampshire, we headed west, driving on picturesque roads through Maine, stopping off occasionally to check out a dam, a river, antique stores, and whatever else struck our fancy.  Not everything was open since it was Labor Day, but what was open we enjoyed.  

Arriving on the Island, we drove to the Bed and Breakfast we were staying at, called Mira Monte Inn, and checked in.  Since the Inn had complimentary evening wine and cheese at 5:00, and it was about 90 minutes before then, we checked out our room (here's Brad sitting in it), verified the tide was out and then headed to the beach, a short walk about two blocks away.  There is an island in the bay at Bar Harbor, which can be reached by a land bridge during low tides.  That means, this entire stretch of rocky beach shown in the next two pictures, is under water when the tide comes in, as it did during the hour of our walk.  Brad and I enjoyed the awesome views and picked up some cool rocks off the beach, took in the wonderful aroma (sarcasm intended - the stinky dead fish / algae / seaweed smell was pretty strong), and then headed back to enjoy some wine.

The wine and cheese was not what we expected.  The owner of the Inn was holding court, and no one else was really saying anything instead of the guests socializing.  She was talking non stop about what the town used to be like, barely pausing for breath.  I made one comment, agreeing with her about something at one point, only to have everyone give me that look - you know the one you get when you speak when no one expects you to.  We then walked downtown Bar Harbor and had sea food for dinner.

The next morning we had a very good breakfast at the Inn and then headed to Acadia National Park.  


The park includes mountains, an ocean shoreline, woodlands, and lakes. In addition to Mount Desert Island, the park includes surrounding islands adn parts of the mainland and is topped by Cadillac Mountain, named after the French Explorer.  The top of the mountain is one of the first places in the United States to see the sunrise. Miles of carriage roads were originally built by Rockefeller, Jr. and offer hikers and bicycle riders views of the ocean, island lakes, and pine forests.  Brad and I took in all of these during our stay.  Starting out at the Park Visitor's Center, we headed out.  Most of this park is reached by a car driving route that circles the main part of the island.  Taking this driving route, we stopped at overlooks and different way points.  

This wooden elevated path was off one of those stops, this trail, about two miles total, heads out through bogs, woods and around to coastal views.  The wooded path keeps you out of the mud and off the ground, but when we cam out of the bog we headed along the wooded trail.  It was peaceful and idyllic, with beautiful views.

 Our next stops along the coastline had more breathtaking views of the bay.  We then took one of the roads out of the park back to Bar Harbor where we ate lunch at a restaurant overlooking the town center.  Stopping to do some shopping, we headed back into the park to see more views.

Since it was getting crowded on the main auto route through the park, Brad and I headed to the other side of the Island, where we came upon this Ford Explorer burning to the ground.  The guy in the front just lived along this road and tried to help, almost putting the fire out.  If we had put our fire extinguisher into the FJ (it's in the pickup), it might have made all the difference (we have one now).  The windows blew out and the metal started melting as the propane bottle they were carrying in the back of this SUV burned off.  The local fire department (all volunteer in this small town) showed up and put it out, but this vehicle is finished.  Brad asked the two little old ladies who owned this if they needed any help (they were traveling with their little dog), but they turned us down.
After the excitement ended, we drove off, heading off road into the woods where we found this lake in the woods.

We then found ourselves back along the coast line where we did some beach combing, looking for tide pools.  

Heading further around the island we stopped at the Bass Harbor Head Light House.  This light house includes the home of the local Coast Guard commander, but tourists can walk down to it and around two sides of the building.  I guess they sacrifice some privacy to live in such a wondrous location.  (I'd do it, wouldn't you??).

 We then drove back into the main part of the park where we saw woods, lakes, and more coastline.  It's stunning scenery and a MUST SEE if you ever go to Maine.

 As I mentioned the park includes several miles of very nice gravel roads put in by Rockefeller years ago for carriages to drive around on, but now only accessible by foot or bike.

 We ended up at the top of Cadillac Mountain, where you can see for miles.  The weather was beautiful and the view fantastic.

We ended up our night in Maine back at the Inn and then walking downtown for a wonderful dinner at McKay's Public House.

New England Part 1

I'm still catching up on some of our recent travels - my apologies for posting blogs out of order :-)

After Command Leadership School ended, Brad and I took a week of vacation to travel around the North East during the first full week of September.  We went to New Hampshire camping, Maine to Acadia National Park, and to Massachusetts where we attended the largest antique fair in the world, before we headed down to New Jersey to pick up my car.  Believe it or not, New Jersey is the furthest north location on the east coast to ship a vehicle from or to when traveling overseas.  In Europe, they deliver the car to your base.  In the US, they expect you to travel hundreds of miles to bring (or pick up) your car with them.  Since this involves a trip through New York City, it guarantees you travel at unusual times or you'll be in traffic.

The antique fair in Brimfield, Mass happens three times a year and lasts for a week.  Brad and I went to it on Thursday and spent a full day there from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and probably only walked 15% of the stalls.   By the end of the day I called Mercy, though I think Brad still wanted to keep going.  We did pick up a couple things (a plane, some rulers, some files, a magnifying glass, some knitting needles...), but eyeballed a whole lot more.  Even now I'm still mildly regretting not buying that corner chair that was such a good deal...

Since the hotels book up months in advance in the area, we camped out at Wells State Park, camping by the lake.  Unfortunately the idyll was somewhat disrupted by the highway on the other side of the lake with truck drivers using their jake brakes - why they'd need these heavy duty brakes when the road is flat there, I'll never know...

Vermont!

 Brad and I took a weekend trip to Vermont to go camping in mid-September.  We were surprised to see that the leaves were well into their color change, since there was no change just a couple hours south in Newport.  The weather was beautiful for our weekend.

We drove to camp at Emerald Lake State Park just north of Manchester, VT.  This State Park is great with heated showers, lots of trees, a beautiful lake with paddle boats, canoes and picnic areas.  We arrived fairly late friday night (getting there at 9 p.m.).  Since we had made reservations we headed right to our site, to find the area deserted, all the other campers and RVs at the park were in the other areas.  Setting up our tent we started our campfire and took it easy.

The next morning, after getting up we headed to Manchester for breakfast.  Manchester, VT is an interesting place with many high end outlet stores and restaurants.  We ate breakfast at the eclectic little restaurant called Up For Breakfast.  Not only is it a cool name, you had to go upstairs to the second floor to get there.  We then walked around the town and checked out some stores, including a neat bookstore and some cool antique shops.

 Since one of the reasons I picked this place to go was so we could hike to Lye Brook Falls, we headed off up the trail.  We found some neat rocks (collecting rocks is a new hobby of ours) and enjoyed being in the woods.  The waterfall itself was a bit disappointing and the hike there is almost all uphill, so we didn't enjoy it as much as we wanted to, but it was beautiful in the woods on a beautiful day with the colors changing all around us.  We then went back to our campsite to enjoy steak and potatoes for supper cooked over the campfire, with a bottle of Chianti Classico :-) accompanying it.

 The next day we packed up our campsite and headed back, planning to spend the day stopping at anything that struck our fancy on the drive back.  After getting breakfast at a neat donut shop in town, we headed out.  We stopped at covered bridges, looked for rocks in river beds, checked out antique shops, and more.

At one antique shop we found a big ship's wheel at a bargain price and bought that as well as a 1943 edition of the Bluejacket's Manual.  This place had an old barn with a bunch of stuff in it, in addition to the house filled with antiques.  The barn was creepy, with the boards bending significantly under our weight, with no lights and FILLED with stuff.  Brad was scared he'd fall through!