Hugs in the Bay Area

So my original goal destination on the west coast was San Diego. But when I thought I was flying into Travis AFB just nearby, I got in touch with my Bay Area friends and family. Turns out they were all free to see me the Sunday I would be in town. When the time came to book my ticket, I could have spent the same amount of miles and money to head to San Diego, mission accomplished. But thinking about all the people I would get to see and all the extra hugs from people I love, I just couldn't turn down a stop in the Bay Area.


Courtney picked me up at SFO extremely sleep deprived. It is not nearly as easy to sleep on an overnight flight when you are crammed into a seat surrounded by people. I much preferred my sleeping bag nest among the pallets on the military flight! But I rallied knowing brunch would have lattes and headed out to a cute restaurant called Luna Park in the Mission area where Courtney lives. We had a great visit with Nick's cousin Debi, her husband John and their little girl Madison. Debi is expecting twins in March. She looks great!

After a quick hello to Ben, Court and I headed south to San Jose for an awesome dinner with our cousins Dawn, Kurt, Katie and Olivia. One of our favorite things to do together is play "Just Dance" on the Wii. So fun hanging out with them!

 My Girls

 Dawn, Katie, Olivia, Courtney & Moi

It was a short stop, no question, but it was well worth the lost sleep and the extra plane ticket to get to see everyone. Already can't wait for my next visit!

Ice Reunion in Alaska

The picture to the left is of the previously unthinkable. Me in Alaska... in January... smiling. Who would have thought? It was cold, all right (about 7 degrees when this picture was taken), but I think the sheer spontaneity of the fact that I was in a state I'd never been to on a day I'd never expected to be there with friends I hadn't expected to see numbed me (appropriately) to the single digit temperatures and five hours/day of pseudo-daylight of the 24... and then 48... hours I was there.

In my previous post, I mentioned the chance to see my good friends Ashley and Robbie was a big draw of venturing so far off course on my way back to the States (anyone else find it slightly ironic that they live in Alaska and their last name is Ice?). Admittedly, part of the draw was the sheer convenience of not having to figure out Alaska on my own, but more importantly for a chance to reconnect with such awesome friends. I met Ashley in college at Florida at the very beginning of my sophomore year. We were eating lunch at our sorority house. She was one of the "potential new members," and we older sisters were supposed to make an effort to get to know the new pledge class. After a brief conversation, I knew I had found my prospective "Little Sister" because she and I had an immensely important thing in common: We were both dating guys at military academies. 

Though Ashley was a year younger than me, she had known her then boyfriend Robbie and had been dating him for longer, plus they already had two years of long distance down since he first left for the Air Force Academy with plans to become a pilot. I couldn't believe how much we instantly had in common in terms of the difficulties in communication, the expenses of visiting, the struggle to make our way through the dating-obsessed world of the Gator social scene while attached to instant messenger. In addition, we both had already chosen these guys when Nine-Eleven happened the year before, and so the prestige and romance of the military academy experience was overshadowed by the reality and severity of their future military careers. We weren't just dating for fun at that point. We knew, on some level, that these guys were our futures and their career choices were very much a part of our decision to continue "dating a keyboard."

Kate, Ashley, Me, Kristen, Courtney & Kim on our wedding day :)

It dawned on me after I (finally) got on the flight to head to Alaska that it had been five and a half years since I'd seen these two. They drove down from Wichita Falls, TX to Houston for our wedding weekend. Ashley was one of several sorority sisters who came in for the celebration and mini-reunion.

Five and a half years later, here she and Robbie were picking me up in Alaska at 1:30 in the morning after my flight from Guam. And, now nine months pregnant, Ashley looked a little different than the last time I saw her!

Planning to only be in Alaska for 24 hours before hopping a flight to the Bay Area, Ashley helped me pack in a mini-tour of Anchorage in the short time we had. We started out by trying to go for a short hike, but quickly went back to the car upon discovering the trail was completely icy (not a good idea for el bebe) and I was sufficiently freezing three minutes after getting out of the car. I took this picture of the thermometer in Ashley's rearview mirror, but I should have waited until later that day when it said 3 instead of 10. Even so, 10 was a rather ridiculous temperature drop from the 88 degrees I soaked in as I boarded the plane in Guam just hours before.

Me, Ashley & Robbie

After our "hike," I joined Ashley for one of their previously scheduled events, lunch at Robbie's squadron for a going away party of sorts. Robbie's squadron is deploying to Japan and before they return, Ashley and Robbie will be drastically changing climates and moving to Hawaii. So we ate pizza in their squadron bar and listened to some speeches about how great an asset he had been to the squadron. That's always nice to hear, but not as nice to hear as the beautiful words Robbie had to say about Ashley when he had the floor. I was so proud to be there to hear Robbie thank his wife (my friend!) for always supporting him, even while plowing through grad school, working full-time as a second grade teacher, and carrying his baby. Yeah, military wives are pretty impressive across the board. Even the Air Force ones, it turns out (badoom-ching!). This was perhaps my favorite five minutes of my, albeit short, stay in Alaska. So great to witness firsthand that the authentic love these two shared years ago when I met them has carried them through all these years. That just gives me the warm fuzzies (the warm part being a major bonus about this point).

Next on the one-day tour of Anchorage was a combined "welcome back to America" type visit... shopping at REI! Okay, so not the most original Alaska stop, but major bonus that they don't have sales tax and it was still post-Christmas sales. It sounds so silly, because I have certainly done plenty of shopping in Tokyo, New Zealand, and even Guam, but it still felt so amazing to be in an American store for the first time in six months. People who worked there were helpful (weird). And they had a great selection of colors, sizes, fabrics, and prices (also weird). All in all, it was a great stop that made me even more excited about the fun to come these next few weeks.

That night for our last meal, Ashley and Robbie took me to the Bear Tooth Grill, an awesome restaurant that served its own microbrews. I got halibut fish tacos (locally caught Alaskan halibut... yum!). We took this picture thinking it was our last hurrah and continued back to Ashley and Robbie's so I could start my long night ahead of packing and traveling. All packed up, I drove Ashley's car to the Elmendorf terminal, arriving 30 minutes before roll call for the 0225 flight to Travis AFB near Oakland, CA. It was a bit intimidating that my first time driving more than 50 mph was in someone else's car on an icy freeway in the middle of the night in a city I'd never been to before (not ideal). But everything went just fine. That is, until i got to the terminal and discovered the flight had been diverted to Japan and would possibly take off the next day. Directions were given to call in the morning for an update. I headed back to the Ices, put sheets back on the bed (that's what I get for being a polite guest), and fell asleep not knowing what the next day would bring.

The next day I got my first real taste of the Space-A frustration. When I called at 7am, I found out the flight was now scheduled to depart Alaska at 0300 the next morning. Another night of driving on icy roads, showing up at a freezing terminal, and taking my chances that I would find my way out of Alaska, especially since the plane had picked up more cargo in Japan and they couldn't guarantee there would be any seats. Not awesome. At this point, I was really ready to get to California and start my previously planned visits, so I checked out my commercial options and was relieved to see I could book a flight on miles and get to San Francisco by 10am the next morning, all for $5.00. It was temping, for a minute, to fly straight to San Diego, but since I'd already been planning to fly into the Bay Area, I had made tentative plans with some really awesome people. It was too many great hugs to turn down, so I stuck to Plan A, well, Plan B at this point :)

The extra day in Alaska was pretty awesome, all things considered. For Ashley, it was the first Saturday in two years she didn't have homework to do. With their baby's impending birth scheduled for the following Friday, it was the last Saturday they had to not yet be parents for, well, the rest of their lives. I had already crammed in the Anchorage-type things I wanted to do. So the three of us just hung out and did absolutely as little as possible.

One of the things we did do was talk a lot about Guam and Alaska. It was amazing to me how many similarities we found in the ways we approached living in these two very different places. Like in Guam, people in Alaska don't check the weather. Ashley explained, "The weather doesn't keep us from doing anything. If you plan to go hiking and it snows, you go hiking anyway." Pretty similar to Guam where getting an accurate weather forecast is nearly impossible, and getting rained on is nearly certain.

One of the other similarities was the availability of fresh fish. I got to experience this again firsthand that night when they treated me to a dinner of wild King Salmon that Robbie caught the previous summer. I meant to take a picture of our beautiful dinner, but didn't think of it until our plates were empty. Robbie had a brilliant backup idea, and he sent me this picture he took of the actual fish we ate just after it was caught. Pretty awesome :)

As Ashley and Robbie dropped me off at the Anchorage airport, I found myself in a very grateful place. I was so grateful for the precious time we'd spent catching up on our very different but very similar lives. I was grateful to have had friends help me maneuver my way through a midpoint Space-A stop as well as winter in Alaska. I loved getting to check a new state off my list. Though I didn't see much of it, Alaska is absolutely beautiful and it's definitely somewhere I hope Nick and I make it to one day. Hey, if I can do it in January, the rest of the year can't be so bad, right?

All that, and I found myself particularly grateful that I had a boarding pass in my hand on a confirmed flight that had already made a space for me. No more uncertainty! And at the end of this flight would be another familiar face. Not my "little sister," but this time, my big sister :) Just like that, I was off to California, my second stop on what was quickly becoming my reunion tour of America.

****UPDATE! Ashley and Robbie had their baby, Robert Jeffrey Ice on January 14, 2011. Mom and baby are doing well. Can't wait to meet little Jeffrey in Hawaii one day soon!

Space-Adventure!

Ever since I left my second job in November, I have been tentatively planning to come back to the States for a visit in January. Nick was going to be off island, things at the church would be fairly low key, and the rest of my days were wide open. Combine that with one of the military's most lucrative benefits---Space-A travel---and I had a recipe for a glorious visit.

In Space-A travel, the "A" technically stands for "available." But it could just as easily stand for "adventure." Every day the military has different kinds of planes in transit for various reasons between its bases all over the world. One of the benefits of being an active duty spouse stationed overseas is having access to fly Space-Available without my sponsor (Nick). Basically, if there's an available seat and you want on, you've got a free flight to wherever the plane is heading. The catch is that the flight you're waiting for may not take passengers, may not take off, or may not ever even arrive.

Being in Guam the past six months, I've heard a number of exciting and horrifying stories about Space-A, which is why I approached my trip back to the States hesitantly. Some stories I've heard boast about how easy it was for someone to drive from their house five minutes from the terminal, get on a plane that stopped once in Hawaii and fly onward to a base just miles from their final destination all for the fabulous bargain price of zero dollars. On the other hand, I've also heard stories of people who tried every single day for two solid weeks to get off Guam. And others who got on a plane to head back to Guam who flew halfway home only to have the plane turn around midair and return to its takeoff spot where passengers had to start all over again waiting for a flight. All in all, it's a total gamble. But considering the possibility of seeing so many friends and family while I had the time to spare, I figured it was worth the risk.

So Wednesday afternoon, Nick and I drove to the air force base, 45 minutes from home, to find out the flight outlook for the next 72 hours. I'd been tracking flights all week by calling the 24-hour hotline and I knew that there hadn't been any the last few days. I was a bit worried that whatever flights there were would be packed with interested passengers who had been trying to get out amid the absence of flights. The guy at the terminal said there wasn't much in the next few days. The first flight he told us about was to Elmendorf Air Force Base. I looked at Nick and said, "Umm, isn't that in Alaska?" Sure enough. I laughed out loud and quickly moved on with, "Okay, what else you got?" There was a plane going to Hawaii then on to Northern California three days out, but it was on an unreliable plane and there was no word on how many seats would be available. All in all, not great news considering I was hoping to start flying out the next day to maximize my time in the States.

Taking advantage of our gas usage to get to the air force base, Nick and I embarked on a round of golf (I mean, it was ladies-play-free Wednesday). Somewhere around hole 7 (with my mind clearly on Space-A and not on my chip shots), I said, "Hey, aren't Ashley and Robbie stationed at Elmendorf?" Sure enough. Then Nick piped in with some other rationales that he must have been mulling over. "I know it sounds kind of ridiculous, but you'll have a lot better chance of making it to San Diego if you just get off Guam. If I were you, I'd hop on the first flight heading East." An interesting thought. Alaska in January? Could my venture to friends and family in the Lower 48 really require a trip from the equator to practically the North Pole?

After getting in touch with my Elmendorf friends and having a backup of a place to stay, plus the prospect of a bonus visit with friends I hadn't seen in ages, my Space-A journey began. Nick dropped me off at the terminal on Thursday night around 11pm. When we left the house the flight was supposed to check in at 2:30 a.m. and rather than interrupt both of our sleep that night, I decided to bear the brunt of the inconvenience. When we checked in at the terminal we found out that the Elmendorf flight wasn't actually checking in until 8a.m. Awesome. That meant, because of our one-car transportation setup, I was spending the night in the terminal with no guarantee that it would get me anywhere. BUT there was a bonus flight to Hawaii that was leaving before then that I had a chance to get on, so things were looking good either way.  So Nick left and we said goodbye not knowing if we'd see each other the next month or the next day. The rest of the night was long and sleepless, as the Hawaii flight never panned out, and I waited hour by hour for 8am to get there to find out if I would be one of the 20 possible passengers who got a spot.

C-17 I crossed the northern hemisphere in

Many granola bars and too many hours on Facebook later, 8a.m. finally came. Turns out despite all the people trying to get off Guam, only two... TWO... people were interested in Alaska in January, despite the 54 available seats. But at least one of the uncertainties (not getting a spot) was taken away. We got boarding passes, went through security, and were waiting for our ride to the plane when we heard there was a "maintenance" issue that would set us back an hour. Uh-oh. An hour went by. Then another half hour. We were getting antsy, so we had the terminal guy call the flight crew guy, who reported that they hadn't even spotted the maintenance issue at that point. Great. I texted Nick to tell him I might need a ride home after all of that sleeplessness (in the back of my mind, I'm thinking, what Alaska flight crew wants to fly off 85-degree Guam back to Alaska in January???). As soon as I hit "send" on the text, a knock on the door came and a guy in a flight suit said, "We're ready!"

Instantly, a bus arrived to take us to a C-17, a plane Nick has traveled in to and from deployments on many occasions. I could tell as he described my flight options, he was kind of excited for me to get a chance to fly in one of these, and he prepared me well for the ride. Sure enough, the inside was enormous! It's like a flying warehouse, with plenty of room to hold pallets of gear, supplies, etc., that the military is transporting across the world. Supposedly I lucked out because not only were there not a lot of people on this flight (flight crew + 2 passengers), but there was only one single pallet. Nick said he and his guys never traveled that light before.

In addition to requiring spontaneous maintenance, military aircraft are notorious for being freezing cold inside, like 40 degrees. Those of you who know me well know I get cold in a climate change as simple as shade... and that my feet are often mysteriously colder than the surrounding outside air (Nick still marvels at this). So to get around this, Nick hooked me up with his super compactable down sleeping bag for warmth, and a blow-up ground pad for comfort. I got on the flight, set up my nest, and with the help of earplugs and an eye mask, passed out for the first half of the nine-hour flight. It was hands down the most glorious plane sleep I have ever had, especially considering how tired I was from pulling an all-nighter the night before. I had to take a picture (awkwardly on self-timer) to show you all what it looks like in there. Pretty sweet way to travel!

I arrived in Alaska at 1:30a.m. It was sooo cooooold! I was pleasantly shocked to see my friends there to pick me up at the terminal so late, especially considering Ashley is literally days away from giving birth to their first child. They scooped me up and drove me to their cozy house where I spent my first ever trip to USA North. And so my journey home had begun and already taken a surprising turn. But I was definitely closer than when I started and excited to find out where Space-A travel might take me next. All this adventure for the bargain price of zero dollars. Not bad!

Diving Into the New Year

I know I mentioned this to a few people recently, but last year's New Years Eve/Day was the worst day of Nick's entire 6-month deployment. I spent much of New Years Eve evening with friends and had a great time at a NYE party a block away at Mallory & Adam's house. I met some new friends there, played fun games, and hung out with people. When the time came, we counted down to the new year. As the count ticked down 3 - 2 - 1, we yelled happy new year! I continued yelling until I suddenly realized I was the ONLY PERSON at the party not kissing someone. It wasn't that the new years kiss is that big of a deal, it was just that I hadn't prepared myself to miss Nick for that. I also hadn't realized I was the ONLY PERSON there not part of a couple. Surely if I'd put two and two together, I would have used the new years countdown time to hit up the ladies room or otherwise done something to escape.

So one of the things I was looking forward to this holiday was spending New Years with Nick. We had a great day trying out a new golf course, one he and Russ played that I hadn't been to yet called Windward Hills. It's only a 20-minute drive from base and since it's in the middle of the island, it has some completely different and completely gorgeous views I hadn't seen on the other courses we've played. I had a great round considering it was so hilly and it was my first time on the course. And it was our third day of golf in a row, so I was on a my A-game (as much golf A-game as I have, that is).

On the way back to base, it dawned on me that we should rent tanks since the tank place on base would be closed for the next day holiday. So we rented tanks with the idea we'd take the boat out on Saturday. As the evening rolled on, it dawned on me that I was just 45 minutes, or one dive, away from reaching 24 hours of total underwater dive time. I mentioned it might be cool to do a night dive so I could reach that milestone in 2010. Not having any plans that evening, we also then realized we could do the dive spanning the change from the old year to the new year, so that's exactly what we did.

The dive wasn't all that exciting… until, that is, a sea turtle came out from the reef and joined us, right at 11:58pm! We spent the next few minutes chasing it and taking pictures of it. Nick even tried to ride it. He grabbed the sides of it, but it was too slippery, not to mention tough to juggle with a camera and a flashlight in hand.

 

So it wasn't until a couple of minutes after midnight when we were able to celebrate the year changeover. While under water for those first 30 minutes of 2011, I thought about how different, literally worlds away, this new years was from last. Here we were, just the two of us, together in the dark sea, 8,000 miles away in either direction from where we were that moment last year. I suppose it would have been great to be anywhere with Nick at that point, but surrounded by more of our favorite sea creatures, as well as some new ones, I considered myself very lucky. Here are a few other creatures from our new years party:

 

 And perhaps the goofiest looking creatures under there were Nick and me in this picture. We thought it would be fun to bring the champagne bottle under. Had a tough time getting it all in a photo. This may well be the most ridiculous looking underwater picture that exists of me. The even funnier part is that Nick and I didn't have a sip to drink that night, either before or after the dive, and yet, by the look on my face, you'd think I hadn't shared any of it! Hope you had a memorable new years too. We are off and running in 2011. More on that soon!

"A Trip of a Lifetime"

Typically I like to start at the beginning. But this time, I'm going to start at the end. A few days ago I got an email from Nick's mom Diane:

"So now it's back to reality after our vacation in paradise.  Everyone is going to want to come visit after they see our pics and listen to our stories.  It was a trip of a lifetime for us and it was all because of you two.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!"

Indeed, it was an absolutely fabulous Christmas! Diane and Nick's stepdad Russ came out to Guam for two solid weeks that we jam-packed with swimming, snorkeling, golfing, cooking, eating, working out, hiking, and exploring Guam. And thanks to a little advanced preparation, there was plenty of diving for Nick and Russ as well.

For years Russ had talked about getting SCUBA certified. He said he'd always wanted to, but year after year, it remained on the wish list. When flights to Guam were booked back in September, he sprang into action to start the certification process. Diane gets credit for springing too, but Russ was able to push through to the end, even doing his four open water cert dives in a muddy lake in cold October Houston! Ew! Anything would be an upgrade from that, and yet once in Guam, he got quite a show. On his very first dive, an easy one at GabGab primarily designed to figure out his weights and gear, Russ and Nick saw this glorious site:

The sea turtle was about three feet away from them and hung out for a while. Pretty awesome! I told Russ up to that point I'd never seen a turtle that close up. Pretty lucky first dive!

 

Russ became quite the fish under water.

Feeding the Giant Trevally Jacks at GabGab II. Look out Russ!

Each dive got more interesting. Russ dove all of our favorites, including the Blue Hole, Tokai & Cormoran, Pete's Reef, and the distinctly recognizable American Tanker (left). All in all Russ and Nick did 10 dives in the 14 days they were here. We're pretty sure Russ has found a new hobby!

When Nick and Russ weren't diving, we used the boat to take our guests out to our favorite snorkeling spots, one of which is Spanish Steps. With its plunging cliffs, crystal clear water, and plethora of underwater wildlife, Orote Point never disappoints. This ended up being Diane's favorite snorkeling day of the 4 or 5 we had. We went back one more time later in the trip. Anyone can hike here, but the boat makes for an even easier approach.

Diane showing off the blue sea star she found.

Like when Jenny was here, we found another amazing octopus hiding in a crevice in the rocks.

When we weren't exploring the ocean, we were out doing our favorite Guam land activity, that four-letter word we like to call golf. Where Nick was so helpful in getting Russ into diving, Russ has been so awesome as a golf coach the last seven months since we started playing. He has played for years and for a while back in the day was shooting in the low 70s (amazing!). He gave us lots of pointers and tweaks to improve our swing and ability to aim. We took him to three of Guam's seven courses and, while they weren't the best groomed ones he'd ever played (I mean, it is a jungle here), I think he enjoyed himself anyway.

Diane was a great sport as a cart rider. She hit a few good ones too!

On one of the rainier days when golf and taking the boat out looked questionable, we hopped in the car and took Russ and Diane on a tour of the southern, more rustic side of Guam. We started out at this World War II Memorial Park, one of the sites where the U.S. Marines landed on Liberation Day to free the Guamanians from the Japanese concentration camps. This spot is still quite a few miles from base, and it's amazing to me to think about what this landing and the approach to capture Orote Point must have been like. Continuing south, we showed Russ and Diane several of the island's best vistas.

 

Diane at the Cetti Bay overloook

 We found some carabao at Spanish Fort. But no caraboa rides today, since these beasts had been rolling in thick mud after the recent downpours. Beshy needs a bath!

We stopped at the ocean pools in Inarajan, where a local Chamorro man offered us all grilled ham and cheese sandwiches from his family get together. Nick, who is always up for food said, "Man, I was just about to say we should all go get a snack!" The locals here don't always impress us, but for the most part they are all extremely nice, especially down south where they're more like country folk, and especially when it comes to sharing food. 

Diane loved the gorgeous pools, so later on in the week we came back for a swim. The view out to the ocean from here is pretty awesome.

 Props to Diane for being adventurous and going for a swim sans swimsuit (fully clothed, people!).

That same day we also hiked Waterfall Valley, a series of four beautiful waterfalls all varying in height and all quite close together. 

Next up was Talofofo Caves. This short hike is well rewarded by the series of five different caves of various sizes that have chiseled their way into the rocks overlooking the Pacific Ocean on the east side of the island. This picture is in front of the deepest of all the caves. You throw a rock in and it takes quite a few seconds until it hits anything. One of these days we will have to rappel down it and see what's in there. But we had a hunch R & D wouldn't be up for that this trip :)

Between the initial jet lag and all the days' activities, Diane and Russ also did some good relaxing. I think we tuckered them out once or twice!

Merry Christmas from the Fam-a-a-leeee!
While Russ and Diane were enjoying the vacation aspects of our island, the huge bonus of the visit for Nick and me was that it fell over Christmas break. Being so far away from home, we felt so fortunate to spend the holiday with family. We found some Shiner Bock (well worth the $12 six-pack!), put on some Robert Earl Keen, plated some Three-Pepper Blast, and it was amazing how much it felt just like Christmas in Houston.

As with any wonderful Christmas, there were some fantastic surprises. Nick surprised me with a golf bag push cart! Now I can push MomMom's clubs while Nick walks. We just have to make the gamble as to whether or not it's going to rain on us :)

Diane got a great surprise too... Russ and Nick went in together and got her a laptop! It's a cute little one that she can easily take with her on her extended trips to New Jersey. She can use it to keep up with emails and show pictures to family and friends there. With retirement pending, the timing for a portable gift like this couldn't be better. She definitely was not expecting it and the look on her face was priceless!

Another awesome Christmas surprise was the night boat trip we did to Alutom Island. Taking the boat out at night is amazing if for no other reason than to look at the stars. So we spent a few minutes pointing out constellations and adjusting our eyes to get a better look at the Milky Way. After stargazing, we jumped in for a night snorkel and saw all sorts of amazing things, especially the massive 2-foot lobster! I wish we had a picture, but as soon as Nick saw it, he freed up his hands from the camera to try to grab it. It would have been quite the feast, but the darn thing was too fast and got away. But here's a picture of another kind of lobster we were fast enough to snap a picture of. These things blend in so well, they are hard to find!




Russ also got a Christmas surprise when Nick pulled this little guy ("Bob") out of his BC pocket down at 100 feet under. Merry Christmas from Russ & Bob!

The last few days were spent finishing up last dives, last rounds of golf, last meals, and last viewpoints. We even watched a couple of movies, but never got to the Scrabble game we kept talking about playing. Probably for the best since I would have creamed everyone and it would not have been very Christmas-like.

I was able to join Russ on his very last Guam dive to the American Tanker. By that point, he played the part of any other experienced diver. It was so much fun showing him a wreck that you can swim inside. We took this picture in the last three minutes of his last dive. But I have a feeling we'll be seeing some more underwater pictures of him soon. Pat on the back to this guy for going for it and getting SCUBA-certified at 62. It just goes to show, you're never too old for a new adventure!

The last day we took Russ and Diane to Two Lovers Point, one of Guam's signature viewpoints, for their last island sunset. It was a beauty!

All in all, it was a Christmas none of us will ever forget. The weather was heavenly, the water was crystal clear, and Guam's underwater wildlife was showing off left and right. We are so grateful Diane and Russ were willing to come all this way. And now, after two rounds of visitors, we have to wonder who out there will be next :) Only time will tell!

Russ and Diane are now back in Houston showing off the DVD Nick made of the 300+ pictures and videos we took while they were here. The day after they left, Nick said it felt like Sunday at the Naval Academy, when all the fun was over and all the work was about to come. And just like you're never too old to learn to dive, you're also never too old, too fast or too strong to miss your family. Love you guys. Thanks for coming. Now send us our next victims!