An Unexpected Aloha :)

Landing in Hawaii

So the reason I had to skip out of San Diego faster than I was originally planning is that I was suddenly faced with an amazing opportunity for my journey back to Guam. All along I knew I'd have to fly through Hawaii, since that's the best place, geographically speaking, to catch a flight back to Guam from the States. Well, knowing what I now know about how Space-A works (super flaky!), I started poking around for the commercial options that would at least get me to Hawaii, which would cut out one huge leg of uncertainty, leaving me only the flight to Guam from there. I checked out flights and couldn't believe there was one in my time range that was about the same price as my flight from San Fran to San Diego (I know, right? to Hawaii!). And the super duper bonus of it all is that it would put me landing in Honolulu while Nick was there for a conference. Hello Hawaii rendezvous!

I got in on a Tuesday afternoon and hung out in the hotel room while Nick finished up his conference. We went out to eat in Waikiki that night and the next day, our only full day together, we packed in everything amazing Hawaii has to offer: golf and surfing! We started our day on the golf course. Nick had enough notice to bring some of my clubs out with him, so it was awesome to play the course with my own weapons. It wasn't my best score overall, but I did get a birdie that day! Had a perfect tee-off on a par 3 followed by a perfect putt. It was only my second birdie ever, so I was pretty excited :)

 Speaking of birdies, one thing I was very aware of throughout my entire trip back to the States was the presence of birds everywhere I went. You have probably heard the stories about the non-indigenous brown tree snake that wreaked havoc on Guam. Well, one of the reasons its effects were so terrifying is that it killed all of the native bird populations. It took going back to Coronado, Florida, and even suburban Houston to realize that pleasant chirping that accompanies our everyday lives just doesn't exist on Guam. (And now that I'm back here reflecting on this, I realize it is sooooo quiet yere). The birds in Hawaii seemed extra musical and were quite beautiful. I am sad for Guam that the stupid snakes ate all the pretty birds.

 After a painfully long (five hours!) round of golf, we packed up our clubs and headed to Waikiki Beach for some surfing. I was a bit hesitant, since I never really got the hang of surfing in San Diego despite trying it a few times (and taking a lesson in Costa Rica). So I was somewhat relieved to find out there was hardly any surf and it was completely flat the whole way paddling out (phew!). Of course, this also made for few opportunities to actually catch a wave, but considering the waves were breaking on a shallow reef (at low tide, mind you), I was okay with that. I gave it a go for about an hour and then paddled in while Nick kept surfing.

 After surfing, we hung out on the beach and watched the sun go down for about an hour. Even though we live a mile from several beautiful beaches on Guam, Nick and I aren't really beach people. As in, we never just go to the beach and lay there in the sand. Every time we do, though, I always catch myself wondering, why don't we do this more often?? It was so relaxing and since it's not nearly as humid as Guam, it was the perfect temperature. Hawaii seems to be the perfect blend of things we love about California (surfing & drier air) and things we love about Guam (beautiful island, gorgeous landscape, fewer people).

 Like Guam, Hawaii also had its share of Japanese tourists. Nick and I watched this group of Japanese girls take pictures of themselves for over an hour. They must have taken over a thousand pictures of various ways to incorporate the setting sun. In this one, they are lining up one girl who looks like the sun is resting in her palm, while the other girl is holding it up at eye level. They were remarkably entertaining, so much so I had to take a picture. And they say that imitation is the highest form of flattery, so I'll have to admit, they had some pretty clever ideas. Here's my rendition of swallowing the sun:

(Someone later pointed out, it doesn't look like I'm eating the sun so much as it looks like I am breathing a fireball. Roar!)

View from Gary & Tina's patio @sunset = Awesome

We got together for dinner that night with our friends Gary & Tina. Tina holds the place of fame in my life for being the first navy wife I was ever friends with. As in, I met her at a function in San Diego when Nick had six weeks left of training. At that point we had orders to Virginia Beach (along with grad school acceptance and a job for me), so when the opportunity unexpectedly arose for us to stay in San Diego, I was really unsure of what to do. Tina was the natural person for me to call, and I still remember her words, "West Coast is the best coast!" She was so enthusiastic about San Diego and about how much better the teams were for family life (since many of the trainings are within a few hours' drive away whereas the East Coast guys have to travel farther to get to the same training sites). I don't know day for day if I actually saw Nick more because of our choice to stay West Coast, but it seemed like a good enough reason for me, especially combined with the fact that we really loved Coronado. I really wish I had taken a picture of them!
With only half a day left in Hawaii together before beginning the journey home, Nick and I got up the next morning and drove to the North Shore. The Volcom Pipe Pro surfing contest was going on at Bonsai Beach. We got to catch some of the surfing, which was absolutely amazing to watch. Not only were the waves absolutely perfect, the surfers were so fearless. Especially after being reminded the day before how hard surfing is, I was extra impressed getting to watch the pros. It was our first time to see an official contest like this and I'm pretty sure we could have stayed all day if we didn't have flights to catch.

Hard to tell, but there were consistently 20-foot waves!

We did a couple more essential stops on the North Shore. Behold Waimea Bay
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And the North Shore shrimp trucks!!

Yum! Although it was hard to be too impressed about $13 for 12 shrimp when I just came from Pensacola where it was $3/pound. Yeah, sorry Hawaii, but Pensacola still wins in that department.

The Long Way Home
"Aloha" is a funny word, in that it means both hello and goodbye at the same time. It's quite a fitting description of what happened on my Space-A journey home (foreshadowing, check!). With our short but awesome Hawaii vacation at an end, Nick dropped me off at the Hickam Air Force Base terminal. Amazingly enough, there was a flight with 56 empty seats leaving Hawaii for Guam at 3pm that afternoon, which aligned perfectly with the fact that Nick's commercial flight back was at 3pm too. We could conceivably arrive in Guam at the same time! I got my boarding pass, checked my bag, and waited as they called us through security to the holding area. And then we waited. And waited. And waited. And finally we got the news. The C5 we were going out on had a door malfunction, and the door wasn't closing properly in the area where all the seats were located. So of the 22 people trying to get to Guam, only 8 were able to go, since they could sit with the crew. I did not make the cut. You know what they say about things that are too good to be true... yup, it was.

So, Tina and Gary scooped me up and I spent the night at their place and would catch the flight going out the next day. The next day came and that flight got pushed to... the next day. So I used my bonus day in Hawaii wisely, going for a run in Waikiki, reading a book in the park, and getting together with a friend of mine from Annapolis that I had not seen in over five years. Melissa was in my Bible study there and though we'd only loosely kept in touch through Facebook, I was reminded of why I love my Bible study friendships so much.

While I have been so lucky to find amazing girlfriends everywhere, the thing about Bible study friendships is that you get to know someone faster and on a deeper level because we share so much about our lives in our attempt to understand the Bible and our purpose here. Since I'd last seen Melissa, we had both gotten married and moved to tropical islands, and she now had an adorable baby boy, Siah, who was six months and two weeks old. And even though so much had changed, we were able to pick up right where we left off. We had lunch together and seeing her made me so grateful for all the friends in my life.

The next day Gary and Tina dropped me off at the terminal again and things were looking very promising. There were three flights out to Guam before noon. Score! The first opportunity passed me by. There were 8 other people with higher priority levels than me. The second flight ended up not taking anyone. Hmmm.... So the third flight had 15 seats and I was #5 on the list. At that point, it seemed like a sure thing! So we went through the whole process again. Got boarding passes, checked bags, this time we got on a bus, drove out to the KC-135, got on and took off. At this point, I texted Nick, "See you tonight!"

And after ten minutes in the air, just as I was envisioning laying my head down on my own pillow in my own bed for the first time in three weeks, there was a horrible loud noise. Now, I am not a leery traveler. I know too many pilot friends who have assured me that turbulence is "just wind" and military flights are so safe and blah blah blah. So I tend to not worry on planes. Can't do anything anyway, right? Next thing you know, we've stopped ascending and are descending, several people are scampering around the plane, and the rumors start. Turns out the landing gear wouldn't go up properly (the loud noise), so we would need to make an emergency landing back at Hickam. An hour of circling later, we finally landed (we had to dump enough fuel so we weren't too heavy to land safely). And just like that, after an entire day trying to get out, I was right back where I started.

Fire trucks bracing for our emergency landing - scary!

Got my bags and called Melissa, who came to get me. (Okay, so I left out the part where I had a bit of a meltdown and called Nick nearly begging to fly home commercial despite the $700 or 40,000 miles it would cost... the whole emergency landing thing definitely freaked me out). After confirming I had a guaranteed seat on this plane once it did fly out, I decided to stick to my original plan. I mean, I had a comfy place to stay with friends, didn't need to be back for a few more days, and I was in Hawaii for goodness sakes. Poor me, right?

The extra 36 hours in Hawaii hanging out with Melissa and Siah were so much fun! We mostly hung out at her place, which was a quarter mile up the road from the stadium where the Pro Bowl was going on (coincidence as to why the flight was delayed???). I went on a run and saw all the tailgating starting. She took me to Target for a last fix before my Guam time would begin again. The flight got bumped back from 4pm to 3am, but we found out just in time to grab stuff to make pizza and cupcakes and we spent the evening watching a chick flick together and catching up even more. As far as I'm concerned, looking back, I am so glad I got to stay a little longer. Her husband is deployed, so I wasn't crowding them, and I think she enjoyed my company too. So, even with all the craziness, it all worked out just fine. It usually does :)

Melissa dropped me off at the terminal at 3a.m. to try this Space-A thing a third time. Third time was a charm! Had no issues getting out, the plane took off no problem. In fact, the one issue we did have (the pilot overshot the runway) was on the Guam side. So, just like I took off in Hawaii twice, we also landed in Guam twice. AWESOME. So it will probably be a while before I try my luck at Space-A again, but it did the job, getting me safely to and from America for the bargain price of $4.25 (the price of a box lunch).

Reflecting on the trip, I am so, so grateful to have been able to make new memories with so many friends and family. And while I was sad to leave everyone, it has also made me appreciate my life on Guam now that I am back. We hit our 6-month Guammiversary while I was gone, which means potentially only 18 months left here. I fully intend to get the most out of it, and can't wait to pick up writing about Peyt's Island again soon!

Return to Coronado

Looking at this picture of a regular ol sunset over Point Loma, part of me still can't believe I was so lucky to live just a few blocks from this breathtaking beach for nearly five years. While visiting my grandfather in Pensacola was my primary reason for heading back to the States in January, my two stops in San Diego on my way in and out of the country were what I was most looking forward to when I left Guam. Pensacola and Houston still feel like home, no question, but stepping foot back on Coronado Island, it was hard to believe I actually live 7,000 miles away. 

Part of the beauty of visiting somewhere you used to live is having the ability to sync back into a familiar lifestyle. My very prego friend Mallory picked me up from the airport on Monday afternoon and we immediately headed to Trader Joe's for some heavenly grocery shopping of my regular favorites (lobster ravioli and goat cheese brie!!). After TJ's, we ventured off to lunch at one of the places on my list: In N Out Burger! This is still the only fast food burger that makes the cut for me. So delish, especially when washed down with a strawberry shake.

After these first essential errands, I went for a run on my normal running route through my old neighborhood and then down beautiful Coronado Beach. I ate my Trader Joe's dinner with my hostess and dear friend Liz, and waited for my favorite part of my old week to start: Monday night Bible study. In fact, my Space-A goal was to make it to San Diego in time for this, and accomplishing this was well worth the effort! There was an amazing group of women there that night, including some of my absolute favorites. I selfishly regret not forcing the masses into a group picture, just so I could take all their faces with me again. 

 

Liz!!

In addition to my Bible study, the other amazing group of women in my life are my San Diego wine group. I've written about these girls before, naming them as the big tug for going back to the States when I did. Many of the girls were at a crossroads in January. Whether starting new jobs, moving across the country, or having a baby, there were some big life moments going on that would bring everyone together one more time. Plus, my friend Ashley who lives in Guam would be there too after the holidays. So almost all of us could be together at once and it would be refreshingly like old times. Well, it was exactly that. And I'm pretty sure none of us wanted it to end.

 

 The Wednesday evening absolutely flew by. In some regards there was so much---even too much---that had changed. And in some ways, it was as if nothing had at all. Up until the point where the night ended, I had to remind myself over and over that I don't live here anymore. It all just felt so real... and normal.

In hindsight, I am especially glad I was able to be there for this night. With so many big life changes about to happen, I feel like we all needed to be together one more time. These are the women who have seen me to the other side of so many of my life's changes. I don't think I function nearly as well without them in my life every week, and I hope enough of them are still around in 18 months when we move back to San Diego. I'm going to need more of this Vitamin F. 

I spent the rest of my first week in Coronado visiting past coworkers from the Police Department, grabbing coffee with youth group kiddos, and even meeting up with a few new friends I've made or reconnected with since leaving San Diego. When I left to head to Pensacola and Houston, I hadn't seen nearly enough people, though, or crossed off many of the things on my San Diego wish list, so I was sooo glad to be coming back again.

San Diego - The Last Days

Fast forward nine days and I found myself heading back to San Diego after Florida and Texas. I was excited about this extra visit, but a little intimidated about having to fit the rest of my San Diego wish list into just over 48 hours before starting the long trek home. After another fabulous dinner at Ben & Huy's, I woke up Sunday morning and went to my old church service, then, like clockwork, headed over to the marina where I met my very reliable sailing buddy Tim and his new girlfriend for a Sunday afternoon sail. It started off a little slow (and by slow, I mean absolutely zero wind). But by the end of the day, we were flying! It was exactly what I'd hoped for.

 

Sailing on San Diego Bay!!!

Continuing on with what was becoming a perfect San Diego Sunday, I grabbed frozen yogurt at my friend Veronica's shop Cup of Yo and then met my other friend April for dinner. April and I worked together at the American Red Cross four years ago on a powerhouse fundraising team. At the time, I was a very naive 23 and thought I had figured out just about everything. April provided me with some very important insight, namely the fact that I didn't know everything. With a few more walks around the block, she had life experience that my peers and I didn't, and I learned so much from her. We also discovered we have complimentary talents. She loved to write, and I loved to edit. I helped her self-publish her first book of original poetry, Utter Magic. It was a very rewarding project for both of us, and one I am grateful to have been a part of. The best part was April was working for Origins/Clinique, so rather than charge a friend by the hour, I got to invoice her in beauty products and makeup!! April is one of the friends who has been so great at keeping in touch when I'm in Guam. She's not afraid to call me on her cell phone even if it means it may charge her more. She texts me, snail mails me, and generally treats me like I'm still right down the street, which I love :) That all made it easy to get caught up quickly, but one visit just wasn't enough. Even so, I was thankful to have the time we did.

Moving on on this epic day, I rounded off my Sunday evening doing the same old stuff: youth group! Eighteen youth showed up Sunday night for a mini-reunion of Seven, the youth program I helped lead at my church. It was volunteering with this group that eventually led to my being qualified to help with the youth at my church in Guam (and get paid... weird). It was SO great to reconnect with all of these guys and girls. It's amazing how much older they all looked in just six months. It was a blast of a night playing our same old games and having our same old discussions (pows and wows!).

 

Girls Share Group :)

I spent my last day in San Diego jetting from one last post office run to coffee with my friend Gemma, lunch with Huy, last chance salon appointments, last go at USA shopping, final Barry's workout with Jeanna, and finally, one more Monday night Bible study to soak in. It was a fabulous last day in the States, and with all of the goodbyes I had to say, I managed to completely lose it only once. The feeling was eerily reminiscent of the day a dozen years ago when my grandmother drove me to the airport in Pensacola so I could fly back to Houston after my first visit with all my old friends since we moved to Texas after 10th grade. I pretty much bawled my eyes out. It's just so hard to leave a place that feels like home for another place that doesn't but is.

I guess as a Navy wife, I like to think that with age and experience I have grown somehow wiser and become, perhaps, more adaptable to transience than when I was younger. But, just as I experienced getting out of my parents' car at the airport in Texas a few days earlier, you're never too old to cry a little (or, okay, a lot) when you have to say goodbye to the people you love. Over time, a little piece of you grows into them. So when you find yourself on that sad day when you have to walk away from that last hug, there's a piece missing that no one else can give back to you. And it hurts. And that's okay. Because it's these bits and pieces of the people we love who make us who we are... and keep us coming back for more.

Stay classy, San Diego. Thank you all for an amazing visit, and I hope to find myself there at home again on your sunny shores soon.

Thankin' My Lucky Stars

After the wonderful beach-side family visit in Pensacola, my mom and I loaded up in the Angel Mobile II and made the eight-hour drive to Texas. Having so much to catch up on, the miles disappeared before my eyes making it seem like one of the fastest I-10 trips ever (although I wasn't driving, so my mom may have a different take). We made pretty good use of the time catching up on everything, brainstorming new ideas, and, of course, jamming to Glee soundtracks (since my mom has all of them!). 

I spent my first day back in Texas doing what I always do my first day back in Texas: Shopping! I had a very focused shopping list I brought back from Guam with me. Most of the items are things I know I can use in Guam on an almost-daily basis (workout clothes, cooking supplies) that were more than I wanted to pay in Guam. Other items were things I simply haven't been able to find in Guam (like my new golf skirt!). And, okay, there were a few bonus items in there that I just couldn't turn down (a chopper that blends fresh herbs and oil into an instant salad dressing!). Pretty awesome to go into a store and find what I was looking for... plus a few goodies on sale :)

My first night there, my friend Jenny (who came to visit us in Guam!) picked me up and we went down to visit our friends Kristin and Preston in a suburb called Missouri City. We had an awesome time catching up and getting to see little William, who is now nine months. This has got to be one of the happiest little guys I have ever seen. It was so easy to get him to smile for pictures!

This is one happy baby!

So unlike San Diego and Pensacola, Houston did not welcome me home with perfect weather. It was drizzly and rainy the first day, but Wednesday was absolutely beautiful. With the promise of a front coming through for the end of the week, my dad did what any dad would do on a beautiful day while his daughter is in town for the first time in six months: He skipped out on work to come play golf with me! We played a course called Bear Creek. Not only was it my first time to play in Texas, but it was also my first time to play just me and my dad. The weather was perfect (for January, especially!), the fairways were fast, and there were no chickens in sight! I love that I have a new hobby that allows me to hang out with my dad more :) Behold the Texas sunset:

After golf, we hurried home and I did a quick turnaround because Jenny was coming by to take me out to see the girls for the evening. It was so awesome hanging out with Jenny just a few months after her visit to Guam. It was so neat that she knows what my life is like there and who my friends are and what our world consists of. And I had so much chat time to catch up with her while she was there, I know what's going on in her world too. I guess it was refreshing after catching up with so many great friends about the past six months. Jenny and I picked up right where we left off!

Dinner at Sara's with my besties is becoming somewhat of a tradition when I've been in town the past few visits. She and Matt have an amazingly beautiful home, one they are getting ready to share! Their little girl Savanna was due any day. She was actually born on Tuesday, Jan. 25th (adorable pics on Sara's blog!), just five days after I was there. I didn't get to meet her (yet!), but I got to see the adorable nursery and hear all the stories about how she and Matt were getting ready. It is so exciting to spend time with these future mommies in these precious last days before baby arrival. There is so much of a peaceful energy about all of it. A healthy mix of patience and anxiousness. All very exciting :)

After a couple more shopping trips, a few "self" care package sends via the post office, and a few hours spent helping out my parents around the house, there were just a couple more visits left. These friends, like Jenny, all fit into what my mom calls "The Guam Club." They're the ones who have made the long voyage out our way. The first were my in-laws, Russ and Diane, who you may recall were just in Guam a few weeks over Christmas.

The next Guam Club lunch was with my friend Amy who lived down the street from us in Guam until just a few weeks ago. Her husband got out of the Navy took a job in Houston of all places! As luck would have it, they were in town looking for a new place to live while I was there. So fun to meet up with Guam friends in Texas. We marveled at the fact that we were wearing real clothes, had showered before noon, and were surrounded by fabulous shopping. Weird!

Overall, it was a very relaxing week at home filled with everything Houston: shopping, eating, and visiting with some of the nicest people on the planet, including my family. The only bummer part was being at my house for the first time with no Bluester Puppy. He is still very missed, but again, you only miss something that was at some point to you wonderful. I'll take the wonderful and will figure out over time how to miss him. Small price to pay for so many wonderful years.

Thank you, Texas, for another fabulous visit on the America Reunion Tour!

Pensacola!

So, technically after the Bay Area I spent four days in San Diego. But in the interest of post consolidation (not to mention the fact that this is my blog and I can do whatever I want), I'm going to skip that for now and jump to my fabulous visit to my old hometown, Pensacola, Florida!

At seven years, Pensacola still holds the title for the place I've lived the longest. And on top of living there for all those years, I also spent many more weeks vacationing there when I was younger. It was the perfect place for our family to travel: world class white sand beaches, fresh local seafood, and best of all, our extended family on my mom's side all lived here, making it easy to catch up with everyone. Visits were spent fishing in Bayou Chico off the dock in my grandparents' backyard, body surfing and beach combing on the beautiful Pensacola Beach (above), and large family meals around my grandparents' dinner table. It was the perfect place to be a kid, and my grandparents were particularly amazing at making my sister, my two cousins and me feel special.

In recent years, since no longer making the drive between Gainesville and Houston, Pensacola has been a hard place to get to. I've been to visit a few times, but the most recent few have been for imminent goodbyes and funerals. In November I got the news that my grandfather had a health change, significant enough to prompt me to leave my second job and begin making arrangements to travel there in January. It was this trip to Pensacola that spurred my entire adventure back to the States. And specifically, it was to visit with my grandfather during a time when all is well. And as luck would have it, it just so happened that my visit would coincide with his 81st birthday.

The background of this picture gives a glimpse of the library of books and music on display behind my grandfather's favorite chair. If there were two symbols that summed up my grandfather, books and music would be it. My grandfather was in the Navy Band back in the day. He also deployed on the USS Midway after WWII. He later served as the band director of the high school I went to in Pensacola (long before I went there), and when education around him started to crumble, he started his own school. For nearly 40 years he has been offering an alternative education program for middle and high school students in Pensacola. In doing so, he has influenced tens of thousands of lives.

He has also influenced our family through the art, music, and philosophy he has always been so passionate about. I love all of the random things you can find at my grandparents' house. For one, he owns a viking ship. More specifically, it's believed to be the only working replica of a viking ship in North America. Well, "working" might be a bit of a stretch since Hurricane Ivan took its toll, but this icon has certainly been a part of my family history from as long as I can remember.

 

Continuing on with the viking theme, I found this scary cat statue (?)

 

His walls are covered in interesting art, including this giant Picasso replica.

Boats are the other thing my grandfather has always been passionate about. Maybe a little too passionate. He currently has more boats than I can name. Rumor has it that one of them works. But when we were growing up, I remember so many days going out in boats with my family, cruising in the wind in the Valkyrie or motoring the Viking Ship to a restaurant near the state line that you could pull up to dockside. My grandparents are definitely to credit for my own love of sailing. They put me through sailing camp two summers in middle school and ever since then, it has been part of who I am.

To celebrate my grandfather's birthday, our family got together at his house. My cousin Erika and her fiance Andres drove up from south Florida, and my aunt Wendy and uncle Dan joined us from down the street. Every time I step foot in his house, I am flooded with memories of being a kid. Where my family moved every 18 months growing up, my grandparents' address has been the same my entire life, so it has always felt like home in that unique way. It has always been the place I traveled back to, and I was thrilled to find myself here again, especially with so much to celebrate this time :)


An awesome bonus of this trip to Pensacola was getting to reconnect with my cousin Erika (her blog) and meet her fiance for the first time. They are off and running on the wedding planning (in Colombia!), and I am so excited for them. We threw them a little engagement party out on Pensacola Beach the next day, which was a great opportunity to spend more time with them and the rest of my family. Our dear friends the Winns offered us their beachhouse for the weekend. Because it has an elevator, it is the perfect place for my grandfather to join the party. I got this picture of the two of us, which is hands down, my favorite picture of my entire USA trip!


I also got to catch up with Danika, my best friend from middle school, and her sweet daughter Delaney.  I find it kind of ironic that growing up her dad was (and still is) in the navy and my dad worked for an oil company. Now I'm the Navy wife and her husband works out on the rigs. It's funny how many similarities there are between the two career lifestyles with our husbands gone so much. Always great to catch up with an old friend.

The next day my mom and I woke up to an absolutely gorgeous day. We were all packed up so we used our extra time before our last family lunch to take a walk on the beach.

No matter how many new coastlines I explore anywhere in the world, I still have yet to find a beach as beautiful as Pensacola's.

You all heard about the horrible oil spill that paralyzed the Gulf Coast last summer. The oil did wash up on these shores, but six months later, there was very little evidence that I could see. The waters and sea life are still recovering and will for some time, but the beaches, at least, have been cleaned up. The only evidence of the spill that I could see was this eyesore of a work crew on the beach.

Mom calls this my picture "with Nick" because he called from Sri Lanka during our walk. All in all, it was a wonderful visit to Pensacola full of people I loved dearly and had dearly missed, a beach that rivals the world's best, and a visit with my grandfather I will never forget. So thankful to my mom for making it happen and to the Winns for such a peaceful place to stay. For the last few years I have left Pensacola dreading my next trip back. But after this wonderful visit, I am so hopeful I can make it there again soon. It's one of the few special places on this planet where I truly feel at home. And after traveling so far away, it's always nice to go home.