Home on the Range

We did a little in-processing and now we're just doing paperwork for our house. We went to the housing office on base to see what they would give us if we decided to live on base but what they offered was not too appealing so we made the decision to buy.

While in-processing we talked to a few of the people there and they told us about USAA's Mover's Advantage. We called USAA and within hours we found our house.

It's 10 minutes from the base and in a good location. Almost 2100sf, one story, and 3-car garage. The front is already landscaped but the backyard we'll do on our own. The kitchen is nice and open and is smack-dab in the middle of the house. Gary really loves the house...I haven't seen him this excited about any of the other houses we've seen. We both can't wait to move in.

The pups are doing great. Peaches is healing very well and the wound is almost closed. We couldn't ask better of their behavior. They've adapted well to the move. As you can see, they've gotten a little lazy, maybe from the heat. Gary's doing well because yesterday he didn't even pass out when the temps hit 105.

The journey south...

It was tough leaving Marquette on Friday, but it was time to continue our journey south. The first leg of our journey was only 2 hours due to a stopover in West Des Moines to see Sister Shelly and family.

West Des Moines: We spent the evening at the Iowa State Fair and had an opportunity to view some characters and eat a "guinea grinder"--an Iowa fair specialty. Irene fulfilled her lifelong dream of visiting Archivers (scrapbook store) with Shelly, Brittany and Anna. This was the first of many Archivers stops on our way across the U.S. Shelly had a beautiful home and West Des Moines was awesome, but the journey continues. The night before our departure, Shell mixed up some Moscow Mules to cap an enjoyable visit. We spent 2 nights with Shell and departed Sunday for our next stop: Aurora.

Aurora: We arrived in Colorado around 8:30 p.m. Sunday night. Sister Gina had a huge spread of BBQ'd ribs, potato salad, beans and Kristan's famous Alaska Mudpie for dessert. Everything was delicious. There was quite a rush of activity in the short time before we went to sleep, but the final event was a brawl between Peaches and Coda (Gina's black lab) ending with Peaches' head in Coda's mouth. Peaches walked away with a wet head, a pierced ear and a hole in her right leg. It wasn't pretty. Peaches was about to go back for more before we pulled them apart. Gina patched up Peaches leg with gauze and a sports bandage. Gina is quite the pet nurse for those not in the know. Dana took off on Monday to give us a first class tour of the Denver area and on Tuesday, we drove to Golden with Gina/Dana/Brittany/Kristan to see the Coors Brewery, Buffalo Bill's grave and Red Rocks (awesome). The highlight of our visit was during the evenings socializing with the Denning family in the cool night air on the patio of Gina's home. We had a wonderful visit in Aurora, but our clothes were getting tight from all of Gina's (and Brittany's and Kristan's) wonderful meals. We left Wednesday morning heading southbound to Colorado Springs.

Colorado Springs: We made a pit stop at the U.S. Air Force Academy before arriving at the Jones' home on Wednesday. This was probably one of the neatest bases I have ever seen--definitely a dream assignment. Eric and Debbie greeted us at the door after arriving at their beautiful home -- Martha Stuart hasn't got anything on Debbie. Eric showed us around the area and we checked out Peterson AFB. We loved this area of CO and now see why Eric and Debbie don't miss Alaska. The next morning as we prepared for our departure, we found Bayley upstairs lying on the floor next to Eric. Bayley said he was trying to show Eric that dogs weren't all that bad. We got on the road around 0830 for the 12-hour drive to Tucson.

Tucson: We got to Tucson late Thursday night. It was interesting to see how the terrain changed as we headed south. Neither of us was real impressed with New Mexico, but I have to admit the Albuquerque landscape was pretty cool. We made a pit stop in Truth or Consequences, NM for some DQ and a dog break. Not much to see there. We kept plugging away and arrived in Tucson late Thursday night and checked into the Radisson downtown since billeting is booked until Monday. So far the area doesn't seem too bad. The streets are lined with cacti and palm trees and the mountain views are nice in a desert/Hell kind of way. It reached 97 yesterday and I only passed out three times. BUT I'll adapt.

Leaving Marquette...

Our time in Marquette has expired and it's time to start our trek toward AZ. Our first stop will be Des Moines. We can't believe how fast the time is flying. It really is true--time flies when you're having fun and fun is all we've had since arriving here last Thursday.

We took a ride on a pontoon yesterday on the Mississippi river and had a blast. The weather could've been a little warmer but otherwise it was a perfect day. The day before yesterday the Dull boys and I hit the movie theater to see Dark Knight...excellent movie! I can't wait for it to come out on DVD so Gary and I can watch it together.

The reunion was fun, I know Gary loved seeing his family in one gathering. I know it must have been a lot of work trying to get all the schedules in sync but thankfully we were able to get together and it was worth it.

This may be the last post until we get to AZ. Thanks for stopping by! P.S. Having problems posting pics, will try again in our next post.