Back in the U.S. of A.

Way back a million years ago at the end of May I received the happy news that I was selected for a two-week Coast Guard pollution responder training course in Yorktown, Virginia. That's when my administrative and logistical nightmares began; they still aren't over, but I'm confident things will all work out. I'm wrapping up my extended trip to the States early next week, and it will be bittersweet. I'm excited to see my husband again and sleep in my own home, but I am sad to say good-bye to my friends, family, and Coast Guard co-workers. I was able to touch base with a lot of people on this trip, which is always wonderful, and I got to spend some good quality time with long-lost friends (Hi, Jessica!) as well as the youngest members of my family.

When I arrived in Virginia, I spent a rather horrific wait in the Norfolk airport waiting for my shuttle, which was just "twenty minutes away" for a solid three hours. I utilized the unavoidable delay to purchase a go-phone, which ended up being a pretty worthless endeavor as the dang thing never worked properly and I got horrible cell signal at the Training Center anyway. Oh well. I jumped right into the training and managed to get all of my homework done early so that I could hang out with other Coasties and eat all the foods. Let's see, during the VA portion of my trip I ate Thai, Vietnamese, and Italian food, as well as BBQ and some solid pub grub. I had one free weekend during the course, during which I rode to Alexandria to visit another CG friend (Hi, Abigail!). Oh boy, did I enjoy that weekend! We ate sushi, went to a Korean day spa (where I ate yummy Korean food, endured a painful but still-lovely foot massage, and experienced the most wonderful spas and saunas you could imagine), and ate Cuban food and spent time people-watching all the dancers. Sunday I went to a picnic hosted by The Washington Chorus, and then went on a wonderful hay ride over land that's been farmed since the 1600s, where it was given the second charter in Maryland's history. Sad to say, on the road trip back to Yorktown I did NOT have a positive food experience: I had the worst crabcakes, bitterest greens, and most bland black-eyed peas of my entire life. Blech. We stopped at a cute little hole-in-the-wall called Yuk-Yuk & Joe's (Yuk-Yuk & Joe being a husband and wife team, apparently) that looked very promising. We asked two gentlemen hanging out on the stoop what we should try, and they recommended the surf and turf: buffalo wings and shrimp poppers. Now I wish I had taken their advice. The second week I tried to overwrite the crab cake experience with a new and better one, but that was also a pretty big fail. For shame, Virginia!

After my stint in VA, I flew to Baton Rouge and had a super-short visit at home. I got to meet my newest nephew - before his grampa and great-grandparents met him! That made me feel super special. He's a cutie, eating, sleeping, and growing well, and his parents are doing awesome. I had lunch with my dad the next day at Velvet Cactus, and I was very underwhelmed. The food was boring and overpriced, and the booze was excellent and overpriced, though it seemed like a cool place to hang out. After lunch, I picked up my rental car and hit the road to Texas.

I spent two weeks in Port Arthur, and my arrival coincided with a tropical depression that was upgraded to a storm. The folks on the ground in PA got ready to do a post-storm assessment, and I was assigned to a small boat team to survey the local waterways. Fortunately, the storm turned out to be almost a non-event, as it hit significantly further south than originally forecasted, so we just got a bit of wind and rain. That part of Texas was already pretty saturated, but we didn't have much in the way of flooding and the beach access roads were quickly uncovered from all the sand that shifted over them. Instead of going out with a boat team, I did a facilities/area familiarization/harbor patrol which was a great way to get oriented to the local area. During that week, I responded to a sheen at a facility, which we deemed to be storm runoff at a natural collection point in the river, as well as a sheen at an anchorage in the Neches River. For the Neches sheen, I went out with the Texas General Land Office (TGLO) at dusk for a night time response, so I got to see the area from the water and all lit up at night after a beautiful sunset. We never found any pollutants, so whatever it was had already moved or dissipated, but it was still a fun boat ride. Then I started working on a mystery seepage on the Bolivar Peninsula. During a routine response and harbor patrol, some Coast Guard pollution responders from the unit in Texas City found crude oil bubbling up on the beach and called it in. Texas City was a bit understaffed, so they asked PA for assistance and off I went. I spent three very long and very hot days on the beach, getting eaten alive by mosquitos and sand flies, and picking the brains of some very experienced Coasties and removal contractors. It was my first experience with a federalized case, or one that the Coast Guard has taken over because there was no responsible party identified, so I learned a lot. The timing worked out to provide me with a great opportunity, and our collective efforts removed the threat of pollution to the water. That was where/how I spent the bulk of my time my second and last week in PA, and I'm grateful for the opportunity and camaraderie provided to me by my co-workers over there.

After PA, I headed home for some R&R. My very first night I went out with my mom to watch a local band, and we had a really fun time. She even got up on the dance floor a few times! I spent a lot of time that first Saturday hanging out at my mom's and my brother's house, and hit up Costco, glorious Costco, for some much-needed supplies. Things like allergy medication for my poor, afflicted husband and sundried tomatoes and brined artichoke hearts for a party the next night. I miss Costco. Sunday I went to my friend Ryan's house (Hi, Ryan!) for a combined housewarming and excuse-to-hang-out-and-drink-cocktails-with-Elaine party. It was great seeing and catching up with everyone, and we missed the out-of-towners. The rest of the week was a whirlwind of back-and-forthing and good food and good company. We planned a poker night at my grandparents' house one night, but it wound up being food and visiting, which is just as good. I also got to head to one of the riverboats with G&G, my uncle, and my mom for some light gambling, and after that we all met a couple of my cousins and had lunch together. I lost $14 but my lucky mother put $5 in a slot machine, made one fifty cent bet, and won forty bucks on her first spin! You have to stop after that, right?

It's been a quiet week in Florida, and I'm knocking on wood that it will stay that way. I've gone out on a couple of harbor patrols and helped some folks with some studying. I've also gotten to have meals with all three of my siblings-in-law as well as my MIL, and I'll probably be spending a night or two at my FIL's house to see him as well. This weekend we have a lot of training and are conducting a Reserve hurricane exercise, which will be fun but could also be a giant pain in the rear. We'll see. I still have a couple of admin things to sort out, but I'm mostly winding down. Next week I'm concluding with some medical stuff and hopefully some beach and family time, and then back home to Italy!