Leaving the Nest and Cooling Down in a Kayak

All the partying and celebrations from graduations to Six Flags to departure day is now behind.  We attended Sandi’s swearing in ceremony at the MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) in Portland.  A lot of the time it was hurry up and wait around for her but for us, the time went fairly fast – kind of.    Only two were actually sworn in and shipping out.  One girl was being admitted to DEP (Delayed Entry Program).  There were quite a few young folks going through preliminary MEPS  but only two who were actually shipping out.    Sandi had been in the DEP program for close to a year. She's definitely in the Navy now.

Lunch was served (Subway sandwiches) and soon afterwards they were on their way to the airport.  Sandi hoped to sleep on the plane because she knew the next few days would be tough.  After all, at boot camp the idea is to keep the recruits awake for the first 72 hours.   Things won’t be easy for her for the next 8 weeks so our fingers are crossed she’ll still be up and chipper in a few weeks when she gets to make her first phone call home.

Thursday night we had a great experience at a farm-to-table restaurant.  Sabrina and Lee had visited previously and raved about their dinner.  Obviously, I wanted to try it out.  It was just as good as we hoped it would be.  The owner lives on a local farm and the majority of things served either come from his farm or a neighbor’s.  If you want fresh food, this is the place to visit.  I guess that’s why he calls it Farm-to-Table cuisine. They only serve 20 people in an evening so you can imagine the special attention and service received.  It was definitely a meal to remember.  Of course, we all know eating at unique and special places is one of my favorite hobbies.

	Summer Chicken Salad	Vietnamese Pork Chops
	Lamb Kebabs	Zucchini Cobbler

Speaking of food, which I do often, last week Terry and I visited Famous Dave’s in Portland.  We were going for their brisket.  We’ve eaten at Famous Dave’s before and never had  a complaint.  However,  if I had to rate the brisket this time, it would be at the very bottom of the list.   The brisket had no smoked flavor, had very little bark and was just like leather.  Don’t know what happened there.

The hot weather hasn’t left the area.  It continues to be hot and dry.  I should say it continues to be too hot and too dry.  Tammi and Robert had  a plan to cool us down.  It started with our kayaks …….

With the holiday weekend here, the waterfront was packed with boats and more boats. All the activity on the water didn't help in keeping the water flat.  Pictures taken were a challenge because the kayaks were rocking.  Focusing wasn’t an easy task.

We often talk about having our plans in Jell-O or written in chalk.  Just about everyone knows what that means.  Well, ours just got changed and all because of the weather.  Our “tentative” departure date was going to be July 5th.  Then, we heard about all the rain and thunderstorms hitting in the direction we were heading.  Isn’t it great we can change our plans on a whim? So, we’ll just wing it for a few days until those thunderstorms head someplace else. 

Tomorrow is the 4th of July.  The birthday of our nation.  Celebrate safely.

‘Tis life on the road.