The Frozen Tundra

It was sooooo nice in St. Geogre, and we had airline tickets to the frozen East Coast. We left February 18th and flew to Raleigh-Durham airport. Andy was there to meet us with.....a.......girl. She had her arm wrapped up in his. Her name is Stephanie and she is Andy's girlfriend. Who knew? Not us.
Long story short....Stephanie went back to work, Andy flew up to Newport to start school, and Charlie and I drove his Explorer up to stay with him in Newport until the 28th. The logistics of having 2 cars necessitated us getting the Explorer up there because the jeep was already there and he had to get back to class so he flew and we drove.

My boy back in my arms again!

We decided to take the Chesapeake Bay-Bridge tunnel so I got to go through Norfolk!  It was weird being on Kempsville Road again so close to the Base and having it clean and built up and thriving. But I guess it has been 45 years.

Being on the New Jersey Turnpike felt just like all the highways back east. Road in the middle and trees on both sides. We could have been in Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey....you get the picture. When we approached New York City....very different. Same road, lots, LOTS more traffic, and the air a bit hazy with stuff.

This is as close as we got to Manhattan. We thought about Miranda, Alex, Alicia, Shanna, and Ryan.

As hard as we tried, there is NO way into Connecticut except over the George Washington Bridge.

Did I say that the East Coast is in a deep freeze? I wonder where that water was dripping from?

Once we broke free of New York, we had to put up with the Connecticut traffic! Andy was right. It takes forever to get through Connecticut!  Finally we reached Rhose Island!!

So we thought we had made it and I took a picture. This bridge, however, is the one that goes into the Island of Jamestown. Once through Jamestown, there is another bridge that got us into Newport.

We drove right to Andy's abode where he was waiting. He lives in an old colonial that has been sub-divided into 5 condos. He is on the third floor in the Landlord's apartment . They are a couple that live in Florida and use this as rental property and a place to spend their summers. They were not coming this summer so rented it out.

Two bedrooms with queen beds, kitchenette with washer-dryer combo, adequate bathroom with tub, and large living space. I think he got the best one. The two bedrooms are attic space, obviously, because there were no windows but skylights over the beds. The first night it rained/snowed all night and was so pretty to watch the rain and listen to it pitter-pat above my head.  

Being soooo cold, we drove around a lot. The days were highs in the teens with wind chill way below zero.

Every now and then, when we would get hungry, we would try out another little restaurant. There are so many and the food was outrageously wonderful!!

Passed on the outdoor seating at a quaint little place on Jamestown Island.

The Brick Alley

Birthday dinner at Sardella's. We sat by the fireplace!! So cozy and absolutely the best Chicken Marsala I have ever had!! Don't mind the evil eyes. We had the waitress take the picture and the flash went off.

Lunch at the Hungry Monkey

Found this amazing antique store!!

Andy got us on base one day to see the Naval War Museum.  It overlooks the bay and the bridge.  It is over Andy's left shoulder in the next picture.

All good things must end. It snowed again the night before we left. We woke up to 4 new inches of snow. Andy took us to the airport in Providence where we just had to stop for another meal. The Ted Turner restaurant that serves beef and bison!

We had a real good wait at the airport as our plane was delayed. Some nail biting, because our layover in Detroit was only an hour. We hatched a plan. As soon as the puddle-jumper plane landed in Detroit, I would take the small stuff and run to the next gate. (It was A-23 from C-12...and if you've ever been to Detroit airport you know you have to run on 2 moving walkways, sprint down, down, down the mammoth escalator, run across the underground tunnel with 2 moving walkways, up the mammoth escalator (I will admit I could barely climb and let the escalator do its thing), down 3 more moving walkways to gate A-23.)  The door was closed!!!! I begged and pleaded and they said no worries, we just closed the door because it was cold. Four more people ran up behind me and boarded the plane. Charlie, in the meantime, was back at C-12 waiting for our carry on luggage that had to be pink tagged because of the size of the plane. He later said the ramp was broken so they had to manually assembly line the luggage up to the concourse. Our bags were some of the first! Thank you!! He then began his run. Meanwhile back at A-23, the lady asked if I could see my husband yet. No. "He will get here as fast as he can, but it will depend on how fast your people get us our luggage. I promised him I wouldn't get on without him, so if you close the door to the plane, their will be two people mad at you." She smiled....kind of. We can only give him a few more minutes. "I see him!!!!!"

We both boarded the plane, thanking every passenger for their patience and waiting for us. (Ask around to see if there is a doctor on the plane. One of us might need one.)

This is what we saw driving away from the Las Vegas airport! Been there, done that.