The flight down to SC went smooth as silk. Hollie picked me up from the airport and we headed for the homestead. The weather was perfect. Warm, with moist fragrant breezes rustling the sharp stiff leaves of the Palmetto trees. We headed out to a quick burger no bun dinner at Rockaways then the condo. I was already worn out, so we just talked for awhile then headed to bed. Hollie had to work, so I dropped her off and headed for the pool. I got in a quick half mile before the pool was closed for the installation of the bulkhead for Special Olympics. I headed over to HQ at Fort Jackson and talked with my old coworker Mike for awhile. Not much changes, except he has hijacked my old office. After a short visit I headed to the gym to do a 5K on the elliptical and beat my best AK time by a few seconds. I then picked up Hollie and ran her to a luncheon with her professor and met up with Foxy for lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings then I met Pope to get our condo on the market. Thursday was running more errands getting things worked out and hanging with the Fort Jackson fellas. The weather all week was very pleasant, high 70s, mornings in the 50s and 60s, except Thursday lunch, it was raining cats and dogs.
Here she is with the funny little hood on. She was so happy, you can see the look of excitement on her face. I can attest to the hard work and hours she put in on this degree. We gave up a lot of Saturdays and Sundays for paper writing for sure.
Afterwards we headed out to Chapin to hang with the in-laws. We watched 'Black Swan', not the greatest movie to watch with your in-laws for future reference. Too many sex scenes for sure.
We didn't make it to the gym Friday so we went for a run out at the inlaws. About 2 miles, took 20 minutes, Hollie ran circles around me. She's been running regularly for almost a year now. This was my first outdoor run, Alaska has been a bit cold for it, so I stick to the eliptical. My quads burned. Totally different. So I must start to work roadwork into my program as soon as Alaska warms up a few more degrees.
Saturday, I ran my father in law's ladder back to him then I got to visit with Foxy and Stumpy a little bit, helping Foxworth work on his new deck. You don't realize how much you miss friends until they aren't around all the time. It was nice just talking, drinking beer and cutting wood.
Saturday night, I got to visit some of the guys at the pub for a couple hours.
Sunday morning, Mother's day, we went to church with my mother in law then out to lunch with Hollie's siblings. We hit up San Joses for some mexican grub.
Monday, I cleaned out the 4runner and drove it to Charleston to finally ship it to AK so it is up here when Hollie makes it up. Not having a car around here would suck for sure.
Aaron, Hollie's brother, picked me up in Charleston and Hollie came to drive me back. We went to dinner at a killer italian place in Mount Pleasant. The tiramisu was excellent.
If you note a food oriented bent to my blog, it's because Delta Junction lacks a lot of the international options I've become accustomed to in SC. Which helps account for my weight loss somewhat.
Tuesday, was an 18 hour return trip back to Delta Junction AK.
I learned a lot on this trip. First off, while I hate the middle of the summer in SC when the sun cooks everything into an oven midday, I do miss the spring in the South. The warm humid mornings, the greenery, the cool evenings, the birds singing. It felt good to be there.
It's safe to call anywhere you've lived almost 10 years of your life "home". Driving, walking, hanging out, all of it still feels incredibly natural, as if I could move back tomorrow and not miss a beat. Don't know how long that feeling will last, but i liked it.
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