Todd Stowell Online

I am finally back to updating my blog after a break to the West Coast. The time change may have had little effect, but the trip itself was a little more....

So here it is, the long awaited blog posting reviewing my vacation out West to "meet the parents." It wasn't the first time, so naturally I knew what to expect :-)

Wednesday, August 24th

Burlington - 7:00am EST
The day started off at a bright and early 7:00am EST as I dragged my lazy self out of bed, knowing that I had a full day of flying and turblance ahead of me. I quickly gathered my items, met my dad, and was shipped off to the airport. Naturally, it took me approximately 10 minutes to check in to security, which I don't know if it makes me feel good or a little frightened that it's pretty liberal to get into the airport and ultimately an airplane in Burlington. But I digress. After a 9:01am EST takeoff, the vacation was on. I immediately felt a sense of strangeness.. although I think it was because I began to travel over red states.. so naturally I was a little sick to my stomach over that.

Chicago - 10:17AM CST
"It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses." Unfortunately that classic quote from "The Blues Brothers" didn't hold true as a 90 degree sunny day was what I met as I exited the plane for my mandatory lay-over. While scrambling from one concourse to another, I found the trippy moving walk way with the crazy cult-type sounds and mind blowing lighting effects. I fell over drooling because of the high on was on after I neared the exit. I located the world's most ghetto McDonald's and choked down a strange chicken sandwich of some sort. I think they will killing the chicken's in the back, but again... I digress. So I parked myself by my exiting gate for the lengthy flight to Portland, Oregon.

Somewhere In The Air - 10:00am MST
So the little girl next to me had a #2 accident in her diaper and naturally her mother failed to either notice it or just didn't care. She did however insist on letting the flight staff wake me up to see if I wanted some water. It was nice to know that she was concerned for my hydration, but I would like to think that perhaps her daughter's dirty diaper might be of more concern.

Portland - 11:16am PST
Well, my luggage actually arrived to the correct destination. Kate and her father picked me up and we were on our way to Union, Washington which is where the family beach house. The ride was nice, and we talked about all sorts of bizarre things such as what a gasterointerologist sees on a daily basis, and the most bizarre items that have had to be removed. I want to point out right away that Kate started it.. and naturally I had to join in the conversation.

Thursday, August 25th

Today, Kate went out and collected some oysters. Now as a kid, I did like oysters crackers, but I am pretty sure they weren't made of what I saw. Those poor oysters, they died for the noble cause of ending up in Kate's belly. I cried a little, but what can you do. I almost died however. Kate and I went for a swim, and naturally I thought that it would be like a swimming pool. After becoming exhausted and failing to remember how to swim correctly, lifeguard Potter assisted me (no no, more like dragged me back to shore) where I decided I would stick to swimming in a pool for a while. Now, to my defense it has been a few years since I have been swimming, but still.. I now know that Kate REALLY loves me because she saved me from sleeping with the fishes.

After that little adventure for which I will never speak of again, we later drove to where her dad is selling their Boston Whaler Speed Boat, where we managed to borrow it for the weekend. At this point, Kate's mom and their shared exchange student Adrian had arrived, and later Kate's Uncle David. We launched the boat and proceeded to tow Kate and Adrian around on an inner tube. Now, remember how I said I had issues swimming, well that isn't the full story of why I opted out of this activity. The last time I did anything of a sledding nature, I ended up with a swollen jaw for a few days. I wanted to come home in one piece, so I decided I would stay clear and just take photos.

Kate's dad devised a plan to tow out their new sailing buoy with the speed boat. There were some high stake bets but he was indeed successful with his quest, and managed to locate the buoy to it's permanent resting place.

After dinner, we went down to pick up Kate's dad's new sailboat which we hope to be able to sail. By the time we arrived back, it was quite dark, so off to bed for the end of the first full day.

Friday, August 26th

Kate and Adrian went water skiing. I felt very bad for Kate as she has truly wanted to successfully ski but was unable to get up for the cruise. Adrian managed to get up and stay on for the full ride. I however began to get some much needed information about Kate's younger years from her mom.. so.. I wonder if I'll ever need to use it. After that, it was off to Seattle for a little sight seeing and a baseball game at Safeco Field.

Seattle
Seattle is interesting, kind of like Burlington only larger, with a lot of scenery but more noise. We ate at a restaurant called Ivar's, where I found out later that eating non-seafood items was against more religions. IF ONLY I KNEW! The sea gulls were however quite friendly yet strangely terrifying at the same time. We visited the space needle and then off to the ball game. The game had it's great moments and annoyances of punk kids with no supervision and drunk adults with no supervision. Chicago won after 12 innings by two runs.

Saturday, August 27th

It was my last day in Washington state. We picked up the cabin, I naturally received more info on young Kate for my records, and packed up for our trip. Kate, her dad and I went for a sail to bring the sailboat back to dock. The wind was quite strong and it made for a wonderful ride. We did a drive by of Bill Gates' summer house (although I wasn't as impressed as I thought I would be) and motored back to dock. After some technical issues which left us without motor power in dock and careful quick decision making by Kate and her dad, we docked the boat and headed for the long ride to Salem, Oregon.

Sunday, August 28th

I said by goodbye's to Kate and her dad (I missed her mom as she slept in) and boarded the plane back to Chicago for a 3 hour overlay. Once back in Chicago I had some lunch, hung out by the gate, boarded for Burlington and landed at 8:30pm EST.

Labels: Salem Oregon, Seattle Washington, Union Washington

I had the opportunity this morning to talk with my college friend who is currently stationed in Iraq. Read some of what life is like....

I had the opportunity today to speak with my friend Abe from college, who is currently serving as a tank commander in Iraq. Stationed in Ar Ramadi, the area he is located is considered one of the most dangerous places in Iraq. (For those of you who are geography buffs, Ar Ramadi is on the tip of the Suni Triangle. If you look at the map, you have to really big bodys of water in the middle of the country, and it is in the middle where the Euphrates splits.)

Abe will be stationed at his camp until July 2006, unless his ordered are extended for a further tour of duty. I feel for him. As a tank commander you are responsible for yourself, your men, your equipment and the safety of civilians, all while being shot at and mortered on a daily basis. To make matters even more stressful, he has had to deal with the loss of two of his tanks, which have been destroyed by Iraqi insurgances.

When asked what life is like in Iraq, he replied "I go on tanks, humvees, and even dismounted sometimes. Life here for civilians is a privilege. What makes it really hard is that these people just don't understand. You could kill all day and they (civilians) would still be lurking around." That makes protection of many civilians very difficult to deal with, because the number of daily attacks draws much of their protection into securing the war zone and not the people.

4:15pm Iraq time or 8:15am Vermont time, and after a full day's tour which started out at 4:40am Iraq time, he still manages to stay on the positive site. "Hey, I get to kill people and get paid for it.. its the wild west man. I carry a 12 gage shot gun, M16-A4 with a sniper scope, and a 9mm pistol."

With all the violence, and the attacks on his men, "Have you had to kill anyone yet?" I asked. "I've given the order to kill, so yes I have in effect killed. The actions of my soldiers are my own."

The Army has done a nice job of providing some sense of home while serving. Each post is equiped with a civilian style satellite internet link, which is a little better than a dial-up connection, but no DSL or Cable. It allows each soldier some time to send emails, talk over Instant Messenger, and view the news and headlines from the homefront.

The conversation was cut short so Abe could go "scream and punish someone" for having an accidental discharge (firing their weapon) in the FOB (Forward Operating Base/Home Base).

Labels: Iraq, Soldier, vermont