Monterey, California

*No pictures are being posted at this time. I have to get the cord from my mom whose camera I used on this trip. I will post them as soon as I can.

Well I made it back from California safe and sound but very exhausted. I left for San Francisco on Wednesday afternoon. On my flight from Charlotte to San Francisco we had to make an emergency landing for a passenger that was having a heart attack. Thankfully there were two nurses on board one of which was an ER nurse. We made a pit stop in Amarillo, Texas to drop him off and then we were on our way again. Our flight was only a little over an hour late, which I didn't think was too bad.

When I arrived in San Fran I was greeted by English. I was so happy to see her. We had a great visit on the way back to Monterey. We got to my hotel around midnight which was actually 3:00 a.m. my time. I finally got to sleep to only wake up at 4:00 a.m Cali. time (7:00 a.m. my time). I was so mixed up on time. I usually don't have this hard of a time, but then again I don't usually fly in at night. I usually get to Cali in the afternoon and have a few hours to try and adjust.

Thursday morning we met Grandma Jan and Uncle John at their hotel and then we went to breakfast. After that we went to English's graduation. As Ronnie said earlier, English didn't pass her exams. She is so disappointed. She only missed it by one question, which almost makes not passing even worse. She is now putting in her new job request with the Air Force, and will hopefully find out what her new job will be in a couple of weeks.

To answer a few questions:
1) No she can not re-take the test. Once you fail that is it...for air crew, which she is. If she was ground crew she could take it again.
2) She is no longer a linguist.
3) She does not know where she will be stationed now or when in fact she will move.
4) She has put in for a couple of different jobs all but one of which are still air crew. She wants to keep her security clearance.
5) English did receive a certificate for completing the courses.

Anyway, after the ceremony we went down to Cannery Row, which is a popular tourist spot. It is just a bunch of shops and resturants down by the bay. After that we went back to Jan and John's hotel and hung out for a while, and then English took me back to my hotel for the night.

Friday morning we met up with Jan and John and decided to make the 17 mile drive. This was such a great decision. What a beautiful drive. On the drive we stopped and ate lunch at the famous Pebble Beach Golf Course. Even though I don't play golf it was still pretty neat to see. What a beautiful area English lives in. After the drive we went back to Jan and John's hotel and played some cribbage while English took care of some errands she needed to tend to. I actually won two games. I stink at Cribbage and so it was a big deal to me to win a couple of times. Jan ended up being the "Champion of the World". When English rejoined us we went out to dinner down at Fisherman's Warf, which again was a really neat area. I kept saying it over and over what a beautiful area Monterey is. I couldn't believe it.

After dinner we hung out for a little bit and then said our goodbyes. It was great to be able to visit with Jan and John for a couple of days. I am so glad that they were able to drive up for the graduation. English took me to a local pub for a couple of minutes so that I could meet some of her friends. I then got her to drop me off at my hotel so that she could then go back and hang out with them. A couple of them will be leaving this week so I wanted to make sure that she go to see them some before they left.

Saturday morning English's building had to move to another building so I hung out at my hotel. I didn't get much sleep Friday night due to the male and female in the room next to mine. I won't go into much detail, but I am sure that you can guess as to how and why I was woken up at 1:00 a.m. and again at 4:00 a.m. It happened again at 10:00 a.m. Each time I just cranked up the TV, but then couldn't go to sleep due to the loudness of the TV. Couldn't turn the TV down due to the loudness of the people in the next room. I left them a note on their door as I was checking out. My note was pretty funny.

Well English and I left Monterey at 12:30 and drove Highway 1 up the coast. Once again this was a beautiful drive. It took us a couple of hours, but it was well worth it. Once in San Fran we drove to the Golden Gate bridge and down into (although it was accidental) Salsalido. Cute little area directly across the bay from San Fran. Then we drove back over the Golden Gate bridge and straight through down town San Fran. We tried to go to a movie, but they all started too late so we did a little shopping. I then made English drop me off around 8:00 p.m. ( my flight was at 10:40 pm) so that she could hopefully make it back to base for a going away party.

My red eye flight is probably a flight that I won't take again. I use to take them all the time when I was little, but at 40 I just can't do it. I was so tired yesterday. I am even more tired today. Even though I feel exhausted it is well worth it. I had a wonderful time in Monterey. Got to hug my little girl and see her life there. I am so proud of her.

Well as I said I will post pictures as soon as I get the cord.