Road Trip!

Greatest thing about the military lifestyle….you never really say good bye, just till we meet again. 

I think the toughest part about having friends in other service branches is that you may never be assigned at the same location again.  I know with our Air Force friends, we’ll keep running into each other down the road.  With our Army, Coast Guard, Navy and Marine friends, you just never know.  That’s why when an opportunity came up to road trip down to Ft. Stewart to join Star and Tara on the road with Field Exercises, I jumped at the chance.  This could be really fun and if it worked out correctly, I’d get a chance to visit with one of my favorite Navy friends and two of my favorite Army pals (one of whom we hadn’t seen since being stationed in Germany together over 7 years ago).  I still can’t believe how quickly it all came together.

Usually everyone’s always crazy busy, can’t line up childcare, can’t afford it right, can’t spare the time….[insert your favorite excuse here].  Maybe it’s because all the stars aligned correctly, but when I called up my girlfriends, it only took quick conversations with husbands and the trip was on.  (This was probably facilitated by the fact that 2 of our husbands had just returned from deployment so it was easy selling them on the fact that we needed a break and the other 2 husbands are currently deployed, so their opinions were irrelevant.)  Regardless, by a miracle of scheduling, the trip was on!  We planned an easy itinerary:

• Wednesday: rent a car in DC and drive down to VA Bch to pick up N.  Head down south with a stop in Florence, SC. 
• Thursday: show up at Ft. Stewart in time to hang out with T before heading over to Field Exercises, then head over to Richmond Hill to hang out with L.
• Friday: Sightseeing and catching up in Savannah.
• Saturday: Drive back to VA Bch to meet up with the husbands and chill a bit before driving back to DC on Sunday.

I’ll share some pictures with you all later, but for now, here are some things we learned from our road trip:

• Did you know that in Emporia, VA you can buy 25 pounds of peanuts for $19.99?  I’m not going to lie, I was intrigued.
• Most vodkas are not made from potatoes.  Grey Goose is actually made from wheat which our gluten intolerant friend found out the hard way….sorry N.
• It is ENTIRELY possible to eat grits with every meal in the South (hooray for those of us who love grits!)
• It is also possible for 4 grown women (and mothers all) to go 4 days without eating a single green vegetable (unless celery counts).
• South of the Border really is as cheesy as you imagine it to be.
• Don’t play in puddles when you’re in Savannah, GA because you never know what kind of puddle it is.  (The number of horse drawn carriages around town should give you a clue though.)
• At one time, GA lawmakers had proposed a law that would make it a misdemeanor to not offer sweet tea in any GA restaurant that served ice tea.  That probably explains why sweet tea was the only beverage on the table at the event we attended.  Though, they did bring us water when we asked.

And the greatest thing I learned:

• The differences in service cultures and lingo* that separate us are blurred almost into insignificance compared to all the life and military life experiences that bind us together.  We’re all more alike than we are different. 

Cannot wait for the next road trip.  Rumour has it we’ll be going down to Charleston…..

* Thanks to my Army Tweeps for clarifying “household six” for me…even if there was a fair amount of heckling taking place!

Look for pictures in the next post….Road Trip Part II