Our trip up north.

Phillip and I took a tour with MCCS that took us to the northern part of Okinawa.

We visited the Ryukyu Glass Factory where I actually blew my own glass. It was fun.

We also went to Fruitsland where we had lunch and then went to Pineapple Park. At Pineapple Park we rode the Pineapple Cart and then walked through the Corral Museum.

They have everything that you can think of made out of pineapples from candy to cakes, body products and wine. It was amazing. I didn't realize that there were so many differnt kinds of pineapple plants. We then went to the Orion Beer factory which is the only place in the world the Orion beer is made.

Arriving in Okinawa

We finally made it to Okinawa, Japan on June 3, 2011. It was a long 18 hour flight but the airline was so very hospitable that it made it an easy flight. We checked into the Westpac Lodge where we spent the next two weeks. The picture below is a view from our window at the lodge.

On Friday, June 17th we picked up the keys to our house and began the moving in process. It has taken us two weeks but we are finally all moved in and boxes gone. So far I love Okinawa. It is beautiful, especially the water.

Journey to Okinawa

Okay, so it's been 5+ weeks since I updated this blog. I'm a horrible blogger as you can see. We flew from Charlotte, NC to Reno, NV and checked into The Grand Sierra Resort for the night. The next morning we drove down to Gardnerville, NV and checked into the Carson Valley Inn. It was a lot better than I thought it was going to be. The beds were comfortable and the hospitality even better. The room was very clean as well. We had a few things to take care of in Coleville so we drove down there and saw a few friends while there. We spent a couple of nights in Gardnerville before beginning our journey north to Seattle, WA.

When we began our drive north to Seattle, we stopped in Squaw Valley, CA, the sight of the 1960 Olympics, and it wa beautiful. When then traveled through CA for what seemed like days, but was only hours until we came to one of the prettiest places in that state I have ever seen, Lake Shasta and Mt. Shasta. We spent the night at a very small but hospitble town called Lakehead. The whole drive through the mountains it was raining off and on and the weather was cool but it was beautiful.

We spent the night in Lakehead, CA then drove into Oregon the next day. We had a good time driving up the Oregon trail and seeing places that the pioneers went over in wagons wondering how on earth did they do that without killing everybody in the wagon train. As we were going through Oregon we stopped at a little museum about the Oregon trail where I learned a few things I didn't know. Like the fact that the Oregon trail split into two different trails at Fort Hall, Idaho. The actual Oregon Trail took them further up north where they had ride a part of the Columbia River to reach their destination. The split off was called the Applegate Trail after the two brothers who found the trail after one of them lost both of his sons in the Columbia River. They felt that there was a better way to get to where they wanted to go and they found one or so they thought. After seeing the wagons that they had at the museum I can't imagine what it was like traveling for months in one. They had to just drop stuff along the trail in order to get the wagon up the moutains. I admire their spirit for what they had to endure in order for our beautiful country to be what it is today. I don't think I would have been able to last in such harsh conditions. Okay, so now back to the Black's journey... after spending a little bit of time at the museum we then traveled on through Oregon and finally reached our destination for the night, Vancouver, WA. It is located just north of the Oregon/Washington state line. By now as you can imagine we are tired of traveling and really want for the whole thing to be done and over with but we have a few more days rather a few more weeks of living in hotels ahead of us. After spending the night in Vancouver (Washington not Canada) we traveled the remaining way to Seattle.

As we traveled to Seattle we made one detour which turned out to be a great detour. We went to Mount St. Helen's. For those of you too young to know this is a volcano that erupted in 1980. It destroyed a lot of the forest area and some of the towns that were located at it's base. Yes, that is snow you see in the picture to the left. It was snowing when we went up and they said that they actually had to close down the day before because it was so bad up there. I highly recommed a trip there if you are in the area. It's beautiful.

We then spent a few days in Seattle preparing for our flight to Okinawa. We put the truck into storage (I miss my truck) and we did a little sight seeing. The one place that I insisted on seeing was the Space Needle. It is a wonder to behold and the view from the top is amazing. I rained everyday we were in Seattle but it is a beautiful place despite that. We then traveled to the airport and began preperations for our flight to Okinawa. We literally spent the night in the USO at the airport where we just happen to run into some friends from our days in Jacksonville, NC. They too were headed to Okinawa. What a small community the Marine Corps has. Well, I'm going to end this page and start another one which will tell of the trip to Oki and what has happened to us since arriving here. Love to all and we miss y'all.

Our family visit trip.

On April 29th, 2011 we checked out of housing and officially became homeless. Gene and I flew out of Reno and headed to Orlando, FL to begin our month long trek to Okinawa, Japan. When we arrived at the airport we were met there by my parents, daughter, and granddaughter. We got to my parents house and I realized that my computer bag was left at the airport because I was in a wheelchair because of my knee and it was left hanging on the back of the chair. Well, I got in touch with the lost and found at the airport on Sunday May 1st and it had been turned in by the skycap that wheeled me out to the car. I picked it up on Monday and it has been a wonderful adventure since. Phillip arrived in FL on May 5th after turning things over to his replacement.

We attended my nephew, Michael's wedding at the beach in Clearwater and it was beautiful. We then spent a few more days in FL before traveling to Lynchburg, VA for our oldest daughters college graduation. Which by the way, was mine and Phillip's 23rd Wedding Annivesary. What a great anniversary present. When we left Lynchburg and went to Appomattox, VA to see the McLean house where the Lee surrendered to Grant to end the Civil War. It was beautiful and somber at the same time. We then traveled to Columbia, SC to visit with Phillip's family before heading over to Okinawa. While in there we went to Fort Sumter in Charleston, SC which is where the Civil War began it too was very somber. We enjoyed our visit very much until my mother-in-law fell and broke three bones in her left foot. She required surgery to have them pinned and from what my sister-in-law tells me she is doing great. They had to do the surgery the old fashioned way because of all the damage to the tissue in her foot. Pray for her as she will be layed up and out of work for 6 weeks and she is living with my sister-in-law. Pray for my sister-in-law as well.

As of this posting I am sitting at the airport in Charlotte, NC in the USO waiting for time for us to go to our gate for departure to Reno, NV. From Reno we will drive to Seattle, WA, store the truck and catch our flight to Okinawa, Japan. I can't wait for this adventure to be over and to be settled into our new home.

The Closer Leaving Gets the Harder It Gets

Okay, the closer time gets for us to leave the harder it gets. I love this place and all of the people that I have met here. Gene and I have one week and two days left. I received a phone call this morning from the people that handle assigning the contracts to the movers and they wanted to move our storage pack up date from Tuesday, April 26th to tomorrow, April 21st. So, tonight we spent the evening going through everything seperating out what is going into storage, what is going in our express shipment and what is going with us in our suitcases. This is not easy stuff when you don't have but one good leg and one bum one. Phillip came home and jumped right into helping with the chore. We were able to get most of it done in just a couple of hours, thank goodness.

As for my knee, I am 5 weeks post-op and my physical therapy is going well. I have begun to walk without crutches and that in it self is exhausting. I'm really hoping to get myself to the point of being able to walk without a limp.

Okay that's it for now. I'll try and update again later.

The Count Down Has Begun.

Well, Gene and I have less than two weeks left here in Coleville. Our household goods shipment was picked up on Tuesday, April 12, 2011. Our storage pack up is scheduled for Tuesday, April 26, 2011 and our Express Shipment is scheduled for Thursday, April 28, 2011. Phillip will be frocked on Wednesday, April 27, 2011. He is getting frocked because he wants to go into his new duty station with his new rank pinned on. However, he won't actually get promoted until sometime around August of this year. As for my knee, things are going well. I have been in physical therapy for two weeks now and I should be off of my crutches by the end of this week. The doctor said that it will take a total of about 6 months before I'm actually back to normal (whatever that is) and that in about 3 months I can actually get back on the tred mill to run. I am looking forward to that. I have gaind some weight over the last couple of months because I haven't been able to do any exercise. Well, so much for our happenings for now. I will update again as soon as I can.

The move finally begins.

So after stressing out for the last two weeks our move will finally begin on Tuesday, April 12, 2011. I can't believe that we only have 3 weeks left here in Coleville, CA. I will miss this place and the friends that we have made here but I am excited about moving to Okinawa, Japan. Things haven't been easy for me since I messed up my knee but I'm on the mend and I have started physical therapy to regain full use of my knee. I hope to be more diligent in updataing this blog as our move gets into high gear. That is all for now.

Moving while incapacitated

On March 16th I had my surgery to repair the tear of my ACL. Everything went well but the doctor found a little more damage in the area than originally thought to be there. The last two weeks have been very, very, difficult for me because I haven't been able to do anything. I went to see the doc on March 25th for a one week post-op visit. They were very pleased with my progress so far and told me to begin putting weight on my leg with the crutches. It's not as easy as it sounds. They also told me that I could begin physical therapy but of course I have to wait on TriCare to give their approval before I can do anything with that. There is no telling as to when I will actually begin PT but as long as I get enough in so that I can walk without crutches and drive I will be a happy camper. So this is how things are going right now with our move to Oki. The movers didn't come today because there was a crash of the computer system that schedules all the moves because of the recalls of shipments due to the earthquake/tsunami in Japan. That would be a good thing if I were able to get up and actually do something. However when my son gets home from school I am going to enlist his help in going through my shoes in order to get some of them in the household goods shipment. I can also sit here and fill out the forms to get him registered for school in Okinawa and make phone calls to have phone services cut off and the satalite TV disconnected. I can't believe we only have four more weeks here and then Oki here we come. It hasn't been an easy two months but it could have been much worse. At least I can do some of the things that need to get done. Bye, until next time.

Well, life in the Black household has gotten quite interesting. On Feb. 22, 2011, I fell while skiing and tore my ACL in my right knee. Not fun but at least I was having fun up until the time I fell. Before I get to all of that a little update on other things that have gone on. We began our overseas screening and the shots for going to Japan. The biggest thing though is that we found our Gus a home. He is doing very well and has two brothers to play with now. He is full of life and loves having other dogs to play chase with. I'm so glad that we were able to find him a good home. It makes leaving him behind so much easier.

Okay back to the knee thing. Well, I saw the orthopedic on Friday March 4th and he scheduled me for surgery on March 16th. I had the surgery and everything went well. I don't remember much of what he said after surgery because I was under the influence of drugs and anethestia at the time but I do seem to remember his telling Phillip that I had completely torn the ACL tendon away from the bone as well as tearing it into two pieces. OUCH!!!!! I also remember him saying that I had some rough spots on the cartiledge in my knee so he smoothed that out while he was in there. Again, OUCH!!!!! However, I'm healing quite well and I thank God for that. I do believe that He has put His healing hand upon me and that is why things are progressing so well for me at this moment. I also believe that the prayers of the wonderful people from both Antelope Valley United Methodist Church and Walker Baptist Church have played a part in this devine intervention. The wonderful ladies of the Valley Friendship Circle made me a prayer quilt before I went in for my surgery and I took it with me to have after I came out of surgery. I plan to keep it with me during my healing process as well. I will miss the people here very much and would love to come back this way someday.

Well, that is all for now. I will try and update this more often but I'm not making any promises. Of course I should be able to do this more often since I'm not doing anything but laying around for a few weeks.

Well, it's been a little while since I've posted anything so I have a little bit of catching up to do. I celebrated my 47th birthday this month with friends and family. I had a great birthday thanks to them. I finally was able to go skiing with my husband and had a great time. We thought we had a couple of people that were interested in taking Gus but when they said that they would call to set up a time for us to get together no one called. So it looks like we will be taking him to the animal shelter in a couple of days. We have a lot of things to do and he just seems to get in the way when we try to do them. It seems that he knows something is going on but he just can't figure it out. My heart breaks everytime I think about having to do this but it is the best thing for us all. I love him and will miss him terribly.

Okay, that will be all for now. Hopefully I will be able to get back to updating this on a regular basis again. Thanks for following.

One week of work left

Well, I have only one week of work left and I'm pretty excited about it. One of the first things on my list to do is go skiing. I'm gonna get passes for Kirkwood from the base as well as rent the equipment. I'm kind of concerned about it though because we have had such warm tempuratures here lately and no new snow. It may be like skiing on ice, which I have done before. After my ski trip I will begin the process of going through the house and deciding what goes to Okinawa and what goes into storage. I'm actually procrastinating at this point because I don't know where to start. I also have to start the cleaning process (UGH!!!). We still haven't found a home for Gus so it looks like we may have to take him to the animal shelter in Mono County. I don't want to but I don't know what else to do.

Phillip re-enlisted for the last time on Thursday, January 20, 2011. He did it at Post 1 which is the gate that you pass as you head to the main gate of the base. I'm so very proud of him words can't describe it. We will be in Okinawa when Phillip retires and when Gene graduates from high school.

Another week gone by

Our truck has been in the shop for a week now and it will finally be done tomorrow morning. It cost us about $1700 to get it fixed so that we could sell it. The hope for finding Gus a home has fallen through so we will probably end up taking him to the animal shelter.

I managed to get mine and Gene's medical records fixed so that we could get our overseas screenings started. I still have a couple of doctor's in Jacksonville, NC that need to send a copy of my records but at least we are on the right track. Getting all of that pulled together was a load off of my mind. Gene has been sick for the last two days but he seems to be doing better now. I believe that he had a touch of the flu. We have 3 1/2 months left here in Coleville and I'm getting a little antsy.

I only have two more weeks to babysit and then I'll be beginning the process of going through the house and dividing up the things that will go into the different shipments that we have either going into storage or going to Okinawa with us. That will keep me busy for a while. I hope that I will be able to get in a little skiing done as well.

Okay, here we go.

Well, this past week has presented it's self with some challenges for us. Mainly, getting our truck fixed and ready to sell and finding Gus a home. We have some light at the end of the tunnel for Gus, the vet's office is seriously attempting to help us find him a home which really makes me happy. I love that fat headed dog and will miss him terribly but if we can find him a home instead of having to take him to the animal shelter I will be a very happy person. As far as the truck goes... let's just say that it's not going to be cheap to fix it. However, it needs to be done so that we can either sell it or store it. My husband is a hard head when it comes to the truck. I want to leave it with my parents but he keeps insisting that it will be too rusted to keep when we get back. I personnally think he is crazy.

Gene is extremely excited about moving to Okinawa, so much so that he seems to be putting forth the effort to finish all of his school assignments on time so that he finishes here on a good note. I am getting more and more anxious and nervous about everything that needs to be done before we leave but I can't wait until it's all over. I have already been looking into getting a job while we are over there in the hopes that we can get out of and stay out of debt. I would also like to be able to save up enough money to buy us a brand new fifth wheel and truck when we get back.

Okay, I know that this is not exactly what I need to put on here right now but I'm still learning. thanks for being patient with me while I learn about this blogging thing. Love to all.

The Black Family

Well, we have begun 2011 with an old Southern tradition of eating collard greens, black-eyed peas and ham hocks. We also had rolls, macaroni pie and sweet potatoe casserole. Wish ya'll could have been here to share in the feast. We are in the beginnings of an adventure of a lifetime. As most of you know by now, we are being transferred from Bridgeport, CA to Okinawa, Japan. Phillip was selected for promotion to MasterGunnerySargeant, which was a welcome but unexpected suprise. He will be re-enlisting later this month and we will be quit busy getting things ready to move. I will attempt to keep this blog updated about once a week but I won't make any promises. I will however update this as often as possible (or as often as I think about it). Love to all and may God bless everyone in the coming year.