With only four and a half days to get from California to Virginia, James and I had to really push ourselves to make the drive. If you recall, two years ago we spent an enjoyable 10 days visiting national parks, never driving more than 300 miles a day. It was nice and relaxing, and we took in some beautiful scenery. (Another fond memory in the HTPINK!) This time around, we were driving between 600 and 700 miles a day, with not much time to stop and enjoy the beauty around us. Even on a tight timeline, we couldn’t pass up touring a little bit, and we stopped at Montezuma’s Castle, drove through the red rocks of Sedona, and played in the snow outside of Flagstaff. I find it extremely difficult to drive through the southwest without stopping. There is something about those massive Saguaro that suck me in and say, please stop and enjoy me and the beauty around you! And I can’t help but stop and take it all in.We had a late start leaving San Diego on Wednesday, which allowed us to watch one last California sunset and enjoy one last burger at In-N-Out. We drove to Phoenix, AZ, just to
put some miles behind us to make the next four days a bit more pleasant. The desert is pitch black at night, and for much of the drive, I could only see a few feet in front of us, which made for a slow night. We were engulfed in darkness for miles, until suddenly we saw flood lights, a huge fence, and reflectors lining the fence as far as the eye could see. The Mexican border. I had no idea there was really a fence/wall between parts of the border, but there it was, lighting up the night sky. Floodlights beamed into Mexico, so bright that you would be able to see little animals scurrying across the sand. We passed border patrol vehicle after border patrol vehicle, until we went through a make shift border patrol stop. They stopped the car and asked me where we were from and where we were going. I told him we were headed to Virginia, and he looked at my ID and asked which city we would be visiting. I said Virginia Beach and we were on our way. I was a little worried at first, since our car was completely loaded down, and it would have taken us hours to put the puzzle of our things back together if they had inspected our back seats. Thankfully we don’t look like suspicious people, so we were on our way back into the darkness of the desert. We thought we were doing good on time, until we hit Phoenix and remembered they don’t adjust to Daylight Savings Time, and we had really lost an hour. So much for getting in before midnight, but at least we had put a few hundred miles behind us.
Once Nebraska lost the Big 12 Championship game to Texas by a last second field goal, we were excited to see them come to San Diego for the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl. I have grown up on Nebraska Football, watching the dominant Tom Osborne teams of the 1990s and was excited to see them play twice in the same year. Angela and I were in attendance for the Virginia Tech-Nebraska game in September in which the Hokies paid the devil back for delivering us Michael Vick with a last minute win over the Huskers. I have been impressed that Nebraska hired Bo Pelini to take over their program, as Callahan was the worst hire in modern college sp
orts history and nearly ran the program into complete mediocrity. I mean, who installs the West Coast offense in Lincoln?! The Huskers came into the game a bit disappointed and cheated from their game against Texas and were set to play the Arizona Wildcats who were coming into the game off of an upset of USC. With the game across the street, we were excited to possibly tailgate and meet some fans . We ordered Nebraska T-shirts and game-faces and made the perfect tailgate food in runzas. If you have never been to Nebraska, a runza is meat and cabbage wrapped in dough. Simple goodness. I made a few then we hit the tailgates. It was raining (odd in SoCal)
so was not as picturesque as normal, but there was a buzz in the air for an exciting game. We bought good seats from MWR, bought drinks (Margarita in a cup, really?) and watched a packed stadium enjoy pre-game festivities. The game itself was a beat-down by the Huskers, winning going away 33-0, and we had a good time trying to stay warm. Sitting near a guy in a chicken suit was annoying but we moved when all the Arizona Fans gave up on their team. We got some sleep and got ready to drive to Vegas for New Years!
nd I had the opportunity to go on a tiger cruise with him. A tiger cruise is an overnight cruise, whereas a family cruise is just for the day. It seemed as though everyone but me was getting sick on the Kearsarge’s tiger cruise, so I felt pretty confident that I would be okay this year on the Makin Island’s family day cruise. (The Makin Island and the Kearsarge are the same type of ship, so I thought I would be fine.) I took some Dramamine and was excited to embark on a day cruise with James and my Dad to enjoy the beautiful San Diego skyline and Pacific Ocean. The day began with an amazing sunrise over Cowles Mountain to the East, and an intriguing sail under the Coronado Bridge. It really did seem like we weren’t going to make it under the bridge, but of course it is just an optical illusion. We were outside enjoying the warm San Diego sun, the salty air, the seals, and the downtown sky line, and I was feeling fabulous. 
We had barely passed the cliffs of Point Loma when I started to feel horrible. Even on those big decks, you really feel the waves and the movement, and I wanted nothing more but to lay down and for the rocking to stop. Thankfully James has a state room with just one roommate, so I was able to spend a lot of time in his ra
ck asleep. Even though I was sick, it was still a lot of fun, and I enjoyed not having to go to work for a day. My dad had been on the ship all week, since he went on the tiger cruise with James, and I think he enjoyed being on a ship without actually having to do any work. And he was given his own stateroom, so I’m sure he enjoyed the entire cruise! The activities for the day included fly bys of helicopters, navy security patrols, and LCACs. There were other demonstrations, but I missed them due to my lack of sea legs. It was interesting being in James’ workspace though, because it seems like a movie with the blue lights. It seems so secretive and mysterious, especially when everyone in his division was playing video games on the computers. In their defense, they couldn’t do any real work when the workspace wasn’t secure, but it was entertaining nonetheless. To see more pictures of my Dad and my epic sea cruise on the Makin Island, check out our flickr site by clicking on the photos to the left.