Barb comes to Anacortes! Hippies everywhere!

Mandy and I have been super lazy about blogging! Sorry! I don't know if anyone actually ever checks this blog because no one ever leaves comments (you lazy bastards!) but I thought it was time to buckle down.

My mom came to visit us in Anacortes two weeks ago, over Memorial Day. It was great to have her here. We were able to check out a lot of the area that we hadn't seen yet. We went into Seattle and visited Pike Place Market. That place was crazy. The first ever Starbucks is located there. It was really crowded and there were a lot of very interesting people about. Back in my free minded hippie days I might have fit in, but not so much now!

We also went over to Friday Harbor, which is located on San Juan Island. It is about an hour ferry ride from Anacortes. We saw a pod of Killer Whales (Orca) on the trip over. Friday Harbor is very quaint with a lot of shopping and really good restaurants. On the ferry trip home we met up with two of the foulest smelling hippies I have ever seen in my life. I think Jessica was on the fast road to this kind of hippidum before I saved her! The guy was wearing red and white Pippy Longstocking socks and looked like he hadn't showered in over a year. The girl wasn't much cleaner and hadn't shaved her legs in a while. We had to stand behind them going through customs and I though for sure the drug dog was going to attack them but low and behold they made it through with no problems. They must have smoked all the pot before they got on the boat! No kidding I started dry heaving standing behind these two! Funny side note, Mandy and I saw these two on Friday Harbor the following weekend when we went back to run the half marathon. We both looked at each other with a funny expression, he probably thought I was a prick. Oh well, won't be the last guy to think that!

We also took my Mom to Vancouver, Canada. Of course we ended up in the, you guessed it, hippie part of Vancouver. Freaks everywhere. But it was definitely a good time. We went to Stanley Park, which is Canada's version of Central Park. Saw some blokes playing Crickett. I had never seen that before. Interesting game, don't know what the point is though!

Barb also got to visit NAS Whidbey Island. That is where I am stationed. She was able to see the Prowler from a far and took quite a few pictures.

All in all it was a great weekend and we can't wait to have her, and anyone else who wants to come visit, back!

This was taken in Langley which is on Whidbey Island, all the way to the South. A lot of very rich people keep vacation homes here.

At Pikes Place Market. I have to admit I got a little uncomfortable with all the people. But it was definitely worth visiting.

These are the famous fish throwers. If you remember the kid from the Seattle season of Real World worked here. They throw huge fish back and forth to each other and put on a little show. For some reason Mandy included this picture which is actually them throwing towels. Not as impressive, but still cool. Funny story: After they had tossed a large fish back and forth to each other the guy in the distance threw a big fake fish right at Mandy's head. She screamed in horror and threw up her arms. Everyone laughed. It was great!

What do you know, Mom is taking pictures. Of what, only Buddha knows.

Mom and I on the ferry ride over to Friday Harbor. You can see the little town in the background. The day was kind of rainy but what do you expect, we live in the Pacific Northwest.

Mandy and me on the same ferry ride.

This was taken down at a local beach. The scenery is really cool but the water is about 40 degrees, so not much swimming takes place.

We threw this one in cause it is so cute. This is our good friend's, the Skarosi's, daughter Kali. This was here first popsicle ever. Of course it was one of Mandys all natural organic fruit bars which you can tell was pretty tart for a little girl. Very cute!

This picture speaks for itself. This is my squadron building. All of the Prowler pilots in the Navy and Marine Corps are trained here.

The beautiful Prowler. My squadron logo is on the tail.

Prowlers behind the fence. You have to have clearance to get back there so this is as close as Barb and Mandy could get. Bummer for them!

Mother's Day Weekend in San Francisco

Last week work brought me to San Francisco. I've been there many times, but it had been quite some time since I was able to be a tourist in San Francisco, so this time my mom and sister came out for a long weekend to celebrate Mother's Day. We were quite the tourists, visiting the Golden Gate Bridge, Sausalito, Chinatown, Haight Ashbury, Fisherman's Wharf, Golden Gate Park, Union Square. We also rode the cable cars, had Mother's Day brunch by the water, and did a lot of shopping.

Here it is...the most famous SF landmark, the Golden Gate Bridge. Here we learned that the color is actually what they call "International Orange." We also learned that 11 men died when they built the bridge back in the 1930s.

We rode the ferry over to Sausalito, which was one of my favorite parts of the trip. Sausalito is a beautiful little town right on the water with lots of hills and beautiful homes.

Another shot in Sausalito. This is Fisherman's Wharf shortly after the Bushman scared us to death. If you haven't been to SF, the Bushman is a guy who uses a set of branches to disguise himself as a bush and then jumps out and scares poor clueless tourists. We must have looked pretty gullible because there were actually a bunch of other tourists poised with their cameras ready to go when he scared us. We didn't disappoint them ... I think I jumped about five feet and all of us screamed.

More of the Golden Gate bridge. Across the bridge there is Sausalito.

This is what they call "Postcard Row." Apparently a lot of pictures are taken of those houses there, so we had to take some too! They call them the Painted Ladies. Nice view of the city there in the background.

This is the Japanese Tea Gardens inside the Golden Gate Park.

Not-so-Spring Skiing in Whistler

In celebration of my 29th birthday, we headed north for some spring skiing in Whistler, BC over the weekend. We both decided that British Columbia was one of the prettiest places we had ever been. So pretty, in fact, that Josh had the idea of trying to persuade the Canadians to agree to a straight-across swap--they give us British Columbia, we give them North Dakota.

On the way up there, we realized that we are, like many Americans, completely ignorant about our neighbors to the north. Josh admitted that he didn't know who Canada's president was (actually they have a prime minister). We could only name the following provinces: British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, and Quebec. We tried singing their national anthem, but only knew "oh Ca-na-da." And we had no idea what a Canadian dollar was worth compared to an American dollar (We thought $75 for skiing seemed like a lot).

We learned a couple of things on our brief trip:
1. First and foremost, the freeway heading to Vancouver ends abruptly with no apparent warning. If you go, don't plan on American-like freeways in British Columbia. Plan on a side-trip through downtown Vancouver and a random trip around the entire city.

2. Canada has 10 provinces and 3 territories: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Nunavut, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Yukon Territory

3. Canada's new prime minister is Stephen Harper. He is a conservative and was elected in February as the 22nd prime minister.

4. The exchange rate for $1 American is roughly $1.15 Canadian. That means skiing at Whistler is still very expensive.

Does this look like spring skiing? It snowed like six inches the day before we were up there.

We took these pics to try and show the scenery, but it was too cloudy and overcast, so you just get us standing there.

Masters Weekend-Saturday

If you're reading this, you probably already know that I'm not the biggest sports fan in town. BASEBALL-too long and boring, FOOTBALL-just don't understand it, and Josh's new favorite NASCAR-five or six hours of nothing but driving around in circles (thanks Jason!).

HOWEVER, this weekend is the MASTERS, which has always been a momentous occasion in the Wathen household. Masters Sunday for our family involves three things: 1. Getting together to watch the tournament. 2. Listening to my dad's armchair analysis (and memories of Masters-past). 3. Betting. In keeping with tradition, each family members draws the name of one player who has a shot at the green jacket, and throws in five bucks (although a certain family member has been known to conveniently forget his five bucks...)

This year, Josh and I won't be around for Masters Sunday, so my dad and I are settling on each picking a player. The low finisher has to buy the other person dinner. My dad chose Retief Goosen, and I had to choose Mike Weir-simply because my sister knows him and nannys for his kids sometimes. I just hope Vijay, the male chauvanist, doesn't win.

Other items of note:
*Utah was well represented in the masters by 21-year-old BYU player, Clay Ogden. He didn't make the cut, but at least he got to go. And he's even from O-town.
*It's raining, which is currently causing a rain delay for the fifth straight year
*Phil Mickelson has a chance at his third major. Many of the other big name players are in contention.

Spokane with the Brunos

Since we moved here, we've looked forward to driving over to Spokane to visit the Bruno family. We made the trip (about a 5 1/2 hour drive) last weekend to visit Holly, Madie and Alivia. We had such a good time catching up with them and playing with the girls. Josh and Madilynn are still best beds ... he could not wait to see her. They just moved in to a new house in Liberty Lake, so it was fun to see that. We also went to a nice brunch in Coeur d'Alene, did a bit of shopping, and relaxed!.


Eating at Red Robin. Afterward we went over to get some Godiva chocolate, which is a Holly and Andy tradition.

Happy to be re-united.


Madie wasn't quite as excited to see me, but oh well.

At the Couer d'Alene resort for brunch.

Alivia--who is 14 months old now!

Alive and Well in Washington

We have violated rule number one of blogging by not posting for so long, but we are here-alive and well in Anacortes. It has been a crazy month or so since we last posted. We pulled out of Meridian on February 17th-President's Day Weekend and made our way cross country (again) with stops in Texas and Kansas. The highlight of the drive was stopping in Oklahoma to visit Josh's great uncle and aunt...they fixed a fabulous lunch for us, entertained us for the afternoon, and we were on our way. The low point of the drive was the -25 degree weather in Kansas and the horrible ice storms in Texas and Oklahoma!

We stayed in Utah for about two weeks. We had a great time staying with Brynn and Nate and catching up with friends and family. We finally arrived here in Anacortes on March 5th. Our stuff was not delivered for a few days, so we stayed with our friends the Skarosis, who we met in Pensacola, but hadn't seen for a couple of years. They were nice enough to give us a place to stay and feed us for a few days and it was fun getting re-acquainted with them.

Since we arrived, we've been busy getting settled in and exploring. Josh left for SERE school (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape) for two weeks and just returned Friday (he'll blog a bit about it soon; it was quite the experience), and I have been traveling to San Francisco, Boston and back to San Francisco. It has been busy, to say the least!

We have had a little time to explore the area, and we absolutely love it so far. Anacortes is a very charming town and Fidalgo Island is full of parks, trails, lakes, and beaches. While Josh was gone, I took Jackson to a few places, including Deception Pass State Park, which straddles Whidbey Island (where the navy base is) and Fidalgo Island. It is absolutely beautiful, as you can see below.

This is the bridge from Whidbey to Fidalgo. On a nice day, cars are stoped all over the place to take in the view and snap some pictures.
This is the beach on the state park. It was a nice, sunny day, but kind of cold. We have been told that the water up here is so cold that you can only survive for about ten minutes if you fell in! It's beautiful, but not exactly tropical.

The view from the bridge. I was one of the annoying tourists who stopped to take pictures.

Apparently the cold water doesn't affect Labradors. Jackson swam and swam and brought me back his stick over and over.

Check back later for more pics of our house and Josh's thoughts on SERE school.

Top Ten: The Good and the Bad

As we sit here awaiting our orders to move up to Whidbey Island, we've been reflecting back on our time here in Meridian. While we are definitely ready to move on, believe it or not, there are some things we'll miss. These are our top ten lists of what we'll miss and what we won't miss.

Ten things we will miss about Meridian

1. Carport barbecues
2. Our friends
3. SEC Football (Ole Miss, Bama)
4. El Norte—Tuesday two for one combo night
5. The ‘hood (aka Cypress Court)
6. Southern hospitality
7. HALO tournaments
8. Homemade Meridian commercials AND the local newscasters
9. The T-45
10. The Daily Grind for Saturday lunch

Ten things we will not miss about Meridian

1. The heat
2. The humidity
3. Hurricanes
4. Creepy crawlies (armadillos, cockroaches, other very large bugs, etc.)
5. Did we mention the heat?
6. Complete lack of decent dining
7. The foreign language
8. Our ghetto base housing
9. Um, the heat
10. Having no Target!

Wings of Gold-The Best Friday the 13th Ever!

I finally received my wings of gold on January 13th, 2006. I was overjoyed. It was Friday the 13th--my lucky day. I selected the EA-6B Prowler. Click on that to learn more. We found out the day before the winging ceremony. I was pretty surprised to select the Prowler. They only give out one a month, and it usually goes to the person with the best boat grades and a high overall flight school grade. But I got it anyway! A lot of what the Prowler does is top secret. It is a national asset and we do a lot of work for the Air Force, the Army, and of course the Navy and Marines. The primary mission of the Prowler is electronic warfare which means: radar jamming, radio communications interception, escort for all bombers and fighters, and a lot of other things I can't talk about because I don't have the top secret clearance yet and so they cannot tell me. So when I do find out, I won't be talking about it much because if I did, I would have to kill you!!!!! But I am excited about the Jet and the job I will be doing. I still can't believe they pay me for this.

Mandy and I are very excited. We get to move to one of the best duty stations in all the military, Whidbey Island in Washington state. We already found a place to live in Anacortes, which is located on Fidalgo Island. We're going to be Island folk! After about a year to a year and a half we will be moving to Cherry Point, North Carolina. We have some really close friends there and look forward to buying a home. We should be leaving Meridian within a few weeks. Mississippi will never look as good as it will in my rearview mirror!

The winging ceremony was nice. I am not one for getting all dressed up and participating in ceremonies but I didn't mind this one. It was worth it. Mandy pinned on my wings and we had about a million pictures taken. Thanks Mom!

This is just after Mandy pinned on my wings. That smile on my face didn't leave for about a week.


Prior to the winging ceremony we (me and the other pilot that winged with me) received some awards from our Commanding Officer.

We were able to go over to the simulator building and everybody got to try out the world's greatest video game. Steve is doing aerobatics here.

This is me and my buddy in front of the T-45C we fly, just before the winging ceremony. My Squadron's logo is on the right in the background.

This is the Commodore of Training Air Wing One. Doesn't he look like the perfect Naval Aviator? If you were going to cast someone for a fighter pilot movie you would base the character on this guy.

Right after Mandy pinned on my wings the Commodore and guest speaker presented me with more certificates and awards for my "I love me wall".

Mandy pinning on my wings.

Shaking hands.

This was the whole winging class. Five Marines in all (we're the ones in the good looking uniforms) and four Navy.

Posing for more pictures. Mandy is holding an award she received as well. It reads: United States Navy, Naval Air Training Command. To all who shall see these presents greetings: Amanda Jones, While attached to and serving as the neglected spouse of a student at the Naval Air Training Command, was duly and fully indoctrinated in the varied and incomprehensible subjects of Naval Aviation. Having served faithfully, and with devotion, in spite of harrassments, fits of temper and endless complaints of overwork is hereby awarded this Certificate of Apprection.

Steve, Bubba, Mandy and Me.

Mom and Dad!

Dad and Maryanne with Mandy and me.

The night of the winging we all went out to a steak house in Meridian.

We took the Wathens and Mom on a tour of the Natchez trace to take in some real life Mississippi swamp land.

Mandy, talking with her hands. "Don't take that picture, I'm not ready!"

Final Flight in the T-45

Tuesday, January 10 I flew my last flight in the T-45C. It was the culmination of three years and three months of work to earn my Wings of Gold. I could not be more excited!

The flights were my last two Air Combat Maneuvering flights. I was solo, my ACM partner too, and one instructor in the third jet. We took off as a three plane flight and headed to our working area to "fight". It started out with my partner and I vs. the instructor. The first fight was difficult because we had a hard time keeping sight of the "bogey" and I was getting chased around at 330 knots and 6 gs as my partner searched the sky for us. He finally found us and came in for the shot. Once that was over we set up again. This time the bogey went after my partner and I went vertical. As I rolled over the top I found the fight below me, discerned who was the bogey and roll in for the shot. Luckily that fight was over quickly.

We landed at a local airport to refuel and go out and do it again. The second flight went about the same except at the end of the flight our instructor let me and my partner go one on one against eachother. We had a nose to nose pass at around 400 knots a piece and took the fight veritical. Unfortunately I lost sight immediately and he was able to get a shot off on me. I returned the favor shortly thereafter and we knocked it off and headed home.

When we got on the ground I was met by my wife, my friends and squadron mates and a fire hose. It is another naval tradition to hose you down when you get winged. My executive officer put my wings on my chest and I was officially done with the program. The official winging ceremony takes place on Friday.

My friend Joe Coenen holds the fire hosed used to wet us down.


My friend and I completed the program together. This is the walk to the hose.

Notice where the stream of water is pointed. Yeah, that hurt.

Soaking, but extremely relieved.

The XO presents me with my wings.

Shaking hands with my squadron mates.

My boys: Joe Coenen, me, Scott Fortner (who finished with me) and Jason Raper.

Mandy and I after the hosing down. She was more relieved than I was!

The Fortners, Mandy and I celebrate our final flight.