4th of July in Seattle

Whew what a weekend!

Apparently the Army decided it was okay to give us another pass, so we had Saturday and Sunday off as part of the 4th of July weekend. I was kind of bummed out at first because when I left Michigan on the previous weekend on that 4 day pass I decided to leave all my civilian clothes back at home. At first I was not going to do anything but after watching all the guys pour out of the barracks with destinations unknown I decided there was no way I was just going to hang out on base for the weekend. So I caught a ride to the main PX ( post exchange = Army's version of walmart ) and bought some shorts and a T-shirt. When I got back to the barracks I still had no idea what I was going to do but I knew that I would be absolutely pissed with myself if I stayed on base on my last night of freedom before heading off to war. So I called my friend Heather who lives in Seattle hopped in a cab and went to up to see her. The cab ride up there was unbelievably nerve racking as the cab driver had this horrible habit of over correcting with the steering wheel. Even when we were going straight down the highway she kept moving the steering wheel back and fourth. I felt like telling her I was not in the Navy and to stop making me feel as if I was on a boat in rough seas. After a harrowing hundred and thirty dollar cab ride I arrived at Jarret and Bugs ( another Heather so I will call her by her nickname in this post ) house.

They were having a BBQ and were kind enough to let me join my friend Heather there. I was a little nervous because Heather and I had not seen each other in close to 10 years but we picked right up where we left off before and had a great time. After several jello shots, beers and some awesome hamburgers Jarret, Bug, Clayton,Emily, Heather and I headed out to go to a block party that Heather knew about. On our way to the party the city started their fireworks show so we stopped to watch them. It was very cool, they had this huge barge in the middle of Union lake and the choreographed music was being played on a local radio station. So you had this awesome fireworks show and what seemed like hundreds of radios playing this music during the show it was really cool. After the fireworks we made our way down to the block party which was really what seemed like a 2 block stretch of residential streets blocked off for the event. Apparently it is hosted by a friend of Heathers and seemed to be quite a blowout. Unfortunately it was winding down by the time we got down there but it looked like it had been going pretty strong since early in the afternoon. They had mechanical bull rides and some sort of ramp that landed in a wading pool ( I never did figure out what the were using to launch themselves into it ) and of course mass quantities of alcohol. After hanging out for a bit and watching Heather talk to damn near everyone on the street ( seriously I think she knows everyone in Seattle) we scored some road beers and started heading back the way we came to link back up with Bug and Jarret who we seemed to have lost somewhere along the way. We met up at the local yacht club where Heather works and decided it would be cool to go hang out on the dock for a bit. We started to walk out on the dock but there was a boat moored at the end and we were a little nervous about going out there and disturbing them. Of course heather was not nervous about it since she worked there and went out and talked to them. It turns out they were extremely cool people and had no problem with us hanging out on the dock. They were so cool in fact that they gave us home made Ice cream that they had made and these really awesome cupcakes. After talking with them for a bit they decided to take their dog for a walk. As soon as they left the idea was brought up that we should go swimming. * side note: Heather and I have a long history of late night swimming with large groups of people with usually little to no clothes on.* So sure enough before you know it we are all in the lake in our underwear. It was absolutely awesome and felt great. After our midnight swim Bill and Priscella ( the boat owners) returned and after an awkward moment of getting dressed in front of them we all headed back to Jarret and Bug's house. We were all exhausted by this point so Heather and I headed back to her house to crash out. We walked and she forgot to mention the fact that her house was on top of a mountain, seriously I thought I was in San Francisco.

I enjoyed a lazy Sunday with Heather and Emily starting with an awesome breakfast at an awesome restaurant ( guess what, Heather knew the manager, go figure :) then a quick stroll through one of the many local street markets. I needed a ride back to Ft. Lewis so Heather borrowed a friends car and gave me a ride back. We arrived at Ft. Lewis with plenty of time to spare but I was unaware of the rules of having a visitor on base. It was so unbelievably stupid I am still in awe. I understand that they need to have base security and all that but you would think that someone with a military ID would be able to vouch for someone with a valid drivers license. No, that is not the case, after arriving at the gate I am used to coming onto base from we were informed that Heather had to have a visitors pass to enter the base. I was getting a bit annoyed after talking to the guard for a bit and told Heather it was no big deal I would just walk to my barracks. But oh no, I was told that No I was not allowed to walk onto base from the gate and we had to go to the Main gate. We drive 2 miles down the highway to the main gate to get Heather a pass to give me a ride to my barracks which were several miles away. After waiting in line at the "visitors center" we finally get to a service window where they wanted enough documents to make your head spin. By this time I was already late for formation and I went outside to make a phone call but of course my phone battery had died so no phone call. Then I was going to take a cab but of course I call them and it is a 45 minute wait. By this point I was absolutely pissed so I just decided to walk, apparently you are allowed to walk onto post from the main gate. So after a quick goodbye to Heather I start hoofing it. Thankfully after having run a ways a woman that had been sitting in the visitors center while I was there pulled up and offered to give me a ride the rest of the way. End result, missed formation, lots of push ups and harassment ( good natured) and a counseling statement which is really just a slap on the wrist.

So besides the stupidity at the gate it was easily as Clayton put it " the best time I have had in years" and it was. I honestly cannot remember the last time I have had such an awesome spontaneous night out like that. Definatly a memory I will carry with me for years to come.

So I would like to send out a heartfelt thank you to Jarret and Bug for their awesome hospitality, and to Clayton and Emily for being such awesome people and of course to my friend Heather for letting me hang out and have such a great night out in Seattle before I leave for Iraq. I would like to give a another thanks to Clayton who served in Iraq in the Navy with E.O.D. ( explosives ordinance disposal ) it was really cool to hang out with someone who has been there from the perspective of someone that is going there.

So I am dedicating this post to "The Lake Union Six" thanks again and I look forward to seeing you all again when I return from my current glorious adventure.