spring training.

The Nationals came to DC in 2005 and every spring, I have thought about going to spring training. Even when I was in Provo going to school I contemplated flying out for a long weekend. But until this year, I was never able to make it happen. But things finally lined up that R and I could drive down to Viera/Melbourne. The family I nanny for was also going to be on vacation, so I didn't have to request time off, and R was on spring break from teaching. So we bought tickets for the Nats/Yankees at Space Coast Stadium, reserved a hotel room and were off!

We decided to drive, even though its about 12 hours, because frankly, its cheaper and we're poor. The drive down wasn't actually that bad, because we hadn't seen each other in several weeks and had a lot to discuss. Things were going pretty smoothly until we were about 5 miles from the Florida/Georgia state line (country music jokes expected) when I heard a low rumble. At first I thought that a passing semi was just pushing down hard on the brake, but then I realized that we had a flat tire...of course. So we pulled over the shoulder, called AAA, and then ended up calling the sheriff's office instead, because AAA couldn't have anyone come help us. You may be asking why we didn't try to change it ourselves. I actually do know how to do it, but it was 9pm, rainy, and not a lot of cars on the highway. So the sheriff came to wait with us, but ended up just changing the tire. He and one of his deputies struggled for a while but were able to put on the donut and we were back on the road. We still had a while to go, so we got a hotel in neighboring Kings Bay and got a new tire in the morning. You couldn't expect us to go on this road trip and not have something unusual happen, did you?

Other than that we had a great time. Made it to the game right as it started and got to see the Nats AND the Yankees. Yay baseball! We also got to spend some time on the beach, and watch "My 600 lb Life" in the hotel at night. We're really fun.



any roadtrip down 95 requires a few stops at my favorite fast food restaurant.

road side yoga at the South Carolina welcome center.

GA.

shoutout to the sheriff and his deputy for rescuing us!

the sad tire amongst all our bags.

finally made it to Florida...

Nats/Yankees!!!

beach beach.

home <3.

the remnants of our cooler.

Hawaii: Pearl Harbor.

Hawaii is known for its natural beauty and paradise feel. But if I'm being truthful-the main reason I wanted to go to Hawaii was to visit Pearl Harbor. From all of my reading and studying and coursework about World War II, I knew I just had to go there. Plus, my dad's old ship, the USS Missouri has been in the harbor as a museum ship for the past 10+ years. The USS Missouri is of course the ship upon which the Japanese surrendered in 1945. I love that its in the harbor where the war began for the US-you can visit and see where the war began and also ended.



first we went to the visitors center, which was filled with information and great views of Ford Island and the memorial + museum.

we took the little ferry to the Arizona memorial. what a somber place.

we took the ferry back to the visitors center, and then bussed over to the Missouri museum. oh my gosh-i was so excited!!! my dad was serving on the Missouri when i was born, and then was transferred about 7 months later. so i clearly don't remember going on board, like both of my siblings do. i had been looking forward to this for a long time!

where the surrender was signed.

terms of surrender.

three days after i was born, my dad and grandma Price took my siblings to have Thanksgiving dinner on board the ship. so i had to take a picture of this Thanksgiving menu i found when walking through the ship.

isnt this staggering? 69 MILLION casualties from WWII.  

my dads old office!

just some big chains that i like.

we think this was my dads state room...

what an incredible morning! i am so lucky that i was finally able to make it to Pearl Harbor.

H A W A I I.

I am wayyyy behind on my blogging. Clearly, because I went to Hawaii four months ago and am just now making this post. Sorry friends.

R and I decided that we needed to go to Hawaii and visit her aunt. We decided to go in mid February, when it would be cold as crap-plus, that always seems to be that time in the year where I NEED to get out of town.



we had a direct flight from DC to Honolulu, that was 11 hours. plus, we had some delays, before we got on the plane, and then again on the runway before we even left the gate. i kept getting email after email about yet another delay. so it was a LONG day-but it wasn't that bad, because we were together, and just watched movies the whole time.

the first day in Hawaii we did some hiking and saw so much beauty of the island of Oahu.

one day we went up to the North Shore, and went to the Waimea Falls. while we were there, we saw a beautiful peacock, and i smelled a fragrance that reminded me so much of my Grandma Morgan. we stopped at the beach, and then the Dole Plantation. the pic of us in the pineapple may be one of my favorites from the trip.

we spent a lot of time at the Ko'Olina lagoons.

one night i was able to drive up the temple. it was such a beautiful evening and drive. i mean really...this sunset...

we got to go out with R's aunt a few times-which was SO much fun-and just a little crazy :)

here's the thing...you would think that being in Hawaii would be kind of a cultural shock for me-since DC is clearly the complete opposite in every way of the islands. however-i felt strangely at home. there are so many military bases on Oahu alone-and being on any US military base makes me feel at home. so going to the exchange on the naval base was really fun, and normal for me. except OMG it was the nicest PX/commissary i've ever seen. really.

we spent a whole morning at Pearl Harbor-going to the visitors center/Arizona memorial/Missouri museum. so that will be in my next post. stay tuned!