Well it came and went so fast. It truly was a great trip for us both. It was very emotional but we really had a blast together. Let see if I can recap or summarize it for you.
Wednesday: Flew in to New Orleans about 2pm and drove up to where Troy was in Mississippi. It was about a 2 hour drive. Might I add that even just driving on the freeways you could see the devastation of Katrina... Once I checked into the hotel I started my drive to find Troy. The place where they are didn't really have an exact address so I asked the hotel front desk for directions. She actually gave me FANTASTIC directions I just got mixed up when I got out of the hotel. So I drove about 30 minutes the wrong way on a back road stopped at a store and got more directions. I got even more confused on my back so I pulled over and tried to type in an address close to the camp where Troy was. So I head back the opposite direction about 30 minutes again had to stop at a gas station and asked for directions.
This sweet lady was oh my you are about 30 minutes away the other direction..... aye aye aye! I noticed she had a Mary Kay pin on and right as I noticed it she said well let me get something for you to enjoy your stay here. I thought oh boy here we go.... Some samples or something. So she goes back to her car and brings me a full brand new thing of satin hands. I think it costs about $40. Then she begins to say, "well if you need" and I begin to think oh brother here we go if I need any Mary Kay while you are blah blah blah blah... Then she said if you need anything at all or if you get lost while you are here just call my cell phone. I live right here in town and can help you. WELCOME TO THE SOUTH BABY!
So I finally got to troy and the hell hole they are living in.... And I just held him and I cried. It felt so good to be in his arms again. Oh it was just great. I think I held him for about 10 minutes it was just bliss. We checked him off the base and he did some funky chicken hand shake (the things you do when you get bored) with some of the guys and we were off!
We went to dinner at a nice steakhouse and had the best food and customer service. AGAIN WELCOME TO THE SOUTH BABY!
Thursday: We went back on base yes I know crazy considering since the moment they got there all Troy wanted was to get off. Well technically he had been off a few times because to of his 2 buddies were in the hospital for a while so he knew the hospital very well and they snuck off once and went to olive garden one night. We ran into a few of the other soldiers and it was so good to give hugs and rejuvenate their spirits. You could tell they all need some rest and relaxation. By the way I am going to be asking a favor of you in a future post....
We went to this fantastic war museum on base. It was FREE and they have put so much work into it. It had great exhibits and interactive things. Here is a picture of Troy outside it. They had a nice sign welcoming the boys from Idaho.
I should mention that our original plan was to stay in New Orleans but we changed it shortly after we realized that there really isn't much in the city except brothels, voo doo and pornography. A few guys who had passes a week before told us really it isn't a place they would ever visit again. And Troy and I both felt even before we booked the hotel that it wasn't the place for us to be. So we called and cancelled and they were very happy because the Saints were playing and they could sell that room for much higher now. Okay.... On with the story
We knew there was a temple in Baton Rouge so we decided we would spend at least one night there and go to the temple. So after we left the museum about 2pm we headed to Baton Rouge about 3 hours away. It was so nice to talk and catch up. You have to understand something about Troy and I. We talk, talk, talk and tell each other everything and since he has been gone he hasn't been able to talk much about things they were doing or dates or anything because of security reasons. It was so nice to just talk. We pulled up to a hotel near the airport and asked if they had any rooms and checked in.
We headed out to the mall because I needed to find a skirt for the temple and enjoyed walking around. I had noticed during the day my eye kept watering and by night it was starting to get red and itchy and goopy. So we looked up an urgent care and headed over there. They were so nice and told us that we could have gone to about 8 other urgent cares closer to where we were staying (when you are not use to using the freeways it seriously seems like it only takes 10 minutes to get anywhere there). They gave me some stuff for pink eye... GREAT! But it wasn't going to stop us from having fun.
We went to a late showing of Life as we know it. It was fantastic! We both loved it.
Friday: We got up and went to the temple. It was so beautiful and peaceful. It is a very small one nestled in the trees. It was perfect. We got there early and stepped out of the car and just listened to the trees and birds and stream. Oh it was majestic. We headed in and they were expecting us because we had called the day before to make sure they had clothes and that Troy could come in with his uniform on. We were welcomed by about 6 people. They hugged us and thanked us for coming. THEY WE SO NICE AND SWEET and wanted to know everything about us. WELCOME TO THE SOUTH BABY! We got to be the witness couple which is always a tender experience. I couldn't believe that everybody except for 2 girls came up in the prayer circle. It was huge and a neat experience! As I was getting my church clothes back on so many people came up to me and said they would be praying for Troy. I was very humbled by this experience. Word had spread while we were in the session that we were there and why we were there. People were so kind and loving to us and hugged us about a million times. As I was waiting for Troy the temple president came out to talk to us. He was so humble and sweet. We talked about our upcoming trials and he told us a lot about the area. Have I mentioned I LOVE THE SOUTH!
He told us about Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Gustoff. New Orleans had to completely dissolve a stake and pull wards from Baton Rouge for stakes there. He told us of the devastation of Hurricane Gustoff and how they lost power for 2 weeks! They were so kind to talk with us and give of their time. I am so glad I can hold that experience in my heart forever. It was just heaven for us.
As we left the temple we were stopped at a light and all of the sudden there was this lady standing at my car window. It startled me but I rolled down the window kind of thinking she was trying to rob us. She said quote, "The Lord Jesus has saved me from crack cocaine, prostitution, and heroin. I am part of Lady Minsitries, we accept donations in cash, TV's, cars, anything you have," Then she started humming.... hmmmm PRAISE JESUS..... hmmmmm PRAISE JESUS..." Well, how do you not give them something? So I handed her a few dollars and she said, "May God be with you." Troy and I joked the rest of the weekend about it. It was really funny. You have to think thick southern accent. Maybe it was only funny to us.
The Louisiana Mall was just down the road so we stopped by again. And had another interesting encounter. Mind you Troy was in his uniform and usually when he is out and about people come up to him and thank him for his service and stuff. Which of course being in the south we had a lot of that again. Except this one lady wanted to tell us her life story and want to know all these details about his training. She really looked a bit like an alien. Had very weird looking skin and very pale and thin frame. She has this weird reddish pink hair that was very short. She kept dropping these little hints of weirdness and Troy and I just listened. For some reason people must feel comfortable around us because we always seem to get the people around us who want to tell us their life history. But she by far as topped them all. After our 20 minutes conversation she really dropped a bomb... Do you mind if I send you nude pictures and stuff? UMMMM.... NO. No thank you we will pass. SO WEIRD> She was about 40 and was married so she says and has 2 kids.... I kept thinking we were on some punked show. We finally bowed out after the bomb exploded and kept thinking she was going to follow us. Some people are just plain NUTTY!
This is what prompted us to make our Friday night plans....
we made reservations at a spa for a couples massage. THAT WAS SO FUN! It was a nice spa and we really enjoyed ourselves. We had it here at Bumble Lane
Saturday: Are you bored reading this yet? We asked the front desk if they knew of any steam boats in the area and she told us of 2. I was super excited because since I knew we would be going in that area that is one thing I wanted to do and a swamp tour. So we headed to downtown Baton Rouge (which is so beautiful by the way) and spotted the one she told us had food! So we parked and headed into the building. As we got closer to the boat a guy stopped us and asked us for our ID. I thought it was weird but obliged and asked what times the boat left on tours. He laughed and said it didn't move. It was turned into a casino years ago.... hence why he asked for our ID's. So we figured why not check it out since we were already there. It was truly disgusting with all the cigarette smoke but it sure was fun to watch people gamble their money. Some lady was really doing well on roulette and this other guy was really good at some other game. Troy and I tried our luck at a few penny slots. We really didn't have any luck at all but didn't gamble much anyway. I really wanted a picture of the boat but they had signs everywhere that said no photographs. So this is the one I snuck.
We drove all around Baton Rouge to check out some subdivisions and houses. We also had to find Troy some new sunglasses. We also went to see the movie Red. IT WAS SO GOOD! Very worth it. Troy had to transfer some information on his computer to an external hard drive. And we just enjoyed being together. We went to Walmart to find 2 toys to take back to the boys too.
Sunday: We slept in and drove down to New Orleans. We had to fix some things with the rental car so Troy could drop it off up north in Mississippi. After that we went to lunch at a really nice restaurant that had live jazz music. We had yummy pulled pork, ribs and bbq chicken. Then it was off to the airport to say goodbye. We got to sit and hold each other for about 45 minutes and it was just perfect. We said our goodbyes and that was that. It was all over in a blink of an eye.
Sorry I didn't get many pictures.... And I might add a few more things later!
We made a few wishes here...
At the airplane again
Playing music
Daddy playing with the bubbles
Chandler having fun
Oh there goes our penny!
This is Hinckley at school with his fohawk and his disguised turkey!
Hinckleys new hair!
Gotta love gel and hairspray, his hair doesn't like to move like at all so to get it to move is like pulling teeth and lots of gel.
Oh dang what is going on with my pictures? Oh well here is a picture of bubble time at Explora
