Our visit to Norfolk

We recently had a chance to head down to Norfolk, VA to see a friend who was deploying to Afghanistan. He gave us a call on a Friday morning to let us know that he'd be arriving that evening and flying out the next day, and wondered if we would be able to come see him off. It has been a few years since we've seen him, but he is a good friend of Justin's from high school, and we definitely didn't want to miss the opportunity to spend some time with him before he went overseas. So, Justin took off work early, we packed quickly, and made the 3 hour drive down to Norfolk to await his arrival.

Kevin ended up missing his connecting flight that was supposed to get him into Norfolk around 5:00, and the next flight he could catch took him into Richmond but didn't get him there until 10:00PM. Justin said he would pick him up at the airport and then bring him back down to Norfolk (about an hour drive). Boston and I went stayed at the hotel to get some sleep (see post below to find out how that worked out...)

In the morning we were able to meet up with Kevin to get some breakfast and chat for a little while before he needed to be back on base to check in. It was so nice to be able to spend some time with him. We were also able to drive around the Norfolk Naval base for a little bit before dropping him off at the airport. It is something we have wanted to do, but since you have to know someone stationed on the base, we didn't ever think we'd be able to go. We were able to see some of the different ships they had in port, which was very cool.

This is the USS Enterprise (yes, really).



This one is the Dwight D. Eisenhower.

The ships were very impressive, and it was neat to see functioning Navy vessels.

After a short driving tour, it was time to drop Kevin off at the airport on base.



It was really great to see Kevin off. He'll be home in about six months, and we are hoping to catch him as he comes back through. Spending time with him, and sending him off really made me appreciative of the men and women who serve this country so selflessly. I find that I take it for granted, sometimes, that we have men and women who are fighting to keep us safe. Kevin won't be fighting, or anything (thankfully), but he is still making a sacrafice, and I am so appreciative of that fact.

On a not so serious note, there was this sign on the road to the base airport that I found absolutely hysterical.

 

Funny, right? Only, I'm not sure the light to which the sign is referring is actually functional. As we were driving back, having dropped Kevin off, I snapped this picture and then, after we had passed the light (which was definitely green), two jets had just taken off and were flying right over the road on which we were driving. We were kind of freaking out. We weren't sure if we should speed up, slow down, stop, or what. We just kept going, and we were obviously fine. But it definitely got our hearts pumping. We figure that it must be for when the jets are taking off from a specific part of the tarmac or something. It's still a funny sign though.

 

I am very glad that we made the trip down to Norfolk. It was a good experience. We are looking forward to the safe return of all our armed forces, and especially Kevin.