My Time in Tehas

Ok, I've been promising a real post since Wednesday and I haven't given you one until now. I've been pretty busy this last week and now I have time to do this.

Wednesday I went off to San Antonio flying on a plane for the first time that I'm able to remember (because the last time I was on a plane I was too young to form cognitive memories). You may be asking yourself, "Why did you go to San Antonio when you live in the best state in existence?" Well, you probably aren't asking that since anyone reading this already knows, but still, it's my transition tool. I went to San Antonio Tehas because my brother which I am really close to was graduating from Airforce Basic Military Training. When I got in on Wednesday my sister-in-law couldn't find her driver's license, so we spent a long time at Hertz trying to get something worked out. They let me be the driver and then use Erin's credit card (which is a HUGE exception for some reason). Once we finally got that sorted we went to the hotel and called it a night.

Thursday we woke up really early (which will be a theme for the week-end). After breakfast we left to go to Lackland Airforce Base barely getting there in time to see the Airman Run. The Airman Run is the last time they have to run since they're going to be graduating the next day. After watching the run we make our way into the auditorium to go through briefing to know what Chris can and can't do, all of which was covered on the website so it was fairly useless. Once we finish up there we move outside to watch the Coin Ceremony/Retreat. The Coin Ceremony is where the graduates are handed their Airman coin which is a symbol of something or rather. Then we all make our way back into the auditorium to watch the honors ceremony. Chris graduated with honors and barely missed getting his marksmen ribbon by three shots, he needed 43/50 he got 40/50. Once the honors ceremony was finished we were free to do whatever we wanted on base until 8, when the airmen had to be back at their dorms. You know how I said we got up early? Well from waking up to the end of the honors ceremony was finished by 12:30. Most of Thursday turned into Chris having to wait in line to get his stripes sown onto his uniforms, he's an E3 or Airman First Class so he had a two stripe emblem per uniform. The day ended with a game of bowling, I got a 73 which considering I had 15 in frame 5 isn't that bad, and then dinner at Cracker Barrel.

Friday we met up with Uncle Tim and Nate and Jamie for the Graduation Parade, of course we all woke up at 6 or earlier. Watching them march hurt me because majority of the airmen never marched before BMT and in 8 1/2 weeks they were marching better than some of my Seniors when I was Low Brass Section Leader in high school. The parade was nice but not much to talk about. From there most of us walked to Chris' dorm area to get a tour of where he was living while the rest took the shuttles back to move cars. The dorms were exactly what you would expect from military living arrangements, fairly confined and unremarkable. From there Mom, Nate, Jamie and I went to pick up the last few cars and then we picked up Erin, Cameron, Rey, Beth and Dad and met Uncle Tim and Chris for lunch (Chris and Uncle Tim went to the Base Exchange so Chris can get his DSi XL and Pokémon Soul Silver). Once we finished lunch we went to the Alamo. Now I know a few of you may have driven in LA, or know what traffic is like there, but this was so much worse. Downtown San Antonio traffic is probably just like LA traffic, but while we were down there Fiesta was going on. I'm not sure what is being celebrated during Fiesta, but what I do know is that there were a ton of people, a lot of cars, and quite a few blocked off streets. Driving to find a decent parking lot was horrible. We finally get into an area that has parking and we walk a very short distance to the Alamo. The Alamo was nice, it was cool to see everything they had there. We then walked to the River Walk, which is just a river with shops and restaurants around it. At this point we realize that we have very little time before Chris has to be back on base so we quickly find our way to a steakhouse and try to eat as quick as possible. Erin, Chris, Cameron and I run off as soon as we finish so we don't have to wait for anyone. After navigating our way out, which wasn't as bad because some streets were opened back up, we make it in time to drop Chris off by five minutes.

Saturday was a little bit more relaxed of a morning. I wake up at 8-8:30 to go pick up Chris, since there's nothing we need to do on base I go by myself. I end up having to wait over half an hour for his flight to be let out because they had to take pictures which took forever. We make it back to the hotel and get moving on our day. Most of the day was spent at the San Antonio Zoo. We only saw about 1/3 - 1/2 of the zoo because we went really slow through the first few areas. I tried taking as many photos as I could but our batteries died, so I only got some of the first few areas, but I did take plenty of photos, I might put them up on Facebook. From the zoo we just went back to the hotel so Chris could get some time to relax. While Chris was taking what turned out to be a really long shower Mom and I went to pick up dinner. We went to KFC since it would be easy to just pick up food for everyone there. Once we made it to KFC we noticed that it was a combination Taco Bell and KFC (see previous blog). After we got back and Chris ate I ran him back to the base and we called it a day.

Sunday was another day in which we didn't wake up really early, 7:30 for me. Around nine we went to the base for church and then went to the BX so Chris can pick up luggage. After spending over an hour and a half at the BX we go to breakfast at IHOP then head back to the hotel because Chris had to be back by 5:30 that day, also Erin, Cameron and I were leaving for the airport at 4. After relaxing for a little while we start packing up and we say good-bye to Chris and the rest of my family. We get to Hertz and out of the two hours they told us to allot for returning the car we use maybe ten minutes. Everything took a lot less time at the airport then we thought so we're passed the security check two hours before our flight leaves. We decided to get something to eat, we saw this little microbrewery place so we stopped there. I ordered brisket tacos and an Alamo Golden Ale. The brisket tacos were delicious, but it was just two slices of brisket and a tortilla per taco, two tacos. Our flight takes of a little late but we make it back to LA on time. We get home and I just zone out on the internet before going to bed.

Yesterday I just felt like hanging out, so I went to AVC and spent most of the day with Jimmy. After improv I realized that I needed to blog and my friend offered to let me use his iPhone, so I throw a tiny blog out for credit and promise myself that I would blog this today. Promise fulfilled.

Today was spend feeling sick, Beth coming home at about 3 in the morning (she flew back because she has a choir thing, while my parents, Rey and Alice are spending time with my grandparents) and hating that I'm feeling sick. Seriously, my immune system was handling it's shit up until now. While everyone else was catching some cold that was going around I was healthy and feeling great. Now I feel pretty crappy and I can barely hear out of my left ear.

I hope this blog makes up for a week of bare minimum posting. There's a possibility that I'll go into BEDAugust with Myer, Admiral and possibly Marlon, but we'll see. I'll see you guys tomorrow with a blog that will be much shorter than this one.