So I got invited a while ago to speak at the CORONA conference this fall. This is where all of the Air Force Generals get together and discuss the future of the Air Force and talk about the war and all sorts of other super important things. I was asked to come and speak to the spouses.
After a few days of debating Jesse and I decided that she and the girls would come with me and we would see how they all do on a business trip....this led to some very interesting stories.
We headed out Wednesday at noon. Since we were going to Colorado and it is FREEZING there we had to pack all of our cold weather gear. Along with that I had to pack my Blues and ABUs. Of course these two uniforms have all different things they require so I had to take a very large bag. 61lbs large. Add on top of that two more suitcases for the girls, and a garment bag and we were quite the sight.
We started off our trip by parking in the close lot, not knowing that doing so would require us to walk what felt like MILES to get to the check in desk. Four suitcases, two diaper/toy bags, a car seat, and a dog. The walk took FOREVER, up and down hill, and by the time we got to the counter we were already tired.
Then as we check in we find out that the airline had not put in their records that we had an infant and a dog. We had to wait for them to get everything arranged which took about twenty minutes and by this point we were getting a little close to missing our flight. Luckily we didn't. We got to our gate with a few minutes to spare and we felt like we had the worst behind us.
We flew to Houston, which took something like twenty minutes and from there had about an hour long layover before heading to Colorado.
We got off the plane, grabbed some food and headed over to our new gate. With about ten minutes till boarding Jesse realized her phone was gone.
If any of you have flown with children you know how stressful it can be. Little Sophie did not love flying and decided to let the whole plane know she was unhappy most of the flight.
So Jesse had put her phone in the seat pocket in front of her and in the rush to get everything together when we landed, walked off without her phone.
She went up to the counter at our new gate and told them what had happened and they told her to wait and they would check the plane. About five minutes later they came back and said it was not there. They searched the whole plane and found nothing. WONDERFUL!
So with nothing left to do we got on the last flight and listened to Sophie cry until she fell asleep for about thirty minutes.
We landed around 4:30 and piled up all our bags and grabbed our sweet rental van. We drove out to our hotel and were met there by my parents. They decided to come up and see us and the girls and babysit while we were up at CORONA.
We got all our bags in the room and everything calmed down. We grabbed some food and just relaxed the rest of the evening. While we were hanging out Jesse's mom called to tell us that a lady had contacted her and told her she had found Jesse's phone on the plane. And she wanted to put it in the mail as soon as possible to get it back to Jess. Things seem to work out for us in the end.
Our room had two queen beds and a little crib for Sophie to sleep in. We found out the hard way that Soph really likes her bed at home and not the one here in Colorado. I don't think we slept more than one whole hour at a time. It was one of the longest nights I have had in a very long time. Little Kate sleeps like a champ though. Once we finally got her to lay down and stop chattering she snored right through all the crying and wailing and didn't stop snoring until morning.
We were very lucky to have a hotel right next to a Target. Early in the morning Jesse realized that she forgot a razor. As every lady knows, this is very important. She went over and picked one up. We had to leave around 11:30 and we started getting ready around 10:30.
Now we all know that girls just take forever to get ready. Especially when it is for something formal like CORONA. Well once Jesse got all her stuff out she realized she also forgot nylons. She had to go BACK to Target again and now I am starting to get a little worried about being late. Not a good thing to be late to CORONA when you are the first speaker. She got back from Target, I was all ready to go, and I stood behind her almost the rest of the time telling her that she needed to hurry or we would be late. I'm not a great motivator apparently. (Jesse note: he HOVERS. And...I made great time).
Jesse finally got to meet Mrs. Schwartz, who she had heard so much about, as well as many other really awesome ladies. I spoke for about thirty minutes, then some of our friends got up to share their stories as well. We had an absolutely awesome time.
Friday morning started off at 8:00 at one of the gyms on the Academy where I learned a new game called Goal Ball.This is a blind man's sport. It is played on a court the same size as a volley ball court with three players on each team. There is a tactile line marking the boundaries so you can keep track of where you are. At least that is the idea. There is a center, and two wings. The ball is about the size and feels just like a basket ball. There are bells inside of it though so it can be heard as it rolls around the floor. The object is to roll this ball as hard or as slow as you want past the other team and into their goal. The goals are about the same height as a hockey net but they run the length of the court. There are place markers where each player stands and basically you get the ball past the other guys and score.
The only way to block a shot is to lay out across the floor and get your body out in front of the ball.
Folks, this ball is not soft. And it can get moving really fast, it can catch you off guard even when you hear it coming.
It was so fun to play this game. It felt awesome to get out and play a sport again, even if it isn't a common sport. It is absolutely something I want to do more.
After the Goal Ball we headed back to the Olympic Training Center where we met up with another group of wounded AF and took a tour of the grounds. Huge training facility. They have the third largest shooting range in the world among a ton of other things like the pools, gymnasiums, and archery ranges.
After the tour we had lunch there and I was surprised to hear that there were a couple famous Olympians hanging around there too. One of these was Michael Phelps. He actually ate lunch about twenty feet from our table. Apparently he was very busy though. One of the guys tried to say hi to him and was stopped by one of his body guards who told him that ole Mikey couldn't talk to anyone. I'm sure he just had a lot to do......hmm. I always wondered where these guys went during the rest of the time between Olympics and now I know.
The next activity was one I was really looking forward to. They have taken and adapted some of the rifles used for biathlons and set them up to shoot IR beams at an IR target instead of an actual projectile.
You put some headphones on, load the rifle and as you point it down the range toward the target you essentially hear beeps and tones that tell you how close to the target center you get. We spent a good hour or two shooting these rifles. It was so cool. I am definitely going to see if I can get one of these systems for myself. There is talk about making this an event at the Warrior games sometime and I want in!
After the shooting we headed out to dinner with some friends and then called it a night. The girls only did a little bit better Friday night. I think this was the first night we slept for a few hours a time. It was a nice change.
Saturday morning we headed back to the Academy and went to the stables for a little time with the horses. We were able to hear some of the history of the place and got to brush and feed the horses. The one I was paired up with was named Slick and she must have liked me because she fell asleep about ten minutes into her brushing. She was then rudely woken up with a saddle on her back and me climbing up. It must have been too early for her though because after I was on and waiting for the others she fell back asleep! Lucky horse.
We spent the next thirty or forty minutes riding through the trails around the stables. It was such a blast! We even did a little trotting. It was so much fun. If I actually had a place to keep a horse I would consider getting us one because I love riding! (Jesse note: which makes me super happy!)
Once we got done riding we changed and headed over to Falcon stadium for the Air Force vs Army football game where I got to be one of the co captains. It is an AWESOME feeling to stand out on the fifty yard line and hear what it is like to be at the center of that crowd.
While we waited to head out we got to meet some pretty interesting people. The first was the new Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. We had nine wounded warriors out on the field and we all got to meet him. I was also able to talk with General and Mrs. Schwartz again. These two people are so humble. If I did not know who they were before they came up I would never have guessed. It is very humbling to know how genuine these two are and how much they care about what people like me are going through.
The last in this lineup of celebrities was Cuba Gooding Jr. I was surprised when he walked up and someone introduced him to me. We shook hands, said hi, he thanked me for my service, and off he went. What an experience.
We went out for the coin toss and shook everyone's hands out on the field then we headed off to our seats.
On the way back up I felt my phone go off and when I checked it I had a voicemail from an old friend from my unit back in Kansas. The message said that he was at the game too and just saw me on the screen. Alex and his bride to be tracked us down during half time and we caught up on all the new changes in our lives. It is always great to meet up with the guys from my old unit. I miss those guys and now most of them are all gone from Kansas and it is hard to get to see any of them.
After half time we headed over to the press box to warm up a little bit.We met up with some friends and Jesse was finally able to meet General Schwartz. She was a little concerned because the whole time there were cameras going off and, according to her, her hair looked awful. She was the only one who thought so. Of course Kadence and Sophie took right to General and Mrs. Schwartz. I think Sophie spent the whole time trying to eat the necklace off of Mrs. Schwartz.
This reminded me of a story I forgot to add in earlier. After I spoke at CORONA I gave the photographer a card so he could send me copies of his pictures. Well I got a new wallet a few weeks earlier and apparently didn't go through it well enough because instead of handing him a card with my information on it I handed him one of those cards that come in a new wallet that have details of the wallet on it. Luckily he caught this goof before we left and we got everything straightened out.
The game was awesome. And for those of you who did not see it, Air Force came back from being down 14 to 0 to win it 24 to 14. I know the Army folks were not so happy about that!
We got in the van at about 5:15 and weren't even off base until after 6:00. Traffic was a nightmare. Luckily the girls both fell asleep so Jesse and I were able to have a nice quite ride back to the hotel.
We got cleaned up and changed and started to pack our stuff up. At about 7:00 we headed back to the Academy for a little after party at the home of the Commandant of the Air Force Academy. We were able to spend a few hours there talking and enjoying some really amazing food. As we pulled in Jesse asked if I was sure if it was ok if we brought kids there. I responded by saying something like, "I am not sure. I think that if they find out what rank I am they are going to throw us all out anyway so don't worry about the kids." .....I always pick the worst times to joke with her. As always the girls were a hit and everyone loved them. Kadence had a great time playing with all the other kids and there were a few teenage girls that all wanted to hold Sophie. We even had one offer to keep her for us. When I heard this my mind flashed back to all the nights awake and cranky with a crying baby.....I said no.....Jesse would be upset. I am only playing of course. I am very blessed to have the wife and daughters that I have and I wouldn't trade them for anything. Even if they do make a trip crazy. Good memories.
We knew it was daylight savings time and we prepared for it. We didn't want any surprises in the morning. Our flight left at 7:00 so I set my alarm for 4:30 so we would have enough time to get everyone ready, load the car, and get to the airport.
I have an iPhone so I knew I had nothing to worry about. Well before I knew if Jesse was waking me up to check the time. I grabbed my phone and it said 3:50. I told her and said don't worry we have plenty of time. She looked at the alarm clock in the room and it said 5:50....this started to worry us. I restarted my phone...it still said 3:50. We had no idea why our clocks were two hours apart when the night before they were the same. Well as we sat and talked my phone changed to 4:50 and we kinda freaked out.
For some reason my iPhone decided to roll back two hours for a little while and stress us all out.
We thought we were going to miss our flight. We rushed and ran and scrambled our way through the morning and we made it through security at the airport just after 6:00. I could not believe that my family, all those bags, dog, kids, and everything made it through the whole process so fast. It was a huge relief.
We boarded a flight to Denver, which took about 3 minutes, and from there flew back to Texas. Sophie cried while we changed altitude, but other than that it was uneventful. Just the way I like it. We landed around noon, grabbed our bags, and hiked the half marathon back to our truck.
I am now laying on my couch enjoying the warmth of Texas after freezing all week out in Colorado. We had such a great time out there.
There were loads of pictures taken by a handful of different people. Once I get them all sent to me we will get them posted here so you all can see these things I am talking about. It sure is nice to be home.
God bless!!!
Surely you are entitled to a handicapped parking permit...it would definitely help your parking situations!!!
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