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Just another day in the life of a public servant

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Fun, fun, fun in Missouri










I just got back from a trip to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, to see my daughter graduate from bootcamp. Okay, she looks cute as hell in her green uniform. I have to admit it. It was mentally draining hanging out with the new son-in-law and her, due to the strained relationship with him, and my slightly hurt feelings. I didn't have but a few minutes to see her by myself. Not that he was preventing privacy, or anything like that, it's just that they were stuck on each other like glue. And if you ask her a question, he answers it for her. That got annoying very quickly.

Check out the dorky glasses. She hates them, of course, but they're army issue, so she's stuck with them for now.

Anyway, she's now at Fort Redstone, in Alabama, for her Advanced Individual training. Alabama is closer to home, so I hope to be able to see her more often. She called tonight and said she's in Phase 5, whatever that means, and she doesn't start the AIT until April.




On the bright side, I traveled into and through 3 states that I've never been to before (Kentucky, Illinois and Missouri), and on the way home my husband and I stopped in St. Louis to tour the Arch. We had to stop anyway to drop the son-in-law off at the airport, so we didn't get there until afternoon. The Arch was way cooler than it sounds. You can go to the top of it in these tiny little trams, sort of like the Pink Pig ride at Rich's. Just a side note, DO NOT pay to get on the tram if you suffer from claustrophobia, because the door to get into one of the little tram pods is 4 ft tall, and the inside requires adults to stoop when they sit. Very cramped. There are small windows in the tiny door, but it's close quarters for the two minutes it takes to ascend and descend. (I didn't take that Arch picture, because my stupid camera stopped working). The view was stupendous at 630 feet, overlooking downtown St. Louis and the Mississippi river.
After leaving St. Louis, we drove until we got tired, and after a brief argument, we agreed to stop overnight at Harrah's in Metropolis, Illinois (home of the 200 ft tall Superman), and gamble a little. I like gambling, but hate to lose money. Sort of a catch-22, I know. I only lost about $50. Overall, we had an entertaining mini-vacation. I would never have said "Hey, let's drive for 9 hours to St. Louis, just for kicks" to my husband, but sometimes, you just have to take what you got and have fun with it.
 
Please, someone with disposable income. Give me a school grant so I can go to law school!