Yorktown, Virginia

That's where Nathan is right now! Hallelujah!

He left Sunday, May 31st from BC, and arrived last night at his destination after having one of the best weeks of his life. His trek across the US was pretty much without mishap. He budgeted well enough on the trip to use only the money that the CG fronted him, so the trip didn't cost him a dime out of his pocket (that's my boy!). He and Tom had an absolute blast, including at least one major fun thing everyday. He called me from Mount Rushmore saying, "Mom, this is the most amazing thing I've ever seen."

He drove through Bear Country, which both he and Tom say was the most exciting thing they did, they went to an amusement park, to the archway in St. Louis, to a Cardinal's game, ate at a steak house in Omaha, and just plain had a blast. They were able to stay up late having fun wherever they were, because they could take turns napping and driving the following day. They were up until 3:30 in St. Louis!

Today Nathan went and got a haircut (I love the Coast Guard) and is on his way to report to Yorktown. He should get his room so he can unpack, ready his uniform for tomorrow, do some laundry, etc. And all the other guys in this course will be spilling in today, so he'll hopefully meet some great people and start having fun there.

I encouraged him, in my subtle way, to do his best in this course. Because after week 5 or so, they let people see the list of openings in the fleet, and letting them choose where they'd like to spend the next four years. And they let the top student pick first, and the bottom student gets what no one else picked (probably Kodiak). So, a little extra effort in these next 5 weeks could equate to a Hawaii station. Nathan's not used to being a top student, as academics were never his strongest suit. But hopefully he'll find his niche in this course, and he'll be able to call on everything he's ever learned from cadets that's buried in his subconscious, and be in the top part of the class. Hope, hope, hope!

So, he passed the hurdle of getting to Yorktown, and now the real challenge begins! I'll keep you posted...