Travels our first year together
2001
Journal: Well, I have no pictures to post here, as we took them before we had a digital camera. I have to scan them all and then post them. AND all those photos are in storage, so they are not getting scanned any time soon. SO, I am going to journal Dave and I's travels our first year together.
January, February and March 2001: Dave and I got married in Illinois in Jan. 2001. Later that month, we had moved to New Jersey where Dave finished out his remaining time at McGuire AFB before our move. While there, we drove to the Jersey Shore and walked the beach at night admiring the beautiful Atlantic.
For Valentine's Day, 2001, we drove to New York City. We saw several of the sights: Rockefeller Center, Ed Sullivan Theater, Grand Central Station, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Empire State Building, and walked Central Park. We walked the city for 8 hours before finishing the day at a Mediterranean restaurant.
At the end of February, we flew to New Orleans for our wedding reception down there. We had a wonderful time. (For photos of reception and St. Louis reception as well, click "First Year Together" link below.)
Beginning of March, we drove from New Orleans to St. Louis to say our goodbye's to family in preparation for our Azores move. From St. Louis, we flew back to New Jersey to then, fly from there to our new home in Azores, Islands; Portugal.
March 2001: Our move to the Azores! We got to know the island traveling around it exploring the many beautiful sights. See the "Azores" link below for photos.
Summer 2001: Dave had to fly to the States for military training for several weeks in July and August, so I went with him! We were set to fly into St. Louis, but our plane had an unexpected day long layover in Lisbon, mainland Portugal. Since it was the airline's issue, they set us up in a nice hotel. Dave and I swam and ate and enjoyed mainland Europe for a day.
We then flew into St. Louis first, and visited there for two weeks. There, I had a baby shower (pregnant with Kate), Dave camped with my family, we celebrated my 24th birthday, etc. It was a great time.
We then flew down to Biloxi, Mississippi, the location of Dave's training (Keesler AFB). While in Biloxi, we enjoyed the area: we ate at many of the casino buffets, hung out on the beach, toured the Jefferson Davis home, went out to eat more (remember - pregnant with Kate... :)), etc. We also drove the one and half hours to New Orleans to see Dave's family. While there, we went to the New Orleans Zoo (Audubon Zoo). Also, while in Biloxi, we went through 3 states in one day! We drove from Biloxi, Miss. to Gulf Shores, Alabama. We walked the beach there and took some pictures. We got back in the car and drove to Pensacola , Florida where we ate Mexican dinner before turning back around and making the few hour trip back to Mississippi.
We were in the Biloxi area for five weeks - gone a total of seven weeks from the Azores that summer.
Late Summer/Early Fall 2001: Coming back from our long summer in the States, Dave and I had to fly separately. (He had a military flight.) My flight got back to the island as planned. Dave was set to arrive a day later. Well, he called from Italy, said his plane had to fly to the mainland (Europe) and land in Italy because our flight line on the island was damaged due to another plane having an (successful - thank God) emergency crash landing on it. SO, Dave was "stuck" in Italy for one week while our flight line was fixed for him to land at home. Crazy, huh? SO, he was near Aviano Air Base in North Italy near Venice. He did get to go to Venice! He took lots of pictures and bought a beautiful painting. He made it back to the island safe and sound one week later!
Journal: That ended our travels for our first year together, as I was really pregnant and we welcomed Kate in December 2001. Our next big trip was our Virginia vacation in the Spring of 2002 for Kate to meet family. See the Virginia vacation link on the main page for those photos. We moved from the island in 2002 (Kate and I) and 2003 (Dave). Our time there proved to be some of the most adventurous and fun to date, exploring the island and our other various trips.
Photos of our First Year Together ~ Dating and Early Marriage