Our 1st weekend in GTMO

Friday: Tom had more check in stuff to do in the morning so I went with Sarah to set up our phone and internet!! It was so nice to finally feel connected to the outside world again!! We tried to get a rental car again but they still didn't have any!! At this point we were just ready to have our own vehicle so we could explore and go get groceries without bothering anyone for rides!!  Tom got out of work around noon, we had lunch and then he went up to the Auto Shop with a buddy to help him fix his car.  I stayed home and played on the internet, catching up with everyone!!  We had a movie date planned with Sarah and Tim so we got ready and headed down to the Lyceum (the outdoor movie theater).  We watched This is the End, it wasn't great but it wasn't horrible.  We laughed and had a good time. It was humid out, we both wore jeans and brought a sweatshirt thinking it may get chilly. We sure don't live in Michigan anymore :)  We were perfectly comfortable without the sweatshirts!! We were going to stay for the 2nd movie but both of our allergies were kicking up.  That's something different down here, its a whole new brand of pollen to get use to. Nothing Zyrtec cant cure.

Saturday:  We had to call the rental place at noon to see if they had any rentals and they did!! Tom braved the community bus, he said it wasn't bad at all.  We have heard they aren't air conditioned and can be very hot during the day.  Apparently the one he got on was air conditioned!!  I finished getting ready and before I knew it a little red car was pulling up!!  We finally had our own set of wheels to get out and see this new place we call home!!  First stop was the NEX/Commissary to get our first real set of groceries.  Everything is so expensive, it's like going into Walmart or Meijer and picking the most expensive brand off the shelf and throwing it in the cart only times the price by 3!!  We will be couponing as soon as our awesome family and friends send coupons down to us!!  Hopefully that will help cut the grocery bill down. $400.00 for a weeks worth of groceries is crazy, we use to spend that much in a month back in the states.  On the up side though it makes grocery shopping quicker, there aren't nearly as many choices so you pick the only thing on the shelf and put it in your cart.  After our expensive grocery trip we headed home to put away groceries and then headed out to explore!! We drove all over base checking things out, taking pictures.  Tom tried taking us up this huge steep mountain but I got scared and made him turn back!!! That thing was huge and the road looked washed out. When we got home we learned that the rotator (the flight from GTMO to JAX NAS) hit some bad weather as it was landing and hydroplaned past the run way and into the mud.  We had friends on board, THANK GOD everyone was ok!!!  So SCARY!!

Sunday: We got up and made our first big breakfast in our new house.  Pancakes, bacon, and coffee!! Yum!!  We had plans to meet Alison at noon at Windmill Beach.  It is so beautiful here but the beaches are breathtaking!! I was a little nervous getting into the water, the waves were huge and who knows what was lurking below that I couldn't see.  I promised myself I would be adventurous and try new things here so into the water we went!!  It wasn't bad at all....ok ok I may have freaked out a few times when I felt what Alison swears were rocks touching me but I didn't let that stop me.  Tom was a fish in the water, he loves playing in the waves!!  The beaches here are rocky not sandy, its a lot like gravel.  We soaked up some rays and then headed home to make a late lunch. It just so happens the Tigers were on TV!!!!  Detroit Tigers game in Cuba??? And they are winning???? That's a good day in our book!!  We might go see Despicable Me 2 tonight to end our first weekend here.  So far we absolutely love it here!!