Toto, we're home!

Texas contingency for 2015 National CVMA meeting

It's been a bit of a whirlwind since I last posted, but I'm all settled in and ready to catch y'all up.  The National meeting ended with 1400+ full members in attendance.  There's no doubt that with 13 chapters, Texas had the largest contingency.  Though the mechanics of running a meeting of this size does not seem to be well-oiled in this organization just yet (which makes for a very long day), business was successfully conducted.  The final act of the day was to induct Medal of Honor recipient Don "Doc" Ballard as a full member into the organization.  He's the only member whose entrance into the room rendered 1400 people to stand and salute!

Scenic stop along the Missouri River on the Lewis and Clark Trail

The day ended with a whole lot of "see you next time" (I don't like saying "good-bye"), dinner and an escort to my new home.  Without a car or household goods, there wasn't much for me to get done before my flight back to San Antonio to pick up my car, so I took advantage of still being on vacation and on two wheels and spent a day riding and exploring my new surroundings.  As some of my CVMA family headed towards Colorado and others towards North Carolina for more riding, I rolled out a few hours on the Lewis and Clark National Historical Trail.  The scenery is beautiful out here and the roads are pretty motorcycle friendly, so I see a lot more exploring in my future.

My stuff has arrived!

It took me all of 19 hours to fly from Kansas City to San Antonio, load up the remainder of my possessions and drive back to Leavenworth.  It was a long day, but actually wasn't that bad.  I had finally shook off my head congestion and lost voice, so I had my own mini concert in my car with the radio :-)  It was probably a good thing that I made this journey alone! 

Per tradition, my mom flew out here to help me unpack my household goods.  It's such a relief to have someone else put the kitchen together!  The movers showed up with a whole gaggle of summer-job labor, so the move-in took no time at all. 

Mom and I enjoying 4th of July festivities

My mom and I got everything situated in time to enjoy fireworks on my favorite holiday!  We reminisced about the spectacular 4th of July weekend we spent last year and agreed that it would be hard to ever top that one, but we enjoyed hanging out and spending a little down time together.  We don't get to do it often, so I cherish our time together.  It's taken me a lot of years to really appreciate how special this time together is, but now I savor every moment.

All in all, a great vacation and relocation.  My new residence is starting to feel like home, now it's time to get back into a student mentality and soak up some knowledge!