23 June 09, Well, I had intended to update a little more during the vacation, however, once Miss Dub discovered my roaming Internet with my AT&T air card, I have only been able to admire my laptop from a far. I finally have it long enough to try and update ya’ll on where we’ve been.

We left Memphis, Tennessee and drove to and drove to Nashville where we toured the Belle-Meade Plantation. Mrs. Dub loves the old plantation houses, and this one was similar to Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage.

We left Tennessee and went to the Biltmore Estates. A very impressive home except it appears the staff needed 1/2 the house, so I'm not sure why you would need 259 rooms. We then drove to Shelby, North Carolina where we met up with Wade and TC for an early dinner. Our visit was brief as we were trying to get to Charleston, North Carolina that evening. It was good to see them and since they have stopped by Oklahoma twice to see us, we were glad to be able to return the favor.

We arrived in Charleston late and stayed at a very nice hotel that overlooked the Harbor. The hotel overlooked it, not our room, unfortunately.

We walked around the historical part of Charles Towne and then made it across the bridge where we caught a ferry ride to Ft. Sumter. Mrs. Dub is interested in learning and seeing more about the Civil War and we figured, why not start at the beginning.

We then drove that afternoon to Savannah, Georgia. We ate dinner on River Street and took a tour of historic Savannah on a trolley. It’s definitely the way to start and then from there you determine which sites interest you the most. We took our picture here at the Forsyth Park

I better not try for any more photos, be safe and have a great day.

19 June 09,

Day 3 of the vacation. We left Oklahoma on Wednesday and drove to Memphis.

Graceland out front.

The girls having lunch.

On the steps of the Peabody Place in downtown Memphis.

Miss Dub had heard of albums/records, but didn't know what a 45 was.

We spent Thursday in Memphis, going to Graceland first and then headed downtown. Downtown we walked on Beale Street, obviously it's designed for night time attractions rather than early afternoon as it's mostly bars. However, we did enjoy it. From Beale Street we walked over to the Peabody Place mall, had an ice cream and then walked through the Peabody Hotel. Now, this was the first time I had heard of it, but apparently the Peabody Hotel has ducks that swim in the indoor fountain. A Duck Master parades the ducks from their own private suite upstairs down to the fountain at 10 a.m. and then marches them back upstairs at 5 p.m. and this is quite the sight. It was 3 when we went through and nobody felt like hanging around for another 2 hours so we loaded up and got back on I-40 east. We are currently in Nashville where we will hit just a couple of places before trying for North Carolina. We came to Nashville last year and visited Andrew Jackson's Estate, the Hermitage, as well as getting to go to the old Grand Ole Opry. Mrs. Dub would like to see the Belle Meade Plantation and we might stop at the Country Music Hall of Fame today. (Wade, you should get a phone today very soon, hope you're home).

31 May 2009,
IS THE DUB CLAN COMING TO A TOWN NEAR YOU?

That's right! We are finally going to take that trip we have been putting off for far too long. As of right now, we are looking at going through Memphis, Birmingham, Savannah, and Charlotte with the return trip either going more north or south to cover a different area. Our objective is to visit several Civil War sites with Fort Sumter being the final most eastern point ( I think the ocean comes next, but I'm not for sure).
If you know a site that we need to see or if you just need us to stop by and say hi, give us a shout. No Wade, I haven't blocked any calls and haven't showed any missed calls either.

Ms. Dub feels this would also be an excellent time for her to get some massive drive time, what do you think? 10 hours behind the wheel as a student driver........yeah, me either.

Let's go over my To-Do List for today..

Slide down a pole at a fire station. Check.
Sit in the shade and surf the net. Check.
Break up domestic calls. Check.

Looks like I'm done for the day, do you think my Lieutenant will still make me stay till 5?

Check.

Be safe and have a great day.

22 May 2009,
Well, the youngest Dub just got her Driver's Permit this week. She took 10 hours of classroom instructions this last week and Wednesday morning, my first day off I took her down to the DMV and she took her written test. Now one of the reasons we moved out to the "country" was because I wanted back roads my little girl could practice on. So when we had a straight run to go to and plenty of daylight and no traffic we let her practice driving. Up till Wednesday morning, she was always reluctant. Kiss that goodbye, I can't get her out of the driver's seat. Hee hee, wait till she gets her license, then I'll just send her to the store and I can stay home.
The entire family will have 3 days off this weekend and we have chosen to paint the outside of the house and the shed. If you were wondering what you could do this weekend, just give me a shout and I'll give you directions. If we get enough people, we can start digging post holes for the pipe fence.
With this being Memorial Day weekend, a local contest was offered to veterans for landscape work. Mrs Dub decided to enter me and had to write an essay. She told me last night she posted it on her blog.
Well, not much else to report at the moment, be safe and have a great day.

06 May 09,


Ah, sunshine, but apparently only for a day. As usual, I am staying busier than a beaver in a petrified forest, and making as much progress. In April, we went to the Oklahoma National Guard Military Ball. The Guard has been keeping me busy and I sometimes catch myself wondering if I'm working for the Guard full-time and the Police Dept part-time. I'm sure the Police Dept is wondering the same thing. I certainly can't say anything bad about either. The Dept has shown true support towards all of their employees serving in the military. At some point I'm going to have to get back to concentrating on my career there.
Last month I got to ride on bicycle patrol twice. We pick an area in our division that we want a little more presence in and then just work in that area. On bicycles, we are able to interact with the neighbors, business owners and people we pull over for running stop signs. Yes, nothing says being embarrassed as being written a traffic ticket from a bicycle cop. The looks we get as people drive by and see a mountain bike parked behind a car on the road and a cop in shorts. Hey, I can't knock it, I need the exercise.
Be safe and have a great day.

27 April 2009,
Does anyone else think this administration is releasing the prisoners at Gitmo so they have room for America's real threat, U.S. Veterans?

24 April 2009,

Not sure how much longer I can hold out, being on the run from the authorities can be exhausting. I've dived into a local internet cafe, I'm sure I only have a few moments to jot down some comments and then I will have to leave, another town, another state. This guy I met in at the bus station said he could get me some good "clean" documents that I might be able to cross into Canada with, it's that or try crossing into Mexico, either way, it's a long trip to France. Ok, let me start from the beginning........

Apparently, two weeks ago, Homeland Security Director Janet Napolitano identified me and about 400,000 returning veterans as "individuals needing to be watched" as we could be considered possible terrorists to this country. It's strange being on this side of the hunt. Knowing that in just a few days after that announcement the FBI would release their new list of "Most Wanted" I had to make a break for it before I was black bagged in my own home in the middle of the night. I grabbed the twenty dollars I had hidden in the sock drawer, my Gerber multi-tool and a couple of MRE's. There was no time to say goodbye to the family. I was an optimist and always believed in hoping for the best and preparing for the worst. I had no idea....none......that the worst would be me on the run. My problem, I don't have a mythical one-armed man or a molecular reconstruction that will clear my name. France, yes, France, it seems highly unlikely, almost unfathomable, but France is now more conservative that the U.S. So, for now, it's France that I'm trying to get to, until we get things turned around here. If anyone gets a chance to check the Most wanted, leave me a message and let me know if I'm on it yet.