We did a hit and run trip to VT this weekend for Jayme’s big birthday, in and out before anyone knew we were there. We stopped by Cris, Ali, and Rivet’s house on the way up, and much like a dedicated Secret Service agent, Rivet stood guard while we caught up:

Then off to Jim’s to finish the trip and get ready for the party. On the way back, we saw the most amazing site of the trip before stopping back at the DaBica’s:

In-between was Jayme’s party. It started off mellow and got boozy quick. Some of the pics are below, but the tomato tossing was too good to bury:

 

 

 

Lamborghini done up with Sharpies, from Flickr.

 

We went to see Rogue Wave again last night. The basement of the FU church wasn’t quite the atmosphere as Doug Fir, but they’re a great live band.

 

While I’ve got SEALs on my mind, here’s two good stories. One about a SEAL from Dave’s same team and platoon who sacrificed himself on a grenade and was awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor. There’s only been 4 of these awarded since 9/11, and two went to SEALs.

The other is this video from a few months back but an amazing story and definitely worth watching.

 

We kicked off day 2 of this trip by heading into Arlington since it was Dave’s birthday. We spent a little more time than usual there, and took advantage of the driving pass to make the rounds and check the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the changing of the guard. It never really gets any easier going here.

 

Josh lined up some intense plans for wine tasting around DC and 23 people showed up for the short bus to drunk town. After two vineyards and a 7-11 later, nobody’s going to be drinking wine anytime soon. Day two found us at Ihop, Arlington National Cemetary, and some of the DC museums.

Tara shows up to dinner:

 

The good people of Portland came through for me on some shoes I’ve been trying to get my hands on. Thanks…