Friday April 20: Change of Command

Sitting in the living room overlooking the Neuse River at Matt and Wendy's place seemed very strange. This is one of the large bodies of water that needs to be crossed in good weather as it can get quite rough. Following the ICW, we've been within 10 miles of their house both on the way north and on the way south last year. The plan is to stop with the boat as we travel north in a month or so. Fozzi has his new dog door - it was quite interesting how Matt and Wendy ended up being able to put in a door that has a ramp on one side and steps on the other.

d Anyway, the Change of Command Ceremony was really cool. Approximately 200 of the 600 marines who are now under Matt's command took part in the ceremony during which the command of the unit was officially passed over to Matt. Part included the passing of the Marine Corps flag from the outgoing command to Matt as the incoming commanding officer.

Once the command was officially turned over, Matt had the opportunity to make a few remarks. He really did a nice job :-) The ceremony was concluded by the marines marching past the new commander with orders of "eyes right". Very fun - and the rain held off (actually it just never showed up) but it was quite cool as the sun decided to stay behind the clouds most of the day. Guess we have really gotten used to warm weather!

Afterwards was a reception for Matt on base. It was fun to see Matt's name on the sign along the road to where the reception was held!

In the meantime, Steve and I were able to stay at the transient quarters on base - just like a very nice hotel :-) We have moved over to Matt and Wendy's home on base to spend a few more days with them. Matt's mom (Linda) and his brother (Tim) and his family were able to come up from Charleston to join in the celebration.

There was a quick trip by car to Beaufort and Morehead City - both are on the ICW - so it was fun to see places we have been by boat. It's very different seeing them from the land side! We'll be spending a few more days here (Becky will be flying in tomorrow to join in the fun) and then it's on to Ohio for a couple of weeks with time spent between the farm and Cleveland.

For now, the blog will continue when we return to the boat in early May!