Seattle

Thanks to everybody who helped out so I could go see Clerie in Seattle this weekend. I just got back this afternoon, and it was a great trip. Posted some photos here.
I got there Thursday night, and we stayed up late talking and cuddling, of course. We woke up bright and early to go see Mt. Rainier National Park. It was very pretty. At one viewpoint, we pulled over and made a teeny snowman, since we couldn't figure out what we were supposed to be looking at. After I got back to the car, I turned around, and there, up above us, in a gap in the valley clouds, I could see mount rainier. We laughed at ourselves. "Well this was a dumb view. What were we supposed to see? Oh! The Mountain!"
We got back in the afternoon, and Clerie and I spent much of the evening just the two of us, except for a fun dinner with Clerie's whole group. She's so nice to everyone. I mean she always got tabs on how everyone's doing. Always been good at that.
We had plenty of time to talk. Clerie told me about some funny experiences she's had.
One time, during a convoy exercise, Sgt. Haverfield, in vehicle 7, decided to do a radio check. "Victor one," he said over the radio, "this is victor seven, do you copy?" This smooth woman's voice replied "Victor seven, this is victor one, reading you loud and clear."
Haverfield wasn't expecting a woman; he had expected the male vehicle commander. He expressed his surprise at this sexy woman's voice to his vehicle mates, and wondered who this girl could be. When he learned (as you have probably guessed) that it was very-married Clerie, he told them they couldn't tell her he said it about her. Well, first thing they did when they got out of the vehicle was yell "Sergeant Staten! Guess what Havey said about you!"
Saturday we went and toured Seattle's underground. On the tour, there was plenty of dry humor (despite the climate), and Clerie laughed about how it was right up my alley.
The zoo was nice. I probably won't remember much from the zoo, except never wanting to let go of Clerie because it was our last day together.
Dinner was nice. Clerie got some yummy tortellini (and I got some...different spaghetti), and I got a gelato for dessert (I think it was actually chocolate ice cream on the outside, and vanilla gelato on the inside), so Clerie got to try this stuff and it was like I got to share some of my Italy trip with her. It was fun. We had quite a few laughs over dinner, too.
I drove everyone to the barracks, and everyone in the back fell asleep. Clerie and I got to talk as though it was just us for the rest of the ride, and then we talked for a few more hours after we arrived at Ft. Lewis.
It was hard leaving. It was a little less miserable than last time, but it's still hard to say to yourself "okay, that's really the last time I'm going to kiss you," or "I'm going to let go of your hand and not touch you again."
Driving back to the hotel, it hit me how much happier I am with Clerie around. I'm happy here at home, but much happier with her. It's tough to drive away from what makes you happiest.
Fortunately, I fell asleep very quickly that night, and felt much better in the morning. And now we've got more good memories we can recall on those rainy days. We could do a credit card commercial. "Plane tickets: X dollars. Hotel in historic Seattle: Y dollars. Gas, park entrance fees, rental car fees, snacks and dinners: Z dollars. Making memories with your wife before she goes to Iraq: priceless."