Coast Guard Academy

 Okay, guess who THIS post is about?  You got it!  Jacob!!  This is his final camp of the summer (whew!) besides the youth retreat.  We drove up Saturday to New London, CT to drop him off at the Coast Guard Academy.  This was going to be a super hard one for me, because we had heard that this is a VERY challenging camp, and when he got there he was going to have to turn in his cell phone and have absolutely no contact with us.  I truly had to brace myself for this one...

We spent the night at a hotel Saturday, and drove around the town a bit on Sunday morning before Jacob had to report.  It is really a cute, quaint, little seaside fishing town.

We went to a local spot for a bowl of lobster bisque and fried clams.  YUM!

The big moment. The DROP OFF!! NOOOOO!!!!!  (actually I was very excited for Jacob because I knew he was really looking forward to this week.  Sorta...)

Gathered his pack and headed for the check in.  A quick hug, and he was gone...

The final view.  Once he went through this door, we were no longer allowed to see what happened to him.  Notice the deceptively friendly smile of the man holding open the door??? 

We drove around campus a little after we left him and took a few pictures.

We knew we would have no contact with him all week, but Danny found a person on facebook who was taking daily pictures at the academy and posting them for all the forlorn parents anxious for a glimpse of their child.  Kinda like playing "where's Waldo?"  Lo and behold - on Tuesday morning we spotted him!!!  We were soooooo excited and happy to see his face and know he was doing okay!  

Tomorrow we go and pick him up!  I CAN'T WAIT!!!!  Hopefully there will be a part II to this post.