Christopher Jarrett - Army Strong Stories

Undaunted Courage - Day Nine

Christopher Jarrett — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 19:28:00 GMT

By: Christopher Jarrett
24 June 2010 We woke up. There was a bear outside, but it turns out it was just MAJ Rice snoring. We had nothing to eat, so we had chili for breakfast, except for MAJ Rice because he ate BOTH packets of the remaining oatmeal. Then we drove. There were free kittens. MAJ Rice wouldn’t let us have any. I ate Cheetos, my stomach hurt, Grant gave me a pill, and I slept. The rest of the crew had sandwiches for lunch. Then we drove some more. Then MAJ Rice gave us the history of Washington....read more

Undaunted Courage - Day Eight

Christopher Jarrett — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 10:04:00 GMT

By: Christopher Jarrett
23 June 2010 We stayed last night at the “Craters of the Moon” park about halfway across Idaho. Since we had arrived so late at night, we were shocked to view the landscape as we got up this morning. The park was filled with large chunks of volcanic rock for as far as you could see. It essentially looked like oversized dark gravel, with the very smallest of pieces being larger than a softball. It was remarkable to wake up to this unique landscape as the sun came up this...read more

Undaunted Courage - Day Seven

Christopher Jarrett — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 10:02:00 GMT

By: Christopher Jarrett
June 22 Yellowstone (Fishing Bridge Recreational Vehicle Park) --> Grand Tetons --> Jackson Hole Wyoming --> Craters of the Moon National Park and campground The majority of today’s exploration was spent gallivanting through the scenic vistas of Yellowstone National Park. We saw the mammoth hot springs, the mud volcanoes and witnessed both the sulfur cauldron and the paint pots. Additionally, for many of us it was the first time we had ever seen a buffalo or an elk in...read more

Undaunted Courage - Day Six

Christopher Jarrett — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 10:00:00 GMT

By: Christopher Jarrett
21 June 2010 Waking up in the plush beds of the Residence Inn Marriot in Billings, Montana was a great feeling. Different members of our group found their way down to the gym and did cardio and lifted weights in the closet sized room. The breakfast spread was fabulously decorated with sausage, eggs, french toast, granola, and so much more. MAJ Rice and I bonded over our love for ‘The Price is Right.’ The RV still needed to be fixed from the hail storm from the night before so...read more

Undaunted Courage - Day Three

Christopher Jarrett — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 07:48:00 GMT

By: Christopher Jarrett
18 June 2010 It was a bit of a groggy start as we tried to shake out the “z”s after spending the night in a parking lot on Ft. Leavenworth just outside a tiny gym. Following our necessary hygiene routine, we made our way towards the Frontier Army Museum. The building itself had a very simplistic design but surprisingly enough, there were many elaborate exhibits inside. The displays, artifacts, historic setups, and so forth were moderately impressive. It was not like...read more

Undaunted Courage - Day Four

Christopher Jarrett — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 20:58:00 GMT

By: Christopher Jarrett
19 June 2010 We spent last night at Ellsworth Air Force base, which lies about two hours north of today’s destination. After waking up and downing a couple bowls of Cheerio’s each at 0530 this morning, we loaded up the RV and headed south to the Wounded Knee Indian Reservation. MAJ Rice had coordinated to visit with an old Army friend who was a native Lakota Sioux. The tribe was currently in the middle of a ceremony they called the “sun dance”, which we had been...read more

Undaunted Courage - Day Five

Christopher Jarrett — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 08:47:00 GMT

By: Christopher Jarrett
20 June 2010 We slept in this morning at the Lakota campsite until about 0700. Grant and I each took a walk while we waited for the others to awake, eventually wandering over to speak with Little Moon, who owned the land we were all staying on. Once our own gang was awake and moving we packed up the RV and had some breakfast. We took our time leaving, primarily because MAJ Rice would have liked to say goodbye to Nick. Nick was pretty tired from his past four days, however, so we eventually...read more

Undaunted Courage - Day Zero

Christopher Jarrett — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 20:56:00 GMT

By: Christopher Jarrett
15 June 2010 Today was filled with planning and preparation for the trip ahead. We began by meeting this morning at 0900 near MAJ Rice’s office to go over some initial paperwork, checklists, and route plans. We compiled contact lists, exchanged phone numbers, set up a facebook group, and got information on several of the places we would visit. This was the first time all of us had officially been together in one place, as Ariel had been pretty hard to get a hold of for a while. It...read more

Undaunted Courage - Day One

Christopher Jarrett — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 20:56:00 GMT

By: Christopher Jarrett
16Jun10 Today we packed up the RV and set off down the long road at 10am. I can assure you that we packed everything and more than we could need for our journey. We have an abundance of food and drinks, hundreds of CDs and DVDs to keep us occupied. The sheer amount of board games and recreational fun could keep us entertained for months. Once we set off we jumped our first curb only about 4 miles down the road, spilling coffee everywhere and letting the aroma drift throughout the cabin....read more

Undaunted Courage - Day Two

Christopher Jarrett — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 20:56:00 GMT

By: Christopher Jarrett
June 18th Wright-Patterson AFB --> Scott AFB --> Ft. Leavenworth Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (Gateway Arch and Museum of Westward Expansion) Ohio --> Indiana --> Illinois --> Missouri --> Kansas Standing at the foot of what is possibly the largest parabola ever built; our group began its curious contemplation of all the unconventional uses that such a...read more

Undaunted Courage - The Lewis and Clark AIAD

Christopher Jarrett — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 21:50:00 GMT

By: Christopher Jarrett
15 June 2010 This blog is the story of four West Point cadet's journey across the country in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark's famous expedition. The following blogs will tell the stories of these cadet's discoveries, interactions, and experiences held as they set out to understand the kinds of challenges and trials faced by the original expedition so many years ago. This trip is sponsored by the English Department at West Point, and is led by MAJ Clark Rice. The four...read more