M. Elijah Caldwell

A year ago today  I left from Charlotte Douglas Airport on May 29th at 5:30am and landed in Seattle Washington at 2:02pm (thanks to foursquare, I can be very detailed.) to gear up for what I did not know would be the best summer of my life.  Crew Chief and PM training started May 28th, 2011.  I had just graduated from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and I was bright eyed and bushy tailed about what was to come.  Everything was in place, I had completed my degree and I was on my way to Graduate school at NYU.  The summer was the most unknown, (besides me not knowing where I Was going to be living in NYC Thanks Ethan, Logan, Roy, and Holly Heine! However, that comes at a later date!)  I might add I had never been past Louisiana when I boarded this plane, so me making a pit-stop in DFW (9:23 am Dallas Fort Worth for a 2 hour layover was exciting).  I finally got to Seattle!  I have attached the first picture I ever took when I landed (The sign).  After meeting up with Paul, Fred, Wes, Nick, Drew, Dave, and Alex.  It was time to go to Enterprise 3:19pm and grab some of the cars we would need for the summer!  After all this was said and done we Checked in at Quality Inn & Suites (5:59 pm) where we would be staying for CC and PM training.  We explored the city a little bit, of course hitting up the Mickey Dees and the Needle (two Pictures attached.  Before getting some R and R before early training and welcoming the rest of the crew the next day.

I remember  being nervous about meeting everyone the next day, and needing to calm myself, because as Todd told me, this would be the best summer of my life, and with that it was lightsout!