Fairfax Co ... Now we're talkin'!

Wow!  What can we say about Fairfax County?  They are amazing!!!

You might have wondered how this stop came to be, as they were not part of the tour route this year.

So, here's what happened.  We we enroute and all was well.  A few days in, we got a call from Denver FD alerting us that they had had an incident that involved a number of their firefighters and had incurred an LODD.  It would not be appropriate to visit them and expect them to be willing to laugh and play.  And so the decision was made to remove them this year and catch up in the future.  Our thoughts and prayers stay with Denver and the families of all involved.

In the meantime, we received a call from Joel in Fairfax County asking if we would be willing to visit them.  We explained the loss of a stop and the need to stay to our 55 city course.  Joel assured us that they were willing to be our 55th city, and they would rep not only for Fairfax Co, but for their brothers in Denver.  They more than stepped up.

Joel had been in constant contact with us, and we got to look forward to his calls.  He always made us laugh!

Local 2068 set us up in a hotel for 2 nights, and we stayed in a firehouse the last night.  It was a blast!

Aside from NYC, this was our most involved stop on the tour.  Joel agreed that we would go ahead and do our DC stops, and the last day would be Fairfax Day ... It worked out perfectly.

But to be honest, the most dreaded words ever uttered on our tour was said during this stop.  Hearing myself say "May I please have a 5am wake up call?"  Eeeeew, still makes me shudder.  C'mon, that's 2am back home!

To be fair, it was well worth the lost sleep.  Joel gave us our itinerary.  We knew that we'd visit the fire boat first.  We'd done a fire boat in Maine once, so we were ready.  But ... no one told us that we would actually be going out on the boat.  This was so much fun!  The whole area is gorgeous, and seeing the sites from the water gave us a whole new perspective.  Note to self: Bring a hat when going to a boat.  My hair was a laugh riot!

They gave us a beautiful framed photo of the boat, and shirts and hats for JeeNee and me.  Then it was off to our first stop ... #9

What a great group!  They popped a car wash on the van, and played along for the shirt off their back shots with a probie who was on his 1st day ... He'll remember us!  Hehe  By the time we left, all we could say was "They're so fine, our 409!"

Next was the big stop 11.  As we pulled into the station, you could see 43 shirts on tables in the bay.  As if that were not impressive enough, it was explained, every location did their part ~ they had 100% participation from the union on these shirts.  That was a 1st for us, too!

The pix from this stop are a crack up!  It was our 1st inkling of the catfight happening between Sharen and Stunt Bear.  So sad.

Next was the Comm Ctr to visit 911 dispatch.  Watching JeeNee with her headphones was fun.  The dispatchers were full of info, explaining all we were hearing ... And they had snacks, gotta love that!

Our stop at 26 was hysterical when they decided on their photo op.  watching Stunt Bear fly out of the foam nozzle on the crach truck was unreal!  And man, can they cook!!!  We had a great dinner with them.

16 started off slow and quiet, but don't let 'em fool you ,,, these guys may be the best kept secret in Fairfax!  There are a few models on duty here!

40 is the newest station, isn't even open yet, but truly state of art.  There were only 2 on site, but they still stepped up.  We've been advised that this will be our home on future visits.  Fairfax secured permanent visit status for H2h!

Fairfax was also where JeeNee had her 1st actual ride on a call.  We had our turnouts ready for the alarm.  We went to bed, the alarm rang and we jumped(!!!) out in record time.  We were alone.  Hmmm.  The guys came out yawning and we're excited, but confused.  C'mon!  It's an alarm!  Let's go!  We pull out, and drive around to the back of the parking lot to the PD for a gent who had enjoyed his libations a tad much.  Oh sigh.  lol

A special salute to Local 2068, Chief Neuhard & the crews of 20/B, 9/B, 11/B, DPSC, 26/B, 16/B & 40/B & of course, Joel... You all rock, we'll see you next year!

Thank you all!

lj