Well. it seems I have been a bit slow in updating my blog, but in no way does that mean I haven't wanted to keep up! So, I will start this blog chapter with a wonderful Hawaiian sunset to try and make ammends :)
You may ask what was I doing in Hawai'i and how did I get there?
Well, the "what" was the easy part: I had two weeks R&R! The "how" was a bit more difficult: each memeber of my unit is allowed two weeks R&R, but we are given 22 days off to allow for travel time, yes, it takes a whole other weeks worth of days to get out and back in again. My trip started at midnight, on a bus that took me and 6 other soldiers to the Bagram Air Field to await our flight out. Upon arriving at BAF, we were placed in lockdown until 0800 the next day. Having some time to use up, we made our way up the road to the USO where we found a semi-resting place on the wooden deck to catch some sleep. After fighting the chill and the noise of jets, helicopters and other travlers stepping about all the sleeping bodies on the deck, at sunrise we made our way back to the airfield and caught our 4 hour flight to Kuwait. Upon reaching Kuwait we had a 24 hour layover so we camped out at another USO. I found that a back seat in the small movie theater made an excellent sleeping spot, as did a handful of fellow travelers. Besides a stiff neck and a bit of drool, I managed a nap here and there between various movie scenes. We all had a bit of a start and chuckle when war scene came on the screen, and as we were sound asleep a loud BOOM was heard on screen and we all jumped straight from sleep and started diving under the theater seats. Not sure what funny guy put that movie on the screen! Finally, we made our way to the Kuwait International Airport, we were in for a 8 hour flight to Germany. Which, as you guessed it, meant another layover, only 4 hours this time, until we were on a 10 hour flight to Texas. Upon arriving at Dallas-Ft Worth, we were lead across an overpass and we all heard this thundering noise. Of course we were travel weary and a bit rumpled so it took a while to realize we could look down onto the airport waiting area to see hundreds of passengers, waiting for their flights, all clapping and waving at us as we passed overhead! I wasn't sure how to react, so I just smiled and waved and hoped my hair wasn't sticking straight up from hours of airplane travel! And. as we were ushered into the airport we were shown to a long line of VFW vets, all lined up to shake our hands and welcome us back to the US. It was all very overwhelming and I know I was speechless. And best of all, we were let into the Admiral Club and all had hot showers.......showers that lasted longer than our typical 3 minutes! And food! Free food every where and many helpful people directing us to places to rest, use computers or direct us to (yes, another) USO. Thankfully the wait for my next flight was only 5 hours and the rest of my group were off for their own destinations, so we shook hands and gave hugs as we found ourselves parting company after being together for over 7 months. Very strange to be on my own, in uniform, in a civillian world.
Well, my flight came up and off to LA I flew, spending another 3 hours in the airport until I finally made my final 5 hour flight to the Big Island to start my R&R. I calculated 24 hours of actual flight time and 32 hours of wait time! And I lost two days due to time zones (or soemthing like that.....it became impossible to keep resetting my watch, I just gave up and went with the flow!).
And, as you can see we had some fun swimming, snorkeling and picnicing as well. I definitely enjoyed my R&R and especially enjoyed all the hugs and fun with my kiddos!
So, as the sunset, I headed back to Afghanistan, taking a short cut through, Texas, Atlanta, Ireland and Kuwait!! And, after 3 days of flight, I tucked myself back into my little bed in my little home away from home.
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