Day 205

The room next to me is the room I checked into a Day 1. Today, Day 205, I am next door and forever changed. While only separated by a few inches of drywall and 2x4's, thousands and thousands of miles were traveled between these two rooms and countless experiences gained. Tomorrow, after I've been able to get a good night sleep and gather my thoughts, I'll write about the last 40+ hours. I now sit at stop #2 on the way home. Since I last wrote, I have traveled from Kuwait to Germany (5 1/2 hours), Germany to Baltimore (8 1/2 hours), Baltimore to Charlotte (1 hour), then 1 1/2 hours to my current location which is my last stop before being reunited with my family only a few short days away. For now, though, I've been up for about 47 hours straight which should facilitate me resetting my body's clock to United States time as I expect to be asleep within seconds of my head hitting the pillow in a few minutes. Like I said, I'll write more tomorrow. I will say this, though...it was nice to take a shower in my bare feet tonight. First time since I was last here...over 6 months ago. Still...coming back to the USA hasn't hit me...and it won't...until I hand over that little bear in my uniform pocket to Tin Man and Scarecrow and embrace Dorothy. Mile 99...yep, I'm right there. Just a few more steps...

Goodnight, everyone.