Day 206

As promised, I want to go back to early on Day 205 and bring you forward until now. Thousands of miles traveled and now in the U.S., I need to bring it full circle tonight. Be warned, though, I am super tired tonight so if I type a bunch of mumbo jumbo, you know why!

Day 205

After I drafted and set Day 204 to publish, we all met up that evening (Sunday) around 7pm and waited for the buses to show up. Once they arrived, we were set to go to customs. One rumor I had heard was that not every single person gets a full search of their bags...it's random. Well, guess who "randomly" got picked...yep! Me! Two full bags of strategically packed gear had to be pulled out and searched by the Navy customs agents. Afterwards, we were off to the terminal adjacent to the approximately 375 passenger, Boeing 777...a BIG jet. By this point, we had collected many more people to completely fill the flight. All four services now represented on the Freedom Flight with no open seats. As 2am arrived on October 31st, we were finally taken out to the jet to board our chariot home to America. After way too many head counts, we lifted off just after 3am. 5 hours to Germany!

My seat was not comfy at all. I'm 6'2" and had a cramped window seat. Plus, the lady in front of me insisted on leaning her seat back as far as she could. I maybe got an hour's worth of sleep and no more. As we approached our landing in Germany, I snapped this photo:

(OK, so since I posted this picture, I gave up. It was 9pm on November 1st and I could not stay awake so now, it's 3am on the 2nd, after sleeping for 6 hours...an awesome 6 hours, so let's try this again!)

Once on the ground in Germany, we had about a 3hr layover which was uneventful. Looking out the windows of the terminal and while taking off, it looked so much like America. Beautiful fall colors, cars parked in the parking lot, buildings... Yes, cars and buildings catching my eye. That's what being in Afghanistan will do. What we all call normal in the U.S. is so far from normal over there and it was refreshing to see "normality" again as I saw it. Lifting off out of Germany, I snapped a few photos of the landscape.

Now for the long, long flight over Europe, the Atlantic Ocean, northeast Canada and along the east coast of the United States to Baltimore-Washington International Airport. 8 1/2 hours of flight. By this point, it was mid-morning in Germany and early morning back on the east coast. Up to this point, I would say I had no sleep. I doubt anything counted en route to Germany and if I could just stay awake now across the pond, I could crash eventually late Monday night and try to reset my body's clock all at once. We shall see about that. (I think you know that didn't "totally" work as I just woke up from 6 hours after not being able to type a complete sentence due to being so tired!) 

Anyway, the flight went very well. We lost about 50 folks in Germany who had final destinations there and replaced those with many military families going back to the States who are stationed in Germany. That's called "flying Space-A"...or space-available. If there is room on the flight like mine, they can fly for free to fill the seats. The service-member or dependents of the service-member. All of a sudden we had a few newborns on the flight...NOW it felt like home! :-) I was sitting next to an intel specialist, enlisted guy who had a blanket over his head most of the time up until now. We got talking and ended up passing a good, solid 3 hours of our flight. Conversations from Dave Ramsey to our families (he has twin 8-year-olds) to our wives and the upcoming homecomings, to our past Naval service, to politics, to the future of Social Security, back to budgeting and getting out of debt (!!!!), and finally me clicking through over 800 photos of my deployment on my Mac. He was in Iraq and me in Afghanistan which are extremely different in landscape and people so he found them quite interesting. Here are a few more photos I captured in flight:

As we drew near to the U.S. of A., I watched the ocean beneath me (we were 44,000 feet up) disappear and get replaced by SNOW!!!! What?!?!? Yea....snow. This past weekend, the northeast U.S. got slammed and here it was. First, though, we flew over northeast Canada. When I left back in April, there were buds on the trees for the coming Spring and now....snow?! Good grief! Still, though, it looked like recognizable America down below which felt goooooooood! As we drew near, it was passing 2pm and we were 20 minutes out from touching down. Not a second of sleep all the way! I did watch "The Breakfast Club" again on my computer. A cool 80s flick can never hurt!! So classic! Here is a photo I snapped just before touchdown at Baltimore:

Touchdown!!!!! Applause broke out immediately when the wheels touched down and of course, I was one of them! Looking at my phone, it was 2:15, EASTERN STANDARD TIME, and I didn't need to add 8 1/2 hours to figure out my time. This WAS my time! WOO HOO!! Anyway, after the applause died off, I had a priority: dial 611 and re-activate my iPhone with AT&T. I'm a bit addicted to that awesome piece of technology and looked forward to being reunited again! That was extremely easy....before we even pulled up to the gate, I was up and running. The guy simply reinstated the plan previously in force on my account. Once we were able to de-plane, we all made our ways into the LONG line for the customs agent. I called Dorothy and let her know I had arrived safe and sound and finally, I heard that long-awaited excitement in her voice. THIS made it real for her. For me, it hadn't quite hit yet. Eventually, I made it through customs and headed into the concourse, en route to the ticket counters with my baggage to check in for my final 2 flights. As soon as I left the customs room, I was in a tunnel of American flags, applause, and countless "Welcome Home" shouts! It felt great! I'm not sure of their affiliation like back around Day 30 but the USO was just ahead. Not sure. As I neared the end, this little girl, maybe 5 or 6, was wandering around and trying to be led by example. She had red, white, and blue ribbons in her hair and waved a little American flag. I dropped both of my bags and gave her a very gentle high-five and thanked her. It was AWESOME. I wanted her to remember all of those "soldiers" walking out and make her feel part of it. I'm so glad, looking back, that I stopped for just a moment for her. As I left that tunnel, more thank-you's followed then I was on a mission for the ticket counter. I checked in for my flights then headed for security where I was immediately taken to the head of the line (because I was in uniform). Now I'm sure you've seen military guys and gals wearing these combat boots...a major pain to put on and take off. As I put my stuff on the table and took out my laptop, the security guy yelled over to me to just leave my boots on and walk on through the metal detector. BONUS!!! And with that, I was done with security and off to my gate.

Once at my gate, I asked for an exit row which in today's airline market, was an up-charge. But, if I would wait until 30min before departure, I could get it for free. So, precisely at 31 minutes before departure, I walked back up and they were happy to take good care of me. Once I boarded the flight to Charlotte, NC, I re-looked at my boarding pass, thinking I was in the wrong airplane. "I'm in First Class....my ticket is "1D" which is the front seat in First Class. There must be a mix-up." Nope! That lady at the counter didn't give me an extra row, she upgraded me to FIRST CLASS! Never in 38 years on this planet had I sat in First Class nor been upgraded for free. (insert BIG smile right here) That totally made my day! As I sat down, I was welcomed and asked what I wanted to drink. Drink? Like a shocked kid, I had no response. I asked what she had and her response? "Anything. I'll make you anything you want." She had a full bar back there! Honestly, what sounded really good at that moment was an ice cold glass (plastic, that is) of white wine. It just sounded relaxing and calming. So that's what she provided and it was so very, very good. I also noticed that a few other of my military friends were starting to fill in the remaining First Class seats around me. Next to me sat an Army Master Sergeant. She was wearing the same patch of the brigade I was working in during my entire time in Afghanistan so we struck up conversation which took us all the way to Charlotte and through one more "glass" of wine. :-)

On the ground in Charlotte, it was a very fast layover so before I knew it, we were in the air to Stop #2 on my trip along the Yellow Brick Road, en route to Kansas...the stop where I'd be processed off of active duty and back in to the Reserves. As soon as this plane took off, that was all she wrote. 2 glasses of wine and well over 40 hours of being awake did me in. Wheels up = me passed out. I didn't wake up until the descent into my current location in the southern U.S., along the coast. On the ground, I retrieved my bags and waited with only a few other sailors for our ride to base. Palm trees waving in the wind, cars zipping by outside...I was in the U.S....finally. Once our van arrived, it was a short 20min ride to base and to the Inn on base where I laid my head down on Day 1 of this journey. I remembered it well! After checking in, my room, ironically, was next to my room from before. After dropping my gear, it was to the shower. I hadn't been out of my uniform since Sunday morning so it was needed. Plus, the ability to shower out of shower shoes? BONUS!!!! :-) Once I laid down, I had the hardest time falling asleep. It was too darn quiet. From F-15s taking off for 6 months all night, every night, to that old Army tent flapping and scraping on the floor all night in Kuwait, I wasn't used to the silence. I had to do the 'ol trick I taught my kids...start counting from 100. I did so and it worked but only until 4am the next day...a too-quick 5 hours away. Still..I had a very comfy bed to sleep in and it was starting to set in...I am almost home...I really am. I am not in Afghanistan anymore (for some reason, I wasn't accepting this reality). Here's where I'm at now.

Day 206

ugh...5 hours of sleep? REALLY? I didn't even need to be anywhere until 7am and I thought I might sleep in! No chance. I couldn't sleep anymore. My head was pounding, I was aching from the flying, and why not...I took another shower! I just loved the first with no shower shoes on. :-) I also have a Keurig coffee maker in my room so I brewed myself a coffee.

E-mail, text messages, Facebook....wow, I have some amazing friends and supporters. I really do. One thing I subconsciously did when turning that phone back on was to not put myself under the pressure of making a list and checking it twice about who I should call. Dorothy. She is my priority and my girls. If anyone else wants to reach out, I am highly accessible so they can just do that. Anyone can dial a phone and send a message....and that they did. I've been humbled by the outpouring and really do appreciate it all. It's been a job in itself just to keep up! The really cool part? My only surviving grandparent who is 86 years old called me today. I was at lunch and of course, I took the call. She wanted to know when I was coming home because she wants to be at the airport. How cool is that? I just need to find her a ride! So, we talked for a brief few minutes which was great.

Back to the morning: at 7am, we were all over at the processing area and awaiting further direction. They were certainly ready for us and we wasted no time. As I remembered the staff from Days 1 through 5, they were very efficient and actually cared! No change. They expressed many times today how they acknowledge how badly we want to get home and would do everything they could for us to make that happen. Still, though, we are Navy Reservists and need to go through a process to be taken off of active duty and back in to the Reserve. That included lots of paperwork and hearing from the Chaplain about stress, reintegration, etc., the VA, legal, medical, and a few others. As the day wore on, my head was pounding and "zombie mode" was in full effect. This time change, long flight, and only 5 hours had caught up with me. COFFEE! That helped and around 4pm, we cut loose for the day. It was a brilliant, sunny day and one thing I knew...we were 1 mile from the beach. So, I stopped in at the supermarket on base and grabbed some sushi for dinner (I remembered it from Days 1 through 5), then put on my running clothes and headed for the gate.

Outside of the gate, it was a beeline for the waterfront. Before I knew it, I was there. Options: I could run on the sidewalk near the street, or I could run along the water and perhaps in it a bit. Yea...the water was the easy choice. It was beyond awesome...it really was. I had my iPhone with me and captured lots of great photos. I estimated I still had about 30 minutes to sunset so I just took off running and soaking in the salty air. All I could think of was Dorothy. I so wanted to be walking along this beachfront, hand in hand. It totally consumed me. I'll admit, too, that it wasn't my typical running-without-stopping. There were plenty of "oooohhhh, ahhhhhh" moments to just stop and soak it all in. Here are some photos from my run on the beach and the sunset:

Removing Afghanistan sand and replacing with U.S. sand

So, it was a great run..no doubt. I left the beachfront just as the sun disappeared below the horizon. After a mile, I was back on base (and got wanded as I walked on!)...can't be too safe with security these days. Back in my room, I got some more photos uploaded online and took yet another shower. Great again! And wow...that sushi...simply amazing. What a very excellent choice that was!!! Next? Blog. I could already feel it...there was no way in the world I was going to be able to write this monster post. I will try...but it was not looking good! I started this post and I couldn't even finish a sentence without falling asleep and waking up to 50 same letters on the screen as my fingers were laying on the keyboard. So now that you've read the post, you can understand what an unsurmountable challenge I was up against! I'm glad I slept (as my youngest brother insisted) and wrote this morning. 

So here we are, it's Day 207 and I'll leave it there. I still have NO idea when I'm going home. "How could that be? How could you not know?" Well, flight arrangements aren't made until they verify we are here. Immediately after that, they send out the request to get our flights booked by the military travel office. As of last night, they hadn't heard back yet. Hopefully today, I'll find out. For today, though, it'll be time to talk with the mental health folks, the dentist, and hopefully the doc. Should be a good day and another day closer to home. I'll leave you with my Photo of the Day. As I wrapped up my run and Dorothy consumed my thoughts, this quote popped in my head so I carved it in the sand. Seemed fitting given my trip to Oz and being "almost" home. 

Goodnight, everyone.