This last week was tough for me after enjoying my freedom so much over my R&R. But, I take some solace in knowing that we can finally start counting down now instead of up. While I was gone, the guys in the Motor Pool concocted a surprise and worked magic with raw metal. The Allied Trades section has the capability to weld and fabricate almost anything. In their free time, using spare parts, the four Soldiers pictured below built a Hot Rod.
Most of the parts are from used John Deere gators, others were made from scratch or improvised. In the end, everyone was in awe of the pet project (except for one of my superiors who thought it was a waste of their time and resources). But, after 10 months of monotony I applaud any attempts to improve the work environment or unit morale, which is exactly what this did for the motor pool.
The Hot Rod is actually quite slow, considering it has a standard gator drive train and engine. We may take it home to use for community or base parades. Note the 'POW/MIA' theme hand painted on the roof of the car. As always, I am proud of my Soldiers.
Some of you may have been wondering why it has been a while since the last blog post. Thankfully, there was a VERY good reason...Mark's long awaited R&R finally arrived, after over nine months of waiting. For those of you who know our "story," waiting in that airport a few weeks ago was filled with as much anticipation as our airport meeting in Hawaii over three years ago!! DFW is known for honoring the in-bound soldiers with a "shower of affection," also known as a Water Salute. This consists of two water turrets carrying 3,000 gallons of water with nozzles discharging 1,500 gallons per minute in an arc over the plane as it taxis toward the gate. Once in the airport, the soldiers are greeted by rows of volunteers, many of whom are veterans (primarily WWII and Vietnam), who are eager to welcome them home. Of course, no one could be more eager than the families, and I was given the opportunity to stand right in front while I waited to see Mark walk through the passageway. A photographer was on hand to capture the first moment of our reunion (as well as those of other spouses, one of whom brought their baby girl ... the first time her husband had ever seen his daughter).
After the wonderful reunion, we spent some time in Texas at home with my family and then at a Bed & Breakfast in Granbury where we enjoyed every second of relaxing and FINALLY just being together again. There is certainly nothing like a deployment to teach you to cherish every moment together, no matter what you may be doing.
After this short stay in Texas, we were off to beautiful and COOL Colorado, which was a wonderful switch from the 100+ degree heat we have been used to this summer. We stayed in Crested Butte for the majority of the time, where we filled our days with mountain biking and hiking. Of course, our beloved Bella tagged along and was a trooper. She could hike up virtually anything without much help from us, which I think definitely impressed her dad! ;-)
We were then off to Colorado Springs for a stay at the Air Force Academy and to tour some sites, including Pikes Peak, the Garden of the Gods, and Mannitou Springs. Everywhere we went in Colorado, we were simply in awe at the beauty around us!!
Of course, the two glorious weeks together came to an end far too quickly, but I think it was exactly what we needed to get us through to the end of this deployment. Mark is now safely back to Afghanistan, already hard at work and with a staff who was thrilled to hand the reigns of command back over to him. We can never thank you, our friends and family, enough for praying us through this year and we ask that you continue to lift us up in prayer for these next two to three months as we press towards the finish line....we are so grateful that it is finally in sight!!
