The long journey home was not long just because of the distance between QWest, Iraq and Phoenix, AZ USA. It is because the Navy makes it a process, with many steps in between. Luckily, some of the steps were actually enjoyable, while others were very frustrating and painful. We kept in mind, however, that at least we were making forward progress on our trip home.
Our first stop was Germany (we were supposed to have 10 days in Qatar, but this was cut to 5 hours due to a delay in our replacements getting to us. Thanks Air Force, who can't seem to fly if there is a cloud in the sky :( Germany was a tax payer funded vacation to "decompress." Not sure if that goal was achieved, but it was a nice mini vacation to Sembach, Germany and the surrounding towns. Our "firsts" continued, with our first beer in 8 months being quite the celebration! After 2, I was ready to go to bed by about 7:30pm.
Our first stop was Germany (we were supposed to have 10 days in Qatar, but this was cut to 5 hours due to a delay in our replacements getting to us. Thanks Air Force, who can't seem to fly if there is a cloud in the sky :( Germany was a tax payer funded vacation to "decompress." Not sure if that goal was achieved, but it was a nice mini vacation to Sembach, Germany and the surrounding towns. Our "firsts" continued, with our first beer in 8 months being quite the celebration! After 2, I was ready to go to bed by about 7:30pm.
I still got a chance to continue my workouts (cut down to 4 hours a day from 7, but still nice) with running in the cold and wet mist every morning. We also had some "nice" food in the DFAC at Sembach, and although it looked more aesthetically pleasing than Iraq, I missed my old egg scramble to order from the DFAC in QWest which was MUCH bigger and had a LOT more goodies!
Germany also had the biggest beer mugs I have ever seen, these 3 liter ceramic cartoon versions of a mug! My ER corpsman enjoys 3 liters of German beer with lunch (they actually did have 5 liter ones which were beyond ridiculous:)
We also got to travel to 3 different cities, including Kaiserslautern, Trier, and the Air Force base at Ramstein Air Force Base which boasts the biggest military mall outside of the USA. I did get to have awesome apple strudel, schnitzel, and the German version of haggis (not sure what it was called :). My spin buddies and I in Trier, Germany at the Roman coliseum as well as me in front of a store named BUTLERS that I had to get a picture...…
After Germany, where we turned in our military gear and weapons (YEA), it was off to the USA for paperwork, medical, and processing in Norfolk. It was amazing finally arriving back in the US, being greeted by a line of wonderful supportive citizens, complete with food and water and flags for us.
Norfolk began a long, painful, inefficient journey of medical, paperwork, power points, and waiting. It started off by us arriving on a Tuesday but not getting started until Thursday as all the staff had the day off Wednesday for President Bush's services/memorial. We had an awesome dinner on Thursday at a Brazilian steakhouse. I proceeded to eat every type of protein put in front of my face, followed by 4 bowls of the lobster bisque soup. The waiter told me I now hold the record for the most bowls of soup he had ever seen consumed! After the filling dinner, the 6 hour presentation the next day on how to get a job and what benefits we are all entitled to (geared towards active duty folks retiring, but one that we were forced to endure anyway.....) was a little painful. So interesting, my roommate fell asleep...….
Meanwhile, back in QWEST...…………..
While this was going on in the US, I was worried that my spin and yoga classes that I had worked so hard to start were dead. Not to worry, LT Steele, an active duty ER nurse and fellow UofA Wildcat from Sierra Vista had continued my classes! GO 'CATS! UofA leads the way, even in Iraq! And Kenneth at the gym made sure my elliptical was not lonely by saying hello every morning and goodnight every evening to it and still put water and notes on it even though I was gone! He might be the world's most sentimental person!
The highlight of all the painful process in Norfolk, was our trip to the Army/Navy game in Philadelphia. We got tickets from USAA for free. We had an extra ticket, so my brother in law TJ got to go as well, taking a redeye from Phoenix Friday night. The Navy Dental Corps tailgater was phenomenal, and luckily it was a sunny day.
The game was a close one and we had a blast. I sat with TJ and my roommate Chris (our orthopedic surgeon). My Commander in Chief, President Trump, much to the dismay of the secret service I am sure, proceeded to come up into the stands about 15 yards from our seats and watch the game for about the first 15 minutes of the second half.
It was amazing being at the game, and the ceremony of the game, from the opening invocation to the closing songs from both the Midshipmen of Annapolis followed by the Cadets from West Point was incredible and moving and a nice capstone to my deployment. Definitely checked off a bucket list item!
In between all the painful processes, I continued to get my workouts in, even when it started snowing outside!
Next stop, HOME- the end of my Naval Encounters of the Third Time!
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