Mission Complete!

Last night, Wednesday night, 13 August 2008, I arrived at my home of record. It was not uneventful.

It took me only two days to out-process in Norfolk, which is very good, but it took a little pushing on my part. It was in everyone’s best interest to get rid of me. The staff in Norfolk was very polite, but I found it odd that the Commander there never addressed us or said hello. I would think she would take a personal interest in that there were a couple people there senior to her and military courtesy dictates it. More importantly, we were all part of the travel fiasco and we thought she might want the story firsthand. We were wrong.

The best part of Norfolk was seeing my old shipmates Will and Pete and also seeing Pete’s family. Will, Pete, and I went out to dinner at a nice Tavern in Norfolk and talked about old times and new times. Those of us from this ship don’t get to see each other too often, but we never miss a beat when we do.

Yesterday, the Navy sent me from Norfolk to DC in the morning to out-process with my command there and then to Newark in the afternoon. I thought it was going to be a waste of the Navy’s money and my time to go there instead of taking care of things my next drill weekend and via fax for the three important pieces of papers needed. I was right. Anyway I flew to Newark Wednesday afternoon. At this point the fun started.

The scariest part of my tour was the flight from DC to Newark. We were on a little prop plane and experienced enough turbulence to unsettle me. My dad, Marion, and Stacey and the kids were at the airport to greet me. This was the time I waited for especially since I got to meet Alyssa for the first time. Aaron remembered me (as did everyone else). It was a great welcome!

Stacey had to take my car since she had to bring the double stroller and I had a couple bags. My car would NOT start in the parking garage. First stroke of good luck was the security personnel were right around us and they gave us a jump. However, the battery was not charging, so nothing else worked in the car such as windows or AC. Second stroke of luck is that my dad pulled out of the garage the same time as us and he could follow us home. That would prove to be very important.

We left the airport and missed the turnoff for the Turnpike and had to use Route 1. That ended up being a good thing since my car completely broke down and it was safer there than on the Turnpike. I wasn’t happy being in Elizabeth on the wrong side of the tracks with the kids, but AAA made it there quickly after making us a priority. AAA Plus is the only way to go. We transferred the car seats to my dad’s car and I stayed with the tow truck. I completed my only important goal since the start, making it home in one piece.

Feel free to post comments, I’ll be checking out the site and may make some other posts as things come up. I’m thinking of some type of After Action Report (AAR) for all of this. I know there are many people to thank and what better place than the blog at least for now. Also, my friend Greg, a shipmate with Will and Pete as well, is still over there and will be returning in the next few months.

I look forward to being in contact with all of you. Remember, the party is at my place on Sunday, the 24th starting at 1400. It will run well into the evening hours, so no excuses for not stopping by. If you need directions, please email, you can also use MapQuest. No need to bring anything, we’ll have it all.