It begins. . . and the blog

So I am not going to write the details of my weeks twice so I am going to write my email and anyone who is interested can come see the pictures that go along with some of my experiences here on the blog. 
***********************************************************Repeat of last email********************************************
After months of training, shots, pokes and prods, paperwork, and fine print I am finally completely ready to go. My bags have been packed for more than a month and our farewell party is in the books.  We had a great day as a family at the 100 year anniversary of Boy Scouts and the LDS Church at McGimpsey Scout Park.  After the scout thing finished we went out to dinner and had father's blessings and then had our final movie night all together.
Sunday morning my family and I loaded all of my gear in to our van and drove to San Antonio International Airport.  We parked and dragged my heavy bags to the check in counter.  I was given gate passes for each of my family members so that they could come back to the gate with me.  The kids were very tired and lay down on the benches in the airport until it was time to say goodbye.  My heart nearly ruptured as I held my sweet wife close and felt her shake with her sobs.  I held her until there was no one else in line to board and I had to let go.  I walked to the gate and looked on my family for the last time in person for six months.  I boarded the plane and my journey to Afghanistan began.  We flew first to Atlanta and then to Norfolk, Virginia.  We waited for the “shuttle” to come and pick us up for about two hours and finally gave up and took a taxi to the Air Mobility Command Terminal on the naval base.  We received our itinerary for the remainder of our flight at that time.  Our tickets said that at 1245 the next afternoon we would fly from Virginia to Frankfurt, Germany.  We would layover in Germany for 2 hours and then fly to Manas Air Field.  We will have to wait in Manas for a “rotator” to take us from there to Bagram.   That final leg will be on a military plane.  There will be over 200 of us going to Bagram so I am interested to see how that is going to work.  
                After getting our itinerary and checking in our big bags we went to a hotel for the night.  For the last time in six months, I had a room to myself.  One of my good friends who is an Army reservist was mobilized to Fort Eustis in Virginia about three months ago.  We had made previous arrangements to meet up when I got here.  He came by and picked me and another guy up and took us to dinner.  We had a good visit and our final good dinner.  In the morning I packed up my stuff and took a taxi to the terminal with my travel buddy.  We got checked in and sat around for two hours before they loaded us on our plane.  It is a big commercial jet contracted from a civilian company by the military.  Once all of our gear was stowed we waited in our seats for about another hour.  At that time the voice came over the speaker telling us that we were overweight significantly and there would be a delay of at least 30 minutes while they decided what to do.  Finally another announcement over the intercom informed us that we would all have to get off the plane so that 60,000 pounds or gallons (can’t remember which) of fuel could be removed.  So here I sit back in the terminal waiting around.  I should have suspected something was amiss when our cab driver said as he pulled up to the terminal, 
“Just so you know I doubt you will be flying out today.  When they send you back to the hotel you should go and see the tankers in the bay, they are the biggest in the world.”
At the time I just laughed but now I am wondering if there isn’t some truth to that.  
I have already experienced some tender mercies from the Lord.  The travel buddy I have mentioned is one of the anesthesiologists that I work with in San Antonio and he is also a member of our local church group (for those who know he is in my stake).  We have kind of stuck together.  We both are relatively new to the Air Force and laugh together about how little we know about what we are suppose to be doing.  It is a great relief to have a kindred spirit around especially when my heart is already weighed down with longing for home.  
I am writing this addendum to the above email which I wrote while waiting in the terminal this afternoon.  It is now about10pm and I am still in Virginia.  Apparently the cab driver was correct.  We were told after about an hour and a half of waiting that our flight was going to be canceled until 3am because the crew had rest restrictions that would not allow them to fly over night because of the delays.  The airline put us up in a hotel and fed us and has made arrangements for us to get back to the terminal in the wee hours of the morning.  So I will have one more partial night in a private room in this promised land of America.  Until I can write again, have a great night!

There will be some additional info about what happened next in the pictures below. 

The kids and I at our early morning farewell at the airport.

Me and my incredible supportive bride trying to pretend that all is well but hoping we will never have to let go of each other.

Once we got to Virginia we waited for a shuttle to come pick us up.

And waited . . . .This is Dr Brian Landreth, an anesthesiologist from the hospital I work at and the friend I mentioned in the email.

And waited! Finally we all took cabs to Norfolk Naval Base.

This is my buddy from my home ward who is stationed temporarily in the Virginia area and I was fortunate enough to hook up with him for dinner.

Waiting in my hotel room to get the show on the road.

We arrived at the base terminal and passed through security which was an interesting experience in and of itself because most passengers had handguns and automatic weapons but the 'wanded' all of us to make sure we didn't have knives and otherwise had to comply with all other TSA regulations, except of course for all the GUNS. Go figure

We waited until three in the afternoon because of plane weight issues and crew rest and then were told that we couldn't leave until three in the morning.

Fortunately, we still got the in-flight meals that had already been 'prepared'.  The airline booked us all in hotels and paid for dinner vouchers and shuttles or cab rides to and from the terminal. Ouch!

So in the wee hours of the morning after a two hour wait (seeing a common theme here yet) we took off to New Hampshire which was like an hour away. Once there we refueled and the sun came up enough to see some beautiful fall colors through the window.  We were able to enjoy the colors from the plane window for another hour while things were getting fixed on the plane.  

I settled in to my comfy seat where my knees touched the seat in front of me when it was in the full upright position.  I tried to sleep but could never get comfortable enough.  

I listened to one and a half Work and Glory Novels throughout the flights and waits.  

So when we left the states it was early in the morning.  The flight to Germany was only six and a half hours of flying time but when we got there it was totally dark and about 9pm.  

After the long flight cramped in  my seat next to a pimple-faced Army soldier that used an expletive before every word and looked and smelled as though he had not showered or brushed his teeth since birth I stretched out on my back on the floor and fell asleep.  

In the military terminal you could smoke in the building so I woke up with an impressive headache.  Some smartypants put a lit cigarette in a garbage can that soon caught fire and had to be extinguished.  Those crazy Americans!

I took this picture out the window of the shuttle on the way back to the plane from the two hour wait in the terminal.  I wanted to show the kids what Germany looked like, so here it is.

I imagine that throughout this experience I will have many opportunities to say, "You know your deployed when . . .fill in the blank.  Well this time the blank is when your plane is filled with handguns and AR-15s. As I got on the plane I just snapped a few random pictures. See how many guns you can find. 

Look at the floor and in the seat pockets.

So I was fortunate enough to get to return to my same seat and same odoriferous next door neighbor for the next 6.5 hour leg of our journey to Manas Air Field in Kyrgyzstan or Kazakhstan . . . one of those stans.     

We arrived and were told to put our stuff in our rooms.  We followed the signs to Hotel Alaska to Tent City.  So named because these are Alaskan shelter tents. 

There were at least 25 of these tents all lined up.

This was mine, 516. You were handed a bundle of sheets and a pillow and blanket and told that using sheets was mandatory.

This is me on the bottom bunk.  It is no wonder you have to use sheets.  These mattresses were likely used during both world wars and then donated to some POW camps before we go them.  The sheets and blankets would have made a homeless guy cringe.  

This is what our tent looks like inside. 56 people sleep in one tent.

This looks like a still-shot from Shawshank Redemption but it is one of my friends posing with his bed number

We had to unload these huge trucks full of gear and put them on pallets to me shipped in our aircraft. 

Like this.

Then we got issued more gear.  Hazmat suits and cold weather parkas and sleeping bags along with our 60# plated flak vests and helmets.

The facilities here in Manas are actually not bad.

Good fresh fruit and local favorites like cabbage soup.

I thought the kids would be interested to know that we can eat all the candy we want and ice cream sandwiches.

And drinks and cereal of all varieties.

They leave a place set with a POW plaque above it with hats from each service helping us to always remember those who didn't come home.  There is a Bible on the table and a lemon and some salt on the plate.  The salt is for the tears shed in their behalf and the lemon for the bitter fate of those captured.