More Fun on the Endless Trip

10 May 2007

     I’m back!  Currently enjoying the luxury of a brand new hotel in Baltimore with the zippiest internet connection I’ve seen in a year. 

Here’s the timeline so far; all times are local.

Monday, 1300 - Departed Phoenix for the last time

Tuesday, 0800 - Departed KAIA for Manas AB, Kyrgyzstan

Wednesday, 0800 - Departed Manas AB for Baltimore Int Airport

   

     Lets go back to our time at Manas.  We were delighted to finally leave Afghanistan, but this was tempered by the fact that we still had a very long trip ahead of us.  We knew we would be spending at least a day in Manas, so we still had a long way to go.  We also kept hoping that our plane would not be delayed, as people often spend days in Manas, which we did not want to do.

     Our billeting turned out to be a huge (and I do mean huge) tent that had well over 100 bunk beds in it.  Sleeping would be a joke here, so I never even tried.  The first thing we did was head over to the chow hall for lunch.  On our way over here, I remember hating the food here, and I was not excited about eating.  The hamburgers looked a little better than the ones at Phoenix, but they weren’t real 100% beef.  They did have very good curly fries, but other than that nothing special, at least not until we got to the drinks.  They had Lipton Ice Tea in cans!  But even better, once we sat down, Rat pointed to an ice chest.

     “I think they actually have ice cubes!” he exclaimed.

     I turned and looked, and I think a tear came to my eye.  I grabbed a glass, and headed over.  Sure enough, there was ice for the taking! Obscene amenities were starting to show up.  Not only did we have ice, we had real plates and silverware.  Ahhh, such decadence.  After eating, we headed out, and saw shelves loaded with a very good selction of candy bars, free for the taking!  Limit two per person please.  It’s hard to believe guys stationed here get the same imminent danger pay we get.  They don’t carry weapons, and as far as I know they’ve never been attacked by anyone. 

     Our show time for the flight was 2 AM, for a 8 AM departure.  Yes, we got to sit around for six hours doing nothing.  How the minutes crawled by.  This was the part I dreaded the most.  At least on a plane you were moving, and could sleep or watch movies.  Here, you just suffered, hoping your plane wasn’t delayed.

     Finally, we boarded, and began the final leg of our trip as a group.  Stay tuned for more!

Comments

[Lynette]

Glad you are home. Unwind and relax.

[Leta]

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!

[Rosemary]

Woohoo! You are in the States! I am so grateful. I praised God after letting out a yelp. Yeah, my brother had to come and make sure I was alright. LOL. I'll be waiting for more...

[Marieanne]

yay!!!!

[Solo]

Big grins happening here!!!Quite a few milbloggers I read are heading home, including one fellow PGR member from the Philippines. WELCOME HOME!!!!