Veteran's Day 2011

I have a four day this weekend for Veteran's day. My favorite cousin, Cousin Glen, drove my car down to Ft. Huachuca (all the way from Utah), so I can have it there for the remainder of my stay, and now we're catching a flight back to Utah for the long weekend. I was (and am) so excited to see Cousin Glen... he's the bestest... I'm glad to be going home as well, and wasn't at all sad to lock up all my gear yesterday. I won't have to put it all back on again until Tuesday morning, and I will not miss it at all. If you've never had the opportunity to wear full kit around all day, you're not missing much. It's heavy, makes me feel three times wider than I actually am, and the kevlar makes the bobby pins in my hair dig into my scalp. I won't miss it.

As is generally the case with these things we ran into a few complications along the way, like the fact that Glen brought a handgun, and then discovered at the airport parking place that the locks he bought don't fit the case. A few gas stations later we determined that the gun would have to be left behind in a safe place... under a rock off the side of the road by a special creosote bush. He says he will remember which one but I have my doubts. We then parked my car, and I'll have to figure out what to do with that item before I return to base on Monday. Pick it up or leave it under said rock. Then he had to surrender a leatherman to TSA when he got caught with one in his bag at the x-ray machine. Turns out they don't make nearly as big a fuss about that as they do about a loaded gun clip in your bag. Now we're shooting the breeze in the Phoenix airport waiting for the connecting flight that's going to take us back to the home state... all because I scheduled a 12 hour layover in Phoenix. I like spending Veterans day with my most favorite vet, even if it is just killing time in an airport.