I'm sure he'd rather be fishing...

this is the one picture he let me take of him while we were camping a couple weeks before he deployed. i'm sure he would much rather be fishing, even with the girls throwing huge rocks in the water and swimming around him.

but, bear has landed safely in Qatar!!! he will be there for not quite a full day, and then very early tomorrow morning, they will be flying to djibouti. at least he got a chance to get a hot shower, and eat a good meal. he landed at an airforce base, and he said the chow hall is incredible! it's bigger and they have many more options than the chow hall in the hospital here! he said they had the usual main line and short order, but they also had a deli bar (for sandwiches), an enormous salad bar, a dessert bar, an asian cuisine bar, all kinds of protein bars and gatorade and more! a full belly can have a big effect on Soldiers when they are tired and missing home, so i know he was greatful for that. the last time that bear talked to me before he left fort benning, he was told they were going to fly to germany, and we didn't have a chance to talk much about anything until he called early this morning (around 0440). i guess it's a good thing that it was another nearly sleepless night for me because i was actually awake when he called! we got to have a real conversation instead of him having to keep saying 'are you still there?' thinking that i fell asleep on him. his flights went completely different than i thought! he went from ft. benning to newfoundland, canada, then to budapest, hungary, then to kuwait, and is currently at Qatar waiting to go to djibouti. overall he seemed to be doing very well, except for being tired. he said he didn't sleep much on the flights, except the hour long flight from kuwait to qatar. he said he crashed as soon as he sat down...he didn't know they had taken off or landed! now that is one pooped out Soldier!

back again soon...
erin