Ry is finally home from Iraq!!

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Kathy and I started out on Thursday 9/16 in the evening. After a little mishap with the truck keys at Wesco only a mile from her house, we drove all night, stopping only once for a 1 1/2hr nap. Did I tell you how excited we were?

Our first night was spent in Golden CO, just a hop skip and a jump from Beau Jo's Pizza in Idaho Springs.......YUMMY!!


We drove up Squaw Pass to Echo Lake Lodge and were so excited to find that it was open this late in the season! We spent a lot of time and well, $$ in the lodge, but we did get a past employee discount!! Did I tell you how excited we were?!? After reliving wonderful memories and smells in the lodge, we headed up the mountain....we got as far as Summit Lake before the road was closed. We were so glad to get that far, we never dreamed it would still be open!

The aspens were in their full colors and were so beautiful!

Kathy wouldn't let me drive over Loveland pass, I guess I scared her enough going up to Summit Lake! So we went thru the Eisenhower tunnel, actually, she said she didn't care, but we did spend to much time at the lodge and our drive for the day (before the side trip up to Echo Lake and Mt Evans) was 12 hours.....and we still wanted to take another side trip into Arches National Park!

We arrived at Arches via a drive along the Colorado river that looked so very familiar, it finally dawned on me that we tubed this stretch of river, our last time out here. It was a very awesome drive! The canyons were so red and tall!
It was quite a drive back into the arches, and if we had a day to hike, we could have seen bunches of them....but we chose to walk back to see Delicate Arch, just as the sun was setting and one storm cloud (loaded with lightning and thunder) was trying to make Kathy run for cover But we only got sprinkled on and that dried before we even got back to the truck.

It was dark by the time we drove out of Arches and I am sure the mountains we passed down by Zion National Park were just as awesome to behold! If only we had a few more days, or maybe another road trip, hhhmmmm...

We arrived at our next night stay - Vegas - at 2:30AM and cruised the entire strip before heading to the condo for the night, we woke up to a beautiful day in Nevada, but boy was it windy, there were 2 pool chairs in the pool when I looked out. We made a donation the the Vegas Neon Light Fund (that is the same as donating to our indian brothers here in MI ~ It means we left our money there!)

However, I did find my favorite slot machine and after showing Kathy how it worked a few times, decided, heck why not another $20.....what you ask? Did I hit a jackpot?? Not really, the machine ate my $20 and kept it all, however, as we were leaving Vegas and got onto the highway, traffic slowed then stopped until a Medivac Helicopter came in, there was a nasty accident just less than 1/2 mile up the road, if we wouldn't have spent that last $20, it could have been us up there........

We arrived in Carlsbad, CA around 5:30 - 6:00 Cali time ~ Ry had called to say they were in Germany and would be in the air shortly!! Did I tell you how excited we were?!?

We checked into the hotel then headed directly to Camp Pendleton to double check where we needed to be in the morning. We had gotten times and place from a friend of Ryan's that is also stationed at Camp Pendleton.

A nice young Marine showed us Ry's name on a list and gave us the latest updated times as to when they would be in......so off to the hotel and bed we headed.......Sleep?? Yeah Right!! Did I tell you how excited we were?!?

The morning didn't come soon enough, but it finally was just hours before we would see Ryan! He called before our alarms went off, the first thing he did upon landing at March AFB was call and activate his cell phone. It sure was good to know he was on US soil once again! Sigh, now we could go back to sleep.....NOT

The parade deck in Area 22, Camp Pendleton is where we waited for him. The Marine Corp had bleachers, banners, balloons, snacks and drinks for those waiting for their Marine to return. We had ours from when Ry came home at Christmas.......TV crews were there from what looked like no less than 5 channels, and others that I assume were from local newspapers. Many cameras took pictures of our signs and one asked questions......it was all I could to to answer her questions with out crying.......I just wanted him HOME!!

It was really emotional that last 1/2 hour, of course, Ry called and said they were just finishing turning their weapons in and would be there in about 1/2 hour........the longest 1/2 I have spent in a long time!! (Did I tell you how excited we were??)

The busses finally pulled in and we were lined up along the line the busses would pull along and well, we ended up being by the last bus, and I assumed no Ry there, as I couldn't see him inside.......so I started scanning the crowd toward the other busses, knowing that Ry couldn't have missed our signs and would know where we were, and the first, very first, boonie cover (floppy hat) and shades I saw over the heads of people, I knew, I just knew it was Ry!! And it was!! It was the best hug I have had in a very, very long time!! (the longest too!! (Nathan, yours was the best up until that point!! Rick, yours the best after that)
Ry was very excited to see his new truck! I had parked it in an end space, figuring he would see it if they drove by, and he did! He LOVES his truck! He spent 7 months in Iraq saving for it, I am glad we found it for him! (I knew he would like it ~ I like it, it was fun to drive cross country, I will sure miss the little guy LITTLE ~ that beast? I think NOT! But he does look good driving it!

We took Ry's gear back to his new barracks only to find that the room was trashed.

It took us about 4-5 hours to put it back in a decent order. Most of that time was spent trying to scrub the old Mop N Glo off of the floors.....Aunt Kathy was surprised to see the floor turning white beneath my scrub brush!

Before we could head to dinner, Ry just HAD to find a DDR game and burn off some energy!

Ryan's first choice of meals was to head to Jo's Crab Shack. Conveniently located just outside the gates to Camp Pendleton! MMMmmm, Clam Chowder!
Next stop, the ocean and Big Bear for FUN and
We found some fun places to eat and this was one of the best! It was a little Mexican restaurant in Big Bear. One of their items was called BIG JUAN, you got 45 minutes to eat it. If you did you got a T-shirt! NO T-SHIRT FOR RY! His leftovers filled, FILLED a to go box, side to side, corner to corner and top to bottom Full!! But it sure made a good dinner the next night! We each ate 1/4 of it and had to throw 1/4 out!

The best part of the meal though was the lady and her mother behind us. (I assume it was her mother) They overheard us talking to Ry about Iraq, they were so grateful for the time Ry spent in Iraq! (and all the guys over there) that when they left they again said "Thank You" and we have paid for all of your dinners!!

Another couple sitting by us came over to shake his hand, AND a police SGT from the other room came in and gave Ry his card and said his department in Torrence, CA would be hiring in about a year and a half and would be glad to have him or any Marine for that matter!

At the restaurant the night before the waitress come out with a slice of Cheesecake for Ry and made an announcement that he was just back from Iraq! Again lots of handshakes from all the other tables! Sigh.........

One of the best things we did was take the advise of the Enterprise Car Rental man ~ He suggested a drive up to a fire lookout that was JUST AWESOME! I wonder if he realized we were still driving their car?!? We should have been a 4 wheel drive TRUCK!! What an adventure!

We had a wonderful trip and spent some great days with Ryan. Would I do it over again? In a heartbeat

Lonesome yet Ry??




Ry is Son of Bro to
Nephew to Cousin to Grandson of