Here is the recap from our visit to see Hubby.
Day 1
I just got back from spending a couple partial days with my Hubby and seeing him graduate from his Warrior Transition Course. Hubby’s grandmother rode with me and the kids, and my parents met us there. We are blessed to be only a 3-4 hour drive away from where he was, so it was relatively easy to get there. Unfortunately, I know many spouses & families were not able to make it because it would have meant purchasing plane tickets for multiple people. I’m glad we were able to go!
Granny, the kids and I headed out Tuesday around noon, right after Little Bear’s (our foster son) feeding therapy appointment. It took a little longer on this trip than it did when just Emily and I went since we had the baby this time, but it wasn’t too bad. Thankfully, I had Granny in the car to help hand things to the kids or talk to the baby. I hadn’t thought about it when I asked her to ride with us, but she ended up being a HUGE help! I was the only one that needed to go to the bathroom on multiple stops (I drank lots of coffee!), so she’d stay in the car with the kids. If you have kids, you can understand how valuable that was!
We arrived on post around 4:00, and met up with my parents who had just beat us there. We met in front of the building called Geronimo Lodge because that’s who I had called to make reservations for lodging on post. Stay with me here, because it wouldn’t be the Army if it was simple…they had to keep it interesting for me.
We all unloaded the car, got the kids out, the grandparents took the kids to the playground in front of us, while I went to check in. I walked in the building right next to the lodge and asked where to check in.
“Oh, you don’t check in for the lodge here. That’s down the street, take a right, then it’s the 2nd building on the right.”
Of course it is.
So, I go back to the family and we agree they might as well wait there since that’s where we’re staying (or so I thought!). I’ll go check in and come back.
First, I walked into what I thought was the building they sent me to, only to find out that I needed to be one building over. Not walking distance though, so back in the car I went.
Finally I’m in the right place! However, when I go to check in, I find out that the apartment they’ve assigned us is not at the Lodge, but in a different area all together. They’ve assigned me to an “apartment”, so those are located with the apartments of course, not at the Lodge.
Of course it is. I was literally laughing out loud walking back to my car.
I get back to the family and we all start loading up the kids again. While we are in the middle of this, we hear the 5 minute “warning” for Retreat. As a civilian on post, when you hear the Retreat music, you are to stand still and quiet facing the flag (if you can see one), or the direction from which the music is coming. This happens at the same time every day, although the time can vary by post. At Fort Sill, it’s at 17:00. I should have known it was coming, but I wasn’t looking at the time. So, I’m trying to hurry and explain to the grandparents what to do, and how they are going to need to pull over and get off their motorcycles if the music starts before we get to the apartment building. Then we start driving over to the apartment building. I had been sternly warned against using cell phones while driving on post. As we’re looking for the apartment building, Hubby calls me to come pick him up – he’s free for the day! I had put the phone on speaker and was practically screaming at him (so as not to be seen on the phone) while also trying to find the apartment building.
Somehow through all the commotion, and us making a couple wrong turns, we didn’t even hear the music from our cars or see anyone else standing at attention, so we missed Retreat completely.
We finally get to the apartment building, and this time I got smart! I went and checked to make sure we were in the right spot before getting anyone or anything out of the car!
The apartment was really cute! It had 2 bedrooms with double beds, closets & dressers in them. A living area with a pull out sofa bed and a recliner. A kitchenette with a table & chairs, 2 mini-fridges, a stovetop, microwave & coffee maker. One bathroom with 2 sinks/mirrors and a shower. It was clean and comfy and overall a great place to stay! They could have changed out the fly-trap sheets with the dead bugs on them, but other than that, I was quite pleased.
We unloaded quickly, then the grandparents watched the kids while I drove to the barracks to pick up my Hubby! YAY!!!!! We almost just ran away at that point, but of course he wanted to see the kids and family too, so we went back to the apartment to pick them all up and head out to dinner…OFF post because Hubby hadn’t been off post in 45 days! He also presented Emily with a little pint-sized ACU so she can be dressed like Daddy – SO CUTE! She was on cloud 9 with those!! I have to take in the pants a little, but that didn’t stop her from wearing the top and the hat everywhere we went.
We enjoyed dinner at Applebee’s, then headed back to the apartment where Hubby had time to tuck the kids into bed, read Emily a bedtime story in person, and chat with the family for a couple minutes before I had to rush him back to the barracks for his nighttime formation.
Day 2
Wednesday morning was the graduation. We all got up, got ourselves and the kids ready and got out the door by 9. We were excited to see Hubby almost right away and were able to get seats close to him. It was a very nice ceremony, and I just loved watching him sing the Army song, say his oath (again), and stand there in his uniform. After the ceremony, they gave us all time to take pictures and chat for a few minutes before his transportation arrived to take him back to the barracks. He was going to call us in an hour or so to be picked up when his free time started for the day.
We all went back to the apartment and snacked on some munchies while waiting for Hubby to call us to go to lunch. We had a nice lunch at Olive Garden, and then the grandparents all took the kids and wandered around post and toured the PX so Hubby and I could have some time to ourselves!! 45 days later, we got 2.5 hours together!! It was so nice! Then, they brought the kids back, my parents hit the road, and Hubby & Emily got some valuable Daddy-Daughter play time together. Once again, he was able to tuck her in, read her a bedtime story and spend good quality time with her that will keep her happy for quite some time!
After the kids were in bed, Granny went on to bed with Emily while I drove Hubby back to the barracks for another “see ya later”.
What’s next?
He’s off to AIT to learn about his MOS (his job) and at some point in the next 96 days find out where we’ll be stationed.