the docs that had been deployed with me but worked nights. I finally got to know him toward the end of the rotation and having him around made my travel much more fun. I was delayed 24 hours when leaving Qatar because of a freak fog incident in which visibility was only around 50 feet. One of the coolest parts of my travel home was my landing in Bangor, Maine. When we got off of the plane and were on American soil once again, there was about 300 people that met us at the gate. They clapped and cheered as all 250 of us de-boarded the plane. A 2 star general, and 1 star General and several Colonels shook everyone's hand as they got off the plane. It brought tears to my eyes. I got to use my cell phone for the first time in 6 months as well.Erin and Sara met me at the airport with a great banner and took me 
directly to Mamacita's. I had been looking forward to their food for a long time. I also put on a reflective belt as a final good-bye to Al Udeid. Dennis (my travel buddy) and I agreed that we would wear our reflective belt at a well known place when we returned as a joke.
This is the poem that Erin and Sara wrote and put on our quote board. It goes: "We like Megan O-So-a-lot, we're glad you're back from the place that's hot. We tried so hard to stay in touch, cause we missed you so much. So no longer should you roam, b/c we want you here at home." So sweet and funny!
My first act of business upon arriving at the house was to get rid of a roach that had been bothering Erin for a few days. She is horrified of the things. Then I unpacked all my stuff. I didn't get it put away but I had to empty my bags to find everything I needed. Then I had to get my car jumped and drive it to the dealorship to get much needed maintenance.
It is amazing all of the things you miss while deployed. Driving my car again was awesome. It was interesting driving on the Freeway again in all the rush hour traffic. I want to thank everyone for reading my blog. I really enjoyed the deployment but I am so glad to be home. I am busy catching up on sleep and enjoying the start of my 2 weeks on reconstitution time. Now I've got to leave to pick my mom up from the airport.
Love, Megan.
the entire two hour drive out there and back we had Qatari military escort. They were at the front and back of the 8 vehicle caravan that included our Wing Commander. They would pull out ahead at all the traffic round-abouts that are more common than street lights and stop traffic for us. It was incredible. Once we got there they opened up the activities for us to do as we wanted. They had a light lunch buffet with crepes and sandwiches and desserts - it was delicious.
I then took a couple trips down this slide while my shorts were still wet after jet skiing. I am on the left, racing one of the night shift docs. We are both flying out tonight and he says when we stop in Germany that we will be drinking. We'll see...
This is the tent where we feasted on dinner. I actually ate some camel which was interesting since I had been on one ealier that day. Maybe it was the misbehaved camel that was making a lot of noise. 