Now we are back with Wednesday..... Super Boring!

 Finally got to sleep in my bed last night, but was up and about early. I need to get out and get my poor hurt hand an x-ray, so I now have to figure out where. Did not want to go to the hospital so I ended up at an Urgent Care clinic.

 Good news is ~ Hand is not broken, but I have to return on Monday for a follow up, and they may want to put a splint or something similar on it for a while.
 This rest of the day following was all pretty much uneventful... Visit with a friend, home to take care of some of my personal matters, and then off to bed.

 Wow ~ That was easy! The uneventful days make for a much shorter blog, and less photo opportunities.

 I will catch you all tomorrow for another pretty much average day.

Happy Holidays ~ Leo

Tuesday December 20 is finally here.... Miles and Miles!

 Hey folks ~ Back again!

 Let me try to get through this one real fast since there really isn't that much to blog about.... Unless of course you want to hear about airplane food, or something stupid like that. This day actually did last a lot longer than most - Literally! Due to the direction of flight I ended up with many more hours in my Tuesday than most people will ever see.

 It was pretty typical for the most part - Extremely early morning flight, supposed to be a full flight, blah, blah... So the plane did appear to be filling up ~ So much for having an empty seat beside me. Just a note here: I am typically a window seat kind of guy. I like the view, and it gives me a place to rest my head other than some strange persons shoulder. Today's flight was a center plane aisle seat, and I was actually okay with that. It was a thirteen hour flight from Kuwait to Washington D.C., and being on the aisle allows me to get up and stretch, and hit the toilet without constantly having to wake people up. So anyway, back to the full plane... Everything seemed to be full, but there was still a large quantity of seats empty just back and to my left. This is when I discovered why.... What was this I spied walking down the aisle towards me?? It was the Washington Redskin Cheerleaders!! I believe it was the JV team, because some of them looked so young. Young or not they are all very beautiful girls, and it is very cool that they come over to visit the troops! I wish I could tell you that I had some pictures, but I didn't have my camera on me at this time, and by the end of the flight I would have probably been killed if they caught me taking their pictures. I did have some fun joking with one of the girls, and she gave me her blanket because I was cold ~ Sweet Girl!
 Finally we hit D.C. and I barely had enough time to make it through immigration, customs, and on to my next flight ~ Denver! FLY,FLY,FLY.... Now we are landing in Denver, and my other plane to Portland is just starting to board. Good thing it was only five gates away! FLY,FLY,FLY..... Finally after many grueling days of travel I AM HOME in Oregon.

 I left the airport after grabbing my luggage, and it was off to get my wonderful rental car ~ FORD Focus ~ Actually a comfortable little ride... Not too bad!

 Here we go ~ Headed out of Portland south on Interstate 5 towards home - Salem. I had to make me a quick stop to grab me a cup of Peet's Coffee and then back on the road again. It is now late afternoon, and I have made it home.

 Hey, it is my bed.... Haven't seen that in a while ~~~ Mmmmmm.... Memory Foam!

Oh well, no time for sleep yet... Off to do some shopping with my Friends kids, and then it was home and some sleep!
I know it is pretty boring right now, but I promise that it will get better, and it will get caught up. We do have California coming up next week, and three weeks in Thailand right around the corner!
See you on the next post ~ Stay Positive ~ Leo

Monday December 19 ~ Where is Leo???

Hey everyone! Sorry for the slacking on my part as far as getting you all the updates on my travels.
A few of these days will be really easy since there was nothing really happening.

 Monday morning Mark and I was up really early and headed down to the coffee shop to grab a cup, and make use of the free wi-fi before the crowds arrived. I pretty much spent three to four hours catching up on email, and updated the blog (couldn't tell huh?)
 The rest of this day was pretty much running around and getting repacked to make the long journey home... Sometime around 5:00 P.M. I was headed to the airport to see about my flight. I wont get into my enjoyable arguments with United Airlines, but we will just say that they won. I ended up stuck here into the wee hours of the morning waiting on a Tuesday flight.
 Grabbed me a $9.45 cup of coffee from Caribou Coffee and a Cinnabon Mini, and then unsuccessfully fought with the airports wi-fi system for about an hour. This is a pretty boring airport to be stuck at, and not much to take pictures of. I got so bored that I almost bought two I-Phone 4s unlocked phones ~ pretty cool they will work with any SIM card.
 Anyway, here is a very cool picture I snapped at the Kuwait airport....

 Generic photo of the Mini Bon....

 The end of a very boring post.... I will try to get caught up soon, and I will have more random pictures to share too. Trying to balance out my time, and I don't seem to be very good at it this week!
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanuka, Happy Quanza to all of my followers out there. Be sure to enjoy your time with your Loved Ones!
See you back here soon ~ Leo!

Sunday December 18 ~ Visa run in Kuwait...

Hey everyone ~ I'm back!!

 Sorry for the delay.... I'm going to try to get back up to speed again here real soon. It shouldn't be too hard since there are a couple of days without much going on.

 Kuwait - Wow! - Sure was nice to get a shower after all of that waiting in Afghanistan! I also ended up getting some laundry done before getting to sleep in the wee hours of the morning. I have to be up early so that we can catch a bus that will take us to the airport so that we can get our Visa's and be legal. I put off getting coffee this morning due to the fact that we will be stuck waiting at the airport for a few hours, and there are some good coffee shops there.
 We got out to catch the bus at 7:00 A.M., but ended up waiting in the cold for about a half an hour. I didn't realize that it got that cold when the sun goes down in Kuwait, and until mid morning it stays that way!!
Finally got through our little briefing and we are on our way. The trip is somewhere around 45 minutes, and there really isn't much excitement. Managed to grab a couple of pictures though.

Another short stop along the way.... Here is the group guys that I've been hanging out with ~ A couple I just met, and a couple I already knew before this.

This is Mark ~ he works for the same company as myself, and I have known him for over a year now. Mark is a great guy and always goes out of his way to help me out when I travel through the base he is at. Not only is he a great guy, but he is always fun to hang out with.... Thanks Mark - I enjoyed it!

 You wont catch me saluting...

 Onward we go... Finally have made it to the airport! I still haven't figured out why we all go since we just all hand in or documents at the same time, and then we have a couple hours of waiting time. Fine by me... Gave us a chance to check out the airport, get our first taste of real food, and more pictures.

Real food!!

Yummy ~ Pasta with Chicken & Shrimp!!

Eric looks pretty excited too!

Our servers were a part of the experience too, so they have also found their way into my blog.

Oh, and I did actually get my morning coffee. Not too proud of the $8.46 price tag, but coffee is important to me... And it was sooo good!
I really needed to share the picture of this sign ~~~ WTF???

 So, the rest of this day was pretty much uneventful. Most of the group got their appropriate documents and headed into town to wait out the days to their flights. Mark and myself decided to just hang out at Ali Al Salem until it was our time to fly. Hey! Check that out - From Salem and trying to get to Salem.
We decided to go check out the little bizarre here on the base,  go grab some Chinese food, and then it was back to the Tenthouse suite for the night.
Thanks for following everyone ~ See you tomorrow ~ Leo

Saturday December 17 ~ Keep On Rock'n In The Free World....

 So, here we are trying to get caught up again ~ This is Saturday December 17 coverage of "Traveling With Leo" ~ with a little bit of interactive fun.
I left you guys yesterday with my unexpected return to BAF due to problems with the aircraft. We are now back in the PAX terminal again, but this time we are zonked out on the Tylenol PM. I guess it is all okay since it turns nodding off into another whole experience. Actual morning arrives (I.E.: anything after 5:00 A.M.) and it is still wait, wait, and wait. It has now been close to thirty hours I have been here trying to get a flight out. Myself and one of the other guys eventually sneak off for some coffee, and stop off at the local Bizarre (or little set of shops) to look around for a few minutes.... You should have seen the handbags and luggage ladies!! Coach, Prada, Gucci, L.V., D&B.... You name it - It was there! All knock offs at great prices, and the quality is for the most part is excellent! Oh, and all of the fur coats and blankets ~ Unbelievable!
 Meanwhile back at the PAX terminal.... A 12:30 P.M. Military R&R flight has posted, but for some reason they have some extra room for Space A passengers - Hey! That is all of us die hard squatters! We did make the cut (actually everyone who had been waiting patiently and stuck around made this one) and this one was going to be on a C-17 out of Charleston N.C.. Check out this site... It is where I found one of these pictures. http://airforcelive.dodlive.mil/index.php/tag/c-17/

 It is now about 4:00 P.M. and we are making the walk to the plane to finally get going... Loaded up, taxi out, and we are in flight. Just a note ~ This monster jet is much more dependable than the C130, and it actually has the ability to roll and fly upside down if necessary.... NO THANKS!! At one point during our flight we reached an altitude of 46,000 feet! You wont see that on the commercial side.

 Okay Kids ~ This is where we get interactive:

 I am in flight, and have just pulled out my ZUNE (Yeah, I know - What's a ZUNE? I do have an IPOD at home in a drawer somewhere too) and am getting set to listen to some music on my flight. As I am listening to some tunes I think to myself  "Self... Yeah Leo? Do you want to make this more fun? Sure Leo - Let's do it" - This is what I came up with... I went back five songs and wrote down what they were in order. I want everyone to do the same, and list them in the comments. If you are signed in as anonymous on the blog don't forget to leave your name at the end, unless you really don't want us to know who you are. There is no lying or making up lists here ~ Your last five songs NO MATTER WHAT THEY ARE! No need to think your list is weird or uncool - I listen to everything out there, and love it all. Myself I am going to add links to my songs so you can click and listen if you would like. My songs are pretty typical for me due to the fact this off of a playlist that is great for war zone flying.
Here we go:
1.) Metallica - Some Kind of Monster
2.) Neil Young - Keep on Rockin in the Free World
3.) Reacharound - Big Chair  -  Love this song!!
4.) Matchbox 20 - Time After Time - I remember Cyndi Lauper doing this one - Excellent song!
5.) Triumph - Somebody's Out There - Classic Canadian Rock!
Okay, I am looking forward to some participation here so don't let me down.

 The flight is about 5 hours from BAF to Kuwait, so I manage to get a little bit of sleep... And MY in flight meal was White Cheddar Cheese Cheez-its!
 Finally I have made it to Kuwait - just a bus ride from the plane to the main base now. We now went to billeting and got a tent to sleep in, and grabbed a couple of McDonald's Cheeseburgers - Real american hamburgers! Laundry and shower time, and then off to sleep. So glad to get out of my shoes which have been on for about forty hours.

Thanks everyone for hanging in there with me, and thanks to everyone who is participating in the interactive survey. Have a Great Positive day ~ Leo

Purgatory ~ Friday December 16.... WTF??

 Oh how fun was my Friday??? There is really no way to fully experience it without being here, but here goes an attempt of bringing you into my World. I will try to make this one fast, and there is a lack of pictures (Who would want memories of this anyway?). I will also try to keep my bitching and venting to a minimum considering pretty much everyone that I dealt with today was very helpful.

Follow Me ~ Let's get this show on the road!

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary describes Purgatory as ~ " 2 : a place or state of temporary suffering or misery" ~ Welcome to my Friday!!

 Out of bed around 4:00 A.M. so I can catch a ride over to the PAX terminal for a 6:00 A.M. showtime. Got to the terminal where I met up with another guy that I originally met in Sharana (Oh, and Nick is no longer with me at this point). He too was waiting to get out on the same flight as myself. I had him watch the bags for me, and I headed out to Green Beans and bought us some coffee. 6:00 A.M. rolls around and all the seats are given to Military R&R and Emergency Leave only ~ We are S.O.L.. We are told there will be no more flights until 7:00 A.M. on Saturday, but I also know that flights show up unexpectedly and you need to be present to fly. The one good thing is that sometime in the past seven months they finally opened a brand new big PAX terminal to replace the basically two small rooms they had before. The new terminal was a long time coming, and is very spacious ~ No more sleeping outside in the freezing cold on top of the luggage!

 A couple of pics is all you will get today...

So, at 4:30 P.M. I finally get word that I made a flight that had one available seat... I was just lucky that the guy behind the counter was trying to help me get somewhere to get an X-ray, since in reality that seat should have gone to someone else. At this point we palletize our luggage and head upstairs to the holding area to wait for our flight. NO GO!! This one gets cancelled ~ Go pick up your luggage - It is back to the waiting game.

 Okay, now here is where it just starts running all together. 

 At this point I have made some new travel friends who are also trying to get a flight out. This group is comprised of several contractors, an ARMY Master Sergeant, and an ARMY Major. The major and I spent several hours watching Family Guy while nodding off in the wonderfully comfortable (NOT) metal seating. I did manage to sneak away and walk down to pick up some coffee, and munchies ~ My balanced dinner for tonight was (My Sister wont like this one) one big bag of Cool Ranch Doritos (bread and grain group), Cheese Dip (milk and cheese group) , and Salsa (fruit and vegetable group).... There was also probably some Reesee's Peanut Butter Cups in there somewhere too (chocolate and peanut butter group). I find that one of the worse parts about travelling is the eating habits that come along with it.

 Now I am not sure what time it was, but we finally are told that we have got a flight. This is just after we didn't make the cut on one flight about half an hour earlier. This is probably the third time I have had to palletize the luggage, but this time we are going to fly!! The time finally comes to head out to the plane, and out the door we go. We must have walked at least half a mile down the flight line to get to the plane with all our gear and backpacks. At this point I am guessing it is probably about eight, maybe nine o'clock at night. We get on the C130 aircraft (which is a  propeller type of cargo plane) and prepare for the SEVEN HOUR flight to Kuwait. 

The getting prepared involves four of us downing two Tylenol PM tablets to help get some sleep on the extremely noisy flight. Finally!! Taxi out to the runway, engines a blazing, and we are in the air headed to Kuwait. I nod off, and the next thing I know we are descending and ultimately we come to a landing. I am thinking to myself ~ "Wow Self - That sure did seem like a quick flight!".... Guess F'ing what??? It was!! Forty five minutes into the flight we started leaking fuel, and had to turn back to BAF!! The verdict is that they will not be able to fix the problem right away, so back to the terminal..... WTF???  At this point it is now Saturday so I will see you back here for tomorrows episode of "Traveling With Leo" ~ I hope you are all still with me - I'm really having fun with this!!

So much for making it fast ~ Leo

Forgot to mention... The flight that left right before us also had some problems, and they too ended up back at BAF with us again.

He's Back.... Thursday December 15 ~ Let's get this going!

 Hey everyone!! This should be real easy to cover today, since there really wasn't much going on. I did get some pretty good pictures for you though.
Follow me to Bargram, Afghanistan!

 Woke up in a strange room today after listening to the noise of multiple types of aircraft taking off and landing all night. From what I understand BAF (Bagram Airfield) is the fifth busiest runway in the world at this current time, and the room I stayed in is down at the end of the flight line. Actually it is a pretty amazing setting here in this beautiful country of Afghanistan.
 So, I didn't even get my regular morning coffee (sucks!) like I am used to, and was required to hang out in the shop with a bunch of people I don't even know. Everybody was real cool, and I did a little bit of running around and dealing with our customer across the base. I also found out that they had closed down the clinic here so I still have no way to get the hand x-rayed yet. If you don't already know... I did some damage to my hand before leaving my base last week. Ended up hitting the BBQ chow hall for a good lunch, and then back to that wonderful shop.

 Let's just get this day over with!!!

 I ended up getting a ride to go check on flights, and finally grabbed some coffee. It is looking good to get a flight in the morning at 5:00 A.M.... That will work! I proceeded to walk back to my room ~ Roughly two plus miles ~ I needed that. Packed the bags, and off to bed.

Now here are some pictures from my long walk, and the earlier part of my day...

 There you have it ~ This boring day is out of the way and things are going to start to change!

 Have a Great Day my friends ~ See you on the Friday blog coverage....  Leo