still alive and kicking!

we left after midnight sunday night. me and my buddy were going to join into a convoy that was going past our base to another one. it was supposed to be a 6-8 hour drive. we'd never met the people we were riding with before, we just needed to get a truck up to this other base to a team up there, and lend some technical assistance. after about five hours of getting lost, the convoy pulled into a base that's only normally about 1.5 hrs away. by the time we got everything secured it was about 7:00am. we found a little room (when i say room, i mean they took plywood and closed in a patio and stuck 3 cots in there) and bedded down. by this time the sun was coming up, so we figured it'd HAVE to warm up in there as the day went on. no such luck. it felt like i spent 45 minutes tossing and turning trying to get comfortable and warm. sleep wasn't going to happen. i got up, looked at my watch and was surprised to see it was 3:00pm. guess it did happen afterall. we got the truck ready, met up with our crew and tried again. this time we had MUCH better luck and made it to the desired destination. once the 2.5ton truck went sideways and it felt like we'd slid out on black ice, but that's all fun, right? after getting to the new base and saying goodbye to the folks we rode with, we tried to find our team. we spent two hours driving around an amazingly small base and promptly slid off the road and got stuck in mud up over the top of our almost 5' tall tires. somehow or another between the two of us we knew what to do and managed to crawl out of it. guess what happens to the "moon dust" when it rains for days and days on end?

we're at a another base now, having driven five hours in the middle of the night to get here. someone was supposed to meet us this morning, but he failed to show, so we got here at six am and promptly passed out in the cab of the truck for six hours. we've unloaded the truck, we're about to sign it and the keys over to these guys and wait for a flight home. we haven't been able to shower in four days. we've been traipsing through the mudd and rain everyday, climbing over and under vehicles to install electronics equipment on them. we've been scared silly (i have NO idea how that truck didn't tip over when we hydroplaned or when went into the mud) and i've been wearing the same mud-crusted uniform for five days. but we're having the time of our lives. we've worked ourselves to the point of exhaustion everyday, we met the most awesome group of guys in the last place. i haven't laughed that hard, that often in awhile. we've had some great talks (the unit is thinking about promoting this kid, and even though he's not officially one of mine, i wanted to talk to him about it a little). and today the sun is shining and the base we're on has rolling green hills. it's beautiful.

should be home soon! thanks for worrying!