When Johnny Comes Marching Home

John is back from Iraq! Hurrah! Hurrah!!

We drove up to NC on Wednesday and joined my parents and brothers at a beautiful old farmhouse near Camp Lejeune. We headed to the base on Thursday to see John and his fellow Marines as they returned. It was so exciting! First, giant trucks drove by and unloaded their gear. We waited for another 1/2 hour or so until the Marines pulled up in 3 huge buses. We were trying to see which bus John was on when he snuck up behind us. We were all so excited to see him! We helped him get his gear back to his room, he took a quick shower and we went out to Texas Steakhouse for dinner.

Friday, John had to be on base for most of the day, so we went to Hammocks Beach State Park, where we took a ferry out to beautiful Bear Island. After a short (for most of us - Landis wanted to walk so it was a slow trip for us) walk to the other side of the island, we reached the beach. It was so beautiful. The whole island is a state park so there are no high rise condos and hotels, only a small visitor's center with bathrooms and picnic tables and a few primitive camping sites. Everyone had a great time splashing and playing in the water, especially Landis. We ate a picnic lunch, swam for a little while longer, then headed back on the ferry. We picked John up around dinner time and ate dinner with Commander and Mrs. O'Byrne, old family friends. (Commander O'Byrne's grandparents lived next door to my dad's grandparents, and his grandmother was my godmother.) John was a little apprehensive about eating in the Officer's Club, but he made it through all right.

Saturday, we met up with some other old friends, the Bidgoods. They lived in Gainesville when John, Paul and I were younger and then moved to NC. We had a great time with them. Their youngest daughter, Grace, who is a few years younger than Paul, and her boyfriend Luke were there. Grace is a competitive juggler, and she is amazing! Landis was mesmerised by the sight of her juggling 4, then 5, then 6 clubs. We hung out at the beach and pool for most of the day, had yet another picnic lunch (yum!) and ate dinner with them at a local Italian restaurant.

Sunday it was time to head home. After hugs all around (John managed to give me a hug without touching me. It was heartwarming.) we piled into the car and headed home. We managed to be driving through the states where gas prices were most affected by Hurricane Ike, and as we drove further and further, gas prices climbed higher and higher. In the course of about 8 hours, we saw prices go up about $1 and the lines at gas stations get longer and longer. When we got to Florida, which had not been affected as much as Georgia and the Carolinas, I was actually glad to see gas being sold for $3.60/gallon.

It was really great to see John after so long, and we are looking forward to seeing him again towards the end of the month when he has some leave and is planning to head down to Florida.