I see a visitor in our future

I think Greg is really coming! He was going to try one last time today. The airports are open, and Delta's flights are scheduled. The potential for roadblocks was high, so I was doubtful he'd make it through the four-hour drive to the airport without being turned back. But he made it! And should be in Atlanta in a few hours. Then on to DFW late tonight!

Perhaps you are thinking, "Isn't he at an AIR BASE? Can't he just get on an Air Force plane? Why does he have to take a commercial flight?" If so, here is my response: Yes, he's at an air base. But there is absolutely no U.S. Air Force traffic in and out right now. Think about how bad it would look to the local population if USAF planes were coming and going--it would look like we were involved in the conflict. So all operations have been suspended. Even in normal times, he would still fly commercially. It's simpler and cheaper for the military.

Or perhaps you are thinking, "I thought Soto Cano Air Base was only an hour away from the capital. Why does it take four hours to get to the airport?" My response: Ever since Zelaya was exiled, the capital, Tegucigalpa, has been the most volatile area. So U.S. military members have been instructed to use the San Pedro Sula airport instead of the one in the capital. San Pedro Sula is farther away. The embassy arranges for a shuttle to take Americans from the air base to the San Pedro Sula airport each day.

You also might be wondering why we get to see Greg so much. Isn't he "gone" for a year? Yes, it's true we saw him for a weekend six weeks ago. That was on his way to an interview at AFIT. This time he's on his way to a conference in Virginia. He's staying for a week. We'll also see him (hopefully) for a weekend at the end of October after a training meeting in San Angelo. Greg has 30 days of leave he can use to visit us while he is in Honduras. If he uses those days in connection with official travel, it's cheaper for us, more efficient for him, convenient, and he ends up using less days of leave. So it's just worked out that we're seeing him (relatively) frequently. After his weekend visit at the end of next month, we won't see him again at all for 3-4 months. (Ugh. That's going to be tough.)

I hope we have a good week. This week is a BIG DEAL. It's going to be a really long time until we can spend a whole week together as a family again.