Fort Lost in the Woods

I type that title with pure affection. We are loving it here (oh for those who may not know Fort Lost in the Woods is the nickname for our new duty station Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri).

We thought we might not ever leave "The Great Place" of Fort Hood. She wanted to hold onto us for a while longer but nevertheless we finally got to leave the gates and bid farewell. We were ready. That's not to say that we didn't have some tearful goodbyes and I will say my heart ached deeply as I bid farewell to my AFTB family, we knew our time at Hood was over. Thankfully through the great aspects of technology we can stay in touch.

Our drive here wasn't too bad the first day. Can I just say that a GPS is seriously overrated. I have always plotted our travel plans with a ruler, index card and an ATLAS. I do download maps from Yahoo Maps or Mapquest but usually back it up with the ATLAS. Well we trusted the GPS this go round and it got us horribly turned out and instead of taking the "fastest route" it took us some crazy route on some horrible backroads. We did end up getting here a little later then we had anticipated but overall it wasn't so bad. The boys and the dogs traveled well and we were blessed with great temporary accomodations.

We have about a 2-6 week wait for housing (hopefully closer to 2 weeks) but we should get either a new house or a newly renovated. We look forward to getting into our own home. We are staying in a pet cottage that has two rooms, a living area and a full size kitchen. It is nice to be able to have a somewhat homey atmosphere and also able to have some homecooked meals.

The boys are all enrolled in school and all love their schools so far. The boys are in 3 different schools, all in opposite directions so of course that initially put this overprotective mama bear in anxiety overdrive, but I have settled down now. I am so happy with all three faculties. Such a nice change of pace from the crankiness we had to deal with at Fort Hood.

The weather is cooler here and we've had some rain but I don't even mind it. We are serenaded daily by the cadences of the training Soldiers here. The bugle calls are loud and clear. My soul is so relaxed. I love the slower pace. I can leave and come as I please with no real traffic, no more standstill traffic.

Kevin hasn't signed into his unit yet, so we are unsure as to his mission or training schedule. We are just enjoying our time as a family and enjoying the change of pace.

We miss our friends at Fort Hood but look forward to the opportunities in store for us here.

We don't mind being lost here...not at all....