Reason #2 to Not Live on Base

I love living on Base. I really do. I actually, up until this point, have only had one reason I could give for someone choosing not to live on Base. That reason was signing in guests. It would be nice if people could get to my house without me having to meet them at the gate and sign them in. But even that isn't so bad. Most of the people that come to my house have Base access. It isn't often we have to do the gate thing.

But today, I met reason #2.

The morning started flawlessly. I had Elijah fed and some breakfast-on-the-go packed for Isaac so that by nearly 7:30 we were out the door to drop Scrubs off at doggy camp, about an hour from here.

Dropped Scrubs off at camp at 8:30 and returned to base by 9:30 only to find that the gate had been closed.

This happens occasionally. Occasionally, they stop us from entering or exiting. This usually lasts somewhere between 5-15 minutes, and while annoying, is only a minor inconvenience.

Today, was more than a minor inconvenience. Today, the day that I have so much to do in preparation for our departure tomorrow morning, I sat outside the gate for one hour and fifteen minutes!

During that time I fed Isaac every snack I had packed and also got up on my knees and fed Elijah a bottle while he was still in his car seat. When we finally reached the gate, we discovered that now that it was open again, they were checking each car in detail. This meant people had to get out, pop their hood, open all doors, open the trunk, and remove all children from the vehicle.

Three cars from the gate, I started trying to figure out the logistics of this in my head. How could I hold both children while opening all doors, popping the hood, etc? Isaac didn't have shoes on, and even if he did, I couldn't set him down amidst all the cars by the gate. The guys with full gear and big guns weren't going to open the doors or the hood for me. That was the whole point. They wanted you to open them. Yikes.

I got up to the checkpoint, and I suppose the big guys with guns felt sorry for me. They decided to let me leave the boys in their seats. Thank goodness. The thought of trying to hold Elijah while unbuckling and hoisting Isaac into my other free arm (or in reverse) was causing me to hyperventilate a bit. In the end, I passed through the checkpoint flawlessly but then had to go through all the back roads to get to my house.

I spoke with JB later. It appears all of this waiting and checking was simply an exercise. Not even a real problem! Geez. I was near the front of the line. It is very possible that some people will wait hours in that line. All the gates were the same. So there is nowhere else you can go. If you live on Base, what option do you have but to wait?

Both boys were exhausted when we got home. We popped by the wifia lunch only briefly as it was being held just a few doors down at Sarah's house. They are both now sleeping, and I am mentally preparing myself to get as much done as I possibly can in 60-90 minutes -- probably all the time I have before one of them wakes up.

I believe I will have Internet in Colorado. Not sure how much, if any, I will post. Time will tell. If you think of it, please pray for us tomorrow as we travel.

And pray that I never get stuck waiting to get on Base like that again! Egads!