Lajes, Acores (Portugal)

This was definitely a LOOOONG day. I really don't know how I stayed awake the whole time (although the daylight probably helped). In the first place, I was wide awake by 0400 (loud neighbors returning from all night in town - wonder if they were in our group?). Checked out of the Hotel Playa de la Luz along with most of our team (0700). Stood out in front of the hotel restaurant for awhile, waiting for it to open for breakfast. Had time to check out the beach as the sun was coming up... Buffet was good, in the German style (meats and breads). Pat showed up very late and blamed the drinks/dinner on others in the group before he ever suspected Keith and me. That was funny! We were on our way back to Naval Station Rota by around 0815L. Stopped for supplies at the Shopette and then boarded our aircraft (1000). Our first leg was to Portugal (Azores). We landed to good weather (surprisingly) and waited in the grass while the aircraft fueled. Airborne again soon after. Next leg was much longer and I ran out of things to read. Chatted with Joe and Pat and ate some food I brought. Still, it was a long time before we were on the ground in Camp Springs. By this point, I was getting numb - that tired feeling when you really want to curl into bed but can't. While waiting to depart Andrews AFB, I found out I was scheduled to leave (from Fort Worth) on another trip on the 29th! This was a little unexpected and sort of annoying, since I had told them I didn't need to go. But, after talking with some other folks in our team who also needed to travel then, I realized this was a good opportunity to make up for my lost flight time on this trip... It made the last flight go better - I was working on lists and plans for how I would be ready. We arrived in Fort Worth at 1600L. After I made sure everyone else was on their way, I took Pat back to his nearby home. His wife gave me a Fresca (I don't think I've had one of those since the 1980s...). Despite the length of time I've been awake, I made it home OK. Visited with the family for awhile and stayed up for as long as possible - got to trick that Circadian clock again....