Had a great weekend. Drove up to New York to tailgate with my friends and one of my adopted Moms. That's what I love about military families, you're a good friend with one of the kids and when you meet their family you get accepted like one of their own. I now have families in Cali, Pennsylvania, Washington, Texas, and New York that treat me like I am one of their own sons.
While I was driving up I found myself smiling for some reason and I couldn't figure out why, until I got up near the Palisades. That was is when I realized that this was exactly what everything looked like when I made the road trip to Ft. Hood when I was assigned there.
These two pics where taken along Palisades Route 9 on a trip earlier this month.
It was a big step in my new life in the Army and my Dad decided to make the road trip with me. That was my first experience with my Dad when he treated me like another man, like an equal. While we drove down we switched off driving, the first time I had ever seen my Dad allow anyone else to drive with him in the car, and he shared stories with me from when he was in the Army. He told me things he had never told my Mom and he didn't feel he could tell my brother. My Dad had never been a affectionate kind of Father while I was growing up, but when I dropped him off at the airport in Killeen he gave me a big hug and told me he was proud of me. While I was growing up my Dad and I always seemed to be at each other throats, we could never be in the same room for more than 10 minutes before we would be yelling and arguing, now whenever we see each other we just sit for hours talking about random events, politics, and our Army experiences. I have learned more about my Dad in the last five years living in a different state than I did the seventeen years I spent in his house.
I guess the scenery just brought back this flood of good emotions that lead to me feeling great and smiling the entire trip up and back. There was one part where I wish I had my camera ready. Up in the Palisades there is a part where the road is covered by these trees that look beautiful in their fall colors and sun filters down through the leaves. Then there is a sharp up curve in the road, then the road straightens and angles down, and when the trees part you get this awesome view of this river cutting through these mountains that are all decorated in their fall colors. When I made it towards the bottom of the valley I pulled over and got this picture of the bridge leading to Bear Mountain.
Mouth of the Hudson from Trophy Point at West Point Military Academy
While I was driving up I found myself smiling for some reason and I couldn't figure out why, until I got up near the Palisades. That was is when I realized that this was exactly what everything looked like when I made the road trip to Ft. Hood when I was assigned there.
These two pics where taken along Palisades Route 9 on a trip earlier this month.
It was a big step in my new life in the Army and my Dad decided to make the road trip with me. That was my first experience with my Dad when he treated me like another man, like an equal. While we drove down we switched off driving, the first time I had ever seen my Dad allow anyone else to drive with him in the car, and he shared stories with me from when he was in the Army. He told me things he had never told my Mom and he didn't feel he could tell my brother. My Dad had never been a affectionate kind of Father while I was growing up, but when I dropped him off at the airport in Killeen he gave me a big hug and told me he was proud of me. While I was growing up my Dad and I always seemed to be at each other throats, we could never be in the same room for more than 10 minutes before we would be yelling and arguing, now whenever we see each other we just sit for hours talking about random events, politics, and our Army experiences. I have learned more about my Dad in the last five years living in a different state than I did the seventeen years I spent in his house.
I guess the scenery just brought back this flood of good emotions that lead to me feeling great and smiling the entire trip up and back. There was one part where I wish I had my camera ready. Up in the Palisades there is a part where the road is covered by these trees that look beautiful in their fall colors and sun filters down through the leaves. Then there is a sharp up curve in the road, then the road straightens and angles down, and when the trees part you get this awesome view of this river cutting through these mountains that are all decorated in their fall colors. When I made it towards the bottom of the valley I pulled over and got this picture of the bridge leading to Bear Mountain.
Mouth of the Hudson from Trophy Point at West Point Military Academy
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And a few members of the cast of BDS and Troy Duffy did a promo tour after the second movie came out, and they had a stop in Michigan, so we went.
It was a lot of fun, but I was under 21 when it happened.
Really. That is incredibly thoughtful and it really does make my week -- I don't know how to thank you other than .. try to make something for you or something. We will see. :]
And. I know that you're right, and that there are people here who are .. available. In that way. I wasn't necessarily feeling that no one cared -- contrarily, people have showed an incredibly amount of support and caring and nurturing when I've needed it, in the short time I've been around. But I started to feel very weird and, like. Kind of like I didn't match. Black-sheep-ish [which is funny, I know, considering the nature of the site and that it'd be kind of hard to stick out in any extraneous way]. I felt like there just wasn't a -spot- for me, or the things I feel compelled to say sometimes.
I think it was a phase. I think I needed to just distance myself. So I'm doing that at the moment.