[fintstone]

Most trips that I have done were like that...but others (like attending symposiums/meetings over several days), I had much more free time than I ever would at home where a 12hr day and a 2hr commute left little time to play. Most functions started late and ended early. I looked at each trip separately based on the circumstances.

My wife and I were in DC on 911 (I was visiting the Pentagon). I was scheduled to go home that day and it was her first day there. We were stuck there for a week (no flights) and shared her room (she was booked for the week). It was good to be together in such an uncertain time...and we enjoyed each other's company more than any time I could remember.

It was to be my last military trip and my terminal leave to retire from the military was to start immediately upon my return, but we knew that the world had changed. I was a stoploss and stayed quite a while longer.