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The Army terms the time immediately following a field exercise or deployment: recovery.  First you clean and turn in your gear, then you repair your vehicles, and finally you have time off to rest, relax, and recoup.  Dale turned in most of his gear in Georgia and has received his footlockers that he mailed home to himself.  The footlockers were full of uniforms, military gifts, coffee cups, coins, and sand.  He recently set to work cleaning and fixing his motorcycle.  He washed it, filled it with oil and gas, and charged the battery.  He then spent the rest of the day pushing it backwards and attempting to start it by rolling it down the driveway. He got a good workout, but the motorcycle did not start.  This starting on a hill trick worked in Australia.  Of course, the hill we lived on in Australia had a 30 degree slope.  That location motivated us to buy a house on a level street which is not beneficial for motorcycle starting.

His rest and relaxation has been interrupted by a few unpleasant tasks.  In the year he was gone, I had drained and cleaned the pond 3 times.  I refused to do it a fourth.  It is a messy and unpleasant job.  The pond had been so neglected over the summer that the algae grew in waves off the walls.  Gabe got ready to help by putting on his work clothes (just like his Grandpa).  He has a pair of blue jean overalls that he wears for all messy tasks.  Gabe loves messy tasks: cleaning the pond, picking up after the dog, cleaning the litter box, taking out the rubbish, cleaning the bathrooms.  Most people avoid these tasks if possible, but not Gabe.  Since the pond was in such bad shape, Dale removed the entire liner from the ground and stood it on end.  Dale, Gabe, and Zeke then scrubbed it clean.  We can once again see the fish.  Josiah’s fish, Napoleon, is the only one to survive from the initial fish purchase.  He is 2 to 3 times bigger than all the other fish and rules the pond.  Mohawk, Atomic, Harja, and Genghis Khan follow his lead.  If names prove true, I imagine Genghis Khan is just biding his time.  Genghis Khan is Josiah’s fish as well.  I’m not certain why he names his fish after war leaders, but he does.  Dale decided that there were too many rocks in the bottom of the pond, so he only put some of them back in.  The rest he left out in a pile in the backyard, much to Blaze’s delight.  Dale was then introduced to Blaze’s fun snatch and swallow game.  Blaze would run over to the pile of algae covered rocks, snatch one out, attempt to break his teeth on it, try to swallow it, and dash away as Dale tried to catch him.  He then repeated this game ad nauseum until Dale gave up and moved the rock pile out of the yard.

Having allowed Dale peace during the majority of his time off, the kids and I decided that it would be great family fun to go to Busch Gardens in Williamsburg for the day.  Many organizations claim to “Support the Troops”, but provide little if any actual support.  Busch Gardens is one place that really does “Support the Troops”.  They allow every active duty service member and their family free admission to one park one time during the year.  If we had paid for park admission, it would have cost us more than $300.  That level of generosity is really amazing to me.  So, here’s to Anheuser Busch!  Karl can drink one of their beers in my honor; if he can stand to drink such a low brow beer.  He should be willing, however, since the company was founded by a good German, after all.

The first roller coaster we went on was called The Griffon.  It was incredibly smooth, had a 90 degree drop that you stopped to admire at the top and was similar to flying.  One woman, upon being asked to go on it by her friend, replied, “Girl, My heart can’t take it!”  We all laughed at that.  Abby, Josiah, and I all agreed that it was awesome, so Dale was forced to go with Abby and Josiah the second time.  He loved it and was now onboard for roller coasters.  He then went on the Alpengeist with Josiah and Abby and declared it very twisty, but he was raring for more.  While they were on the Alpengeist, Gabe was a good sport riding all the small rides with Zeke.  Dale, Josiah, and Abby came back for Gabe and they then rode the Big Bad Wolf.  When they got on the ride, Dale and Gabe sat in front and Abby and Josiah sat in back.  Dale told them that Josiah and Abby could be in front when they rode it the second time.  When the ride finished, Dale decided that there would be no second time for him.  He sent them alone.  When he returned to Zeke and I, he wasn’t looking so good.  The swinging cars were too much for him.  Zeke and I weren’t looking so good either.  I had been climbing with him through a massive tree fort up cargo nets and down slides.  We were so hot, we took off our shoes and walked in the shallow water stream.  That wasn’t cooling Zeke off quick enough, so he decided to lay down.  I was standing there with a dripping child when they returned.  It took most of the day for Zeke to dry out.

We took a break for lunch at a BBQ place and filled our queasy stomachs with ribs, chicken, and brisket.  Abby, Josiah, and I then rode Apollo’s Chariot.  It is a terrific roller coaster that makes you think you will be flung out at any moment and your stomach drops repeatedly.  It won “BEST RIDE” vote from us all.  Gabe and Zeke rode a flying ride where they strapped them flat on the wings.  Abby, Josiah, and I then rode the Loch Ness Monster.  It went upside down and upside down again.  I got off of it slightly green in color and declared my roller coaster riding finished.  Dale was recovered from his earlier motion sickness and rode Escape from Pompeii with Gabe, Josiah, and Abby.  They felt the heat of the fire, avoided the crashing obstacles, and then rode down for the big splash.  Zeke and I watched all the boats coming down.  He informed me, “When I’m 17, I go on all the screaming rides.”

We took a break and watched an animal show.  The cat chased the mouse, the dog chased the cat, the bird did math, and the dog jumped rope.  It was really cute and we all laughed.  Dale, Josiah, Abby, and Gabe then went to see a Pirate 4D movie where they thought they got spit on, stung by a bee, and hit by bird droppings.  Gabe was thrilled.  Zeke flew a plane and it took him a few moments to comprehend that he had to pull back on the stick to get it up in the air.  He looked at me and accurately mimicked the movement I was making with my arms, but didn’t quite understand that the stick had to be in his hands.  We then watched the Oktoberfest celebration and found a future Baritone playing job for Josiah.  Gabe, Zeke, Dale, and I got up to do the chicken dance.  Abby and Josiah are now too cool for such antics.  To their mortification, they realized that their Father is never too cool for the chicken dance.

Throughout the day, we ate some giant pretzels, waffle ice cream cones, and funnel cakes so that we could feel thoroughly ill.  Josiah, Abby, and Gabe rode the spinning swings.  At this point, Dale couldn’t even watch without feeling sick.  We finished it off with the bumper cars that Dale once again proved himself king of.  He even drove a victory lap to rub it in.  A fun day, but I think Dale needs recovery from his recovery.