Now starts the two day journey to Austin, Texas.

After over eleven hours of driving, we headed into Baton Rouge. Sometime after two in the morning we pulled up to a house, deep in Cajun country, with a large Christmas-light peace sign over the garage door.

I imagined a bad omen chasing me as we drove south towards Georgia. I figured it was the curse of the "Marne Missile"- the bad luck that every 3rd ID soldier experiences when life has Fort Stewart involved in it in any way. Maybe it was just paranoia, but with the days getting progressively worse for me as I approached Stewart, I was afraid of what could happen when I finally got there. No A/C in the RV, GPS stolen, fire-ant attack, glass in the eye... All reminded me that- yeah, it could always get worse.