Reflection upon PIR 10 Oct 2014 - Ship 13 Div 324

First of all......WOW!!  Just extraordinary!  Proudest moments of our lives with this son (we have four) and perhaps proudest moment when considering all of them (but, we all know that is dangerous to do.....lol)  In an effort to humbly reflect and help future parents, I am writing this.....very humbly...I am clearly no expert.

First of all, planning, planning, planning and see what works best for your family....  This website was an enormous help to us.  It was some work to investigate the pros/cons for all aspects of the trip and the intricacies of attending a PIR.  Planning what I could ahead of time helped because once boots were on the ground in WI and IL, it was non-stop until I was back in NH.  Morning after arrival home, we were exhausted - emotionally, physically, mentally.   But, good exhaustion!!

This website introduced me to the persona known as "Sarge!"  Well, he is the real deal.....and, yes, he is retired Army and his Meet and Greet is complimentary admission and food, (please make donation to the free will box, there are food expenses to him) and his heart is as large as our great Nation.  I cannot compliment him enough! He assisted me in planning; he graciously gave me his time; it took him about five seconds to telephone me after I hit send when I sent an email full of questions and requested a callback, at his convenience.  Yes, I typed FIVE SECONDS!!  He was a good egg when I gave him a hard time for taking so long to call me back.  (lol)  If you are able to attend his Meet and Greet, please do.....  You see, it is the first and only time that you will meet face to face those with whom your sons and daughters spent eight weeks with and it is that only moment you can get to see and know those parents with whom you may have 'met' over this site or the Web.  I am fairly confident that I will treasure the moments I had meeting and interacting with fellow parent Bill Higdon and Co-Admin Jim for the rest of my life.  It made for a very special evening.  In addition you have fun bonding with families associated with your division and marvel at the experience of melding together as one Division - even though we are parents for a short evening - just like our sons and daughters did/do.  Listen carefully to the words of wisdom from Sarge during the Meet and Greet - he's accurate.  One point, though - BE PREPARED for LONG LINE AND WAIT TIME signing your Sailor out of his/her barracks in the morning after PIR.  We did not; we had a short window to visit with our Sailor Saturday morning before we flew home; we signed our son out so he could have breakfast at McDonalds ON BASE!!  LOL  We had planned to drive to a breakfast venue; I was concerned we would waste time driving and be delayed; we were more relaxed to remain on base and it worked for us, but it was pretty funny....

We chose to fly into Milwaukee, WI on advice of this website and did not experience any delays or issues arriving.  Departure was nearly as seamless.  Transfers/layovers in Baltimore were another story.

We chose to stay at Springhill Suites for $ 119/night because it was right next to Sarge's Meet and Greet location - Sundance Saloon - which is a huge venue that permits facility usage to Sarge as long as attendees purchase drinks.  (our crowd did......lol)  I was not interested in driving upon unfamiliar roads with even one beer on board.  

We did use Sarge's airport shuttle because it included transportation to PIR and I read about the long lines getting into PIR.    We rented a car from Enterprise that was near SpringHill because we felt we wanted some ability to drive a little on Friday and Saturday before we headed home.  It worked for us given how much taxi would have cost going around, or having the flexibility to move from point A to B.  I will caution though.....don't expect any help from Enterprise if you inadvertently leave a jacket on the left rear seat! I was not pleased to find out they would not ship jacket home, or even entertain consideration of me paying them to send it to me.  How did I find that out?  Sarge's driver, Mark, texted me that he had my jacket and would send it to me, because he had stopped by the Enterprise office.  You see, I had called Enterprise first thing in AM and was advised they would send and they would follow up with me.  They did neither.   Again, I cannot be more sincere in my appreciation of the service provided by Sarge and his personnel.  Mark stopped there on his own.

We chose to take our Sailor out to dinner on Friday night to Lovell's of Lake Forest, IL owned by Captain Lovell - Apollo 13 astronaut.  Captain Lovell was able to be at the restaurant Friday night and spoke with our Sailor.  What an honor!   The food was delicious with plentiful servings of vegetables.  Enormous baked potato; hearty servings of real mashed potatoes and fresh broccoli; generous servings of appetizer; and perfect sized servings of dessert.  Main course was similarly plentiful.  Service was excellent. Pricing is steep.  I decided to eat there because it a once in a lifetime opportunity for our son to meet an astronaut, the complimentary steak for him, and this was a very memorable occasion.  The kids cannot have an alcoholic beverage, so we did not either - that helped keep the bill down - lol.

We arrived at PIR early.....be prepared to walk.....then walk....and walk some more..... If you retrieve your son at the Navy Museum area for signout, be prepared to walk, and walk some more to his barracks.  Ladies, wives, fiancees, and girlfriends.....there will be walking associated with PIR - your ankles and feet will thank you before you go for the heels.

I apologize for this being so long.  It was a very exciting period of time for our family.  I hope this information may assist another family at some point down the road.  Our PIR experience was nothing short of spectacular thanks to the US Navy, our son, this website, Sarge and his staff, Lovell's, and my new friends, Bill Higdon and Co-Admin Jim. Best wishes to everyone that your PIR experience is as beautiful as ours.