Monday, July 23, 2012

Third time is the charm (6-20)



     As I am sure you can tell from the title we were able to make it out!!  I checked the flight information the night night before and found a flight that was going to Anchorage, however they didn't know how many seats were going to be available and show time was at 6am.  So like I said previously our main goal was to just get off the island.

     We woke up and headed to the terminal, and found out the flight was actually going to Washington state!  So that works out even better.  They still didn't know how many seats were going to be open, but we sat and waited.  They announced that there would be 20 seats and I got nervous.  But low and be hold we made it!!!  We flew out on a C130.

Google image of a C130 (not our exact plane)
The boys in our "jump seats"
     So, our plane went from Okinawa, to Misawa, Japan, to Anchorage, Alaska, then on to Whidbey Island, Washington.  We stayed with the same plane and same flight crew the whole time.  The plane was loud, and pretty cold.  If anyone is planning on taking a Space A flight, I suggest bringing a blanket.  So our first flight we were in the air for about 4 hours, the kids were great, not a problem at all.  Once we land in Misawa, we realized quickly that it was COLD there compared to Okinawa.  It was about 55º F.  So the people at the terminal were really nice and drove all of us over to lodging, there were about 5 families with us.  We got checked in and the lady said she would be back at 7am to pick us up.
                           
    We left Misawa, and started our long leg of the flight to Anchorage, Alaska.  It wasn't really that bad.  We were able to get up and move around.  Anyone taking flights like this though I suggest that you pack your own lunch.  They didn't have the box lunch option for us for some reason, and they gave us some food that we didn't care for.  Going to the bathroom there was a bit awkward for sure.  Basically it was in the back of the plane behind a shower curtain.  I had to get up and take Wyatt one time and figured since I was already back there I might as well go myself.  I will defiantly try to hold it if we fly that that again.  I kept feeling like someone at any time was going to come back there.  Anyways.  We landed in Alaska around 4:30 am, and it was daylight out.

The view from the terminal at 5:00am
     So when we landed we were told that the terminal would only be open about 30 mins.  This being said we (all families continuing on) had not been able to make lodging arrangements.  So they gave us 30 mins to line something up.  And of course the TLF was full.  So they kicked us out and we had to wait outside until about 5:30 am, when they opened back up.  Let me tell you the misquotes are HUGE!!  It was kind of funny people that are from there that were showing up for flights were wearing shorts and tank tops.  It was about 50º!  We were all freezing cuddled up with blankets and what not.  Apparently this was hot for them.  Finally around 7am I was able to make a hotel reservation that wasn't going to cost me an arm and a leg, only problem was check in wasn't until 11, well 2 but they let me check in early.  I also got news that my friend from Fairbanks was going to drive down to see us!  So around 10:30 I called a taxi to take us to the hotel.  That ride costed me $16!  Anyways I walked in and they knew who I was before I even said anything.  They were super nice, although not the best hotel ever.  As soon as we go up stairs the kids racked out.

    My friend go there around 5:30pm, I haven't seen her since we lived at McConnell AFB, in Wichita, KS back in 2008!  We spent some time catching up, then we went to Red Robin to eat, then to Target!!  Which if you live on Okinawa, you know how exciting Target is!  We went back to the room and hung out until around midnight.
View from the hotel at 11:30pm!
   The next morning she took us back to the Terminal, and one of the other girls that was traveling with us walked out and said hurry up they are trying to board the plane!  This was around 7:00am, they told us they weren't boarding until around 8.  So I hurried and said my goodbyes and got checked in.  Thankfully the crew was late!  So then we started our next journey to Washington.
Goodbye Alaska


     This leg of the trip was the coldest!  We were covered up, and yet still shivering!  This flight was only about 4 hours so, I don't really remember too much about this as I was watching Walking Dead, and sleeping.  However when we arrived to Whidbey Island it was cold, 55º and raining.  And for some dumb reason they didn't bring us a shuttle like the other places did we had to walk in the freezing rain with our luggage!  Was was horrid, and on top of that they had the terminal freezing cold, and there was no wifi, and they didn't have phones that you could dial out on.  So I had to have some random guy call the shuttle service we had reservations for http://www.seatacshuttle.com/ which if you are flying the through here I recommend this shuttle service it was very pleasant.

     Ok, so this ends the Space A part of my travel, I will update more on the rest on my journey, and vacation soon.