The Three Hour Tour

Why "Space A" Travel Beats Commercial Travel

(And a few reasons why it doesn't)

If you are in the Military and plan on taking advantage of the Air Mobility Command's services (formerly MAC), there are a few things you should know. I welcome anyone who is considering this to contact me if they have questions via email.

Not the least of things you should consider is how much idle time you will be spending in passenger terminals. It isn't the most exciting nor fun place to be, and you will be spending great deals of time here. This picture is a good example of how we spent a good bulk of our remaining days on Okinawa. Kid has a favorite purple blanket that she received from my mother a couple of years back (it is the only thing she has held onto as a "favorite" for more than a month or two at a time) and we have a great fleece blanket that zips into a sleeping bag that rolls and fits in a small compartment of the backpack I traveled with. This made a great make-shift bed for a kid who had to wake up at 0245 some mornings, and also a great cuddling blanket on the flights because it gets very cold in the air. A word of warning, many passenger terminals don't allow you to sleep in them whatsoever (something about zoning?), and some also have "family rooms" which are a blessing. If you have children you can use the family rooms to allow them to sleep (many have travel cribs), and since you can't leave a sleeping child unattended you can catch a few ZZZ's yourself in the recliners. Kadena has a child's play room with a huge television and and playhouse where they can play as long as you check on them frequently and keep the noise to a dull roar. In our travels I found Kadena and Elmendorf to be the most family-friendly terminals.

Space A flights are way more relaxed than your average commercial flight. The nice Air Force, and occasional Sailor, crew are a great mix of professional and fun. After they demonstrate the safety gear and general rules they like to mingle and try to keep you in good spirits. Once you reach optimal altitude you are welcome to not only take off your seatbelt but to spread out and relax. On the larger cargo planes you are welcome to spread out onto the floor, lay down and sleep if you wish. This is where having a nice travel blanket comes in handy, because I am not going to lie, the floor is cold, hard, and more than a little dirty and dotted with places for connecting cables and lines. Another word of advice: Buy the box lunch. Someone somewhere at AMCs make sandwiches and pack them in boxes with fruit, candy or granola bars, bottled water, chips, soda (not options, pretty much all of the above) and a few other things, and for $4.50 or so it is a pretty good meal. If that isn't enough you are allowed to bring your own snacks, and I suggest anyone traveling with children do this. You can have forbidden items like produce or dairy as long as you eat or dispose of it before landing. The crew will also more than likely have a supply of water. On the C-17 (similar to this open source photo) they made coffee and shared it with the harried and tired looking parents, and even had a cooler of sodas and water available (at no cost!), although on the second leg we had to remind one guy to strap it down, since during takeoff from Kadena he forgot and it launched down the center of the bay and flung open over the sealed and plastic wrapped luggage. It was actually really funny, and sadly happened too fast for a picture.

Something else that I absolutely loved about this type of flying is that it seems to be a bit easier on parents traveling with their children, of almost any age. Parents with very small children don't have to stress about their babies crying and disturbing other passengers. Space A flights are loud, since they aren't insulated the way a commercial plane would be against noise. Not only will your baby not be that loud above the sounds of flying and 30+ thousand feet, but most everybody is wearing earplugs, she they aren't going to hear it anyway. Slightly older children can sit together and play. I personally love that they are able to socialize on the planes, and was always warmed to the cockles of where my heart used to be by the sight of them sitting in groups consolidating their toys or swapping and sharing hand-held video games and books. The crew will also, time permitting, offer to let kids explore the plane under their direct supervision. This includes seeing the cockpit, and on one flight the boom operator of the KC-135 Stratotanker we rode took the kids down to see the boom used in refueling planes. If they do mid-air refueling they will usually let you watch, provided there is no turbulence or complications. Older kids and teens have the space to brood or mope or do whatever it is that teens do these days with their ears jammed with headphones. Some of the larger planes even have outlets for you to plug in your laptop or portable DVD player. All you have to do is be prepared to return to your seat and buckle in the case of turbulence. And did I mention that there is a ton of space on most flights to sprawl out and sleep? Well, on most flights there is a ton of space to sprawl out and sleep. :P

On thing to note is that you are flying on a military mission plane. They are usually coming or going from or to or during something official, and you need to respect that. You need to listen when they tell you no hats in certain areas. You need to respect that some areas are sensitive, so you will not be permitted to take pictures. Having had the kind of job I did when I was Active Duty I understand full well why taking pictures of or on the Flight Line is a no-no. Don't argue. Don't try to sneak a shot (they WILL confiscate your camera). Have more respect than news agencies do for sensitive materials and remember that what seems harmless to you could actually endanger the lives of these men and women who are providing travel to you at no cost. You may, however, take pictures on board in the passenger/cargo area, and out the windows as well. We rode directly through this sunset on our way to Alaska. It was pretty much the same sky for most of the 9 hour flight. We flew into it, and it was behind us as we landed in Alaska at what should have been Dark Thirty in the morning. Hey, it is Summer in The Land of the Midnight Sun. More on that next time!

The Three Hour Tour

Okinawa.

We landed in Okinawa, and I want to say thank you to the family who offered to drive us to our hotel after taking their own things home. I noticed that people on these flights really help one another out, and I think that comes with the camaraderie of being in the military life. We learned a long time ago that we can't do everything alone and really reach out to help a fellow soldier, shipmate, marine or airman. Pay it forward is all anyone ever asked me to do. We got to our hotel so late that not even the one place delivering food was open so we could order dinner. Instead, we settled for this nutritious schmorgasboard:

The flight we were trying to catch which would take us to Travis in CA kept canceling. There was an issue with the plane when it landed at its home base. The few flights that did pop up filled quickly with higher category people, or were canceled due to the typhoons happening South of us at the time. But that is the Space A game. You go to the terminal very early in the morning (usually about 0330 or 0400) to wait to either catch a flight or not catch a flight. It is best to stay the whole day unless they assure you all flights have been canceled just in case something pops up. The first day we didn't camp out all day, and after the early flight cancelled we decided to try and see some of the Island, since it had been the only flight not going to Mainland Japan.

Okinawa is a lot like Hawai'i, complete with high cost of living and virtually no public transportation. Aside from Sam, the awesome shuttle driver from Niece who spoke five languages (I totes got to flex my unused language skills!) we were stuck with taxis. Taxis on Okinawa are way expensive. The Kid and I headed out to American village, which was only a few minutes ride away, and we paid more for that ride than we do here for a fifteen minute ride to the base. More by double. Also, the whole driving on the other side of the road thing freaked me out, even though I knew about it. I just couldn't get it out of my head that we were driving on the left and not going to crash into oncoming traffic!

So we went to American Village, which is a shopping center full of souvenir like shops and restaurants sporting local Okinawan fare. Okinawa has a history all its own, with people descended mostly from Mongol and Malay and its own language and food. Soba, apparently, is a native Okinawa food, or so they would have me believe, as I didn't really have time to verify that. Like Hawai'i, Okinawans are very proud of being Okinawan and prefer you to know that they are not simply Japanese.

Kid pretty much had to pose with any and all statues of dragon or fu dog that we came upon. Luckily I like to indulge her need to be photographed.

At the Passenger Terminal.

At American Village.

At Sunset Beach.

There was a huge Ferris Wheel at American village and Kid begged for the first fifteen minutes that we were walking around to get to ride on it. We went inside and managed to find our way to the machine that sells tickets.

As we waited our turn to board I thought The Kid was going to 'asplode with excitement.

That soon changed, as this is apparently the world's slowest Ferris Wheel. About five minutes into the fifteen minute ride (which makes exactly one revolution) she was bored.

The view from the top was still rather lovely, and we were able to see the whole of the are and plot our next move, which was to go to Sunset Beach and relax there for a spell.

Sunset Beach is a cute little protected cove that is netted off to prevent some of the nasties, like box jellyfish and such, from coming to shore and bothering the people enjoying it. The sand is comprised mostly of crushed shells, and the water was as warm as a bath. Having not had the foresight to bring our bathing suits we settled for wading and enjoying the beach.

The walkway around the edge of the beach is lined with concrete dividers which have all been painted uniquely, and the beach itself has these things that resemble concrete Jax, some of which have also been painted. There were several which we found really fun.

My favorite one.

There is also no swimming, in any language, past the protective barriers.

Presumably, should you violate this rule a giant squid will eat you.

After a few hours on the beach we decided to head back, but oops! I forgot that I didn't have a working cell phone in Japan, so thank-you, random guy in a U of M t-shirt who dialed the cab company for us! It really is true that military people seem to stick together and not mind helping each other out.

The next three days we spent pretty much between the hotel and the terminal, checking in and out and waiting for flights that never arrived. Our spirits were still high, starting each morning off with a new drink from the vending machine:

We ended up meeting up with a really nice woman and her son, who was about Kid's age, who were also staying in the same lodge and also trying to get to the States. She is a teacher at Iwakuni Marine Corps Air Station in Yamaguchi on the Mainland, so she had a Japanese driver's license and rented a car for the day (the only thing that wasn't outrageously expensive) inviting us to join them. We went out to dinner and took the kids to see Up (which I found tragically sad and not overly enjoyable, but had cute moments). It was nice to have a playmate for Kid while we were at the terminal as well. More passenger terminals and commercial airports need kid rooms with toys. This was a blessing for bored children in terminals and for the parents who are stressed trying to find flights off the Island. After about the third day I felt like Gilligan (hence the affectionate name of this series of posts), thinking we would get off the Island only to have our hopes dashed about the shore when the flights filled with higher category travelers or were canceled altogether.

On the days that we didn't make flights we would venture to the Commissary to pick up supplies for camping at the terminal the next day. No parent should ever travel without a good supply of snacks, and since we were flying Space A we could have forbidden things on board, such as vegetables and cheese, so long as it was eaten or disposed of before we landed. I dare say we ate like royalty for a few days due to some creative planning and the USO microwave.

Finally, after being on what we referred to as The Surface of the Sun for almost five days we lucked into a plane that was headed for Elmendorf, Alaska, which not a lot of people were willing to take, but which we found out was going through to Charleston, SC. Usually we wouldn't have been able to get to the East Coast, but Alaska is considered "overseas" for military purposes, which entitled us to one connecting flight to the Lower 48, and this was the only one. Good enough for us!

The Three Hour Tour

I finally returned home last night from taking The Kid to the States for the Summer. It is now and will forever be referred to as my Three Hour Tour. No where in the planning process did I ever expect to be gone for almost three weeks! While I am recovering I thought I would do some Travel Blogging about the trip, because at the end of the day there were a lot of fun parts.

We set off on a Tuesday (I am mostly sure...LOL) from Osan. We missed the first flight out, so we had some time to kill before the next one left. I learned an awful lot about Space Available travel for Military members and dependents, which I am compiling both for future reference and also for a travel magazine that I sometimes contribute to.

We had lots of time to just goof around:

I mean, are you ever too busy to goof around with bug shield sunglasses? I think NOT!

It was actually a good thing because we had forgotten a few things like toothbrushes (but who needs those?) and lotion (which I can not live without).

We also had time for a nice sit down meal and viewing (and goofing around with) cars for sale on the BX lot.

I don't quite think so, missy. LOL.

Oh, that cat...

We had Kid's bags all packed, including a bear he bought her when she was sick earlier this year, and by the door and when we got back from picking up our travel documents from The Guy's command The Guy ran up to get all of our stuff. Somehow the bear never made it out the door and she was crushed because she wanted something to hug when she missed him. He ended up surprising her with this cat at the BX, whom she named Starshine (after Haley). We now have a bit of a joke that it is in fact an angry kitteh, because...well it seems to have a constant scowl on it's fluffy face.

The Guy dropped us off to wait for our flight to Kadena AFB on Okinawa. One thing that amazes me when traveling is the seemingly magical camaraderie among children in airports and hotels. They seem to find a way to quickly become the best of friends during even the shortest stints. Kid played with these kids in the passenger terminal and on the plane to Kadena, then said good bye cheerfully as we met a boy and his mother trying to get to the same place we were going.

We were able to travel about with them for the few days that we were in Okinawa.

I will probably stretch this out over a few days, to kind of give you the torturous feeling of how long we were in limbo. LOL.

If anyone of my military friends are considering traveling by Space A please contact me first. I have a ton of info that will make your trip a lot easier!

That's all for now!

Decisions

So, I think Kid finally tired of us telling her to go get back into the shower and rewash her hair.  She hasn't yet mastered how to get your fingers to your scalp to get it clean, or how to condition the ends so they are easier to brush out.  She doesn't do a bad job, really, she just sometimes needs to get back in the shower and try it again.

So when I mentioned all us us needing to go in for trims she asked if she could cut her hair short again, like it used to be when it was really cute.  We asked her if that is what she really wanted, and told her that she had until we went to the PX to decide.  When we got there she promptly informed the nice beautician what she wanted done w/ her hair.  She even got to lie back and have her hair washed in the sink, a first for her, and something she thoroughly enjoyed.  Since she switched to showers from baths she doesn't need me to wash her hair for her any more, which is good b/c it helps her become more self sufficient.  She enjoys being able to do things for herself.

She told the stylist that she really wanted it to be cute and short enough that she could take care of it all on her own.  We were aiming for the cute cut she had in Kindergarten, but what we came away w/ is much better, and I think a little more grown up.  You can't really tell, but the back is layered just enough to give it a little bounce and for it to turn under on its own.  It is so very adorable on her, but these short cuts always are! 

We also recently decided that one night a week during The Guy's off set will be a family game night (family being a loose term, b/c we welcome other people to join us, but the point is for us to play something together).  We have been working on building up our game collection, and want to get The Kid a couple of her favorites, like Sorry! for her birthday, while we wait for the rest to arrive (we have a really fun game called Dread Pirate in our household goods, as well as Pop-o-matic Trouble, which are games she loves as well).  So we went ahead and picked up a deck of UNO cards (which is one of my favorite card games), b/c you can only play War and Go Fish so many times b/f you want to scream.  We played UNO for hours on Thursday night, since Spring Break started Friday.  She really enjoyed it, and it is also helping her learn about data (how to sort and group things in different ways, like by color or number) which is what they are studying at school.

Yesterday (Friday) we took her out to get some new clothes, b/c she refuses to stop growing.  We already had to manage new shoes for her, b/c the gym shoes she had just didn't fit anymore, and they were only about three months old.  We went back to the Dragon Hill Lodge for lunch at the Mexican Cantina there, and then to the PX.  We thought that as part of her birthday present we would let her choose some new clothes.  I can not believe how much she has grown in one year.  When she went to the Mainland from Hawai'i last summer she was wearing a 6X-7.  She came back and was wearing mostly 8s, but her school uniforms had to be 10s.  When we had to get winter clothes for leave in Iowa and Michigan, and for Korea as well, she had to have 10s, and Mediums in shirts.  Last week we noticed that a couple of pairs of her pants had her belly sticking a little over the front, so we tried on new pants.  We had to get her 12s.  We also let her pick out a shirt for each pair of pants, getting Mediums, and when we returned to our villa we discovered that we are going to have to return two of them for Larges.  Oy w/ the poodles already!  She just keeps growing!  LOL!  I also, based on the sizes she was trying on, picked out a very fun red dress for her, which has a skirt that poofs out due to the layers of netting under it.  

The PX was having a sale, so we got away pretty lucky.  Moving, and then having to live in a hotel here for almost a month and eating in restaurants three meals a day really strapped our budget at a time when we suddenly had considerably less money coming in.  We finally got our TLA reimbursement, so that was a timely blessing that we were able to use for her.  Since she refuses to stop growing.  ;)

Kid is on Spring Break this week, so on The Guy's next off-set we are going to go do some sight seeing.  We have plans to go to the Korean War Memorial, the Aquarium (w/ a subway ride!  Yay!), and possibly the zoo, since we heard it was really nice.  The Guy is going to get a tourist Passport so hopefully b/f Kid has to go the States this summer we can take a trip North to see some of the sights there.  There is a rare bird sanctuary in the DMZ, and rumor has it that the tours to Kaesong might have started up again.  Whatever we decide, you will be the first to see!

Kam-sa-ham-ni-da!

Well, there's good news...and bad news...

The Good News?

We know where our Household Goods are!  We have been trying to track them down for a while now!

The Bad News?

They are still in Hawai'i.

HA!

Turns out our Transfer Clerk is a total moron!

This is the same dude who said that screwed up our Overseas Screening, failing to turn it in on time even when we had it completed four months in advance.

And now, he dragged his feet and screwed up our Family Entry Approval, not getting it complete until we were off Island, and then failing to get it to the Transportation office, after assuring us that he would.  In five years of dealing w/ the military, as either Active Duty or a spouse, I have never wanted to chew out a civilian employee so much (and this dude is the SENIOR CLERK, nonetheless!).

Head, meet desk.

So, Inbound here is being extra helpful and trying to figure out how to straighten this all out for us, but since we were initially told our goods would arrive sometime in February after being picked up in December, we are now thinking they won't be here until May.

May.

And that is the total life update right now.

Wednesday Whedon Moment

I want everyone out there who enjoys Wednesday Whedon Moments to know how much I really love you all. I just spent an embarrassing amount of time wading through craptastic amounts of ridiculous fanvids on YouTube to find you something to amuse yourselves w/ this week.

Seriously.

Go try to find a not set to music clip from BtVS.  I dare you.

So here are fourteen seconds of my undying devotion to all of you in Readerland.

And, it made me :lol:

(cross posted)

Stupid Smart People

In the Navy I had the honor of working w/ many wonderful people, and I met a lot of people who were extremely intelligent (it was a requirement in my field), but they lacked a certain, how you say, common sense to them.  Most of them recognized this easily.

My brother is one of these.  He was bored in High School, so he didn't graduate.  He has blown through ASVABs and other standardized tests w/ beautiful scores.  He is intelligent.  He is finally finishing his GED, and doing some other things for which I am extremely proud of him.  (I try to not look down on people for their education levels.)

But he often does things that make me pretend we are not related.

Pouring gasoline on something to make a fire and lighting it w/ a tiny Bic lighter is one of those.

He didn't realize that the black spots that developed on his arms were in fact third degree burns, until my mother described them to me.

She made him go to the hospital at my insistence.

He has to visit the burn clinic tomorrow.

Hey!  Craig!  I don't want to see you on the next list for Darwin Awards.

Oy w/ the poodles already.