Our Anniversaries Trip - Forty-two years and finally doing something special. Days 1 and 2

Forty-two years and finally doing something special.

Monday 9/23/13
We arrived at Travis Air Force Base at 8:30 pm and checked in at the passenger terminal.  For some reason they did not have us preregistered even though we did preregister on August 1th.  But no problem, since we had our original email we got signed up with the August 1th priority.  Stan and Stephanie Broder arrived a few minutes later and they had to get registered also.  We then checked in at the Westwin Inn, which is a very fine hotel.  We got a very nice two bedroom suite.  The suite was actually a converted two bedroom apartment.  We all got to sleep around 11:00 pm.

Tuesday 9/24/13
Woke up at 5:30 am and made our way to the passenger terminal for a 6:45am check-in and roll call.

 Our names were called and we made it on the first flight...so we thought.  We got our bags checked-in and received our boarding passes and were told we will be flying on a C5 Galaxy.  A C5 is the largest American plane and it has 73 passenger seats that face backwards in the the top of the plane.  After waiting for over an hour we were advised that our flight just got cancelled.  No worries, they have two other planes they can put us on but we all had to retrieve our checked baggage and check in for the new planes.  Another two hours later we were all checked in and boarded a bus for the 10 minute ride to our new plane which was a C17.  This plane has 55 seats.  All were jump seats that are mounted to the sides and face inward.   At 10:15 we boarded on the plane and there was plenty of room.

 

This plane was so big that our entire truck and 5th wheel trailer would fit inside two times.

Our private tour guides,,,Stan and Stephanie Broder

Photo taken and center point looking forward.

 Oh were we excited.  Then we were advised of a maintenance issue and we will be delayed.  So we sat in the plane for over an hour when we were told that the bus is coming to return us to the terminal while they trouble shoot the problem.  It is sure true what they say that taking these military Space Available flights is an adventure.  After another 45 minutes they fixed the "minor" problem.  At  12:15 engines started.  12:30 taxiing out.  12:36 airborne to Hickam AFB .  12:40 getting air sick.  What was I thinking?   Did I forget that I was either air sick or sea sick for most of my 22 year coast Guard career?  No problem, I’ll just go sit by a window and then I will be fine.  Wait a minute....where are the windows?  There aren’t any windows on these cargo planes except for a small window on the doors. So, there I stood in the back of the plane looking out a small 8" diameter window in the freezing cold (The heaters didn’t heat the back end of the plane).  Well I managed to keep my composure and didn’t have to use a “sickness bag.”  We arrived safely in Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii.  We can hardly believe it...We are in Hawaii1  Happy anniversaries to us!

Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii

Once off the plane we took a bus to the terminal and collected our bags, got a taxi, rented a car, drove to the Navy Lodge, got our rooms for the night, freshened up, went to the Navy Exchange food court and had dinner, drove back to the hotel to relax for the night.  Ah, peace and quiet.  "Hmmmm, I think I will get out my lap top computer and update the blog for the day," I said to myself.  “Dayle, where did you put my computer bag?”  “I haven’t touched it,” she replied.  We again looked around the room.  “Ah, it must be in Stan and Stephanie’s room.”  I called, “No, we don’t have it,” Stan said.  Now I am beginning to panic.  This is the lap top that Walt gave me when we were last in Lake Havasu. I ran down to our rental car and it wasn’t there.  I must have left it in the taxi!  I called Stan to get the phone number for the taxi cab, and Stan said that he distinctly remembers handing it to me when we got out of the cab.  So then I must have left it at Thrifty Car Rental.  I again ran down to the car to get the phone number to call Thrifty.  The only number is an 800 number for headquarters in Iowa and they weren’t any help.  They could not even connect me to the local agency.  I called Stan again and together we drove back to Thrifty praying all the way.  Once there the manager obviously noticed a panicked look on my face and asked me if I lost something.  I said, “Yes,” and he said, “A lap top computer in a black bag?”  Yay!  They had it.  Whew, “Thank you, Lord!”

Once back at the Navy Lodge tired and weary, ready for a good night’s sleep.  All showered and ready for bed, lights out.  What's that noise???....A rapid knocking coming from the kitchenette area.  Lights on to investigate.  The noise is coming from inside the refrigerator.  Opened the freezer and discovered some plastic cover was loose so I shoved a towel in it to silence the noise and it worked.  Back it bed, lights out again.  Time now is about 11:00pm Hawaii time but for us it was 2:00am.  There is a three hour time difference out here.

You know how in hotel rooms they have those in the wall mounted individual air conditioning units?  Well our room had one and it came on and it was loud.  So I shut it off and opened the window for some cool fresh air.  At 12:30am I awoke in a pool of sweat and a hot and humid room.  It had begun to sprinkle outside making things very humid.  So, closed the window, turned on the loud air conditioner unit.  I am sure that I got a little sleep.  But at 4:30am I began updating this blog.  I cant wait to see what fun we will have today in beautiful Hawaii.  It’s now 6:01am and the hotel is serving breakfast.  See ya later!