Our new address.... somewhere in the Seattle Airport!

Seattle is beautiful!

The Army has always entertained and amazed me in the way they do things.

The travel arrangements to move to Japan were NO exception.

In order to get to Japan, you have to travel to Seattle first. Whether you are in Texas, Carolina or New York, you have to travel to Seattle first.  (We flew up to Seattle via Houston the day before our flight to Japan.)

The military 'contracts' with an airline to take military members from Seattle to Japan. The military does a lot of things well, but they are stretched thin so it is easier to pay a charter plane than deal with it themselves. That sounds good.

Unfortunately for military families, the cheapest airlines usually wins the 'bid'.

As if that wasn't bad interesting enough, the military also 'rents' the counter space at the airport.

The only time they can get the counter super cheap is... in the MIDDLE of the NIGHT.

That is correct folks. If you fly to Japan, you must check in at the counter at 2AM!!! The flight doesn't take off for SIX more hours, but the seats can be given to other travelers if you have not checked in promtly.

My OCD was in full worry mode thinking we would not get seats if we were not there early. So, we got there early.

Poor Puppy is sick of flying!

Yes, we were the first in line.

We were the first in line at  2 PM.

Yes, twelve hours before check-in time we were at the airport in line.

We moved in to the Seattle airport.

We really didn't have a choice. We had to check out of our hotel at noon.

Where else where we going to go with 15 checked bags, 6 carry ons, 4 children, 2 adults and 1 large dog?

Poor airport, never even saw us coming.

Who am I kidding? You would have to be blind and live in a box to NOT see us coming!

We come in with one, no... two, no... three, no... four, no... FIVE luggage carts and every single kid rolling at least one piece of luggage while carrying their backpacks. Then, I came in with our beautiful black dog.

It was such a sight!

We took over a whole section of chairs by the counter that would become the military counter once the clock struck midnight. 

We were thankful to find the USO close to our 'camp out' spot. They provided free meals, candy and a smiling face on the stressful day for us and the other 250 military passengers.

With hours and hours to kill we decided a distraction might be best.

Well, what do we do when we are bored? We travel!

Hubby took the kiddos into Seattle on the train while the pup and I guarded the bags.

Where do you go, if you get to visit Seattle?  The famous Public Market downtown, of course!

First stop:  the Original Starbucks. (No wonder that symbol had to be changed!) Daddy let them get a drink and give their favorite Super Hero as their Name. The baristas laughed as they called up each kid, I mean 'Wonder Woman' or 'Captain America'.

Next: The Gum Wall. Each kid, and Daddy, chewed gum and then found the perfect place to put their piece. Yes, I too am grossed out! This is one of those things that never would have happened with this momma. They were so glad Daddy took them.

The Crew headed back to the airport in time for some more free USO food for dinner. (Side note: if you ever need a good charity to support the USO is totally, sold-out to their mission of supporting the military. They are always there, where the need arrises. Just a little show of love to them, from me. Now back to our regularly scheduled blog.)

After we got to check in for the flight at 2AM, we went back to our little 'camp' and the kids slept. How ever, they could sleep. Where ever they could sleep. Hubby and I stayed awake to watch the luggage, care for the dog and charge the electronics.

Finally, 19 hours after we arrived at the airport we boarded the plane.

The airline was Omni Air for this flight. (I am told that it changes all the time.) They are a charter group out of AZ that started 30 years ago. I think our plane may have been from their original fleet. It was that old. But, the flight was smooth, the food was okay and there was a constant stream of appropriate movies played.

The ten hour flight went quickly by.

We landed, went through customs, learned about Japan curfews and grabbed our pup in a matter of minutes.

Our sponsor picked us up from Yokota Air Force Base in a large shuttle bus. It was such a blessing to have that kind of help! The shuttle brought us to Camp Zama, took us to the Kennels to check in the dog (who is not allowed to stay in the hotel) and then dropped us off at the hotel that will be our home for at least the next month. We will live in the hotel until our housing is available. That can take a matter of weeks or a couple of months. It is all dependent on who moves out when, what repairs need to be made and the needs of our specific family.

As I said, the Army has always entertained and amazed me in the way they do things.

Spread the Love & Kon'nichiwa,

~ Aggie Amy

Rednecks go Mobile

When the idea to rent an RV came to me I thought my husband was going to laugh. Then I imagined the neighbors saying, "Watch out Honey, the Rednecks are on the road!" I felt like someone was going to write an old-style country & western song about our crazy Crew traveling around in the thing!

Here's how it started. We had to pack out, close on the house & get hubby signed out of post. We were going to have a few days of homeless-ness. We decided, since we had to stay in a hotel anyway, we might as well try out RVing.

We rented a Coachman Freelander. It is a 'C' class RV. It sleeps 10, is over 32" long and has a small outside entertainment area. We rented out a "premium" spot at an RV park near Dallas that also has a water park. ( I had no idea what Premium meant, but since Hubby wasn't watching me I decided this Diva needed the "best".) We took board games, a ton of food and a good attitude. We loaded all that and our four constantly-growing kiddos into the RV. (We left the dog at a friend's house.) The drive was only a couple of hours, but it was certainly interesting to be passed on our dear Texas freeways at 80 mph by tractor trailers. They sent the RV about 6 feet off to the right each time they passed. Lesson #1: Use those arm muscles when you are driving a house down the road!

We had a few... let's call them episodes:

   *   The lock on the door broke when we first rented the RV. With the children locked inside and us outside. It is a good thing they are old enough to take care of themselves =)  Super Hubby worked his magic and it was fixed in no time. 

   *   Watch out or you could will accidentally turn on the propane as you walk by the stove.

 *   Black water, Grey water, White water.... oh, Thank you Lord for separate hoses!

   *   It is important to unplug every once in awhile. In the middle of closing on a house, saying goodbye to family & moving overseas... well, that may not be the best time to be unplugged.  We missed a few important phone calls and did not have internet at the park.

Also, we learned quite a bit by renting an RV.
   *  One, we rock at card games. Skip-Bo is still a blast.
   *  Two, our kids are hilarious! They see life... differently!
   *  Three, we started our little family but, all of us have to work to stay that way. We choose to be a family by our actions and our words. It is a daily, sometimes hourly, choice. It is hard at times. It is worth it. Totally worth it.
   *  Most importantly, we learned that we can count on each other. In the middle of the night, when everyone is sleeping it is still ok to wake up your brother to take you to the potty. When you are upset over something silly, it is alright for someone to call you on it. When you are laughing at yourself, everyone laughs with you.

Will we rent an RV again, maybe. Will we always remember this trip, definitely!

Keep the Faith & Try New Things,

~Aggie Amy