Hasty trip to the States
About a month ago Patrick informed me he was heading to Norfolk for Lean Six Sigma training for a week. Also having told me in that breath that he would need to take a trip to Bahrain just two weeks before. I've discovered that I may not be the best Navy wife, as I get really annoyed now if we have to spend ANY time apart. It's something I clearly need to work on, especially since we have less than a year left of shore duty (meaning no underways, no work-ups, no deployments) left. So in my little mind I started brewing up ideas of how his trip to the states could turn into OUR trip to the states.
I had a girlfriend, Allison, who had invited me to her parents house in Georgia that would coincide with Patrick's trip. How fortuitous! So I packed Soren up and headed for the states. Allison and I set out on our great adventure called Space Available travel on Wednesday night, arriving in Charleston (not our intended destination, but a happy surprise) Friday early (early) morning.
Space Available (or Space-A) flights are open to military members, dependents, certain DOD employees, and retirees. You can fly on military flights between bases around the world for free (or a small fee), when space is available. This is great, when it works. If it doesn't go as planned it can be a pain in your A, and for some (THIS girl) make you have anxiety attacks. You often don't know if there will be any seats on the flight available, but you still have to show up and wait for hours to know with certainty.
Allison and I took a flight from Sig to Rota, Spain, spent the night there and Thursday (I'm pretty sure it was Thursday, but I could be wrong) took a C-17 (big cargo plane) to Charleston, SC. We stayed two nights there, which was wonderful as Charleston is one of my favorite cities (I just wish I had been more 'with it' so I could truly enjoy it). Her parents met us in Charleston and drove us the five hours to their beautiful house in the hills of Georgia. After all that traveling though, Soren was protesting and he cried through a lot of the drive. About 10 minutes away from Allison's parents house we discovered that Soren did much better when unable to see me. I think he was frustrated that he was looking at me and I was unable to help him.
We spent a glorious week relaxing at Allison's parents house then flew up to Norfolk to meet with Patrick. My father-in-law even came down to spend a few days with us (and by 'us' I mean Soren). I was really glad that we went, we were able to see more of Patrick than we usually do at home, as he was done with his class by 4:30 every day. And we go to enjoy Target, Michaels, and non-Italian food. I was even able to have lunch with my dear friend Sarah, and her two boys Sam and Ben.
When it was time to head back on another Space-A flight we found it very hard to get a flight. In a moment of insanity, after not being able to get on the only flight to Sig in the foreseeable future, around midnight, we drove to the airport so that a friend and I could rent a car to drive four hours to possibly get a flight to Rota, Spain. After frantically thinking of plans and ways to get home Patrick and I just looked at each other and said 'Forget it. We're buying a ticket home.' It was about as much as one roundtrip ticket to the states would have cost. Patrick informs me that's my anniversary gift. But after booking that flight my anxiety nearly disappeared (until I had a five hour layover in JFK with a 7 month old, and a 6 hour flight ahead of us). Needless to say my lesson learned was/is/will always be no more Space-A!
I had a girlfriend, Allison, who had invited me to her parents house in Georgia that would coincide with Patrick's trip. How fortuitous! So I packed Soren up and headed for the states. Allison and I set out on our great adventure called Space Available travel on Wednesday night, arriving in Charleston (not our intended destination, but a happy surprise) Friday early (early) morning.
Space Available (or Space-A) flights are open to military members, dependents, certain DOD employees, and retirees. You can fly on military flights between bases around the world for free (or a small fee), when space is available. This is great, when it works. If it doesn't go as planned it can be a pain in your A, and for some (THIS girl) make you have anxiety attacks. You often don't know if there will be any seats on the flight available, but you still have to show up and wait for hours to know with certainty.
Allison and I took a flight from Sig to Rota, Spain, spent the night there and Thursday (I'm pretty sure it was Thursday, but I could be wrong) took a C-17 (big cargo plane) to Charleston, SC. We stayed two nights there, which was wonderful as Charleston is one of my favorite cities (I just wish I had been more 'with it' so I could truly enjoy it). Her parents met us in Charleston and drove us the five hours to their beautiful house in the hills of Georgia. After all that traveling though, Soren was protesting and he cried through a lot of the drive. About 10 minutes away from Allison's parents house we discovered that Soren did much better when unable to see me. I think he was frustrated that he was looking at me and I was unable to help him.
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| On the C-17 flight. We were able to lay blankets on the metal floor and we all slept nearly the whole flight. |
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| Soren putting his feet in the sand for the first time. |
We spent a glorious week relaxing at Allison's parents house then flew up to Norfolk to meet with Patrick. My father-in-law even came down to spend a few days with us (and by 'us' I mean Soren). I was really glad that we went, we were able to see more of Patrick than we usually do at home, as he was done with his class by 4:30 every day. And we go to enjoy Target, Michaels, and non-Italian food. I was even able to have lunch with my dear friend Sarah, and her two boys Sam and Ben.
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| Soren was a little sleepy. |
When it was time to head back on another Space-A flight we found it very hard to get a flight. In a moment of insanity, after not being able to get on the only flight to Sig in the foreseeable future, around midnight, we drove to the airport so that a friend and I could rent a car to drive four hours to possibly get a flight to Rota, Spain. After frantically thinking of plans and ways to get home Patrick and I just looked at each other and said 'Forget it. We're buying a ticket home.' It was about as much as one roundtrip ticket to the states would have cost. Patrick informs me that's my anniversary gift. But after booking that flight my anxiety nearly disappeared (until I had a five hour layover in JFK with a 7 month old, and a 6 hour flight ahead of us). Needless to say my lesson learned was/is/will always be no more Space-A!
I laughed and groaned through this whole post! So sorry it was such a miserable experience, but thanks for all the tips and help for me. We'll see how it goes tomorrow...!
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