Leavin' on a C-17, Carolina Bound Baby!

Day 92
Saturday, April 2, 2011
I woke up at 0350 and couldn’t fall back asleep; I think I was too excited for sleep and I didn’t want to miss my flight. I got out of bed at 0400 and got right in the shower. I blow-dried my hair, got dressed, and by 0445 we were heading out the door of the hotel and across the street to the Terminal to get my name on the list. I think Matt was sleepier than I was, and I felt bad for making him wake up so early but as soon as I was guaranteed a seat he was going to go right back to bed. It wasn’t until 0630 that we found out I had a spot on the “0545 flight" (at this point I realized we were not leaving at 0545) and I was on my way to the security gate. Matt kissed me goodbye and headed back to the hotel to sleep, as I prepared to board my first military plane in over 18 years.

Going through security was pretty standard, we had to remove our shoes and put everything in buckets on a conveyor belt to be scanned. We had to walk through the metal detector and we were not allowed to carry on liquids of more than 3 ounces. I of course had over 20 ounces of Curry Wurst sauce, a container of Liberwurst, a can of sardines, (all for my Mom) and some really expensive 6 oz bottle of hair conditioner. All of that was NOT allowed on the flight, I wanted to cry.

Then, the super amazing, sweetheart of a man who found all of these “illegal items” put them in a bag and told me where to go to get them put in my checked suitcase. Finally, something good was happening to me during my Space A travel experience. I was able to squeeze everything into my bag after one poor Airman had to remove six suitcases, three strollers, and two booster seats from on top of it. I was very grateful and I felt a little bad for making people do all this extra work, especially since the flight is free, and I should have known better than try to carry-on those items. 

C-17

We had some bad weather before our scheduled takeoff so we didn’t actually depart until 0830. I was so tired by then; I could barely keep my eyes open so I fell asleep for a little while in my jump seat. If you’ve never been on a military flight, this is going to really freak you out. I am sitting on a “jump seat” which looks like a folding chair made of metal and nylon material. We all have seat belts and flotation devices but there are no overhead compartments, no folding trays, and there will be no in-flight movie or music to keep us company on the 11 hour flight.

I am sitting directly in front of an Army truck with a tiny metal sign underneath the passenger side door that says, “SLAVE RECTACLE INSIDE.” I’m not really sure what to think of it. The truck is bolted down with chains and is parked behind another vehicle that looks like a jeep with four seats, no roof, and a trailer with tires as big as the jeep itself, which has a large camo-colored box on it, with a sign that says, "Must wear ear protection when door is open."

Once we listened to the “normal” safety speech and are at a safe altitude, we are told it's ok to unbuckle our seat belts, and as long as we don’t lay under the trucks, we are free to roam the plane as we wish. People immediately start unpacking sleeping bags, blankets, and pillows. They are taking their shoes off, putting in their ear buds, and going to sleep right on the floor, sprawled out like they're in their own beds. I've never seen anything like this before, now I wish I had a blanket and pillow to do the same. Thankfully the crew had some blankets, and since I had an empty seat on either side of me, I just made myself as comfortable as possible on the jump seats. 

Not long after we all get comfortable, the crew comes around with our box meals that we ordered at the time of check-in. I should mention a few things first. The crew members on this flight are all military service members, in uniform, flight suits to be exact. The plane is so loud that ear plugs were handed out as soon as we all took our seats. We really can’t hear anything going on on the other side of the trucks where thankfully, most of the people with children decided to sit. I made sure to let them on the plane first so I could at least have a shot at not sitting by them. There are no assigned seats on these flights.

It wasn’t even 0900, and I wasn’t ready to eat but I knew I would be glad I had it later. When they began handing out the boxes they realized they are short by three. I still don’t have one, and now I’m hungry, what luck! We only paid $4.25 for these meals and I was told it would be a sandwich, soda, water, a snack or two, and a candy bar…not bad for $4.25! All I had packed myself was a bag of teriyaki beef jerky which was going to really stink if I opened it, and a baggie full of Kellogg's Fiber One crackers. Oh, and security somehow missed the 16 oz water bottle that I had in my bag which felt like a win until I noticed the pallet of free water they had for us to drink. I was eventually given a box lunch but I’m pretty sure that’s because somebody volunteered to give one up who may have ordered two. The man next to me was one of them and he even offered to share the one he kept until I was brought my own, how sweet. He ate his food right away and then opened his Bible and started to read. I put my box meal under the chair next to me and tried to go to sleep.

I woke back up at 1000 and convinced myself not to eat anything because I knew I would be hungry later. There was a weird smell of fried chicken in the air and I began to think the box meals didn’t contain sandwiches. Two hours later, I woke back up and opened my box to find chicken tenders which probably would have tasted a lot better hot. There was a sign on the box that said, “Contents should be consumed no longer than four hours after takeoff.” I just made it in the time frame, and began to eat a few pieces of chicken. There was a bag of nacho cheese flavored corn chips, a Snickers bar, a Mountain Dew, a Nutrigrain bar, and a bottle of water. I ate the rest later since I still had eight hours to go.

The rest of the flight was pretty quick because I kept falling asleep. I woke up for the last time and heard the pilot say we would arrive in Charleston, SC in 40 minutes. I looked at my watch and noticed that it was only 1215 and we hadn't even stopped in Canada for gas like I was told we were going to have to do. The man next to me turned to look at me just as I had heard the pilots' message and I know we both had this confused look on our faces. We took our ear plugs out and chatted for a minute about how great it was to be landing much sooner than we had thought.

The descent and landing were intensely scary; I prayed the entire time. I kept thinking we were going to crash and the giant truck in front of me was going to roll over and crush every bone in my body. We seemed to be "landing" for 20 minutes. When it was all over, I thanked God for getting me here safe and sound, and I exited the plane. We first had to show our military IDs and customs form to the U.S. Customs Agents who boarded the plane when we landed. Thankfully I was too tired to realize that I actually did bring "meat" in to the country and I marked "no." I later wondered if the jars of Bockwurst and cans of herring, and liverwurst would have caused me to have to open my suitcase before they gave it to me.

My parents arrived just after 1400 and when I saw my Mom in the airport we ran towards each other and hugged. I was surprised to see my Dad because I thought my Mom and Sister were coming to pick me up, so when my Dad walked in I ran and hugged him too. We headed over to the base bowling alley to have a beer and catch up before heading back to Richlands, NC.

My Parents

On our way home, we stopped at Broadway at the Beach in Myrtle Beach to eat dinner at Jimmy Buffets Margaritaville.

Margaritaville

I'm so happy to be back in Eastern Carolina!


Fields can lie fallow, but we can't; we have less time.  ~Mignon McLaughlin

Fiasco Friday

Day 91
Friday, April 1, 2011
I woke up early again today and began calling Space Available terminals to find a flight out to the States. I was still hoping to leave Saturday on the 0545 flight to Charleston but when I called the Ramstein Inn at 0730 they still didn’t have a room available. I found a flight out of Ramstein, to Pope Air Force Base on Sunday which would actually be a lot closer for my Mom to come pick me up, so I made that my back up plan.

I went back to sleep for a couple of hours, feeling tired, and defeated. When I woke back up I called the Passenger Terminal again and found out there had been an addition made to Saturday’s departure list. This flight was at 0840 to Charleston, SC. I was so excited because this meant I wouldn’t have to stay in the hotel the night before, I could just drive up early in the morning and put my name on the list.

I took a shower, put on some gym clothes, and was just putting the lasagna that I had made in the oven to cook as Matt walked in the door on his lunch break. He usually goes to the gym to work out but because his hand was so badly burnt he decided to skip his weight lifting session and come home to eat and take a nap. While he was sleeping I called the Ramstein Inn one last time to see they had a room. I was worried that the 0840 flight wouldn’t have a seat available and I didn’t want to miss out on the earlier flight if I could help it. I was a little shocked, and very glad to hear that they had an available room this time, and I quickly booked it. When Matt woke up from his nap, I told him the new plan. We would leave for Ramstein when he got home from work, spend some time together, have dinner, get to bed at a descent hour, and I would try to get on the 0545 flight.

Of course nothing was going according to plan for me these past couple of days so why should this new plan work out, right? After I went to the gym, tanned, and took a shower, I picked up Matt from work. It was 1630 which means rush hour had began; we drove straight over to his broke down car so he could fill it up with coolant to drive it home. He didn’t want to leave it where it was parked any longer and he needed to work on it this weekend so we were hoping it would make it back to our house. I think it could have made it if it weren’t for the 8 kilometer stau (traffic jam) on Frog Road where his car decided to overheat again. We both pulled over onto the grass and waited for his car to cool off and the traffic to die down. Two hours later we were back on the road and his car was finally at home.

I wasn’t mad at Matt, maybe a little pissed at his POS car, but I just kept my cool and we got out of the house as fast as we could. It was 1930 when we left and our plan was to make it to Ramstein by 2130 to eat dinner before going to bed. Well, that plan wasn’t going to work either. We hit more traffic on the way there and instead of two hours, it took us three hours and 15 minutes to get to our hotel. Matt checked us in and we drove over to Burger King to grab dinner. I couldn’t believe it was the only take out/drive-thru dining facility on base open at this time on a Friday night. It was midnight before I was finally able to get to sleep.

Expect an early death - it will keep you busier.  ~Martin H. Fischer

Ready, set, go---Wait

Day 90

Thursday, March 31, 2011
I got out of bed at 0700 just before Matt left for work, and started calling Passenger Terminals to find out if there was a flight into North or South Carolina on Saturday. I found one leaving out of Ramstein Air Base on Saturday at 0545, arriving in Charleston, SC and immediately called to speak with a representative. I was told they had no idea how many seats were available, and the only way to get on the list for this flight was to arrive at the terminal at 0500, when they opened, and put my name on the list. I was excited to find a flight but I was a little worried because with the two hour drive from Stuttgart to Ramstein I would have to be on the road by 0200 or 0230 to make it there in time and I’m not a morning person.

I sent my family an email giving them all the details to make sure someone would be able to pick me up in Charleston which is about a 4 or 5 hour drive from where they live in Richlands, NC. My parents were still in Miami for my Dad’s job and for some reason I couldn’t get through to my Mom’s cell phone so I hoped they received the email in enough time. In my email, I let them know that renting a car was an option in case they couldn’t be there.

Since there was nothing more I could do at home, I headed to the Real before the lunch crowd arrived and bought a ton of German goodies to take back to the states with me. My Mom really wanted some Liberwurst (liver) and I actually found it in a can, I hope she likes it. I bought some chocolates for my brother and sister, and then I found a German birthday card for my Mom. I had picked up a few gifts in Belgium for my family and I bought my Mom a large bottle of German dark chocolate flavored likore (liquor) for her birthday. I was going to have to wrap everything in bubble wrap before packing it. 

 

Liverwurst

I had a doctors appointment at 1430 with my physical therapist, Dr. John so I headed over to Patch Barracks a little early to stop by the Tricare office to file a claim for reimbursement on my German prescriptions, and check on my authorization for surgery before I left the country. I’m so glad I stopped by Tricare because for some reason my authorization was in limbo, waiting to be approved by the London office. A patient representative called England and after a ten minute conversation in German (I’m still not sure why the rep in England spoke German) she told me she would need to resend my information and as soon as I get back from the States I should come back in to check on it. She mentioned that with back surgery sometimes they have to fight with the London office because so many surgeries involving the discs are not covered, thankfully mine is, but it’s still a gray area for Tricare.

Dr. John manipulated my body for about an hour, and sent me on my way with some new stretches to do each day. I told him how much better I had been feeling since the last time I saw him and that I was looking forward to my surgery in May, hoping it would fix me for good.

After PT I headed to the Commissary and bought enough food for Matt to eat while I was gone. I bought everything to make lasagna which I planned to bake tomorrow so he could eat on that for a few days and not have to worry about cooking. If it were up to him, I’m sure he would eat chips and salsa and Nutella on brotchens every day. He is the least picky eater I have ever met. It’s funny because he is also a pretty good cook when he gets around to it. 

By the time I got home and put away groceries, Matt was off work and driving his car around to see if this knocking noise that he heard would go away. I was busy calling the terminal every hour to see if a new flight had been added and to make sure the Saturday one to Charleston was still there. Three hours after he told me, “I’ll be home soon,” he calls me to say he’s been stuck for two hours with a broken vehicle, a bad burn from opening his coolant reservoir, and no cell phone minutes which is why he didn’t call sooner. I felt like such a jerk for not calling him earlier. I had been worried but I was busy folding four baskets of laundry and cleaning the house up. I didn’t call because I didn’t want to be a nag, which is silly because three hours is way too long to wait to call somebody when they say they’ll be home “soon.”

I went to pick him up and I saw his poor hand which had a huge blister on it. I felt so bad that he had gone through this; I am a terrible wife. He wasn't even mad. I would have been upset if the same thing had happened to me. He had to walk to the base Shoppette just to buy cell phone minutes to call me…I really miss having a Blackberry, they would come in so handy at times like these!

After we got home and I made him some dinner, we talked about my flight out on Saturday. He said I should try to call the Ramstein Inn (base hotel) and see if they had a room for Friday night so we didn’t have to get up so early to drive there. I was glad he wanted to drive me; I really didn’t want to make the trip alone. I’m sure that had nothing to do with the fact that his car was now broken, again.

I called the Ramstein Inn at about 2200 and was told there were no rooms available at this time but I could call back at 0730 tomorrow and see if one became available. I went to bed rather frustrated because I felt like nothing was working out for me with this trip. I even wondered if this was a sign that I shouldn't go at all.

Every day you are alive is a special occasion. Every minute, every breath, is a gift from God.  ~Mary Manin Morrissey

Lets get Physical

Day 89
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Today was the big day; I was finally able to call the Ramstein Passenger Terminal and find out the flight schedule for Friday. I was eager to find a flight arriving somewhere in North Carolina so my Mom could easily come pick me up. I was sad to learn that the closest I could get to NC on Friday, was Baltimore, MD.

I went back to sleep at 1030 and didn't wake up again until noon. I forced myself out of bed and started cleaning the house. I cleaned the bathroom on my hands and knees, and vacuumed the living room, dining room, and kitchen. I gave myself a Mary Kay facial, and then finally got in the shower.

I headed to the alterations shop and dropped off some of Matt's uniform shirts to have rank put on them before heading to the gym.

I had an AMAZING one hour long cardio workout where I burned over 800 calories and maintained an average heart rate of 157. I felt like super woman as I lifted a ten pound weight a few times before heading to the tanning salon before arriving back at the house to shower before dinner.

I made oven baked chicken breast, broccoli, and pasta for dinner which was so good I kept saying, "yum" as I was eating it all. I think I was just really hungry.

After dinner I had no energy left to finish the laundry that I had started earlier, so I just did the dishes and we went to bed; it was just after 2200.

When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.  ~Samuel Johnson

Tasty Tuesday

Day 88
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Since today was our first day back after our trip to Belgium, I had plenty of laundry to catch up on. I put a load in the washer and began working on finishing up my 20 page paper on alcoholism for my Family Systems class.

I wrote for five hours, only stopping to shower, switch the laundry from the washer to the dryer a few times, and start a pot of spaghetti sauce for dinner. I finished my paper at 1800 and was ready to relax.

Matt got home from work to find me chilling on the couch, and a delicious spaghetti dinner simmering on the stove. We ate dinner, did the dishes, and relaxed for the rest of the night.





I think I don't regret a single 'excess' of my responsive youth - I only regret, in my chilled age, certain occasions and possibilities I didn't embrace.  ~Henry James

Long road Home

Day 87
Monday, March 28, 2011
This morning was kind of a sad time because we were leaving Bruges. I had the most wonderful time in this place. The people were so friendly; I had almost forgotten what “southern hospitality” was like. We enjoyed one last European style breakfast before heading out at 0900. I have a feeling we’ll be vacationing in Bruges again in the future, there were just too many Belgian beers that we didn’t get to try.

I fell asleep almost immediately and woke up when we stopped to use the restroom just before crossing over the Belgium border back into Germany. I finally tasted my first real Belgian Waffle; I thought I had missed out. It was more than I had hoped for, all covered in a sweet, sugary glaze. These were not like regular breakfast waffles where you’d want to put syrup on them; they were sweet enough to eat plain. 

After several hours of driving and passing three accidents, we finally arrived at Ramstein Air Base so everyone in the car could eat Taco Bell, accept me. I decided to try and eat healthy so I grabbed a subway sandwich. After we ate our meals, we headed back to the car and headed back to Stuttgart. Kate and Gio had a concert to make it to this evening so we needed to be back before 1900. 

We were back at home by 1900 and ready to sprawl out on the couch and stretch our legs. Matt and I didn't even unpack our clothes; we showered and then plopped down on the couch to stretch our legs out.

When it comes time to die, make sure all you got to do is die.  ~Attributed to Jim Elliot