At about 1:30am on June 27th, I was finally able to check the status of our flight from Orlando to Seattle and therefore Seattle to Japan. And guess what? Our flight was CANCELED!!! That's right. Canceled! So I frantically called American Airlines to find out how to get to Seattle before 1:30am the following night.
Thankfully, we were automatically placed on a later flight that left about 3 hours later & landed us in Seattle at about 9:00pm (Pacific Time). We were safe. We would make our very important flight from Seattle to Japan. Thank goodness. But even after this scare, the fun part had yet to begin.
We had my dad take us and all of our belongings to the Orlando Airport at about 11:00am EST. We made it to the airport and through security by about 12:30pm. About two hours before our flight was to leave. So we ate at a restaurant in the airport and let Maggie watch the airplanes out the window. The flight from Orlando to Chicago was easy. We realized Maggie did not like even the slightest bit of turbulence and needed to be kept safe. Fine by me, I'll hold your hand.
We landed on time in Chicago and make our way to our connecting gate, only to realize we left Scott's suit bag (uniform) on the last plane. We high tailed it back to that plane & were able to get the suit bag. We then grabbed bagel sandwiches and McDonald's to eat as it was about 5pm at this point & we were starving. We also had our seats changed as they had all three of us in different rows. Because a 2 year old can fly by themselves.
Our flight from Chicago to Seattle was a little scary. Flying out of the windy city is crazy, the pilots couldn't even keep the plane straight on the tarmac, so take off was a bit scary, even for me. Maggie did take a nap on this flight while watching her iPad. I think I took a nap. We landed in Seattle and grabbed our luggage. Two luggage racks full of it. Plus a stroller and four carry-ons. Yes it was FUN!
We automatically got in line for AMC flight that didn't check in until about 2:30am! So about 5 hours after we landed. In the middle of the night. You do realize how excited I was about this right?! I mean I have a toddler who just loves staying up that late! NOT. Thankfully after a little while, she feel asleep in her stroller. Thank God for her stroller.
And thank God for wonderful friends who bring you burritos from Chipotle the very first time you meet.
Stephanie is the greatest! She really is one of my best friends, even if I have only spent about an hour with her in "real life". And boy am I thankful for that burrito, since all the restaurants in the airport were already closed when we arrived.
Are you still with me? Don't worry, there's still a ton more.
At about 1:30am, the airport staff told us we actually have to split into 2 lines- 1 for families & 1 for single service members and couples with no kids. Want to guess who they made move? Yeah the families with children, most of which were sleeping on the floor or on top of suitcases. I was thanking my lucky stars that Maggie was in her stroller. We didn't have to wake her up. At 2:30am, we were able to check in and get rid of our checked baggage. The next step though, security, required I wake my sleeping baby at about 3:30 in the morning.
Once through security, Scott, Maggie, and I found seats at our gate and tried to sleep. I slept on the floor under chairs to block light with no pillow and a thin blanket. It was GREAT! Once the restaurants opened, we got coffee (well Scott & Maggie did) and oatmeal and breakfast type foods. And at about 7:45am we were able to board the airplane we would spend the next million hours on.
I thought I would be nervous, but at that point I was just too tired and too uncomfortable to care. It was whatever. We just wanted to be in Okinawa. So we took off and were on our way to our first stop on mainland Japan. We were given two meals in the time frame (about 9 hours), both of which were pretty good (better than the food I ate on the way to Germany). Although, I wish we could have had more snacks.
When we arrived at our first stop, the entire plane unloaded and the plane was refueled. It was about a 3 hour layover in a military waiting room. It was FUN let me tell you. But the chili cheese fries were delicious. It was also my first encounter with local Japanese people working in the airport. We finally rebounded and got situated for about a two hour flight to Iwakuni (I think, also on mainland Japan).
Maggie fell asleep during this time frame and did not want to wake when we landed again. Again we all got off the airplane. Maggie slept through it all, cuddling on Scott for about two hours. We ate a few snacks (well I did) and got gatorade or water. And after about two hours we reboarded the place for the last 90 minutes of so of the trip.
Maggie slept through this flight as well and only woke up when we needed her to walk in the airport at Kadena Air Force Base in OKINAWA, JAPAN. We had made it! But still needed luggage and our hotel. It took us about 45 minutes to get our luggage and get through customs. Our sponsor met us and told us what we be going on that night. Another sponsor took Scott to check in and our sponsor took Maggie and I to the hotel. I got a shower and Maggie passed out. I fell asleep too and when Scott returned he had to knock on the door about 4 times. Ooops!
And we all slept, until about 5:30 the next morning. Or about 6 hours. We were still sooo tired.
Stay tuned for the next installment.
