A Taste of Space-A

 

I had some pretty fantastic luck with Space-A this time around to close off an overall really smooth trip. That said, there were still a lot of ups and downs in the process, as there always seem to be. This is how my timeline turned out, to give you a little taste of how sporadic it can be.

Sunday, June 22

5:50p - Roll Call - Seat assigned on C-17 heading to Andersen AFB in Guam.

6:58p Hey boo - I went to the terminal and was the 2nd person in line for the 11 seats available on the C-17. Got my boarding pass, checked my bag, then the flight broke and wouldn't be fixed in time to meet the crew rest standards, so they pushed it back 24 hours. I think I will give up my seat and try for one of these earlier flights, because that will set me up to arrive in Guam at a more reasonable hour for being picked up. Will keep you posted, obviously. Luckily Ashley had a dinner group with her friends from the squadron for me to return to. Nothin like leaving Space-A let down to head to a party! Doesn't get much easier than that. Hope you had a great flight. Miss you already :)

Nick: Okay honey, let me know what your plan is when you find out.  I love you and can't wait for us to get back to normal life!

[side note: ME NEITHER!]


Monday, June 23
8:29a Hey boo - I am manifest on flight  7979 a KC-135 that is scheduled to leave here at 10a. I will keep you posted if we take off. Also, I figured out I do not have my Guam phone with me so I can't call or text you when I land :( If you could call the Guam passenger terminal for flight updates I'd appreciate it. LY! I will still try to get in touch with you when we land if I don't see you. and can always call my Andersen friends if I need a holding spot. LY!

9:40a - TEXT: About to take off on a KC 135. I think it will land 1500ish. Fingers crossed!


[Side note: my USA phone has about 30 cents left and I have no idea if I will need it past today... so this is a pretty confident text]

11:03a - Just kidding! We boarded, engines fueled up to take off, then they announced the fuel pump was "acting up." So off we go again, meal refunded, waiting on our bags back at the terminal again. No other flights out until tonight, so I will keep you posted. Love ya, ~P

11:10a - Hahaha - 6 minutes later we find out that they are not bringing our bags to us, they are bringing us back out to the plane. Here we go again! Love ya :) If you don't hear from me in like 4 hours call the Guam terminal for arrival info. p

(Uniformed guy is yelling at me to get on the bus, but I don't know if I have phone credit left so I continue emailing while I have wifi access).

11:36a - Back on plane, engines on, everything loaded, doors closed. Ready to go.

12:15p - Still in Hawaii. We have been sitting in a "penalty box" on the runway for the last 30 minutes soaking in our own sweat (temperature control is a luxury completely taken for granted flying commercial, FYI). Since our flight was originally canceled, our flight plan had dropped from the system, so we were waiting on air traffic control to give us a new flight plan. If we did not take off in the next 45 minutes, we would miss the window for crew rest and the flight would be delayed 24 hours.

12:23p - We have a flight plan! We are taking off - hooray!

16:23p Hawaii time - We are now halfway through the flight and therefore "safe" that we won't turn around and head back to Hickam (hey, it happens).

1615p Guam time (8 hours later) - Hooooome!!!!!!

This is my 5th or so time to travel via Space-A and I have learned sooo much. The main thing I have learned is not to get excited or disappointed. About anything. The flights will do what they do, and whether or not you make it where you are going when you want to merits no emotional effort. It won't change a thing.

I have had a lot of friends ask me about Space-A recently, saying I make it look and sound easy. All I have to say is that if it weren't SO unbelievably expensive to get from Hawaii to Guam, it would not be worth the hassle. I am SO lucky to have the easiest possible Space-A scenario, with my good friend Ashley living right down the street from the very terminal we Guammies are most likely to get stuck at. Not to mention a flexible job that won't give me a hard time for taking a few extra days (or, uh, weeks) away.

Can I just tell you how absolutely wonderful it was to step off of that plane and be back on Guam? The warm breeze, bright blue sky, luminous sunshine, and swaying green palm trees. In a word, paradise. In another word, home! How lucky am I?? Getting here without paying a dime is a HUGE bonus. Thanks, Air Force!

Going Home

 

Chances are this picture doesn't look as remarkable to many of you as it does to me. Well, let me explain that when I was in San Diego just four months ago, two of these mommies were not pushing strollers. All the pregger ladies in my recent past have resulted in a current baby boom (8 new baby friends born since January!). And not knowing when my next chance would be to make it to the States, I just had to meet some of these new faces in person and reconnect with dear friends I know I won't see for a while.

For starters, my friend Gemma will be moving with her husband and two little blondies to Okinawa later this summer. I suppose there's a chance they could come our way for vacation at some point, but for now, it was great to get one more visit in. We all met up at the perfect mommy outing location: the San Diego Zoo. All of my mommy friends have annual passes, so they come whenever they want to walk the beautifully landscaped pathways and show the amazing variety of animals to their curious little ones. It was a typical May gray San Diego day, but the weather and the fact that we were at one of the world's best zoos didn't really phase me. I was just so grateful to be here with all these close friends!

Next up is a very unexpected San Diego visit with my dear friend Kristi, who evacuated here from Japan following the tsunami/ earthquake/ nuclear disaster. Last I saw these friends, they were moving into their house just outside of Tokyo in September and little Ryan was only five months old. Now at 14 months, it was amazing to see how much more he's grown. His sweet little face reminds me so much of his big brother Will, who Nick and I have watched grow up from a baby to now a Kindergarten graduate. Kristi and Ben were the first friends we made in San Diego. I have visited them in Hawaii and Japan and now it's their turn to visit us in Guam!

Love :)

I can't not smile when I see this preciousness to my left...the long awaited Moffit princess, flashing some of the most glorious bluest eyes I've ever seen. I was actually in San Diego on Mallory's due date in January, but Norah wasn't quite ready yet. Turns out I missed meeting her by just a few days, which is why this unexpected visit at four months was even more special. I remembered back to almost exactly a year ago when we went on a run together and Mallory told me she was pregnant. I moved to Guam when she was just starting to show. And now, not all that many months later, there's this beautiful baby, and my friend is now a mom. I'm spelling this out because it's still so new to me to think of these friends as parents.

To the right of Mallory and me are Huy and Jackson. On my previous post about my pregger friends, I commented that Jackson was the baby that I was most excited to find out what he was going to look like. Somehow he is the most perfect combination of his mom and his dad. It's amazing to me how much I can look at him and see both of our good friends, Ben and Huy, in that little face. I finally determined the pattern... he looks just like his mom when he is being sweet and happy and somehow much more like his dad when he is mad and ready to fight (just kidding Ben!). This visit was extra special for us given the timing. Jackson's dad left on a long deployment just two weeks before I got there. My heart aches for these friends who will be going it alone for so many months, not only as new moms, but also as single parents. And both of them, all of them, will tell you they have it easiest because they get to stay with the baby. Which means there's a whole new undertaking of sacrifice for these guys, these new dads, who have already given up so much.

No question meeting these babies and visiting with these friends at the zoo was yet another highlight of my two weeks back in the States. And with a potential Tuesday evening hop to Hawaii looming over my time in San Diego, I got to it, trying to cram as much on my wish list as I possibly could in the remaining 36 hours. 

As luck (sure... luck) would have it, my 48 hours in San Diego included one full evening... a Monday evening.... the evening of my Bible study. It was SO much fun to show up here and see these girls. One visit was definitely not enough, but then again, neither is 48 hours in San Diego.

I woke up my second morning in San Diego and was so sad to have to start packing already. Luckily I was able to squeeze in brunch and white chocolate mochas with my dearest, April. Those of you who know how we met know we used to be coworkers. But five years later, that hardly seems worth mentioning. We are just plain friends. I have learned so many life lessons from her and have become wiser about the world through our friendship. Not to mention, we've managed to have a whole lotta fun. This one always has the hook up. We might have gotten into a little mischief here and there too :) After breakfast, it was back to Huy's so April could meet Jackson. Apparently, even at two months, he already knows how to spot a heart full of love.

Miss April gets my best lovey eyes!

Continuing on in the parade of meal visits, Huy, Jackson and I met our friend Amy for lunch at Burger Lounge (!) in La Jolla. It was great to get caught up and hear about everything she has going on, from training for DC's Marine Corps marathon to organizing a whole massive fundraiser race on September 11th... the Heroes Run, benefiting the Travis Manion Foundation (more on that to come over the summer, stay tuned). Also, I loved that Amy showed up on her lunch break wearing workout clothes, which double as her work clothes... for her office job! Having gotten used to the same work wardrobe in Guam, I was encouraged to know there are Stateside workplaces outside of the fitness industry where dressing the same for meetings and the gym is not frowned upon!
 

Goodbye San Diego :(

In the whirlwind of flitting from one visit to the next, I was somehow able to pack in one last trip to Target, Trader Joe's (!), Old Navy, a bridal boutique to try on my sister's chosen maid of honor dress (!), and a fantastic sushi restaurant with Huy and Jackson (!). Despite fitting in so much, the time went WAY too quickly. There were so many friends I didn't get a chance to see, so many places like my church and work (CPD!) I didn't get to stop by.

But considering this time two weeks ago I had no idea San Diego was in my immediate future, I had to be grateful for the visits I did have, knowing the friends I missed would understand. Grateful as I was for the hugs and the new memories, it didn't make the sting of saying goodbye any easier. As Huy and Jackson, Mallory and Norah left the terminal on North Island, I had to blink back the tears, not knowing how long until I see these and all of my San Diego friends again. Of all the places I come back to, San Diego is the strangest because when I am there, it feels as if I never left. It still feels very much like home, even though it somehow isn't.

Hard as it was to leave, I had an equally strong yearning to start the long trek back to my current home. And it just happened that Space-A made the first leg quite easy. I hopped on a C-40 to Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii. When we landed the Space-A passengers were instructed to keep our seats while the duty passengers, finally home from a 6-month deployment in Bahrain, went to meet their families. I felt like such a stowaway being there to witness this joyous and long-awaited celebration. We saw men running to their wives and holding their babies for the first time. We saw kids crying hugging their dads. We even saw one man propose right there in front of everyone. We couldn't help but join in the loud applause and cheering. The same plane that took me from the ones I so dearly love just as easily brought these Marines back to the ones they so dearly love. And so the cycle of hellos and goodbyes, tempered by time and distance, continues.

My visit to Hawaii was short. After playing the Space-A game once or twice, I saw that there was nothing there for me in terms of a seat home in the near future. When you travel Space-A, you either have to have the time or the backup funds to get you home. After being out of commission on Guam for over a month now, with a ton of work to catch up on, waiting around was not something I had the luxury of doing this go around. Luckily before flying out, I got to wish my friend Melissa a happy birthday four days before her husband's deployment was ending. Melissa has been my Space-A angel, and considering their upcoming move, this would probably be my last visit with her in Hawaii.

I was fortunate enough to have the most wonderful Space-A hosts this go around. Crazily enough, they have seen me before. Ashley and Robbie were my hosts when I Space-A'd through Alaska in January. They have since moved to Hawaii and now live on the air force base where the flight terminal is. Ashley had her baby a week after I was there in January, so I got to meet little Jeffrey (though he was asleep every time it dawned on me to get a picture of him... argh!). After some pretty dismal Space-A episodes, Ashley took me to the airport... the real airport... the one where you have a guaranteed seat on a plane that's actually leaving... and just like that, one credit card swipe later, I was on my way back to Guam.

I arrived back on Guam on a Friday night after one of craziest months I can remember in my adult life. Exactly four weeks before, I was in Sydney, Australia watching the royal wedding. The following Friday was the first day my fever broke after a week of the worst illness I have ever had. The very next Friday I was somehow on a red-eye with Courtney and Ben heading to Florida. The previous Friday I was in New Jersey with Nick and his entire family. And this Friday, I was back on Guam. As I walked in the house I realized I was home and healthy for the first time in nearly six weeks. I can't tell you what an amazing feeling that was. As much as I still feel like I belong in San Diego, there was no question that Guam is my home. And as it always is after a long time away, it was so, so good to be home.

In the Air Again

Returning from Australia, I was anticipating my next flight off Guam would take me to Manila in June for our service trip. The week after my horrible illness as I was recovering, I got the sad news that my grandfather passed away in Florida. He had been in hospice for several weeks with a steady decline, so the news was not completely unexpected. It was, however, difficult timing to think of rallying my weak body to make the grueling trip back for the service. I found out Wednesday morning, when I was finally able to leave the house for a staff meeting, but still had trouble standing for long periods of time and got winded easily from even short conversations with people. At that point, I was mentally and emotionally preparing myself to not be able to go. I just didn't know if I could physically get there.

The human body is an amazing thing. With the goal of leaving on a military flight out on Friday, I forced myself to consume large protein shakes, big meals, and lots of Gatorade. My physical state returned well from this routine, but mentally I was still in a fog. I was dreading the 2-hour mission trip meeting I had to lead at church Wednesday night. I just didn't have the energy for it. Somehow, though, about halfway through the meeting as we were brainstorming ideas and singing songs (not your typical boring work meeting!), I snapped out of it. Suddenly I could think clearly again, my mind finally awake after two solid weeks of being sick and out of it.

Thursday morning I awoke after a good night sleep feeling amazing. I spent the morning tying up loose ends and then Nick called to see if I was up for a round of golf. At this point, we were anticipating not seeing each other for two and a half weeks or more, and given I was a slightly warmed skeleton the previous two weeks, it felt like we hadn't actually hung out in forever. So I rallied, chugged a protein shake and decided I'd take it easy this round and just enjoy being out there. After five minutes of warm up, I was winded like you would be in your cardio warm up at the gym. It was kind of ridiculous, but I was still able to play. Nice easy swings. No pressure to do well. I can't believe it, but I had my best round of golf EVER that day, even after not playing for three weeks! I shot a 95, and FINALLY broke 100. I even had a chip-in birdie on a par 5 (for those non golf enthusiasts, this is really hard to do and at my playing level requires an enormous amount of luck!). Just like at the meeting, about halfway through the round of golf, I felt myself physically snap out of it. I felt much stronger and almost completely like myself. It was a joyous feeling, especially anticipating the morning flight out.

As Space-A goes, the morning flight out turned into the afternoon flight out. (Of course, part of the fun of Space-A is the war stories you get to tell afterwards... I am lucky to not have any this time!). I was so grateful to get on the first flight I tried. In fact, because there was a death in the family, I was eligible to get bumped up to the priority travel category. Ironically, I had to call the Red Cross in San Diego and speak to a Red Cross caseworker who was one of my former coworkers in order to make this happen. After all those years of plugging the Red Cross's services to the military, I found myself needing the very program I had written so many press releases about. I actually feel like making a donation.

After a non-eventful 7-hour flight from Guam to Hawaii, I arrived there at 4 a.m. local time. An hour later, my friend Melissa who lives in Honolulu was online, up early feeding her baby, and offered to bring me breakfast. At this point, I was starving and so grateful not to have to choke down another granola bar! Melissa is my friend from a Bible study in Annapolis and she helped me with Space-A in January when I was there. She showed up at the terminal with the best Egg McMuffin I have ever eaten, and she and her now 10 month-old hung out with me for the two long sleepy hours before I boarded the flight. She was definitely my Space-A angel!

Five hours later, I found myself landing at Travis AFB in San Francisco. I collected my bags and hopped on a shuttle to get off base, where my sister was waiting to pick me up! We immediately headed to Panera Bread (!) for dinner and wifi, where I booked a flight out to Florida for that night. After a quick turnaround at their flat in San Francisco, Courtney, Ben and I headed to the airport. Another red eye flight and here I find myself in Washington, D.C., about to board another flight to head to my final destination, Pensacola.

It has been about 48 hours since I last laid my head down in a bed. But luckily I am a Space-A champ and brought a ground pad and sleeping bag with me and was able to lay out and sleep on the floor of the military flights. After so many long hauls, this next hour and a half flight to Florida is going to feel like a breeze. And on the other side await my parents, cousins, aunt, friends, and the celebration of the life of a most amazing man. A long journey, indeed, but worth the effort to have this time together.

An Unexpected Aloha :)

Landing in Hawaii

So the reason I had to skip out of San Diego faster than I was originally planning is that I was suddenly faced with an amazing opportunity for my journey back to Guam. All along I knew I'd have to fly through Hawaii, since that's the best place, geographically speaking, to catch a flight back to Guam from the States. Well, knowing what I now know about how Space-A works (super flaky!), I started poking around for the commercial options that would at least get me to Hawaii, which would cut out one huge leg of uncertainty, leaving me only the flight to Guam from there. I checked out flights and couldn't believe there was one in my time range that was about the same price as my flight from San Fran to San Diego (I know, right? to Hawaii!). And the super duper bonus of it all is that it would put me landing in Honolulu while Nick was there for a conference. Hello Hawaii rendezvous!

I got in on a Tuesday afternoon and hung out in the hotel room while Nick finished up his conference. We went out to eat in Waikiki that night and the next day, our only full day together, we packed in everything amazing Hawaii has to offer: golf and surfing! We started our day on the golf course. Nick had enough notice to bring some of my clubs out with him, so it was awesome to play the course with my own weapons. It wasn't my best score overall, but I did get a birdie that day! Had a perfect tee-off on a par 3 followed by a perfect putt. It was only my second birdie ever, so I was pretty excited :)

 Speaking of birdies, one thing I was very aware of throughout my entire trip back to the States was the presence of birds everywhere I went. You have probably heard the stories about the non-indigenous brown tree snake that wreaked havoc on Guam. Well, one of the reasons its effects were so terrifying is that it killed all of the native bird populations. It took going back to Coronado, Florida, and even suburban Houston to realize that pleasant chirping that accompanies our everyday lives just doesn't exist on Guam. (And now that I'm back here reflecting on this, I realize it is sooooo quiet yere). The birds in Hawaii seemed extra musical and were quite beautiful. I am sad for Guam that the stupid snakes ate all the pretty birds.

 After a painfully long (five hours!) round of golf, we packed up our clubs and headed to Waikiki Beach for some surfing. I was a bit hesitant, since I never really got the hang of surfing in San Diego despite trying it a few times (and taking a lesson in Costa Rica). So I was somewhat relieved to find out there was hardly any surf and it was completely flat the whole way paddling out (phew!). Of course, this also made for few opportunities to actually catch a wave, but considering the waves were breaking on a shallow reef (at low tide, mind you), I was okay with that. I gave it a go for about an hour and then paddled in while Nick kept surfing.

 After surfing, we hung out on the beach and watched the sun go down for about an hour. Even though we live a mile from several beautiful beaches on Guam, Nick and I aren't really beach people. As in, we never just go to the beach and lay there in the sand. Every time we do, though, I always catch myself wondering, why don't we do this more often?? It was so relaxing and since it's not nearly as humid as Guam, it was the perfect temperature. Hawaii seems to be the perfect blend of things we love about California (surfing & drier air) and things we love about Guam (beautiful island, gorgeous landscape, fewer people).

 Like Guam, Hawaii also had its share of Japanese tourists. Nick and I watched this group of Japanese girls take pictures of themselves for over an hour. They must have taken over a thousand pictures of various ways to incorporate the setting sun. In this one, they are lining up one girl who looks like the sun is resting in her palm, while the other girl is holding it up at eye level. They were remarkably entertaining, so much so I had to take a picture. And they say that imitation is the highest form of flattery, so I'll have to admit, they had some pretty clever ideas. Here's my rendition of swallowing the sun:

(Someone later pointed out, it doesn't look like I'm eating the sun so much as it looks like I am breathing a fireball. Roar!)

View from Gary & Tina's patio @sunset = Awesome

We got together for dinner that night with our friends Gary & Tina. Tina holds the place of fame in my life for being the first navy wife I was ever friends with. As in, I met her at a function in San Diego when Nick had six weeks left of training. At that point we had orders to Virginia Beach (along with grad school acceptance and a job for me), so when the opportunity unexpectedly arose for us to stay in San Diego, I was really unsure of what to do. Tina was the natural person for me to call, and I still remember her words, "West Coast is the best coast!" She was so enthusiastic about San Diego and about how much better the teams were for family life (since many of the trainings are within a few hours' drive away whereas the East Coast guys have to travel farther to get to the same training sites). I don't know day for day if I actually saw Nick more because of our choice to stay West Coast, but it seemed like a good enough reason for me, especially combined with the fact that we really loved Coronado. I really wish I had taken a picture of them!
With only half a day left in Hawaii together before beginning the journey home, Nick and I got up the next morning and drove to the North Shore. The Volcom Pipe Pro surfing contest was going on at Bonsai Beach. We got to catch some of the surfing, which was absolutely amazing to watch. Not only were the waves absolutely perfect, the surfers were so fearless. Especially after being reminded the day before how hard surfing is, I was extra impressed getting to watch the pros. It was our first time to see an official contest like this and I'm pretty sure we could have stayed all day if we didn't have flights to catch.

Hard to tell, but there were consistently 20-foot waves!

We did a couple more essential stops on the North Shore. Behold Waimea Bay
<-------------------

And the North Shore shrimp trucks!!

Yum! Although it was hard to be too impressed about $13 for 12 shrimp when I just came from Pensacola where it was $3/pound. Yeah, sorry Hawaii, but Pensacola still wins in that department.

The Long Way Home
"Aloha" is a funny word, in that it means both hello and goodbye at the same time. It's quite a fitting description of what happened on my Space-A journey home (foreshadowing, check!). With our short but awesome Hawaii vacation at an end, Nick dropped me off at the Hickam Air Force Base terminal. Amazingly enough, there was a flight with 56 empty seats leaving Hawaii for Guam at 3pm that afternoon, which aligned perfectly with the fact that Nick's commercial flight back was at 3pm too. We could conceivably arrive in Guam at the same time! I got my boarding pass, checked my bag, and waited as they called us through security to the holding area. And then we waited. And waited. And waited. And finally we got the news. The C5 we were going out on had a door malfunction, and the door wasn't closing properly in the area where all the seats were located. So of the 22 people trying to get to Guam, only 8 were able to go, since they could sit with the crew. I did not make the cut. You know what they say about things that are too good to be true... yup, it was.

So, Tina and Gary scooped me up and I spent the night at their place and would catch the flight going out the next day. The next day came and that flight got pushed to... the next day. So I used my bonus day in Hawaii wisely, going for a run in Waikiki, reading a book in the park, and getting together with a friend of mine from Annapolis that I had not seen in over five years. Melissa was in my Bible study there and though we'd only loosely kept in touch through Facebook, I was reminded of why I love my Bible study friendships so much.

While I have been so lucky to find amazing girlfriends everywhere, the thing about Bible study friendships is that you get to know someone faster and on a deeper level because we share so much about our lives in our attempt to understand the Bible and our purpose here. Since I'd last seen Melissa, we had both gotten married and moved to tropical islands, and she now had an adorable baby boy, Siah, who was six months and two weeks old. And even though so much had changed, we were able to pick up right where we left off. We had lunch together and seeing her made me so grateful for all the friends in my life.

The next day Gary and Tina dropped me off at the terminal again and things were looking very promising. There were three flights out to Guam before noon. Score! The first opportunity passed me by. There were 8 other people with higher priority levels than me. The second flight ended up not taking anyone. Hmmm.... So the third flight had 15 seats and I was #5 on the list. At that point, it seemed like a sure thing! So we went through the whole process again. Got boarding passes, checked bags, this time we got on a bus, drove out to the KC-135, got on and took off. At this point, I texted Nick, "See you tonight!"

And after ten minutes in the air, just as I was envisioning laying my head down on my own pillow in my own bed for the first time in three weeks, there was a horrible loud noise. Now, I am not a leery traveler. I know too many pilot friends who have assured me that turbulence is "just wind" and military flights are so safe and blah blah blah. So I tend to not worry on planes. Can't do anything anyway, right? Next thing you know, we've stopped ascending and are descending, several people are scampering around the plane, and the rumors start. Turns out the landing gear wouldn't go up properly (the loud noise), so we would need to make an emergency landing back at Hickam. An hour of circling later, we finally landed (we had to dump enough fuel so we weren't too heavy to land safely). And just like that, after an entire day trying to get out, I was right back where I started.

Fire trucks bracing for our emergency landing - scary!

Got my bags and called Melissa, who came to get me. (Okay, so I left out the part where I had a bit of a meltdown and called Nick nearly begging to fly home commercial despite the $700 or 40,000 miles it would cost... the whole emergency landing thing definitely freaked me out). After confirming I had a guaranteed seat on this plane once it did fly out, I decided to stick to my original plan. I mean, I had a comfy place to stay with friends, didn't need to be back for a few more days, and I was in Hawaii for goodness sakes. Poor me, right?

The extra 36 hours in Hawaii hanging out with Melissa and Siah were so much fun! We mostly hung out at her place, which was a quarter mile up the road from the stadium where the Pro Bowl was going on (coincidence as to why the flight was delayed???). I went on a run and saw all the tailgating starting. She took me to Target for a last fix before my Guam time would begin again. The flight got bumped back from 4pm to 3am, but we found out just in time to grab stuff to make pizza and cupcakes and we spent the evening watching a chick flick together and catching up even more. As far as I'm concerned, looking back, I am so glad I got to stay a little longer. Her husband is deployed, so I wasn't crowding them, and I think she enjoyed my company too. So, even with all the craziness, it all worked out just fine. It usually does :)

Melissa dropped me off at the terminal at 3a.m. to try this Space-A thing a third time. Third time was a charm! Had no issues getting out, the plane took off no problem. In fact, the one issue we did have (the pilot overshot the runway) was on the Guam side. So, just like I took off in Hawaii twice, we also landed in Guam twice. AWESOME. So it will probably be a while before I try my luck at Space-A again, but it did the job, getting me safely to and from America for the bargain price of $4.25 (the price of a box lunch).

Reflecting on the trip, I am so, so grateful to have been able to make new memories with so many friends and family. And while I was sad to leave everyone, it has also made me appreciate my life on Guam now that I am back. We hit our 6-month Guammiversary while I was gone, which means potentially only 18 months left here. I fully intend to get the most out of it, and can't wait to pick up writing about Peyt's Island again soon!

Space-Adventure!

Ever since I left my second job in November, I have been tentatively planning to come back to the States for a visit in January. Nick was going to be off island, things at the church would be fairly low key, and the rest of my days were wide open. Combine that with one of the military's most lucrative benefits---Space-A travel---and I had a recipe for a glorious visit.

In Space-A travel, the "A" technically stands for "available." But it could just as easily stand for "adventure." Every day the military has different kinds of planes in transit for various reasons between its bases all over the world. One of the benefits of being an active duty spouse stationed overseas is having access to fly Space-Available without my sponsor (Nick). Basically, if there's an available seat and you want on, you've got a free flight to wherever the plane is heading. The catch is that the flight you're waiting for may not take passengers, may not take off, or may not ever even arrive.

Being in Guam the past six months, I've heard a number of exciting and horrifying stories about Space-A, which is why I approached my trip back to the States hesitantly. Some stories I've heard boast about how easy it was for someone to drive from their house five minutes from the terminal, get on a plane that stopped once in Hawaii and fly onward to a base just miles from their final destination all for the fabulous bargain price of zero dollars. On the other hand, I've also heard stories of people who tried every single day for two solid weeks to get off Guam. And others who got on a plane to head back to Guam who flew halfway home only to have the plane turn around midair and return to its takeoff spot where passengers had to start all over again waiting for a flight. All in all, it's a total gamble. But considering the possibility of seeing so many friends and family while I had the time to spare, I figured it was worth the risk.

So Wednesday afternoon, Nick and I drove to the air force base, 45 minutes from home, to find out the flight outlook for the next 72 hours. I'd been tracking flights all week by calling the 24-hour hotline and I knew that there hadn't been any the last few days. I was a bit worried that whatever flights there were would be packed with interested passengers who had been trying to get out amid the absence of flights. The guy at the terminal said there wasn't much in the next few days. The first flight he told us about was to Elmendorf Air Force Base. I looked at Nick and said, "Umm, isn't that in Alaska?" Sure enough. I laughed out loud and quickly moved on with, "Okay, what else you got?" There was a plane going to Hawaii then on to Northern California three days out, but it was on an unreliable plane and there was no word on how many seats would be available. All in all, not great news considering I was hoping to start flying out the next day to maximize my time in the States.

Taking advantage of our gas usage to get to the air force base, Nick and I embarked on a round of golf (I mean, it was ladies-play-free Wednesday). Somewhere around hole 7 (with my mind clearly on Space-A and not on my chip shots), I said, "Hey, aren't Ashley and Robbie stationed at Elmendorf?" Sure enough. Then Nick piped in with some other rationales that he must have been mulling over. "I know it sounds kind of ridiculous, but you'll have a lot better chance of making it to San Diego if you just get off Guam. If I were you, I'd hop on the first flight heading East." An interesting thought. Alaska in January? Could my venture to friends and family in the Lower 48 really require a trip from the equator to practically the North Pole?

After getting in touch with my Elmendorf friends and having a backup of a place to stay, plus the prospect of a bonus visit with friends I hadn't seen in ages, my Space-A journey began. Nick dropped me off at the terminal on Thursday night around 11pm. When we left the house the flight was supposed to check in at 2:30 a.m. and rather than interrupt both of our sleep that night, I decided to bear the brunt of the inconvenience. When we checked in at the terminal we found out that the Elmendorf flight wasn't actually checking in until 8a.m. Awesome. That meant, because of our one-car transportation setup, I was spending the night in the terminal with no guarantee that it would get me anywhere. BUT there was a bonus flight to Hawaii that was leaving before then that I had a chance to get on, so things were looking good either way.  So Nick left and we said goodbye not knowing if we'd see each other the next month or the next day. The rest of the night was long and sleepless, as the Hawaii flight never panned out, and I waited hour by hour for 8am to get there to find out if I would be one of the 20 possible passengers who got a spot.

C-17 I crossed the northern hemisphere in

Many granola bars and too many hours on Facebook later, 8a.m. finally came. Turns out despite all the people trying to get off Guam, only two... TWO... people were interested in Alaska in January, despite the 54 available seats. But at least one of the uncertainties (not getting a spot) was taken away. We got boarding passes, went through security, and were waiting for our ride to the plane when we heard there was a "maintenance" issue that would set us back an hour. Uh-oh. An hour went by. Then another half hour. We were getting antsy, so we had the terminal guy call the flight crew guy, who reported that they hadn't even spotted the maintenance issue at that point. Great. I texted Nick to tell him I might need a ride home after all of that sleeplessness (in the back of my mind, I'm thinking, what Alaska flight crew wants to fly off 85-degree Guam back to Alaska in January???). As soon as I hit "send" on the text, a knock on the door came and a guy in a flight suit said, "We're ready!"

Instantly, a bus arrived to take us to a C-17, a plane Nick has traveled in to and from deployments on many occasions. I could tell as he described my flight options, he was kind of excited for me to get a chance to fly in one of these, and he prepared me well for the ride. Sure enough, the inside was enormous! It's like a flying warehouse, with plenty of room to hold pallets of gear, supplies, etc., that the military is transporting across the world. Supposedly I lucked out because not only were there not a lot of people on this flight (flight crew + 2 passengers), but there was only one single pallet. Nick said he and his guys never traveled that light before.

In addition to requiring spontaneous maintenance, military aircraft are notorious for being freezing cold inside, like 40 degrees. Those of you who know me well know I get cold in a climate change as simple as shade... and that my feet are often mysteriously colder than the surrounding outside air (Nick still marvels at this). So to get around this, Nick hooked me up with his super compactable down sleeping bag for warmth, and a blow-up ground pad for comfort. I got on the flight, set up my nest, and with the help of earplugs and an eye mask, passed out for the first half of the nine-hour flight. It was hands down the most glorious plane sleep I have ever had, especially considering how tired I was from pulling an all-nighter the night before. I had to take a picture (awkwardly on self-timer) to show you all what it looks like in there. Pretty sweet way to travel!

I arrived in Alaska at 1:30a.m. It was sooo cooooold! I was pleasantly shocked to see my friends there to pick me up at the terminal so late, especially considering Ashley is literally days away from giving birth to their first child. They scooped me up and drove me to their cozy house where I spent my first ever trip to USA North. And so my journey home had begun and already taken a surprising turn. But I was definitely closer than when I started and excited to find out where Space-A travel might take me next. All this adventure for the bargain price of zero dollars. Not bad!