Grounded!

We are still at Travis AFB. Three or four of the "Hickalulu" flights have been canceled this week, and the prospective passengers keep flooding in here. We overlooked one critical bit in our planning (or lack thereof) - that February school vacations are affecting the volume of our competition for flights. Active duty families have priority over us. The weather is lovely, except one day when I thought the wind would blow me into the next county as we were walking the mile to the Air Force Regional Medical Center on base to try out their cafeteria for lunch. There was a point when the cross-winds were so intense, I could not feel my left nostril.

There is not much more I can buy from the Base Exchange without purchasing another piece of luggage, and goldenbear70 says that is out of the question! We have already been here long enough to do laundry, but there is no charge for the machines, which are on every floor of this lodge. We are getting in lots of walking (1/3 mile to the dining hall; 1/2 to the terminal; 3/4 mile to the BX, etc.). We found the $1 DVD rentals in the lobby last night too, so as cousin Lynn said in her recent e-mail, "Life in the waiting line is not too bad."

We watched "Social Network" last night, and I kept searching for the English subtitles. Between their fast-talking, computerese, and switching time periods, I could barely tell what was happening. The other movie we rented, "RED," was very entertaining.

Today might be the day, but it is doubtful, because there must be at least 50 passengers for the two seats on the one flight tonight. There is a flight to Elmendorf, AK tomorrow that will connect with Yokoda, Japan, so maybe that will be the one that gets us on our way. If not, there are two more flights scheduled for Sunday to HI.

Meanwhile, at least we are escaping the cold temperatures in Charleston.

goldenbear's honey, signing off - no new photos

Waiting at Travis AFB

We arrived at Travis AFB mid-morning on a beautiful, sunny day - the kind of day that makes us wonder why we ever moved from this beautiful state with its nearly perfect climate. Lodging was only a few blocks' walk from the terminal, and the accommodations here are superb, as they were at McGuire. Goldenbear70 spent some time lining up our next flight possibility, which turned out to be Wednesday, 2/9. Roger contacted us to say they would like to get together. They were kind enough to drive up from Clayton Monday evening to take us for a delicious dinner at BJ's Brewery. Regretably, I forgot to get a photo of the four of us.

While our trip has been on hold, we have taken a couple of brisk walks, checked out the Base Exchange, caught up on some reading, and goldenbear70 took Roger's advice to see the collection of aircraft at the Aviation Museum across the road from our lodging (see http://www.flickr.com/photos/organize/?start_tab=one_set72157625865601077 for his photos).

It looks like we might get a flight to Hickam tomorrow, but then again, we might not. There are two flights posted; each has ten seats available. We know ten people, including us, who are waiting for those seats - the same ones who flew here with us from NJ. There may be other hopeful passengers lurking about, and we do not know our relative priority to theirs - all depends when they signed up. The plot thickens, as the saying goes.

If we have to stay here longer, maybe we will get to see some of our Napa friends. There is always a silver lining if you look for it. Don't forget to check out the Aviation Museum photos.

goldenbear70's honey

From Palm Trees to Snow in Just Over 3 Hours

The photo above is the All American [Air Force] Inn at McGuire AFB, New Jersey. We went south and east to go north, so we could go west--makes sense, right? We went to San Juan, PR last night with a great crew of a McGuire NJ-based C-17. Col Johnny Roscoe, Group Commander, and his crew gave us a great ride to and from San Juan, both last night and this morning. We were the only passengers on board, and we had the entire C-17 to ourselves. Business class has nothing on this!

Today Debbie helped land the plane in New Jersey! She went up into the cockpit about a half hour before landing, and sat behind the co-pilot for the rest of the flight. Her assigned duty was to watch for any other planes in the area through the (very) large windows on her right, and to inform the pilot and co-pilot if she saw any other traffic. She had a headset and mike on, and had a blast! She must have done well, because we landed without incident.

We were greeted by about a foot of snow on the ground in NJ--quite a difference from the 80 degree temperature in San Juan.

Tomorrow we're off to Travis AFB, California on a KC-10. Now it's "westward, west is calling..." on our way to Aussie-land!

All pictures of our trip can be found here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21984041@N08/sets/72157625865601077/

More tomorrow,

Goldenbear70

We Don't Know Where We Are Going Until We Get Here

The van driver who offered to take our picture (above) after we landed did not really get the idea we were going for. We did not want a photo of us so much as one of us with the plane we flew on, which he sort of missed. I had to first close my left and then my right eye as we were staring straight at the late afternoon sun.

The flight was great! I read a bit on the computer - helps to have the back-lit screen when they turn down the overhead lights. I had downloaded the book I wanted to read, and I was able to plug in the laptop to keep it charged. There were only four other passengers on the flight, and I took a nap for almost two hours, stretching out on three seats and snuggling in with pillows and blankets - actually CLEAN pillows and blankets, unlike those on commercial flights. Our box lunches were the usual: po-boy sandwich, chips, candy bar, nutrition fruit bar,water and soda - not a bad deal for $4.

Goldenbear70 was invited to go to the cockpit and "fly the plane" (in the same way he helped build the New York State Thruway on his pedal tractor when he was three years old). He observed in-flight refueling, which he said was thrilling.

Here we are in San Juan, Puerto Rico where it is mostly rainy, so we did not bother to go to the beach, but it was raining when we left Charleston too, and it is a lot warmer here. I felt 100% better as soon as I changed out of my wool sweater and into a cool top. The planes are pretty cold during the flight (not much insulation and flying at 35K feet), so we have to bundle up.

We did take a good walk to check out The Ritz Carlton, where Alan stayed when he came here solo in December and there were no rooms here at the Courtyard - hmmmm? or so he said. It is a beautiful hotel, as you would expect. TAt their jewelry store, I selected a pair of Roberto Coin 18K gold earrings for Alan to give me for Valentine's Day, Mothers' Day, our 40th wedding anniversary and/or my 60th birthday later this year - so much gift-giving opportunity for him this year!

Walking back from dinner we heard loud whistling - sort of like a Bob-White. We asked the Courtyard lobby staff, and they said it is the tree frogs - who knew frogs whistle?

Be sure to check our Flickr account for photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21984041@N08/

That's it for Saturday.
Goldenbear70 & his Honey

We're Off to See the Wizard - the Wonderful Wizard of Oz

We are embarking on perhaps the most circuitous route imaginable to Western Australia. Last night we called Charleston AFB and then drove over to get a flight to Dover, DE with the intent to connect on to Travis today. When we arrived at the terminal, we learned the flight had been re-routed to another destination. It is times like this that we are happy to live only five miles from the Flight Line.

Goldenbear70 spent hours on the phone and computer finding us a new itinerary. We got to watch our last Netflix film and sleep in our own bed one more time with the relaxed feeling that our bags were packed and already in the boot of the car. Today we are checked in for a flight to San Juan, PR. We plan to stay there tonight at the Courtyard (thank you for the discount, Carson), which is just outside the Base. The plan is to take a flight to McGuire tomorrow, stay another night, and continue on to Travis AFB in California on Monday.

From there, who knows? Elmendorf? Hickam? Yokoda? Singapore? We never know if we are even going to take off when we get on the plane with the engine running. Friends who we met on our last flight had to be disembarked emergency-style after an emergency abort to takeoff, so you see, we cannot predict what will happen. - the goal is to arrive in Perth, Western Australia in time to visit with our wonderful family and celebrate Aunt Muriel's 94th birthday with her on 4 March.

Goldenbear 70's Honey, signing off - Stay tuned!

The Odyssey Continues

Although many people already know at least some of our news either by individual contact or Facebook posts, we thought we would add a post to the blog to document the past few months and to update those who have lost our trail.

Before leaving for Israel and Europe we had made an offer to buy a house, a short sale in Las Vegas. We thought we would have months before we had to follow through, but to our surprise, the bank accepted our offer after only a month. By that time we were too far East to drive back to participate in inspections and finalizing the deal, and having only spent 45 minutes in the house before making the offer, we just did not feel ready to follow through, so we cancelled.

Carson & Mom at The Wynn/Encore Golf Course - Las Vegas, NV

After returning from our overseas trip at the end of May, we returned to Pennsylvania to visit Chris, Anne and family for a few days; then we drove across the country again to Denver to stay with Mark and Katie and visit Carson in Provo, UT and Las Vegas, NV. We accidentally got off our planned route and had a lovely drive through some of the most peaceful and beautiful countryside in Pennsylvania - including a few Amish communities.

We continued our search for real estate in Denver, found a house we liked and made an offer for less than the list price, which caused the deal to become a short sale. A short sale typically transpires in a time period that is anything but short. The transaction is so-named because the buyer is paying less (“short of”) what the seller owes on the property. The transaction is really between the buyer and the seller’s lender, so we had to wait for the mortgagor(s) to approve the offer we made to the mortgagee.

While waiting for that deal to percolate, we got restless and did not want to impose upon Mark & Katie, so we “taken off “ again (as Louis L’Amour says in many of his Western novels) for a road trip East. This time we dipped south into Missouri to take a look at Branson and visit Michelle Lim Anderson, our former neighbor and family friend from Gilroy and later St. Helena. We had a most enjoyable visit in her home in Gainesville, MO and met for the first time her husband, Jesse, and her two little boys, Zane and Ian.

We pressed on to the East to attend my maternal grandmother’s family reunion in Mize, GA (near Lavonia and Toccoa) on 26 June, where the food and fellowship were both wonderful! We really enjoyed meeting new cousins and visiting with many family members. It was especially great to spend the afternoon after the reunion with Jack and Mary Andrews. Jack is my mother’s first cousin and the last of her generation I know who are descendants of my great-grandparents. We toured their beautiful restored 1906 home in Carnesville, which should be featured in Architectural Digest or Southern Living. Jack was kind enough to drive us to see his gorgeous farm and to the cemetery where my parents and grandparents are buried, as well as to see the property where my mother was born and grew up. We soaked in all the family stories we could and had a wonderful time renewing friendships and making new friends.

Barn on my grandfather's farm between Lavonia and Carnesville.

My great-grandparents, Jesse M. and Nancy Gibson Andrews.

From northeast Georgia, we drove to Charleston and found we really like it there in spite of the heat wave that greeted us. We spent the week getting acquainted with the area and looking at houses that were for sale.

Folly Beach Boardwalk near Charleston.

After weighing the respective advantages of living in Denver versus living in Charleston, we decided to celebrate our 39th wedding anniversary on July 2 by making an offer on a house we liked. After it was accepted we let the Denver realtor know we were no longer interested in pursuing the short sale offer. Deciding factors were: Alan’s discomfort in the altitude and cold weather in Denver; proximity to Charleston Air Force Base, from which, we discovered, most of the Space A flights to Europe depart; lower cost of living; proximity to family on the East Coast; and the charm and beauty of Charleston.

Over the Fourth of July weekend, we drove up to Williamsburg to meet Andrew and Polina, who were apartment hunting in preparation for Polina to start law school at The College of William and Mary. We also spent the day at Virginia Beach where our niece, Julie, and her family joined us for lunch. They have recently relocated to Richmond from San Diego.

Fireworks sold in South Carolina BIG TIME!

It was time to leave for Pennsylvania to visit Chris, Anne and their family in their new house in Newtown. We stayed overnight with Julie and Rob in Richmond on the way up and became better acquainted with their sweet children, Jack and Gracie. We stayed in Pennsylvania for about ten days, three of which we tended Isabelle, Chase and Heather while Mom and Dad served as “Ma & Pa” for the Stake Pioneer Trek. While there, Chris’ Bishop asked Alan to speak on Pioneer Sunday about his conversion experience and being the first of his family to join the Church.

The heat wave that was in Charleston followed us to Newtown, and there were days we thought the humidity in Pennsylvania rivaled that which we had experienced in Charleston. Fortunately there was a neighborhood pool where we spent most afternoons watching Izzy and Chase jump and dive from the diving board and practice their swimming strokes. Heather (age 22 months) was quite a celebrity at the pool, because everyone marveled at her fearlessness in the water. I really should have made a video of her dipping her head into the water, blowing bubbles, and kick-kick-kicking with a big (open mouth) smile on her face. It was a challenge to keep up with her daring jumps into the water – all afternoon of guiding her to the pool steps to climb out while reminding her to keep her mouth closed and then racing over to the spot where she would jump in again. Once a total stranger caught her because I did not get back to the edge of the pool in time.

We returned to Charleston to participate in the inspection and finalizing of the arrangements to buy the house. The sale closed 30 July, and we had hard wood floors installed – extending the hard wood throughout the first floor before our household goods were delivered on 5 August. Unfortunately the floors were not quite dry, so the movers had to load everything into the Living Room, Dining Room, and Kitchen. The unpacking crew will come the first of September and will move the furniture into the bedrooms at that time.

Once again we drove to Denver – this time on I-70 to follow up with dermatologist treatments for Alan – atoning for his many days at the beach without sunscreen as a child and teen. Also, our movers wanted to charge us $1,000 to stop here on the way from California and pick up a few things we had stored here, so we decided it would be worth the drive to retrieve our possessions and finish with Alan’s treatments. Katie always does our hair when I am here, so we are spoiled. It will not be easy to find a stylist who is as talented and gives as much TLC as she does. We are enjoying the dryer and warm summer weather here in Denver and plan to return to Charleston by 31 August.

To recap, after nearly buying a house in Las Vegas, Denver – and even considering buying with Chris and Anne in Pennsylvania (a home with in-law quarters), we finally decided to move to Charleston, South Carolina. So, you now have friends in “LOW” places, as Garth's song goes – the “Low Country” of South Carolina, that is.

We will remember this summer as the one where we drove across the country several times in great comfort, thanks to our Lexus ES350 - 'heaven on wheels.' Our memories are filled with sweet experiences with many family members and friends, reading at least a dozen Louis L’Amour novels, and sampling chocolate & peanut butter ice cream concoctions everywhere we went, including our favorite, Halo Farms in New Jersey. We are not sure which ones are really the best, so we may have to do the test again next summer.

I promise more details about the new house in another entry, and “No,” we are not through traveling – just need to get our home base settled first. Stay tuned.

Goldenbear's Honey

18 May 2010: On the way home…, but where is that?

At least we THINK we might be on our way back to the States, but we have not decided. As one of my friends commented, we are improvising every step of the way.

We had a very nice two days in Tel Aviv at the Renaissance again. This time, though, the weather was humid and hazy – no beautiful clear views of the Med. The Med, however, was a little too cold for us to do anything but walk on the beach.

Each night we were there we were taken to dinner by one of Alan’s former business associates and his wife - a great treat, because locals know the best places to eat; moreover being with locals adds so much to a trip. Both nights were delightful experiences, and now I not only miss the country I have made friends with, but I miss the new friends I have there.

Today (Tuesday 5/18/10) is a full day of travel – first a taxi to the airport; then the flight to Rome, and now we wait for the connecting flight to Madrid. We got up, packed, had breakfast, and made it to the airport in plenty of time – so early, in fact, we were too early to check in. The airport staff sent us to – well – ‘chill’ at the terminal café for an hour before they would even let us go through security. It is a holiday in Israel today, Shavuot (or Feast of Weeks – I looked it up on the Internet, but I have forgotten the significance, except I remembered it is a time for serving cheesecake and cheese blintzes. I availed myself of plenty of those items at breakfast and again at the airport – it is only respectful, after all, to participate in the holiday.)

The holiday caused a problem for us in that we were not able to turn in our rented cell phone at the post office, which was closed. The airport information staff told us there was no recourse and had only criticism of the phone rental company. Later we found by e-mailing the person from whom we rented the phone that we forgot what she told us about turning it in. By the time we found out what we should have done with the phone, it was too late to do it, so we still have the phone. (UPDATE: This problem has since been resolved – just sent via FedEx to their office in NYC.)

Security in Israel is thorough! They ask why you are there, if you have any family there, if anyone gave you anything, who packed your bags, where they have been since you packed them, where you are going and why, how long you plan to be there …we passed the test and were allowed to have our bags x-rayed, checked and get to the gate.

The flight was crowded with two busloads of TOURists, and seats at the gate were scarce. Everyone had his hand-carry items on the floor in front of him. Alan got up to walk a bit, and left our hand luggage on the floor in front of his seat, beside mine. Just as he left the area, a man threw his hand-carry items into Alan’s seat and plopped himself in the seat next to it. I said nothing, but when Alan came back, he asked the man to remove his hand luggage so Alan could sit down. What made that guy think there were enough seats for him to sit in one and put his luggage in another?

It amused me to see the groups of tourists – grown people all wearing either blue ball caps or a yellow bandana around the neck – reminded me of a large group of cub scouts going on a field trip. We settled into our seats on the Alitalia plane and immediately noticed the plane was inferior to the one we had flown over on – the a/c was not working, the plane smelled stale, Alan’s seat would not recline– when the passenger in front of me reclined his seat, I practically had his head in my lap (and he kept pushing to see if it would go further), my tray table angled precariously to the left of center, making it impossible to fit it between my seat’s armrests, and the window shade was stuck in a not-quite-open position.

All of this combined with the expression on Alan’s face as he pulled the armrest between our two seats off its frame, revealing the electrical cords, sent me into a giggle fit, and I then needed to go to the rest room. Alan had to pull me up by my hand to extricate me from beneath the man’s body that was practically lying in my lap, and the lady on the aisle had to get up. As I started to walk to the back of the plane, the flight attendant signaled that I had to sit down again – after going to all that trouble. Finally, after they started serving our snack, I was able to get to the lavatory, but there was a line. When I did get a turn, it was out of TP.

Fortunately I fell asleep after I ate – there was nothing better to do – the air is too dry for me to read, and the television was in Italian.

When we arrived in Rome three hours later we accidentally went out of the security area and had to get in line again to go through the magnetron and have our passports stamped again. We grabbed some food and took turns reading our Louis L’Amour paperback.

(Somehow the settings on my camera created the above effect: Alan reading Louis L'Amour.)

Maybe we should go home. I miss my family, having good TP (or at least some TP), I am tired of not knowing what the signs say (where do I get to ‘press one for English?’), and I want to find out where home is. On the other hand, after a good night’s sleep, we might decide on another destination.

Added 6/9/2010: We arrived back Stateside the next day after a much more pleasant flight from Rome to Madrid, a delightful train ride back to Rota,

Above: 1) Turtles in the "rain forest" inside Madrid Train Station; 2) Alan outside our train.

--and a flight to McGuire the next morning. Fortunately, even though we had no reservation at the Rota Navy Lodge, a cancellation came in at 6 p.m., and we got a room. We arrived at McGuire late, but were able to get a connecting flight to Dover the same night and retrieve our car. We expected the battery to be dead since we have a keyless entry that is constantly searching for a key, but we were able to start the engine and drive to a Marriott property close by, where Carson’s discount once again saved us money.

The next morning we drove to Courtyard at Hopewell, NJ and visited with Anne, Chris and the children for the rest of the week and the weekend. Isabelle and Chase spent Saturday night with us at the hotel – great fun! We drove across to Denver again and spent a weekend with Mark, Katie and Carson at M & K’s house. We spent another week with them while we looked for houses, and now we are in Provo visiting Carson. Since it is now Summer Vacation for most school children we are going to postpone Space A flights until the Fall, but we might take a road trip or two.

Goldenbear’s Honey