Getting There

Getting to the island made for a very long day (or two?), it's hard to keep track of the day/time when traveling such great distances!  I started off on a non-stop flight from DC to Seattle.  Keep in mind that it was just me and I was traveling with our two cats.  This is the first time we have used air travel to get them anywhere.  I was a bit nervous about the whole process.  The airline had done a great job of explaining the process to me over the phone, but nonetheless, I was still nervous!  Arrived to the airport 3 hours prior to my flight, as directed.  That way we could check in the cats before the "crowds" hit their little ticket counter.  Took about 45 minutes to check them in.  The airline was using it is a training situation for some new employees.  Felt relieved to have everything done exactly right.  The cats were cleared for flight!  Little did they know how long their adventure was going to be!

Starting my journey!

As we are sitting on the flight preparing for taxi, the electricity goes out on the aircraft.  Inwardly, I'm yelling "NOOOO!!!!"; I have zero wiggle room for flight changes as I have to be in Seattle by a certain time.  Took a bit for them to reset the circuit breakers on the aircraft and go through pre-flight again.  Ended up being about an hour delay...whew!  The 6 hour flight wasn't too bad and went quickly.  Tried taking a nap and ended up sleeping for about 30 minutes...then woke up to a bloody nose!  Wow that plane was super dry!  Took awhile to get it to stop...after that no more napping on this flight!  We landed in Seattle, I got my luggage, and then got my cats.  I had 3 1/2 hours until I needed to be at check-in for my next flight.  I had reserved an airport hotel room and decided I was going to go there to shower, try and take a nap, and clean out the cat kennels.  Had some nice airport volunteers help me cart all my stuff to the hotel shuttle area.  Got to the hotel and did everything I was planning on doing.  I was so glad that I had gotten the hotel room.  I'm sure the cats were very happy too!

Next step was carting my luggage and cats back to the airport.  Luckily, the same shuttle driver was working and helped me get all my stuff set up on a luggage cart at the airport.  We were allowed to check-in between 0130-0430.  I got there about 0250.  About 20 people were in line waiting to check-in.  Pet owners are required to check-in on the side of the check-in area (there was a sign).  The other pet owners had started showing up at 0230.  Check-in took about 45 minutes.  After that the pet owners were required to remain in that area with their pets until 0430.  Good group of people to talk to and help each other out.  We took turns watching other pets while their owners went to the bathroom, got a drink, etc.

For anyone reading this who is curious about how long the normal line took.  My friend showed up in the single line at 0130...she was still in line when I got there at 0250.  She processed through the line by 0315.  Seemed like a ton of people were there at 0130.  After the line cleared around 0315, it was a steady trickle of new arrivals until 0415.  The only benefit of early arrival for single people is the chance to select your own seat.  They seemed to only ask a certain amount of people where they wanted to sit.  My friend was able to select her seat as was the person behind her.  After that they seemed to just assign the seat.  My seat was just assigned.  If you are traveling as a family, the sponsor upon check-in must have all dependent ID cards with them to complete check-in, along with all checked baggage.  I know of a few families who stayed at the hotel a bit longer while the sponsor checked them in.

The flight from Seattle to Yokota was very long.  They showed movies on the screens located above the seats (every few rows of seats had 1 little tv in the middle).  These were not kid-friendly movies.  Though I enjoyed them I was glad my son was not on the flight to see them.  They were action movies, probably rated PG-13.  The flight was full of young children.  I took brief naps throughout the flight, nothing over 40 minutes.  The airline gave us breakfast and then lunch.  You are crammed in there; just remember it's a budget airline.  I alternated between listening to music, watching the movies, reading my book, staring off in the distance, playing my DS, playing with the little ones around me, and napping.  It took a little over 10 hours to travel this leg of the journey.

At Yokota, they get off those who had arrived at their travel destination and had them clear customs.  Then they let us off.  We go into a little terminal and had 30 minutes before we had to be through security  and be sitting at the gate.  I had gotten pre-approval to go out of the terminal with a friend assigned to the base.  The pre-approval also granted me an additional 30 minutes.  Stopped by my cats to check on them and give them more water.  For those traveling with dogs, they had a little pet relief grassy area you could take your pet too.  In addition, you could refill their water and food.  My friend took me to Coco's Curry House...my first taste of Japanese food and culture!  It was delicious!  Great to see my friend after so many years.  So glad they allowed me the chance to spend time with my friend.  Got cleared through security and was back at the terminal with a few minutes to spare.  We loaded up on the airplane and then *surprise* we have a mechanical problem.  That's okay, because my seatmate got off on this leg of the flight and nobody else was assigned to that seat.  I now had a window seat and a row to myself!  Took about 30 minutes to fix the problem then off we went to our next destination.

We got to the next destination 1hr 10 mins later.  It was cold and drizzly.  Again, those that ended their travels there got off first, had to clear customs, then we were allowed to get off the plane.  They took off the pets again so we could walk them/feed them.  This terminal only had a vending machine, however, they did bring a food truck around.  It had chips, candy, drinks, and a limited amount of KFC popcorn chicken.  We had a 3 hr layover here.  They seemed to be strict with children and did not want them running around, playing, talking loud, etc.  Poor families with those young ones.  We'd been traveling now/stuck in terminals for almost 1 full day.  Almost everyone looks and feels like a zombie at this point.  Conversation with fellow travelers is absolutely hilarious.  We are forgetting common words, trail off mid-sentence, etc.  Back on the plane for the last leg of the journey.

The last part of the journey took a little over 2 hrs.  I think everyone just slept from pure exhaustion.  I know I finally fell asleep and slept most of the trip.  We landed when it was dark; couldn't see much of the island except for the lights.  They let families off first to clear through customs.  Then everyone else.  All dorm residents cleared customs then remained behind as a group.  We had to then wait for luggage (took a long time).  I had to clear the pets through customs at this stage too.  Once I had everything, I went up to the announcer who announced me to the waiting crowd.  I was only expecting my sponsor and one other (needed 2 cars due to my kennels and luggage), however, I was happily shocked to see my new Commander, Chief Nurse, and multiple other new co-workers!  What a great way to be welcomed to my new unit! 

First requirement was figuring out how to fit the 2 kennels into one car and my luggage in another.  We made it work!  Then we had to go to the Kennel first to drop off the cats.  They aren't allowed in my lodging room.  Plus, they need to finish the 180 day quarantine (just a few more weeks).  They have a nice 2 cat story enclosure with separate food/water area and a separate litter area.  Very nice temperature controlled room they are in.  They are allowed to share the same enclosure, which will make them very happy after being separated on their journey over.  The front of their enclosure is all clear view glass/plastic so they can look around the room and not feel so enclosed.  Very nice staff too.  After the cats were dropped off my sponsor took me to my lodging room.  She had gotten my keys earlier in the day and set me up with some food/drinks.  It was about 1100pm at this time.  I was so hyped up and excited to be there that I knew I wasn't going to fall asleep right away.  So I unpacked, cleaned the stinky cat kennels out, took a shower, and made contact with my family.  I fell asleep around 0130.