Riding in a KC135 on the way home

We had an amazing trip, learned how to sleep just about anywhere, anytime (Dave already knew this well, but I developed the skill, too!), and had lots of adventures and laughs. One of the funniest on our way home yesterday was listening to Sam during the pre-flight safety briefings (we flew space-a on military air refueling planes).  The “boom” (the person who is in charge of refueling) was pointing out all the oxygen masks (some of which are really large, like the kind you’d picture on a hazmat suit), bags you’d put over your head and seal tight, cylinders you have to pop open somehow to get oxygen, and how the hatch would fall open on you in an emergency, allowing the ramp to come down. I don’t remember it all since I was busy feeding Ben Cheerios to keep him from screeching and interrupting. Sam piped up several times during the briefing, saying fairly loudly “I don’t WANT the bag!” or “Why is the DOOR going to fall away?” and finally with some interest “Is that MY mask?” It’s interesting watching him absorb experiences around him, interpret them, and respond. The flights were good (although the cross-country flight was way too bumpy for my taste – but the boom said he’s refueled planes even in major turbulence – wow! Talk about white-knuckle nerves.) It’s a little strange flying with no windows, but there’s so much interesting stuff to look at inside the plane, and the crews are amazing. They only take about 10 passengers at a time, so after much waiting and hoping that your name is called it’s like winning the lottery when you get processed for a ticket. Then more joy when you get into the “sterile” area just before heading out on the shuttle to the plane, then even greater joy when the huge jet engines rev and you feel the force of takeoff. It’s no dull moment, making commercial flight rather boring and uneventful. We spent about 4 hours waiting for a flight which ended up evaporating (came in late from GER then the crew needed a night’s rest, then it didn’t even show up on the flight boards the next day – the mission was discontinued). We then waited another 4 hours in the terminal for a mechanical issue to be resolved before finally taking off on a different plane the next day. Upon arrival in CA, we waited about 5 hours between flights, hoping to catch a connection to HI. Thankfully, Dave’s registration was “aged” enough that we were top of the list for category III travelers. We planned it all as well as we could and prayers took care of the rest. (Thanks to our moms for that – we kept them updated by text msg :)).

During the flight, they had to wear ear plugs since it was pretty loud. Both boys cooperated, Ben most amazingly! Ben also enjoyed peeking over his car seat and playing hide-n-seek with the air crew behind him. His ready, wide smile engaged everyone he met along the way, and Sam’s ukulele playing brought smiles throughout the terminal and even some hula dancing among the terminal reps.

UPDATE: I was just talking to Dave’s mom (who went through ALL the pictures already!) and she reminded me of some funny things. For instance – If I never see another NutriGrain breakfast bar this year that will be just fine. Poor Ben ate nothing but NutriGrain bars for about 12 hours since the second flight forgot to pack the meals we ordered. Thankfully we had a ton of snacks with us, but his ah-hem effluence today looked a lot like what he ate all day yesterday…  And the plane we rode yesterday to Hawaii – it started out super cold, then got super hot once they got the heat working. It was cold at  your feet but hot at your head – you’d want to strip down to a t-shirt up top but wrap a blanket around your feet. Probably 60 degree temp swing in 4 ft vertical. Crazy! (Rather like the temp swings we experienced while traveling – 40 in NJ and Scotland, then 96 on Long Island!). Gail (Dave’s mom) commented that she was glad we were traveling via military flights, hopefully reducing the exposure to crowds and swine flu. Ironically, when we landed in Hawaii, the other family traveling with us mentioned they’d been in Mexico for a week! When I raised my eyes and asked if they’d seen the note about health screenings, the husband piped up that he told his wife not to say anything. Then she added “But we stayed in an all-inclusive resort, so we never left.” Ahhhh…and probably the resort workers lived at the resort and didn’t have to leave, either? How nice! And on that note, a huge highlight for me was getting a chance to catch up with Louise-Anne, my former professor, first client, friend and mentor. We talked about swine flu (she has been tapped to aid in the response for New York State), and she said one of the reasons it’s particularly hard on young, healthy people is precisely because of their health – their immune response is vigorous, sometimes overwhelming the body causing fluid accumulation and pneumonia. While recognizing the seriousness of disease, we maintained our sense of humor – as I took a sip of Scotch from my travel flask, I noted that traveling with two children keeps one tired and stressed out, so perhaps I’d be in good shape if exposed! Just suppress the immune system with sleep deprivation, stress and Scotch… Unfortunately our children were so great that I never actually got sick once.

We are happy to be home, listening to the birds chirping, the sun twinkling through the garden (which really grew while we were away) and feel refreshed after 10 hours of sleep. Dave is taking today off, so we’re throwing dune-size piles of laundry in the wash and heading out for some beach and sun… Miss you all, but hope you enjoy sifting through the memories along with us. Click photo above to go to the album (photos in chronological order, so head toward the bottom if you’ve already seen some of them).

Aloha!