Warrens in SEATTLE

Well, on March 25th we flew from San Diego to Seattle, WA for the first leg of our trip across the world. It was a full-time job to get out of Pendleton. First the movers came, all three sets (household goods, unaccompanied baggage and finally, storage). We spent the last three or four days in California going in  circles from IPAC to... no, I guess we just circled the IPAC building many times over.  Bless their hearts...

Jonah checked out of the squadron and we picked up our tickets, headed to a strange place in the middle of San Diego to drop off the 'ol faithful four-runner and said our goodbyes. I didn't really think I'd miss San Diego, but I do. I started thinking about some amazing friends I left behind, Pizza Port, La Jolla and the dry, dusty mountains of Camp Pendleton. I really loved living on Camp Pendleton actually. But lets just get back to the PCS story...

We got to the airport that afternoon and checked in to the AMC counter, which was so discreet we walked by it a few times before realizing where it was.  So here we were at about 5:30pm in Seattle and our flight didn't leave until 1am. We ate at a resteraunt to kill some time, and then it was 6pm. No, just kidding, but it did feel that way. Luckily, earlier we had seen a sign for the USO while we were looking for the AMC counter. We went to check it out and it was really AWESOME. There were free hotdogs, free wifi, computers, bunks, a kids playroom and a movie-viewing room with comfortable seats.  This definitely helps the time go by when you have a long layover. So, at 11:45 or so they politely kicked us all out so that we didn't miss our flight. We walked over to our gate and waited. They pre-boarded the mothers and babies and everything seemed good. Around 12:30 am everyone pretty much fell asleep. At 1 am I woke up to the mothers bringing grumpy, screaming babies back (foreshadowing our flight experience),  but everyone was still asleep around me and I sort of panicked when I saw what time it was. We were supposed to leave at 1 am. Finally about 1:30 the official told us the flight was delayed 24 hours.  CRAP.

I was VERY surprised to learn that they would be putting us up in hotel rooms for the night, complete with meal vouchers for the day. Amazingly enough, our hotel was right across from the airport (literally walking distance) and there was a tram there that took you all the way into the city.  We slept the rest of the night and in the morning took the ride into Seattle. We went to the Space Needle first.

We had some Starbucks coffee atop the Space Needle just to make the experience truly Seattley : )


Next, we went to Pike Place near the water for lunch. I enjoyed this more than the Space Needle actually. It had a really neat market inside where people were selling gorgeous bouquets of flowers, fresh fruits and vegetables, tote bags and tshirts and most importantly, fresh seafood. I had fish and chips and I can't remember what Jonah had. Sorry Jonah.

Our plane delay was really a BLESSING in disguise. I had always wanted to see Seattle, and to have an all expense-paid afternoon in Seattle courtesy of the Department of Defense was fantastic. The Marine Corps certainly gets theirs but sometimes you have little opportunities to get yours too!

We headed back to our hotel after lunch. We took showers, ate some dinner and rested before heading back to the airport. I have to say, it worked out well because we were more well-rested for our journey ahead than we had been the night before. We flew to Anchorage, Alaska first and had a two-hour layover at a tiny airport that we shared with some Japanese people on the only other flight leaving there that night.

We boarded the plane again and traveled most of the night and morning to mainland Japan. We landed at Yakota Air Base and we were able to walk Minnie. I really enjoyed the AMC flight because the food and headphones for movies were free. We probably ate six meals on that plane during our whole trip. It could have been pretty expensive. However, the best part about the AMC flight was that I was able to keep Minnie with me in the passenger cabin the whole way to Okinawa. Most of which, she was underneath a blanket in my lap.

We flew over Mount Fuji on our way to Oki. It was really neat because the very top of the mountain broke through the clouds. I was extremely grateful we were able to see the beautiful snow-capped mountain and the cloud ring around it- it was an unusual sight. We finally arrived at Kadena Air Force Base on Okinawa around noon on Saturday (Okinawa time).

Overall, I think the trip from Seattle to Okinawa (layovers included) took about 20 hours. If you flew AMC from San Diego and your flight wasn't delayed, it would take well over 24 hours to get here (counting layovers). This is by Katie Warren's math, which is not extremely creditable but I think that's right...?

Whew! There's our PCS story, minus Minnie's grand plot to stay in California, which is a story in itself and this is sooo long already, so thanks for reading! Or should I say... "Domo Arigato!"      (...Mr. Roboto)