Indy - BFB - Indy

Author Message   Jerry Gonya Senior Member Username: Jgonya Post Number: 403 Registered: 09-2005 Posted From: 65.29.246.135 Posted on Friday, February 26, 2010 - 12:24 am:    Rebecca, I'm glad you made it! It was so tempting to give it a try. Especially after posting the 3 flights to Hawaii! I called on the first flight and was told that there was a swarm of people wanting on the flight. Being a cat 6 I figured it would be hopeless. I got spoiled by the Milwaukee 128th ARW that I would hate to fly commercial! They are the best!   Phyllis DeLancey Senior Member Username: Phyllis Post Number: 2582 Registered: 06-2003 Posted From: 99.97.181.160 Posted on Thursday, February 18, 2010 - 12:07 am:    Becky, be glad you and Mike did all that climbing and hiking on this trip. I don't think Jim or I could do Diamond Head or some of the other things we did on the first trip out there. Sure don't think you need Weight Watcher's, but good for you for going.   Rebecca Johnson Senior Member Username: Rjohnson Post Number: 506 Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 98.253.17.52 Posted on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 - 06:03 pm:    John D, ... It's been so cold and snowy here in Indiana. We hung in there cause we wanted to feel that Hawaiian sunshine SO BAD!   John D. Moderator Username: John_d Post Number: 3995 Registered: 06-2003 Posted From: 95.208.80.143 Posted on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 - 05:57 pm:    Rebecca, Your journey and determination were far from routine!   Rebecca Johnson Senior Member Username: Rjohnson Post Number: 505 Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 98.253.17.52 Posted on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 - 05:48 pm:    Phil asked ... "did the honey-do's get done?" Of course! Love that military work ethic.   Phil Doubleman Senior Member Username: Phil Post Number: 1461 Registered: 08-2005 Posted From: 68.35.71.161 Posted on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 - 01:01 pm:    Great report, Becky. Sorry about the problems but glad you made it. Also sorry that we missed you. Did the "honey do's" get done?   Rebecca Johnson Senior Member Username: Rjohnson Post Number: 504 Registered: 06-2008 Posted From: 98.253.17.52 Posted on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 - 04:11 am:    RE: “No one else at the BFB reunion must have had a Space-A experience, or they aren't back yet!!” I didn't post a trip report as I, too, thought our trip to BFB was probably a fairly routine visit to Oahu. But I saw Phil Doubleman's post, and decided to add my own. As you will see, the portions of our trip involving Space-A were difficult. But keep in mind, our three previous Space-A trips (Hawaii, Hawaii, and Spain) were amazing. My husband's 21 day leave started on January 23rd, so at 12:01 a.m., I signed up at all bases I thought would even remotely be involved in our trip. It was my goal to have a Mai Tai in my hand, at the Barefoot Bar at the Hale Koa, by nightfall on Wednesday, January 27th. Even though we normally begin our Hawaii-bound trips from Scott AFB, IL (a four hour drive from home), Scott didn't have any flights Travis-bound until later in the week. I knew that the Milwaukee 128th ARW was going to Travis on Tuesday morning, January 26th, and also a flight directly to Hickam AFB on Saturday, January 30th . Even though the January 30th flight was very tempting, it was my goal to get to Hawaii by the 27th, in the time for the start of the BFB get-together on the 28th. Also, I wanted a good portion of my husband's leave left over after Hawaii to devote to a nice little “honey do” list I had here at home. So, after a flurry of e-mails back and forth with Phil Doubleman (who was on-the-scene at Travis), I decided to take Milwaukee's Travis-bound flight on the 26th, and then hopefully catch a Hickam-bound flight from Travis on the 27th. Sounded like a pretty reasonable plan to me. So, on Monday afternoon, January 25th, we drove up to Milwaukee (a five hour drive from our home in the Indpls area). The Milwaukee 128th ARW is located adjacent to the Milwaukee airport, so we spent the night at a Wyndham Inn near the airport (Priceline, $35). Showtime was 0900, but we arrived a little after 0700. The pax reps are great. While my husband was getting the car to long term parking, the pax reps very graciously showed me the “lay of the land” .... coffee, snacks, remote for the TV, restrooms, etc. I had just got settled on their comfy leather couch, when my husband arrived back from long term parking. As he was walking through the terminal area to meet up with me, one of the pax reps was on the phone, but motioned for him to stop. I think the pax reps were a bit surprised ....the phone call was to inform them that the mission had just been cancelled. They said it was only the second cancellation in the last two years. Okay, time for Plan B. I decided we would drive down to Scott (about five hours) to try for a McChord-bound medevac flight on Wednesday morning. McChord then had a flight listed for Hickam on Thursday. I had to move the Mai Tai plan back 24 hours, but that was OK. Lodging was full at Scott, but we were able to get a room nearby (again, Priceline $35). We showed up on Wednesday morning, only to be told the flight had slipped 24 hours. Lodging was still full, so, did the Priceline thing again. Spent the day Wednesday seeing a movie (The Blind Side) and shopping at the Bass Pro Shop in nearby St. Louis. Arrived back at the terminal on Thursday morning, got checked in, ordered box lunches, I think we even got boarding passes, and then the pax reps were informed that the plane was full, and would take no passengers. At this point, either had the “scrap the mission”, or formulate a Plan C. Although we drove home on Thursday afternoon, we are not quitters. On Friday evening, Plan C went into action. We bought one way tickets ($69 ea) from Indpls to Milwaukee. Was again able to get the Wyndham on Priceline for $35, which worked out great because they had an airport shuttle. The shuttle even took us directly to the Milwaukee 128th ARW terminal the next morning. It was a long 10 ½ hour flight on a packed KC135 (lots of duty pax). I did get to ride in the cockpit on take-off; that was really cool. We arrived at Hickam at about 17:00 local time. We had reservations at Hertz, so were quickly on our way to Waikiki. Quickly checked in at the Maile Sky Court (thank you Uncle Bud, and Discount Hotels Hawaii), then walked the 10 minutes or so to the Hale Koa. It was a small group that night, as most were at the Lt Dan Band concert at Hickam. Had my Mai Tai, met a few SPAT, then turned in. I agree with Phil, the drinks were expensive and disappointing. On Sunday, we went to the Swap Meet at the Aloha Stadium. After two nights, moved to Five Palms at Kaneohe. Except for the Admiral's Tour at Pearl Harbor on Tuesday morning, we didn't really schedule ourselves anywhere. After breakfast in the mornings, we would throw swimsuits, hiking clothes, and guidebooks in the car, and just head out. We enjoyed an afternoon on the beach at Bellows, another afternoon was spent at the beach at Kaneohe. One day we drove up to Turtle Bay and rode horses on the beach. Afterwards, we backtracked a little bit, and headed for the shrimp trucks in Kahuku. Then, trekked around the North Shore. Got knocked over by a giant wave at Sunset Beach, and had shave ice in Hale'iwa. Another day we hiked the Manoa Falls Trail, and later relaxed at one of the gorgeous lagoons at Ko Olina (thank you Bertie). One evening, had a great dinner at Jin Joo's Korean BBQ in Aiwa (thank you Marv). Oh, one day had some delicious macadamia nut pancakes at Boots and Kikos in Kailua (thank you to the sailor we had breakfast with one day at Kaneohe). Oh, and the Mongolian BBQ on Wednesday night at the Officers Club at Kaneohe was outstanding (I can't remember if the marine's call the club something different, sorry). I should note here, I started back at Weight Watcher's tonight ...... On Thursday, we got a room at the Gateway Inn at Pearl Harbor. Milwaukee was heading back on Friday. Two hours before showtime, they called to tell us they had decided to head back on Sunday instead. Although it was tempting to stay, I wanted to be home for my Mom's birthday celebration on Saturday. We had exactly 20 minutes to put a Plan B into action (Hickam to Travis). We arrived just as they were finishing roll call for the 13 available seats. We alerted the pax reps that we would like to get on that flight, and noticed that there were others who were hoping to make it, also. The pax rep was wonderful. She requested that more seats be released. They released six more, and everybody got to go. There was a delay of about 1 ½ hours while they had to source a part for the plane, a C17. During that time, we were able to turn the rental car in, and I got on the computers at the USO and purchased one way tickets home from Sacramento to Indy. At Travis, used Stan's Transport Service to get to the Sacramento airport (highly recommend Stan, he is very reliable and reasonable). We had a wonderful, relaxing time (once we GOT there). Enjoyed meeting everybody.