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Message |
    
Carole G
Member
Username: Greengal
Post Number: 42
Registered: 01-2010
Posted From: 205.172.16.179
| | Posted on Thursday, April 01, 2010 - 05:42 am: | |
Good luck Tony! We made it all the way to Guam and are now back in Hawaii. This board is sure a life saver for a first
trip. We have had a great trip thanks to the things I had learned from this board before we left Florida.
Happy Travels
Carole |
Anthony W Wojcik
Member
Username: Wojo
Post Number: 10
Registered: 02-2010
Posted From: 209.103.248.122
| | Posted on Thursday, April 01, 2010 - 02:45 am: | |
Thanks Greg,
We are going to give it another try the first week in May. We are learning a lot from this board. We discussed Plan A,B,and C tonight. Hope we don't get to F this time!!
Tony |
Greg
Intermediate Member
Username: Greg126
Post Number: 82
Registered: 06-2003
Posted From: 165.91.114.19
| | Posted on Thursday, March 25, 2010 - 02:54 pm: | |
Take a look at AMTRAK from Colo to St Louis via Kansas City. I pull up $146 fare before any discounts for which you may be eligible. I used Trinidad (as opposed to La Junta or Lamar) because its on I25 so figured it might be easiest to get to. There is an AMTRAK thruway connection that stops in Colo Springs but its intended for going the other direction so I can't pull up a fare but if you talk to a real person they may be able to ticket that.
Might not be as direct but would be more comfortable than the bus. |
Anthony W Wojcik
Member
Username: Wojo
Post Number: 9
Registered: 02-2010
Posted From: 209.103.248.122
| | Posted on Wednesday, March 24, 2010 - 09:39 pm: | |
Our First Space A Adventure—February 21st thru March 2nd!
First of all thank you everyone for all the advice and help along the way. If we had not read this board I think this would have been a horror story instead of an adventure.
Sunday, Feb 21st. Did not make the Milwaukee flight cut so drove down to Scott AFB (right outside St Louis) a five hour drive for us. Spent the night in the lodge ($39) very clean and nice. Next day caught a flight to McCord AFB (Seattle). It was a medical flight. We did not leave the plane but just dropped off some personnel and left for Miramar. Was able to take pictures on plane after patients were left off but not able to take pictures outside the plane .
Landed at Miramar to let more personnel off but now flight crew had too many hours so we stayed the night at Miramar and left early AM for Travis. The lodge (Marine) was just OK and if was about $80?. Not nearly as nice as the AFB lodge.
It was disappointing to find out a flight to Hickham had left about an hour earlier and we could have made it! Oh well, wait for the next one.
Checked into Travis AFB lodge. It is beautiful and rooms again were only $39. Base is nice but only place to eat was the bowling alley or a pizza place unless you so to the commissary. (Found out the hospital will left you eat there but didn’t know this until later.) There is busing on the base. We used our feet or Stan who drives a van from the airport to lodge etc. Most the rides are free especially if you end up going back to lodge if you didn’t make the cut.
There were two flights stuck at Hickham due to mechanical problems so we waited…..just like we expected. Went back to lodge and camped out for 5 days. We never made a flight, due to misc. problems with planes, no seats and then the tsunami.
Saturday we decided to give up and head back home. Caught a flight out of Travis to Norfolk as we were lead to believe that they flew to Scott every other day. (Terminal person was not correct on that one!) Stayed on base at the Miramar Inn ($85). Room was nice and clean and a free shuttle back and forth to terminal.
So we hop on the same plane next morning re: Sunday that took us from Travis to Norfolk and then was returning to Peterson AFB in Colorado Springs. Had a chance to see the flight deck etc. It was worth the experience to do that!
Again was told that Peterson AFB fly back and forth to Scott all the time. Not correct. We will get the learning curve on this one!
Now we are stuck....... and need to get back to Scott via St. Louis. No Space A flights, one way tickets almost $1,000 for both of us, frequent flyer miles would be 24,000 each plus $150 each. Train is almost $800 and they will not rent a car one way out of Colorado. So…..we take an overnight greyhound to St. Louis and Metro to Scott AFB.
Bus rides a whole new experience if you haven’t been one on a while. This should be your last choice but it was still an adventure. (By the end of the bus ride we were very quiet to each other)…..
Things we learned.
1. Pack light
2. Plane is cold when flying so bring warm clothes for flight.
3.. Allow extra time
4. Have plan a, b, c , d and I think we were on “F”
5. The boards at the Lodge are not always accurate. It is best to check in person. (We did not want to camp in terminal so went back and forth a lot.)
It is difficult to plan outings when you don’t know what is coming up for flights so we did not take any tours in CA., and did not want to miss a flight. As we had to get back for an obligation we did not take a tour in Colorado either although we would have liked to. Again, if you are planning two weeks best to allow for four!
Planning to do it again in May after Spring Break and before schools let out.
Thanks again and we will not give up!
Tony and Pat |
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