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E.L.Fink
Intermediate Member
Username: Yahootie
Post Number: 119
Registered: 08-2009
Posted From: 75.228.128.31
| | Posted on Sunday, June 06, 2010 - 07:46 pm: | |
Wow, we missed you by a snail's breath!! Maybe next time. We really enjoyed Cadiz, Rota, Jerez and the area. Would like to vacation there for an extended period. Only problem, I don't speak the language, eventhough I'm from Texas and was stationed 2-years in Roosevelt Rhodes. Have to work on that.
Glad to hear about your son's church.
elf |
Bob Dart
Senior Member
Username: Bobdart
Post Number: 1556
Registered: 06-2005
Posted From: 76.29.23.90
| | Posted on Thursday, June 03, 2010 - 12:58 am: | |
Tony, thanks for writing this up and sharing your experience with us. I always draw something out of your comments as I did on this report. John D., thanks for figuring out to post it. |
Cherry C.
Senior Member
Username: Cherry
Post Number: 6423
Registered: 06-2003
Posted From: 71.163.18.160
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 02, 2010 - 10:21 pm: | |
Gosh, I failed to notice the subject line at first, and thought that John D. had retired and moved to Puerto Rico when I wasn't looking!
NOW I (belatedly) see that this is the trip report Tony has been trying to file for the last few days, and John D. had finally figured out how to get it on the board, only of course he had to post under his own name and just reference Tony in the header.
Thanks, John D., and thanks also to Tony for perservering so we all get the benefit of the information shared! |
John D.
Moderator
Username: John_d
Post Number: 4575
Registered: 06-2003
Posted From: 95.208.80.143
| | Posted on Wednesday, June 02, 2010 - 05:00 pm: | |
My wife Nelly and I flew from Puerto Rico to Norfolk International on Monday April 12th and took Airport-1 Shuttle to Norfolk NAS, at a cost of $12.00 per person. A uniformed driver took us straight to the Wall Manor (Navy Gateways) lodging facility, where I had reservations for three nights. There were no flights scheduled for Rota on Tuesday, but there were two scheduled for Wednesday April 14th; the Patriot Express with limited space-seats, according to the Pax Rep, and a C-5 coming from West Virginia with 73 probable seats available. We were on our 51st day of sign-up. On Wednesday morning we took a taxi to the Terminal ($12.00) and made ourselves present. Both flights had LPM show times. Only two retired couples made the Pat Ex, I was told, but everyone else was manifested on the C-5, which departed at around 2000 hours and arrived in Rota next morning at 1000 hours. The Navy Gateways (Wall Manor) charged me for three nights, but while checking my VISA account statement three days later, I found out they had charged me for three nights of lodging ($168) instead of two. I wrote them an email and within a couple of days my VISA account was credited for $56.00. The Wall Manor lodging facility in Norfolk is very well located, since it’s only a 10-minute walk from the BX/Commissary/Food Court complex.
I must mention that while we were waiting for seats Vic and Connie Patton came to the Terminal to check on us and to say hello. They spent over an hour with us and didn’t leave the Terminal until they made sure we were manifested on the flight to Rota. We had met Vic personally, but not Connie, and it was really an honor to do so, since they are a very special couple.
Our trip this time was of special significance to us for two reasons; first, the celebration of our 40th Anniversary; and the celebration of the Second Anniversary of the Church that our son Ricardo pastors in Puerto Real (Cadiz), Spain. To celebrate our 40th Anniversary we had purchased with Travel With Sears an eight-day Europa Mundo Bus Tour that took us from Madrid to Oporto, Portugal, then to northern Spain to visit Santiago de Compostela, Oviedo, Santander, then down to La Rioja, Zaragoza, Barcelona, Pensacola, Valencia and back to Madrid. It was a wonderful trip; excellent, hotels, excellent food, lots of sightseeing, and very comfortable buses (the “leave the driving to us” type). If anyone is interested in information related to this tour, please feel free to email me, as I would be more than happy to provide such information.
I had signed up to return to Norfolk on the 27th of May on the Patriot Express, since I had commercial reservations to fly to PR on May 28th. Unfortunately, the Pat Ex was scheduled to leave Rota on Friday the 28th, changing my plans completely, but that’s what Space-a travel is all about. Rota had a C-9 listed for Norfolk on the 27th with stops in Lajes and St. John. Therefore, we made ourselves present early in the morning on that date. The C-9 was coming from Sigonella and kept delaying its departure until a Pax Rep at the Rota Terminal told me that it would coming late and that most probably it would RON at either Lajes or St. John. So, our plans to get to Norfolk on the 27th were out. There was also a C-5 heading for Dover and Travis with 73 available seats, so we decided to take this flight and proceeded to make a reservation for one night at the Eagle’s Rest at Dover AFB. Everyone, including us and another 4 retired couples, made the flight. As we were getting ready to board the aircraft an announcement on the PA system indicated that the C-9 flight from Sigonella had been cancelled. Lucky us! We departed at 1600 hours and landed in Dover at 1820 EST. The flight was a very good and the crew from Travis exceptional. When we landed, we were held in the aircraft for 45 minutes waiting for the Custom’s person to check us out, but the person never showed up and we finally ended going through customs in the Terminal. Took a taxi (George’s) to lodging who charged us $15.00.
Once settled in our room, I called USAIR to change the next day’s flight itinerary, but the bad news was that all flights, in all routes to Puerto Rico were full. They were able to get us seats on a direct flight from PHL on Saturday, May 29th and charged us $300 ($150 ea) for the change, something I had tried to avoid since the beginning. But we were getting home after being away for almost two months.
We had met a retired couple on the C-5 to Dover; Dennis, a retired Navy Chief and his wife Antonia, from Cadiz, Spain. They actually live in Phoenix, but were spending a few days visiting friends Brad from Detroit, and Sandra, also from Cadiz. Brad is stationed at Dover and is a Flight Engineer with the C-5s. He will be retiring from the AF after 26 years of service very soon. To make the story short, they offered us a ride to PHL Int’l and would pick us up next day early in the morning. After I found out we weren’t leaving until Saturday we called them up and they still told us they would still pick us up and take us to the airport on Saturday morning. They did! We were also informed by the Customer Service Clerk at Eagle’s Rest that we could stay an extra night. The good news is that the nightly rate at the Dover Inn is only $39.00 per night. Lucked out again!
On Friday morning we walked next door to the Golf Course for breakfast and met with Tom and Phyllis, a retired couple that had come in with us in the C-5. They had left their car in the Dover extended parking facility and were heading back home to New Jersey. They gave us a ride to the BX/Commissary and offered to bring us back to the hotel, but we thanked them and told them we would stay doing some shopping and killing some time at the BX. We made the 20 minute walk later that day, as it was warm and sunny. As a matter of fact we used the $2.00 coupon you get with your hotel key. Finally, had lunch at the Golf Course again; a real good treat - lunch was $10.25 for both of us.
One of the best things you experience during space-a trips is meeting other retirees who are always willing to help. To Vic and Connie, Dennis and Antonia, Brad and Sandra and Tom and Phyllis, THANK YOU, you made the difference and we really appreciate your help and friendship. We will keep contact with you in the future.
The rest is history; we left Philadelphia Int’l on Saturday morning and arrived in San Juan at 1:30 pm, picked up our rental car from Avis and drove 90 miles to our “home sweet home” in San German.
Happy travels! |
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