Hawaii or Bust

As I write this, I'm still packing for a long trip of questionable duration. In the morning, I will be sitting on a plane headed for an Air Force reserve base just outside Los Angeles. The family will be sitting with about 25 other people on seats like this:

If you think this is bad, you should see the seats back in coach

Once we reach California, we'll stay the night at base lodging (like an inexpensive hotel room). The next morning, assuming our 50+ year-old plane hasn't broken down, we will fly to Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii. For free.

How did we get this opportunity, you ask? The Air Force does something called Space Available Travel. If one of their cargo planes is flying somewhere in the U.S. or overseas and they have room on the plane, they offer it up to active duty or retired military and their families. I was medically retired from the Air Force, so I'm eligible to fly Space A (we call it 'taking a Hop'). 

There is a pecking order to get on flights. For instance, if there are only 5 seats available on a C-130 flight to Germany and 5 active duty military members want to travel, they have priority over me. If 5 active duty military folks who have orders to Germany (meaning they need to go for work) want to go, they would have priority over anyone traveling for leisure. Being retired, I'm at the bottom of the pecking order. This isn't as big of a deal out of smaller bases like the National Guard base here in Knoxville, but when we try to fly home from Hawaii, it may prove to be a problem. I'll worry about that later.

The flight schedules for air base terminals are only released a few days in advance. We knew that the base in Knoxville takes one or two flights to the base in Hawaii during the summer, but we had no idea exactly when. So, two or three times a day, for the last two months, I've been calling the terminal and listening to their recorded message about upcoming trips. And for the last two months there's been absolutely nothing. Same message every time. I could repeat it from memory. "You have reached the 134th Air Terminal Space-A information line. Customer service hours are blah blah blah. The air terminal is located yada yada yada. As of 6 June, we do not have any trips available..." 

We've been calling this number every summer for the last few years, hoping to get a flight. A couple years ago, we got on a flight and our schedule was free so we packed up for the trip. We got completely psyched to go. We told Grace stories about Hawaii and how she would spend her birthday there. We got someone to take care of our dog while we were gone and Betsy's sister promised to look after our house. I booked rooms at three different hotels because no hotel had vacancies every night we planned to be there. I reserved a rental car. We made plans to meet up with friends for lunch the second day we were there. The morning of our flight, we drove to the terminal and showed up at the door with all our luggage in tow. "Oh, I'm sorry," they told us, "that flight's been cancelled." "Will there be another flight," we wondered? "No, not this summer."

So that was it. Dreams crushed. Birthday ruined. A bunch of reservations to cancel.

You can see why we aren't entirely sure we'll get to Hawaii until the plane takes off. Actually, I won't be sure until we take off from California. If I post an update tomorrow that shows Grace crying in a corner of the house, you'll know how the trip went.

What sort of plane will we be on? It is a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker. A refueler. These planes were used during Vietnam to refuel fighter aircraft and bombers and are still in use today. The last time I was on one was a hop to Germany about 15 years ago. I got to see the plane while it was refueling an F-16. Pretty cool to watch.

They'll refuel your car on cross-country trips too

A gallon of gas is crazy expensive up here

The ride isn't the most comfortable. It isn't climate controlled, so even though the destination is Hawaii, we have to bring warm clothes and blankets for the trip. It's extremely noisy and will require earplugs. There's no flight attendant and no drinks or meals provided, though they said they'd have water. Not sure about the bathroom situation. I don't think Betsy will be happy if it's just a bucket behind a curtain. I'm not complaining though because Hawaii. Free.

For my own meals on the flight (should be four hours to LA and about the same to Hawaii) I'll bring Real Food Blends. Last month, the company asked me to try out powdered meals. I got a jar of turkey, papaya, and avocado powder. It is perfect for a trip like this. I just wish I had more to bring for every leg of my flight (they aren't on the market yet). What I ended up doing was dumping the rest of my jar (I'd used about half for a test meal) in a blender bottle. About halfway through the flight, I will fill the bottle up with water, shake it up really well, and have myself a turkey dinner.

Dehydrating retains essential vitamins and nutrients really well

Once we've arrived in Hawaii, we have reservations to stay at the Marine base on the east side of Oahu for a couple nights. Then, we were able to rent a cheap studio apartment on the north shore for four nights. After that, I have no idea where we'll be--maybe just sleep on the beach? I have enough medications for three weeks. I've got my blender, a few syringes, a few Real Food Blends and two swim suits. Grace and Betsy may or may not be packed. I'm really only concerned with 'Team-Brian' so they could be dressed in rags with no food. Should be an adventure!!