An update on our travel. First of all- we made it to Al Udeid. We arrived in Norfolk at about 3;30 pm. Both groups- Jamie and I and the others, that’s what I call people who don’t travel with me- others.
‘Here we are waiting for a ride. Nice hands on the hips Kevin K. Pat, Kevin K. Adam and Kevin M. from left to right.
In Norfolk we were transported by crazed Navy and Airforce drivers who if anything, got us where we needed to be fast. The check-in to the Navy Lodge at Ely Hall went about as you would predict after all the other crap of the day- slow and painful. It seemed that after trying to run Kevin M’s credit card the whole system went kablooey. That’s right kablooey, its a word because this is my blog. File complaints to the editor, who, by the way, is me. We waited about an hour and then the clerks finally gave up and just gave us our keys to our rooms. Oh yeah, had to have my key redone 3 times before I got in my room.
We arrived the next day at the military flight terminal in Norfolk to await our plane, which was supposed to take off at about 5:00 pm. Here’s where the lightning comes in. At about 4 or so, we were notified that the plane was to be delayed for bad weather. Outside we could see it was raining. Next we all heard a loud thunder clap and a boom outside. Hmmmm, that was close. After about another two hours we were informed, basically, that the plane had been struck by lightning, buutttttt…. its seems ok, so lets go. Well being the militarish people we are, we all- 181 of us- got in the plane and flew to Bangor, seemingly without a hitch to change crew and refuel. I envision the old captain throwing the keys to the new one, and telling him that everything was good- no need to worry.
Here’s Jodi, Adam and Pat. No, they don’t looked worried at all.
Tony, Pat and Adam in Bangor Airport. Thanks to all the cool greeters. I didn’t have the heart to tell them we were only deploying for a month.
Well we then attempted to take of from Bangor and for some unknown reason the engines wouldn’t light. After a couple tries the captain of the plane finally got them to go and explained everything seemed pretty good, so off we will go. PRETTY GOOD! Really? I never thought that was words you would use in regards to transatlantic flight. Once again we all stayed on the plane.
Obviously you can tell by this blog that we made it. After about 11 more hours of flight, which included one stop in Germany, we landed in Al Udeid at about 7:00 pm their time, which is 7 hours ahead of Eastern United States time.
Our fine plane in Leipzig Germany. Notice no scorch marks.
Jodi, Jamie and Pat, on the runway in Leipzig.
At Al Udeid Kevin K. got thrown under the bus by virtue of being an E-4- he had to unload the plane. Kevin I ap0logize- someone should have gone with you. Also, one of my bags was damaged and I think it was you. After that we went through customs and my bagpipes were singled out by customs officials as a deadly weapon of some sort, which is up for discussion I guess. After we were met by the OIC of the AFCENT Band Major G., and the Ops NCOIC MSgt G., and were promptly brought to our rooms, which were nice and cool and had water in the fridges. Oh, did I tell you. Its hot as hell here. I mean really, if hell had a satellite location, it’s this fine area. And yes it was only at night, when its cool. This I found out on Monday.
So, Monday. Hotter than hot as hell times two. Windy and about 118 degrees. Even the people who are here all the time said it was pretty bad. Anyhow- hard to describe other than being put in an oven to walk around, or being on some hostile planet. No wonder everyone is so mad over here.
We processed in and I will say that everyone we have dealt with has been pretty good. And its still hot. Sorry for the delayed post, but that airplane ride basically put me on deaths bed with my sinuses, and I thought my head would explode. I know- TMI. All for now. James OUT!
No comments:
Post a Comment