When we knew Fernando was going to be deployed, I started figuring out how to pass the time so I didn't pass out as a mom. I knew we wanted to visit family to help the kids have some family love coming from more than just me. To achieve the multi-state travels, I planned on using our ability to fly on the military airplanes called Space-a or hops.
Quick overview:
The term Space-a is condensed for Space Available. The military has various flights for loads of stuff and whatever space they have left over is open to military members and their family. Each person/family is given a rank between 1 (totally gets on every time) to 6 (pray no one else shows up or that there are tons of seats). We were a category 4 with Fernando's deployment status. The flights are random and only published 72 hours out at a time.
We wanted to travel to California first to visit the Tovar side then head to my sister's house that happens to be a convenient 2 hours away from them. Then drive (which I soon switched to fly because I am not a long distance driver) to Utah to visit my sister Angela and her new baby. Finishing the tour would be a stay at my parents' house.
All these plans took a shuffle when I found out my sister was going to be on bed rest until she was able to safely go into labor on her own. We tried numerous ways to make it anywhere close to Utah, but no go. So, we went back to plan a. The nice thing was that weather in Alaska was still pants and long sleeve weather. I had our bags packed for weeks just ready to go whenever the flights showed up. Still no flights were going from Alaska to California.
Then one fateful Sunday, a flight to Hawaii opened up. It turns out that Hawaii has several flights a week going to various places in California. I figured, stay in Hawaii a few days. Enjoy the sunshine and the beach then take the first flight to California. So the adventure begins.
We had a less than normal first time experience getting onto space-a. Everyone who wanted to fly was able to get on board. I had brought snacks for the flight and thought "we just ate lunch and the flight is only about 5 hours, so we won't need the meal." WRONG. I didn't understand that different airplanes are flown and some are significantly slower than commercial aircrafts. The kids were starving, but luckily some nice people shared their boxed lunches that I should have ordered when we were getting our boarding passes.
What rocks and stinks about these flights is that the airplane is a free play zone. We played red light green light in the middle of the plane, got to visit the cockpit to see the pilots, lay on the floor to watch movies, and wander as we pleased. The stink is that the open ended opportunities are less appreciated than limited ones. I confess I didn't plan well. The flight seemed to drag on forever with its loud engine noises and windowless tomb like feeling.
We arrived in plenty of time for me to get our rental car except we weren't aloud to deplane for another hour and a half. At this point, all of my kids passed out. I had to wake everyone up which led to a scream fest and grumpy incapacity to help. I felt so sorry for all my tired, starving kids. By the time we got off, the rental car place on base was closed and same with all the food places. The shuttle bus wouldn't allow for suitcases, and the taxi ride to our hotel was a steep $75.
I needed a moment to think. We parked ourselves in the kid area that we would end up knowing quite well by the time we left and I worked the options. End result was to take a taxi to the airport car rental area, get a sort of over priced deal with all the airport fees and taxes, but make it to the Hale Koa in time to sleep at a ridiculous hour.
Next morning wiped out all the stresses of the day before. Nothing like an all you can eat breakfast looking out to the ocean, a chance to swim in a pool next to the ocean (I would never go into the water in Waikiki), and off to our next hotel at Bellows beach. The trick with space-a is that you never know when you are flying out so you never know how long to have your car rental and hotel space. I figured we'd stay until Wednesday and then easily catch a flight to California. I scheduled hotels and rental cars accordingly.
The kids wanted to play at the beach, spend a day at the Polynesian Cultural Center, and beach some more. Sounded perfect to me. I was amazed at my stamina. I swear I couldn't do all the activities and driving with no naps and pretty rough sleep. I felt like I was being magnified and then some. Here are some of the photos from that trips
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