The benefit is that the flights are free. For a family of four, this is a big selling point. I still wasn't sure this was the best idea for us but we had a lot of time to get where we were going. Carl's colleagues had done this multiple times with their families and assured us that it wasn't that hard. With plans of drinking bottles of wine and gourmet sandwiches on the flight and the kids having tons of seat room to play, we decided to give it a go!
After a lot of searching, we found two flights headed to Europe on the day we wanted. This was a huge bonus that we wouldn't have to wait days and days to get there. We left the beach condo at 5 am to get to the Charleston air base. We were too low on the list to make the first flight. We went out for breakfast in downtown charleston, enjoyed the aquarium and grabbed an early lunch. During the morning, Carl sat me down and said you do realize that we are still at war and these flights will have cargo on them. I kind of looked at him weird, didn't think much about the comment and went on cutting kids' pancakes. We had to head back to the base for another roll call to see if we got on the second flight. We found out that we made the flight and had six hours before the plane took off; you would think that was plenty of time to do a few things before a flight...not so much.
When we arrived at the terminal, we left our luggage in short term parking and were so happy to have found a flight that we must have been in our own little world. Oblivious, we didn't realize that everyone already had their luggage. When they called roll call, they asked to board our luggage. Four crazed Freemans went running to the car, which was also parked in short not long term parking, and tried to gather our scattered items. We finally grabbed it all and ran back inside to check-in. We then realized that we needed exact change for our food. We had no coins. Carl tried to donate $20 to get us boxed lunches and we were denied. Finally, they found someone to break change.
With a five minute breather I met a nice woman in the bathroom who had a 1 year old little girl. We struck up conversation and chatted about the flight. In my world, I was already ready to break out the wine. I was sweating and pissed that I had given away all of my clothes and most importantly, deodorant. I soon found out that military planes followed the three ounce rule too. No wine on the plane:( I then mentioned the glorious seats my kids would snooze in....she looked at me like I was on another planet. No nice seats....jump seats! You know those beach chairs that are wooden frame with just netting...imagine that straight up with no recline for twelve hours. She also told me I need blankets because it would be freezing. With this news, I made a b-line to the base nex and bought car seats, blankets and food (if you know my little girl then you know a box lunch isn't going to cut it for a 12 hour flight). If I couldn't drink, then at least we would eat...albeit subway sandwiches not gourmet grilled cheese like I had planned. In twenty minutes, I literally got us all to and from the base. Once we got back to the base, I went online on a search for a hotel in Heidelberg. Despite the craziness of it all, I think a memory that will always stay in my mind is being on the floor of the kid playground, sweaty and gross, on a desperate search for a hotel and having Carl walk in and say "I can't believe how you got that done. You just found a way. You are the best travel partner I could ask for." It's those kind of moments that make you realize that these adventures, no matter how crazy they are, can be worthwhile.
Okay so with all my gear in arm, I felt like we were prepared. When they called us, Team Freeman grabbed all of our stuff and took a school bus thing to the plane. Jack literally has been carrying a 40 lb backpack of crap. I still really don't understand any of the items he has brought (a cat that he calls Foxie, random books, a baby blanket that he thinks is his but someone gave Sophia). Sophia has two babies and a bag of princesses. They are carrying these things on their backs everywhere they go.
So we arrive to board.... They told us not to take pics (or else you would see them now). We flew in an Air Force C17 (http://www.cnet.com/pictures/one-last-c-17-for-the-air-force-pictures/). The thing was huge. If you look through these online pics you will see the pics of people sitting on the sides in these little chairs. That was us! Jack being Jack, notices there are no windows to the plane and completely freaks. I did think it was weird too but I tried to assure him that it was just a normal plane. We get on the plane and I realize this is no commercial flight. There is no covered inside to the plane. There's no plastic covering wires and no insulation. It's literally a frame of a plane and then every light and wire uncovered. We sit down and where the internet pics show people in the middle there are these huge boxes. Upon further look, I am sitting next to 'cargo' that we would only use in war time. Not little time 'cargo,' I am talking about serious stuff. The story would be soo much better if I wrote what the cargo consisted of but on a public blog it is not the right forum. The odd thing was that no one else's jaw drop like mine did. Needless to say, the look on my face was priceless. We were then handed box lunches which consisted of crustable peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and nutragrain bars. It was a far cry from what I had envisioned.
The kids did great. We ended up purchasing car seats at the last minute because the air base car rental location was the only place that would not allow us to rent them. It was a blessing because the kids did not have to sit directly in the jump seats. Jack slept the entire plane flight and Sophia woke up about four hours before we landed. For the first two hours that Jack was up, he thought he was on the coolest plane on earth.
Three hours into the plane flight, we stopped to refuel. The whole experience was so crazy. When they dim the lights for the flight, the color of the lights is that spy green color you see in movies before they zap something. They opened up the back of the plane and then ended up having to move it while open. To understand how big the plane door is, this area is used to normally load hum-vs and helicopters. It's huge! We made it through the trip in one piece. I was really proud of how well the kids handled themselves. We left the condo at 5 am on Sunday and arrived in Germany at 5 am U.S. time on Monday.
Even though Carl has been in the military for four years, endured a nine month deployment to Afghanistan and experienced the lives of close friends and family in the military, I never really got it until this trip. For instance, when I asked Carl how long refueling normally took, his response was "I don't really remember. They normally sat us down for a debriefing and we waited until the mortars that were attacking the plane stopped." You really understand their mission after seeing these soldiers and seeing them in action. Everyone was extremely kind and professional and went out of their way to help us. Despite the hardships of my seat, food and soberness, it was an opportunity for me to really appreciate what my husband, father, close friends and other serving do to protect me and my children.
Heidelberg was much more fun and I ran for a large stein of Hefe-weisse! Lots of pics to come!
After a lot of searching, we found two flights headed to Europe on the day we wanted. This was a huge bonus that we wouldn't have to wait days and days to get there. We left the beach condo at 5 am to get to the Charleston air base. We were too low on the list to make the first flight. We went out for breakfast in downtown charleston, enjoyed the aquarium and grabbed an early lunch. During the morning, Carl sat me down and said you do realize that we are still at war and these flights will have cargo on them. I kind of looked at him weird, didn't think much about the comment and went on cutting kids' pancakes. We had to head back to the base for another roll call to see if we got on the second flight. We found out that we made the flight and had six hours before the plane took off; you would think that was plenty of time to do a few things before a flight...not so much.
When we arrived at the terminal, we left our luggage in short term parking and were so happy to have found a flight that we must have been in our own little world. Oblivious, we didn't realize that everyone already had their luggage. When they called roll call, they asked to board our luggage. Four crazed Freemans went running to the car, which was also parked in short not long term parking, and tried to gather our scattered items. We finally grabbed it all and ran back inside to check-in. We then realized that we needed exact change for our food. We had no coins. Carl tried to donate $20 to get us boxed lunches and we were denied. Finally, they found someone to break change.
With a five minute breather I met a nice woman in the bathroom who had a 1 year old little girl. We struck up conversation and chatted about the flight. In my world, I was already ready to break out the wine. I was sweating and pissed that I had given away all of my clothes and most importantly, deodorant. I soon found out that military planes followed the three ounce rule too. No wine on the plane:( I then mentioned the glorious seats my kids would snooze in....she looked at me like I was on another planet. No nice seats....jump seats! You know those beach chairs that are wooden frame with just netting...imagine that straight up with no recline for twelve hours. She also told me I need blankets because it would be freezing. With this news, I made a b-line to the base nex and bought car seats, blankets and food (if you know my little girl then you know a box lunch isn't going to cut it for a 12 hour flight). If I couldn't drink, then at least we would eat...albeit subway sandwiches not gourmet grilled cheese like I had planned. In twenty minutes, I literally got us all to and from the base. Once we got back to the base, I went online on a search for a hotel in Heidelberg. Despite the craziness of it all, I think a memory that will always stay in my mind is being on the floor of the kid playground, sweaty and gross, on a desperate search for a hotel and having Carl walk in and say "I can't believe how you got that done. You just found a way. You are the best travel partner I could ask for." It's those kind of moments that make you realize that these adventures, no matter how crazy they are, can be worthwhile.
Okay so with all my gear in arm, I felt like we were prepared. When they called us, Team Freeman grabbed all of our stuff and took a school bus thing to the plane. Jack literally has been carrying a 40 lb backpack of crap. I still really don't understand any of the items he has brought (a cat that he calls Foxie, random books, a baby blanket that he thinks is his but someone gave Sophia). Sophia has two babies and a bag of princesses. They are carrying these things on their backs everywhere they go.
So we arrive to board.... They told us not to take pics (or else you would see them now). We flew in an Air Force C17 (http://www.cnet.com/pictures/one-last-c-17-for-the-air-force-pictures/). The thing was huge. If you look through these online pics you will see the pics of people sitting on the sides in these little chairs. That was us! Jack being Jack, notices there are no windows to the plane and completely freaks. I did think it was weird too but I tried to assure him that it was just a normal plane. We get on the plane and I realize this is no commercial flight. There is no covered inside to the plane. There's no plastic covering wires and no insulation. It's literally a frame of a plane and then every light and wire uncovered. We sit down and where the internet pics show people in the middle there are these huge boxes. Upon further look, I am sitting next to 'cargo' that we would only use in war time. Not little time 'cargo,' I am talking about serious stuff. The story would be soo much better if I wrote what the cargo consisted of but on a public blog it is not the right forum. The odd thing was that no one else's jaw drop like mine did. Needless to say, the look on my face was priceless. We were then handed box lunches which consisted of crustable peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and nutragrain bars. It was a far cry from what I had envisioned.
The kids did great. We ended up purchasing car seats at the last minute because the air base car rental location was the only place that would not allow us to rent them. It was a blessing because the kids did not have to sit directly in the jump seats. Jack slept the entire plane flight and Sophia woke up about four hours before we landed. For the first two hours that Jack was up, he thought he was on the coolest plane on earth.
Three hours into the plane flight, we stopped to refuel. The whole experience was so crazy. When they dim the lights for the flight, the color of the lights is that spy green color you see in movies before they zap something. They opened up the back of the plane and then ended up having to move it while open. To understand how big the plane door is, this area is used to normally load hum-vs and helicopters. It's huge! We made it through the trip in one piece. I was really proud of how well the kids handled themselves. We left the condo at 5 am on Sunday and arrived in Germany at 5 am U.S. time on Monday.
Even though Carl has been in the military for four years, endured a nine month deployment to Afghanistan and experienced the lives of close friends and family in the military, I never really got it until this trip. For instance, when I asked Carl how long refueling normally took, his response was "I don't really remember. They normally sat us down for a debriefing and we waited until the mortars that were attacking the plane stopped." You really understand their mission after seeing these soldiers and seeing them in action. Everyone was extremely kind and professional and went out of their way to help us. Despite the hardships of my seat, food and soberness, it was an opportunity for me to really appreciate what my husband, father, close friends and other serving do to protect me and my children.
Heidelberg was much more fun and I ran for a large stein of Hefe-weisse! Lots of pics to come!
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