An ENTIRE Season Later... Part Two!

So yeah, that whole moving thing? Apparently it takes as long to blog about it as it takes to actually happen. WHO KNEW?!?

SO! When we last left our tired, bedraggled, confused travelers, they were in the capable hands of the Air Mobility Command in Yokota, Japan - we stayed at the Kanto Lodge, which was fantabulous and oddly less expensive than the Navy Lodge. The military is not created equal. Whee! Who knew? (sarcasm folks. Yummm.)

We had to make a bazillion phone calls due to coming in on January 1 instead of Dec 31 - with offices being closed and such it meant a lot of things weren't available that normally would be. After a minor whine session via email on my part, the base housing folks (who originally told us "They can't just open the office for everybody who travels in from overseas...") were STELLAR and wonderful and two lovely ladies came in on their days off to ensure we could, with animals, jet lagged child, and a bazillion suitcases, crash in our "own home" so to speak. For those with EXCELLENT memories, you'll know that most of the pet kennels and such were full due to the holiday weekend in Japan. It was similar with Whidbey, though the Navy Lodge did have pet spaces available, we were hoping to just move into our own place and fuggetabout the whole hotel thing for awhile.

Jack Morgan approves of his current location!

Thank goodness for Forest City (the base housing people). The management and our agent really stepped up to make sure we came home and were SETTLED. It was awesome - People can grump and gripe about the military all day long, I know that when push comes to shove, the US Military takes care of it's own - sure sometimes you hafta go a step or six up the chain of command, but when you ask the right person the right question, you get all the help you need and then some.

Being able to ask for help? Now that's another story...

A foggy entrance to NASWI's Sea Plane Base
Welcome to Northwest Washington!

Anyway!!!!

Of course, you guys know the story can't be that simple - GETTING to Whidbey was a bit of an adventure - we picked up a rental car so we could drive to the nearest Ford dealership where our 2011 shiny new Escape was waiting. We had to inspect it for damage because our shiny, new, fresh off the line 2011 Ford Escape had been damaged in a hail storm during delivery.

Yay.

Don't YOU want to buy a brand new repaired vehicle? Yeah, we did too. *sigh Ok, not so much. Luckily, they did a fantabulous job fixing the paint and minor dents caused by severe weather and we didn't wanna battle buying a new car after airplane delays, housing fiascos, and hellacious jet lag.

So we signed, insured, and obtained the keys to a brand new, somewhat snow covered but shiny SUV and transferred our animals, jet lagged child, and fifty bazillion suitcases from the rental to the Escape and off we went to return the rental to the airport...... I followed Jase outta the dealership parking lot because I was a bit confused on how to get back to the interstate, but I told him I didn't know how to get to the airport because I'm an idiot. That sentence is important to the story, stick with me.

Maddy, aka The Mad Catter has come to visit- and digs Whidbey Coffee as much as I do! (see the ginormous green cup of happiness?) OK, that bit about coffee is a lie and Maddy is "special" but he's cute and fluffy and can keep visiting for awhile.

SO! I was following him, meandering our way back to the airport, after me essentially not driving for three years. Driving in Japan = horrifying. Driving in the States = Freakin FUN! The roads are GINORMOUS and you can go more than like, three miles an hour in town! Not sure if that's really a GOOD thing, but at least I didn't have the urge to get out and push like I sometimes did in Japan.

As we're driving through town, I realize we're coming up on the Interstate and Jase misses the on ramp and takes a highway. In my own little brain I thought, "No biggie, I'll just meet him at SeaTac."

In Jase's brain, I had said I had no clue how to get to the airport. We're in two separate cars.

He immediately goes into "Holy shit we're separated and she's nervous and hasn't driven in forever and she's TIRED, AHHHH!" mode.

Meanwhile, I'm happily driving along I-5, listening to alternative rock and thinking, "Damn, they're playing the same songs on this station they were playing before we left..."

In attempting to catch up with me, Jase gets pulled over for speeding and reckless driving. (but it was wreckless, so it should be ok, right? No? Damn.)

The cop says, "So you were separated from your wife? Why didn't you call her cell phone???"

We've been in the country for about two hours, and most of that we were sitting in customs. We hadn't had time to pick up cell phones yet! Also, uhm, we've been living in a country where it's illegal to talk on the phone and drive. And hey! Isn't it illegal to make phone calls while driving in Washington? Yessss, you can talk using a hands free device (though stats show that people using cell phones are as impaired as someone with a .08 blood-alcohol level) but you can't make calls or otherwise use your cell while driving.

Of course, you shouldn't be speeding to catch up to your wife - who you think is lost, but she isn't.......

SO! After getting a ticket, returning the rental car, and activating our much loved iPhones, we FINALLY make our way to Whidbey and see this:


Damn, it's good to be home!