Our fabulous adventure has begun!
The start of our long journey started with visiting family in Wewahitchka, FL for a week. We drove to Atlanta (about a 6 hour drive), stayed overnight, had dinner with some old friends and swam in the hotel pool. After hopping on our flight that evening, we landed in Seattle. There we were met up with the Wright family and had a ball. We stayed up, had snacks, an Easter egg hunt in the hotel room at 1am and were finally dropped off at the airport at 2:30am. Thank you military AMC flights for having check-in in the middle of the night. Nothing like two tired, cranky boys waiting in line. After we checked all 8 bags, we headed to the USO. We were able to let Luke sleep a bit and Zach took a quick nap. However, there were people everywhere, so it wasn't exactly restful sleep. Our flight was supposed to leave at 8:30, but when we checked in they said it got moved to 9:30. So at about 8, we headed through security, made it to the gate only to realize that it was delayed to 11am! At this point we had been up for almost 24 hours and just wanted to start the long flight. Once we got on the flight, we found out that we werent' going to make a refueling stop in Anchorage like originally told. So our flight only ended up being 10 1/2 hours!! The boys were amazing on the long flight. Luke slept for most of it (and I didn't have to drug him!). We finally arrived at 3pm Tokyo time (so 2am EST) and waited on a bus for 45 minutes before we began our 2 hour ride to base. We got to drive through Tokyo (haven't stepped foot there yet) and just wanted to check into our room. We finally made it to the Navy Lodge Yokosuka at 7pm. We all crashed. The boys woke up at midnight (11am EST) so I finally pulled out the big guns (Melatonin) and they quickly went back to lala land. That was several days ago and I must say that we're still working on our sleep schedule. We have been going to bed about 7pm and waking up around 4. It does get light here early, about 5am.
Yesterday was the first time we've ventured off base. We ate at a little Japanese diner type place. The amazing thing about these, are they have machines that you feed your yen into and choose what you want to eat. Then you take your ticket stub and go sit at the counter. The waitress comes by and takes the stub (like at the movies) and brings you your food. We all had beef curry with Miso soup. It cost 480 yen, so about $5.85 each for dinner. We then walked to the train station where we learned how to use the Pesmo cards. Basically you load money onto the card and just tap it (or your bag if you don't want to take it out). Then when you get to the otherside you tap your card again and it figures out your fair. We took about a 25 minute train ride to Yokohama. We walked around a bit and went to this 8 story tall electronics store. There is nothing in the US to compare this to. Think of Best Buy on steroids, then multiply it by 1,000,000! There's no other way to describe it. After a few floors, it was just sensory overload. Then we stopped at a little place and bought a snack at the Danish Bar. It was so amazing! 120 yen for a sweet bread type snack. It wasn't too sweet, but just what we needed. Then we headed back to Yokosuka and walked back to base. Thankfully Zach saw an old friend from the USS MILIUS and he was able to show us around. Sadly, he's leaving today, so we're going to explore on our own. We're also going to go get cell phones for here.
We've put in for the housing that we'd like. If you're interested look up Ikego 3 bedroom tower apartments. They're rather large, all on one floor and in a suburb type setting. It's about a 20 minute drive from base, however there is a daily shuttle for Zach to take to work. As well there's a train station right outside. It's a gated area and looks perfect for us. Plus, there's no waiting. We might end up with a place next week since we're not picky! Woohoo! Not counting on it, but it sure would be nice.
The background photo was taken by me. It was taken on Yokosuka base. The cherry blossoms are out and it's just gorgeous! I think I found my new favorite flower:) I am still trying to figure this all out so please hang in there with me. I'll see what I can do about posting pictures and what not.
The start of our long journey started with visiting family in Wewahitchka, FL for a week. We drove to Atlanta (about a 6 hour drive), stayed overnight, had dinner with some old friends and swam in the hotel pool. After hopping on our flight that evening, we landed in Seattle. There we were met up with the Wright family and had a ball. We stayed up, had snacks, an Easter egg hunt in the hotel room at 1am and were finally dropped off at the airport at 2:30am. Thank you military AMC flights for having check-in in the middle of the night. Nothing like two tired, cranky boys waiting in line. After we checked all 8 bags, we headed to the USO. We were able to let Luke sleep a bit and Zach took a quick nap. However, there were people everywhere, so it wasn't exactly restful sleep. Our flight was supposed to leave at 8:30, but when we checked in they said it got moved to 9:30. So at about 8, we headed through security, made it to the gate only to realize that it was delayed to 11am! At this point we had been up for almost 24 hours and just wanted to start the long flight. Once we got on the flight, we found out that we werent' going to make a refueling stop in Anchorage like originally told. So our flight only ended up being 10 1/2 hours!! The boys were amazing on the long flight. Luke slept for most of it (and I didn't have to drug him!). We finally arrived at 3pm Tokyo time (so 2am EST) and waited on a bus for 45 minutes before we began our 2 hour ride to base. We got to drive through Tokyo (haven't stepped foot there yet) and just wanted to check into our room. We finally made it to the Navy Lodge Yokosuka at 7pm. We all crashed. The boys woke up at midnight (11am EST) so I finally pulled out the big guns (Melatonin) and they quickly went back to lala land. That was several days ago and I must say that we're still working on our sleep schedule. We have been going to bed about 7pm and waking up around 4. It does get light here early, about 5am.
Yesterday was the first time we've ventured off base. We ate at a little Japanese diner type place. The amazing thing about these, are they have machines that you feed your yen into and choose what you want to eat. Then you take your ticket stub and go sit at the counter. The waitress comes by and takes the stub (like at the movies) and brings you your food. We all had beef curry with Miso soup. It cost 480 yen, so about $5.85 each for dinner. We then walked to the train station where we learned how to use the Pesmo cards. Basically you load money onto the card and just tap it (or your bag if you don't want to take it out). Then when you get to the otherside you tap your card again and it figures out your fair. We took about a 25 minute train ride to Yokohama. We walked around a bit and went to this 8 story tall electronics store. There is nothing in the US to compare this to. Think of Best Buy on steroids, then multiply it by 1,000,000! There's no other way to describe it. After a few floors, it was just sensory overload. Then we stopped at a little place and bought a snack at the Danish Bar. It was so amazing! 120 yen for a sweet bread type snack. It wasn't too sweet, but just what we needed. Then we headed back to Yokosuka and walked back to base. Thankfully Zach saw an old friend from the USS MILIUS and he was able to show us around. Sadly, he's leaving today, so we're going to explore on our own. We're also going to go get cell phones for here.
We've put in for the housing that we'd like. If you're interested look up Ikego 3 bedroom tower apartments. They're rather large, all on one floor and in a suburb type setting. It's about a 20 minute drive from base, however there is a daily shuttle for Zach to take to work. As well there's a train station right outside. It's a gated area and looks perfect for us. Plus, there's no waiting. We might end up with a place next week since we're not picky! Woohoo! Not counting on it, but it sure would be nice.
Hello Robin and Family
ReplyDeleteWhat a great adventure you are on. It will give the boys a life time of great memories. Travel opens your heart to new understandings and you will see the world a little clearer. I wish you all my very best. Thank you for starting this blog. You have done a good job so far. I'm interested in all you see and do. Thanks again, Looking forward to great reading. My Best. Pat Smith--Englewood