Day 24 and 25 and...: The Trials & Tribulations of Space A:

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We were awake by 6am and ready to go. Sean had to leave for work by 7am and Alina was going with us to try again to get out of Ramstein. When we arrived, we saw our old C5 flight, plus the one that had been rescheduled 4 or 5 days, and a C17 to McGuire through Canada. The McGuire flight only showed 14 seats, tentative, so we weren't holding our breaths. As the morning went by, the rescheduled both the C5 flights and the C17 still showed 14 seats, so a number of folks left for greener pastures, including most of the folks that had been ticketed for our cancelled C5 from yesterday. The three of us, Alina, my wife, and I, decided to stick it out and see if we might possibly make the C17, hoping enough folks had left. The flight was supposed to leave around 2:30 in the afternoon, and just as we were feeling sure we wouldn't make it, they announced that they were opening up 43 seats, so everyone marked as present could go. You could hear a number of people cheer when they heard that announcement. They called our names, that of Alina, and almost everyone else present. We rechecked our luggage, repaid for our $5.60 box lunches and went to the waiting room after passing through Security. Sure enough, soon thereafter they announced boarding, and we were off.

The plane was pretty full of passengers along the sides, with a couple of small cargo items at the front and back, and a big fuel tanker truck in the middle. By the time we took off, a number of folks said they could smell fuel or something. Apparently, the loadmaster had already mentioned his concern about the truck before we took off, but was overruled. We were in the air about 10 minutes when they announced they were turning back to Ramstein due to concerns about the fuel truck, but that after we were deplaned and the truck was taken off, we would re-board and by on our way, maybe skipping Canada if we had enough fuel without the heavy truck. We went back to the secured waiting room and within about 30 minutes we re-boarded. The loadmaster told us we were still heading to Canada though. We all settled in, with a number of folks their beds set up on the floor, including me. I'd already found out it was almost impossible to sleep in the cargo net seats, so I took a couple of blankets and a couple of pillows and tried to sleep... to no avail. Some of the more experienced Space Aers had brought inflatable mattresses and/or sleeping bags, and were out in minutes. Alina had brought a hammock and convinced the loadmaster to let her set it up in the back of the plane. Unfortunately, it turned out to be too cold, so she gave up. After that, I asked if I could try it and after Alina said sure, I gave it a try. The first time I gave up due to the cold and tried to sleep in the seat. Later I tried again, and this time had enough blankets that I was just about to nod off when the lights came back on and the plane started it's descent.

About seven hours after takeoff we landed at Gander International airport in Newfoundland. The loadmaster had told us we would be deplaning and would probably have about an hour in the terminal to do whatever we wanted, including smoking since they had a smoker's lounge. The only thing open in the locked up terminal was a restaurant bar that had a few things including coffee. After a bit less than an hour, we were called to re-board for our final leg to McGuire Airbase in New Jersey. At around 4am, we landed at McGuire and everyone started scrambling for whatever form of transportation they could find, except of course those that had left their cars at McGuire. Another older Space Aer like us, had asked if we wanted to share the cost of a rental car and we had agreed, telling him I would be able to get an employee discount with Hertz. We couldn't make a reservation online, so my wife called their 24-hour hotline and the lady told us that a local Hertz office would send a car to pick us up at 8am, but to make sure we should call them to verify it at 7am. By this time, a number of folks had left and a small group was waiting on a shuttle to Dover AFB, that showed up late, making a couple of people out of luck for the morning flight at 8am, so they started looking elsewhere. There was another couple, named Jim and Connie that told us they had reservations with Hertz already and a car would pick them up at 9am when the base Hertz opened. I'd already checked there and was led to believe we couldn't rent on base unless we had orders. Around 7am, my wife called the number and after finally getting through, the lady told her she was there all alone and couldn't come get us, but they would give $15 off to defray the cost of a ride there. We found out the "ride there" would cost about $45, then found out they few if any cars. At this point, my wife called the hotline again and gave the lady an earful about misleading us on opening time and being picked up. The other couple that had a reservation was told they didn't have any cars on base yet, but they might soon. After talking to them, we decided to call the base agent and see if they could locate a 7-passenger van or something to take us all to Charleston, which is where the other couple was going too. He said he'd try, and sure enough, about an hour later when we were starting to lose hope, he called back and told us he had one and would come pick us up shortly. The two other guys and I went with him to the office to provide documentation and such, and we were all pleased when we found out we had an almost new Chrysler Pacifica, and at just over $200 with my employee discount.

The nice agent at the base Hertz office gave us a rundown on the car, took car of our two no longer needed reservations and we were on our way to Charleston, finally. Billy Ray, the first guy that asked to join us, took the first shift driving, and I, like an idiot, sat in the front seat with him talking, instead of getting some needed sleep. An hour or so out, we stopped to use the restrooms and get something to eat and/or drink. To Billy Ray's credit, he drove almost 7 hours before saying he was getting a bit tired and achy, so we stopped again and I took over. Billy Ray swore that he couldn't sleep in the car with someone else driving, but within 10 minutes of my taking over, he was snoring in the back seat. I drove for about 3 hours, then let Jim take over for the last 2 hours or so to Charleston Joint Base. We reached Charleston a bit before midnight, and got our cars started. Jim and his wife had offered to put us all up in his house near Charleston, but Billy Ray opted out saying he wanted to get at least 100 miles down the road, since he needed to be in Texas by Saturday night. We took them up on their offer and so after a group photo, we followed them over to the actual airport to turn in the car, then followed them to their house. They live a ways outside of Charleston, in a very nice two-story house in a nice quiet subdivision. Soon after arriving, we were shown our room, made the bed and passed out.

We woke up at 6am, and although Jim had said he'd be up by 6am to take his medications, I think he was still asleep, so we quietly packed up, remade the bed, and left them a Thank You note on their coffee maker. I drove the first hour or so, then Manoli took over while I zonked a bit. We got to our house by about 10am, unloaded and relaxed.

After our fiasco trying to get out of Ramstein, and then finding transportation from McGuire, we are not anxious to go again any time soon, but you never know. I'm considering doing the Camino de Santiago again next spring, starting from LIsbon in Portugal, but we'll see. In retrospect, and for you other Space Aers out there, I'd recommend a few things:




• Buy one of those padded blowup mattresses, unless you are only willing to fly on C5s or commercial Patriot Express flights.
• Make sure you have someplace to stay one or more nights at your "return from" base, especially when you are at a place like Ramstein with little available lodging.
• Make sure you have some way to get from whatever base you land at in the states to where ever you parked your car.
• Don't rely on rental car agencies to go out of their way to help you, or even give you straight information.
• Make friends along the way and either offer assistance and/or be grateful when you get it.

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Comments

[Modular tank]

Awesome blog
This is a inspiring and awesome post, your incidence is very nice for everyone to get experience, thanks dear to post. Modular tank

[Doc]

Welcome home
Another interesting adventure. Enjoyed reading.