Traveling to Japan

Traveling to Japan

January 13, 2014

The journey begins at about 3:00 am Wednesday, January 9 in Shell Rock. We stayed over there at Jim's parent's house, van loaded with our luggage, ready to be taken to the airport by Jim’s mom Sue. Rolled out of bed, bundled up for the -7 temperature outside and we were off to the airport in Cedar Rapids.

Our plane was scheduled to take off at 6:10 am. The ticket counter was slow, but getting through security was no problem. We were even able to keep the homemade cookies! Once to the gate, boarding began late and progressed very slowly – the airport is obviously under staffed. After the plane loaded it had to be de-iced, from sitting overnight in the frigid temperatures.  I began to worry the scheduled 40 minute layover in Denver, Colorado was shrinking quickly. I didn’t sleep much at all on that first flight.

When we landed in Denver, we hurried to the gate and were the last few people to board, but we did make it. I rested a bit easier on that flight! It is a lesson of trusting God with everything, because He has us in His hands, and His plan will work out for the best.

In San Francisco, we had time to get a couple of deli sandwiches for lunch. The plane that was to take us to Osaka, Japan was having some computer malfunction, and was being worked on. It was cleared to be used and we boarded about a half hour after the flight was originally scheduled to take off. Then, while we were taxiing toward the runway, the plane stopped for another 15 minutes or so. The mechanics had to make a couple more adjustments. At this point I wondered if we should really be flying over the Pacific Ocean in this plane but I trust God and the airline staff seemed confident it would be fine. We took off for the near 12 hour flight, and had no noticeable problems. We enjoyed a few meals and snacks, free movies, and a couple good naps.

We arrived in Osaka about an hour past the scheduled time, but it was not a problem as the layover was originally more than three hours. We made it through customs easily and found our luggage to re-check it for the last flight. One of the pieces of checked luggage was an office chair I gave to Jim for Christmas, un-assembled in the original cardboard box. The box was a bit beat up after the first three flights, with noticeable holes. The staff in Osaka looked at it a bit funny, and graciously gave us some tape to mend it. We would have to wait a bit longer to find out if any pieces were missing, and if so there’s no telling where they might be now. The airport in Osaka was relatively quiet. We mostly rested, stretched out our sore muscles as much as possible, and waited for the last leg of the flying to Okinawa.

The flight to Okinawa was uneventful. The hallways were still filled with beautiful Orchids, and the outside temperature was just below 60. We found our luggage on the carousel and met an Army driver to take us from the airport in Naha to Torii Station, about a 45 minute drive.

Just before he came home for Christmas, Jim moved from the barracks into an apartment off base. We came home to this new apartment and promptly went to bed – it was about midnight Thursday night in Okinawa. Jim had to go to work Friday morning! We both slept very soundly that night, grateful to be able to stretch our legs and lay down. Jim made it to work on time, but I enjoyed sleeping in. :)