Back to Korea

We have been back for almost a week now. The trip wasn't quite as eventful but tested us nonetheless. We got off from S's folks house a little later than we had hoped. Which put us arriving at Travis AFB at around 11:30pm. There were no hotel rooms (This was a Friday night) on base and it would have taken us almost 30 minutes to get back to the town. Plus the time it would have taken to actually find a hotel, unload the kids and the stuff we needed etc. We did not want to take the chance of being late and missing our plane since roll call for the flight was 4:30am. SO, we ALL slept (and I use that term loosely) in the 12-passenger van that we had rented. YUCK!

We made the flight and landed in Tokyo at Yakota AB. When we arrived the C-5 that we were planning to catch to get us back to Osan was sitting in Guam with maintenance issues and there was nothing else for 72 hours. We got a hotel room on base and planned to go back the next day (Monday) to check again. As of Monday afternoon there was still nothing for the next 72 hours. We had to get the kids back for school because they had already missed 2+ weeks. H & C had missed some critical assignments and were really sweating it.

S went to a local travel agent and booked a flight home for all of us for what we had decided would be Tuesday. Well, when he came home he announced that we would be going home on Wednesday due to an unscheduled stop at Tokyo Disneyland! We had tried several times while in Okinawa to make it to Tokyo Disney but it never worked out. We had had a rough 2 weeks and he felt that we needed something to brighten our trip a bit. The kids were ecstatic to say the least. As for me I would certainly rather take 8 kids to Tokyo Disneyland as opposed to California Disneyland. Tokyo is safer.

We got up early and took the base shuttle bus to the main gate and walked about a 1/4 mile to the train (or subway) station. We were excited and well rested so this little walk was kinda fun and refreshing. It would later become something we would dread. We caught the train, and 2.5 hours and 3 train changes later arrived at Disneyland.

We went up to the window to get our tickets but their machines would not process our debit or credit cards. After trying unsuccessfully several times we were directed to an ATM machine. The Japanese agent then came out of the ticket booth and personally escorted S to an ATM. Apparently that one didn't work either so he then escorted S to another which finally worked. When they arrived back to where the kids and I were waiting he politely bowed to us, apologized for the inconvenience and asked us to enjoy our day. I love Japan!

We had a great day riding rides and seeing the attractions. The food wasn't bad either. By the end of the day we were pretty pooped. It was getting cold and we did not bring any jackets or sweatshirts. We found a place out of the wind and sat for the Main Street Electrical Parade. It was everything I remembered and more. The kids really liked it...at least the ones that were still awake. The older kids and S hit Space Mountain one last time, we turned in our rented strollers and headed back for the train. This time the train was a bit fuller than is was this morning. The youngest 3 kids were asleep and had to be carried. JB was wobbling and whining and would surely not make the 2.5 hour train ride back without falling asleep too. We made our 3 train/subway transfers carrying 4 out of 8 of the kids. Everyone who could carry someone was. When we got on the trains they were pretty crowded. Most of the time someone would give up their seats so that the ones carrying sleeping children could sit. The others would sit on the floor nearby because they were too tired to stand. We are always a spectacle wherever we go but this time it was more-so. :-) At this point we were dreading that quarter-mile walk back to the main gate of the base. S had already made the decision that we'd catch two cabs when we got to the Fusa Station.

We got to the gate and were informed that the cabs, shuttles or any other mode of transportation were no longer running because it was too late. There was no way that we could walk to where our room was. It was probably 6+ miles away. So after many phone calls a base police cruiser came and offered to take me and the 4 littlest ones to the TLF where our room was. The Kanto Lodge then sent a van to pick up the rest of us. We had a great time despite our little glitches.

We bought tickets for a base sponsored bus to Narita Airport to catch our flight to Korea. Other than a traditional nuclear style fit from JJ and losing a backpack with my keys, a leapster, JJ's asthma meds., and some money in it. Everything went smoothly. Oh, I forgot to mention that when we collected our checked luggage, one of the bags had a large yellow locking device on it. I thought that it was just a random customs check but when I got up to the customs desk they had an X-ray scan of the bag in question. They had two large red circles around two objects in the bag and wanted to check them out. They said "you have guns?" WHAT!!! I said, shocked. He said "We look". "Toys in this bag" I said, opening the bag. They didn't want the super sharp cheese grater that I had just purchased...they wanted the NERF sponge dart guns that we bought for JB's birthday! They laughed when I pulled them out to show them what they were. Glad we cleared that one up...hee hee.

We boarded another bus but this one had large leather seats that resembled lazy-boy recliners. Three hours later we were walking through our front door. S said "Even if it's Korea, I'm glad to be home!" That about says it. We only have about 2 months left in the "Land of the Morning Calm" (Korea) so we need to enjoy what we have left.