Flying on a C17

It was so hot I really needed out of Japan and no where sounded better then Alaska.  There are military flights that fly an average of three times a month from Yakota (two hours from us) to the base in Anchorage.  They never fill up with people and I thought we would have no problems getting there.  Unfortunately our flights kept getting pushed and filled with cargo so we did leave three days later then planned, but in the end we got a flight!

Here we are waiting for roll call the night before.  It was an early flight so roll call was 7pm the night before.  I see how that is easier if you live on that base.  But because we live two hours away we had to find a hotel for the night.  Luckily we were able to get a room.  It is pretty lucky because they were full and had a couple rooms they were only allowed to give out for people who show up in person.

I flew Space A twice before but those were still regular passenger planes.  This was our first time on a C17.  It was pretty fun.  Maybe better than a commercial flight.

Calista stayed in her seat for a few minutes until we were up in the air and then she never really sat down again during the 8 hours.

Beatrix never once got into her seat, oh wait, I did try to put her in her seat once and let her scream for about five minutes before I caved and picked her up.  She is a little spoiled.

The only downfall was the plane was so loud!  We all wore hearing protection and I wouldn't do it or let the kids take theirs off.  That makes watching movies difficult, but the kids were fin taking turns playing games on Bob's old phone.  I like to read, so I didn't have a problem either.

Once we were in the air we rolled out the sleeping bags and went to sleep.  It was the best part.

 Behind the girls you can see someone even hung up a hammock.

 Whenever Calista was awake she was free to stumble around the plane.

 I did find it a little difficult to yell at the kids when they couldn't hear me at all.  At one point Penelope was literally skipping in circles around the cabin.  I think the kids forgot that they were on an airplane and that you can't just run around like crazy.

 The space was really nice, and we landed before we knew it.