Our 1st Space A Experience

Warning: This is a long post!

We found out on Sunday, Jan 3rd, that there was a flight from Guam to Hawaii to San Diego! I was so excited, but I knew I needed to contain myself until I actually boarded the aircraft, since we all know we could be turned away and what an disappointment that would be.

When we checked in we found out that we would be flying on a C-17 Globemaster III, which is a gigantic cargo plane....see pics below! I don't even know if these pics do the plane justice. I mean it was so big, it was carrying two military helicopters. Yes, I am dead, serious. We flew home on an airplane with two helicopters strapped down next to us. It was just crazy!

Do you see how tiny the stairs and door look in the first picture? And that is like 13 or so stairs we had to climb up. This aircraft was gigantic. In the next picture, I wanted to show how big the back door is so the cargo can be loaded. The third picture shows how tall this aircraft is. Those are people standing inside of it...do you see them? And last is a picture of the plane taking off. It was just so big, it was incredible!

Since this is a cargo plane, the seats are lined up along the sides of the aircraft. I opted not to bring Rian's carseat onboard because I knew majority of the time she would be allowed to run around. She looked so tiny in the seats. I bought a boxed lunch on both legs for only $4.25 each and they included a sandwich and bunch of goodies and drinks. Not to mention they had free all-you-can-eat/drink soda, bottled water, and cookies once we boarded the plane. So here is a picture of Rian digging through the box of goodies!

Since our seats were lined up against the walls of the aircraft, one would think that your view would be the other passengers on the opposite side of the plane, right? Um, no! Instead this was our view: a gigantic medical helicopter! If you click on the picture, you can see some stairs to the right of the front of the helicopter. Those stairs lead up to the cockpit. That's how tall this plane is!

The first picture is another view from our seats, but this time towards the back of the plane. This contraption was holding the propellers in place while we were flying, so they didn't bounce around. Can you see the second helicopter too? The second picture was taken while I was standing next to the second helicopter in the back of the aircraft facing the first helicopter.

Here is a picture of the back of the aircraft. I was trying to show how tall it is.

Our flight left at 5 pm island time, so it was nice that we were flying mostly throughout the night. But of course, I still had to entertain my little girl for many, many hours. They only had the fasten seat belt sign on for takeoff and landings, so we were allowed to walk around the plane. In fact they handed out blankets (because it was absolutely freezing) and pillows for everyone too.

A generous passenger offered his foam mat to us so Rian could use it while laying on the floor of the aircraft. I love these pictures because it shows how close we are to these helicopters. Rian also made a friend on the flight, who nicely shared her Nintendo DS with Rian. Even though Rian had no clue how to play it, I liked this picture because here she is on our layover in Hawaii chillin in her chair, legs crossed, looking like she knows exactly what she is doing!

Overall, we were traveling probably 18-20 hours. We only had a few hour layover in Hawaii, but we got to see the sunrise there, so that was cool. I am very grateful that this trip back to California worked out so nicely. Instead of spending $3000 and flying on a commerical plane, we spend $8.50 and had the most incredible experience on a military aircraft. Seriously, I will remember this forever!!!