I'm Leavin' On a Jet Plane...

We started on our long 30 hour journey to Okinawa... and the adventure really began.

Our first flight from Nashville to Dallas was a breeze. It was our daughters first time flying (since she was a few months old); so, of course she got the window seat! She was a total trooper and was begging to do it again when we landed in Dallas after just 2 short hours.

We got off our plane and grabbed a bite to eat to pass the time of our layovers. We walked to the gate of our next flight (to Tokyo) to board the plane and THEN, it hit me... WE are the minority now. Our fight was 98% non-English speaking Japanese.

The flight to Tokyo was a LONG one. 13 hours. But... the chairs were larger than other planes, we were served many many meals, and each seat was equipped with it's own TV and plenty of pre-loaded new releases. Needless to say, between napping, eating, and all the cartoons... JoJo had a blast!

Before we landed in Tokyo, we checked out our itinerary to prepare ourselves for navigating Tokyo airport... only to realize that because our flight had landed late... and we had approximately 8 minutes to get off our plane, thru the airport, and to our next flight. Impossible? Not totally. That was UNTIL...

Everyone on our flight was handed a piece of paper to fill out about our where abouts over the last few weeks, along with a checklist of any symptoms we may be having. We then received an announcement over the intercom that informed us that no one would get off the plane until every one's sheet was completed correctly. Then... 10 or so "Quarantine Officials" boarded the plan in full gear and used a special camera to read the temperature of every passenger on the plane. People with temps higher than 100 F where taken to quarantine.

Needless to say, 45 minutes later, we had missed our next flight.

Fortunately, for the first time... the Army was on top of it's game and taking care of us. We got off our plane and were quickly greeted by a Japanese woman holding a sign with our names on it. She handed us new tickets to a different flight.

Unfortunately, our new flight required us to retrieve our three 70lb. bags from baggage, go back thru customs, leave the airport on a bus, come back to the airport, check back in our bags, and then board our new flight. All in a foreign language.

Our last flight was from Tokyo straight into Naha, Okinawa. It was by far the bumpiest flight I have ever been on. Enough to make me motion sick. Blah!

Our 20+ hours of flying weren't the best hours of my life... but we made it. Safe and sound. And we are so incredibly thankful to be here.