Getting to Atsugi

-
 We made it!! The journey to Atsugi was long and exhausting so if you are going to make the journey ba aware. We started out fine making it from Indianapolis to Dallas without a problem but Dallas is where it all started to go down hill. We thought we had an hour layover in Dallas but by time we landed and got off the plane we had 20 minutes. If you have ever been to Dallas before then you know 20 minutes is not enough time which lead to us pretty much running to the next gate with a 3 year old who had been up since 1:00am so we ended up dragging her  through the airport but we made it and made it to Seattle with no additional complications. 

So we spent the night in the Radisson which is right across the street from the airport. Due to the AMC terminal being at Seattle Airport it is very popular for military to stay at. The hotel itself is very nice for an airport hotel however I would not recommend eating it the hotel restaurant it was overpriced as are many hotel restaurants and the food was not very good. 

Our next adventure/ hiccup came the next morning when we got up at 3:00am to get to the AMC at 4:30am. We arrived at the AMC to check in only to find out that no one would be getting on the flight due to it being over weight. We waited for about an hour for that determination and would be flying commercial. We were instructed to wait in the USO (which was the nicest USO we have seen) and wait for our tickets. Now I thought we would wait about an hour but nope I was wrong I think we waited about 3 hours. With 3 kids this was not fun they kept asking when our plane would get there. Finally at 10:30am we got our tickets we were flying Delta and were boarding at 11:30 this gave us an hour to check in, and get through security again not easy with 3 kids. Our tickets also had us flying into Narita which is a 2.5 hour drive to Atsugi, Haneda would have been closer. Once we go to the airport to 3:45pm we had to wait until 6:30 for the Shuttle to Atsugi. Had we flown into Yokoto through the AMC we would have been picked up by our sponsor but due to the distance and last minute change someone from the command was sent to meet us at the airport but the command did not want them to pay for the gas and tolls and the command van was not available.

After all of that we made it and what a welcoming it was. I have to say our command Commander, Fleet Air Forward (CFAF) welcomed us with open arms. We had our chief, his wife and our sponsor meet us at the hotel gette our 15 bags off the bus and into our room they even had 2 gift baskets and got us dinner.

I am sure there will be many adventures to be had. Next week we start out area orientation and the boys start school. Yay!!! We were told part of the area orientation is that they bring us out in town and leave us to find our way back eek!!! Wish us luck.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Yamato Yutori No Mori (Cloud Park)

-
Image
Yamato Yutori No Mori (Cloud Park) So we have been trying to explore some of the parks around the area and today we went to what is called cloud park on base. This park is fantastic it has climbing areas, rolling slides and a bouncing area (cloud). This park is huge with a lot more aside from the playground including huge barbecue areas and a walking trail. This park can be seen if you drive around base and head toward the east gate, however it takes a bit of work to actually get to the park. When going use this parking area  it is the closest of the 2 parking areas to the playground. We spent about 2 hours there today and if it did not get so warm the kids could have probably played all day. That is one thing to note, this park is open and has very little shade so on a hot day bring plenty of water and go early in the morning the good thing is that the park opens at 9am. This park is definitely a must see. Here are some photos I took to give you an ...
Read more

Buying a Car Atsugi

-
So when you first get to NAF Atsugi you will be walking everywhere. Although the base is small and most things are centrally located to the lodge you will see that things will take a lot longer to accomplish due to walking (especially if you have more than one child). Food shopping will seem like an impossible task and you might find yourself going to the commissary multiple times a week or even a day. However you will get a good workout in. I have a Fitbit and in a single day I went from the lodge to the CDC, to Fleet and Family for our AOB/ICR, to the school (near the CDC) back to fleet and family, back to CDC, to the commissary and then back to the lodge and I had over my 10,000 steps for the day and that was with me sitting in a class all day.  I personally do not mind the walking but if you do this might be a bit difficult for you so you might want to take people who offer you a ride up on their offer. So if what I stated above dose scare you then you are in luck this sce...
Read more

Our Home (3 bedroom renovated tower 3050)

-
Image
(Updated with our furniture) So I know I said I would post photos of you 4 bedroom townhome on Atsugi when we got assigned housing, well that may have to wait a few months. After spending a total of 20 days at the navy lodge we were told they had no 4 bedrooms available for us. Our options were then to either move in town or take a 3 bedroom and we were given the option to have a 4 bedroom possibly in May when the air wing moves to Iwakuni. We chose to take the 3 bedroom which landed us in the towers. Many people think we are crazy because they would love to live in town (it is mandatory to live on base right now) however if we chose to live in town we might end up being forced to move back on base again if a 4 bedroom becomes available. If they were to come to me in 6 months to a year I would say heck yeah let's do it but when we were offered it I hadn't driven in town yet (I still haven't) and I would have to bring my kids on base for school every day; honestly thi...
Read more