Our first Space A adventure to Europe

Our Space A experience - we left the house at 8h30 on Mon 3/29 to drive 3h to Jackson MS. Once there, they told us we were on the plane to Ramstein via Andrews AFB!!! We took off around 15.00. There were 20 people with us mostly families and retirees. We got there 2h later, deplaned and went to the terminal (packed with people). If I remember correctly we left Washington DC on the same plane at around 20h and arrived at Ramstein AFB at 9.00 am on Tue 3/30 after an 8h flight. Then we started what felt like the longest 3h drive to my parents house in Belgium. The girls slept the whole drive and Mike and I almost did so we stopped a few times for some fresh air.

The plane was a C17. The first leg went great and smoothly. For the second leg, they told us we would not be able to sleep on the floor for security reasons because the plane was too full of people (we were about 54 people - a few active duty, a lot of families 2 with 4 kids and a lot of retirees). The girls fell a sleep lying on 2 seats and we ended up putting Claire on the floor for a while. I just could not sleep. I am so happy we left our blankets on the plane in Andrews because when we came back another family of 4 was about to move them so they could sit together... (we were at the back of the bus coming from the terminal).

We had water on the plane and at Andrews we were able to order some boxed food for the flight to Germany. It was actually pretty good and lots of food. We all had sandwiches with cheese and a lot of meat (ham or turkey), Emilie got M&M's and chips and we got health bar and a yogurt. We also each had a fruit and 1 water and 1 apple juice or a soda all that for less than $5.00. We had brought sandwiches, lots of snacks and water not knowing what we would get on the plane.

After passing 'customs' at Ramstein, Mike signed us up for Space A to Jackson for our return the following week. Then we called our car rental agency who came to pick us up and started our journey to Belgium. By that time, it was close to noon and even though we were hungry we were also very tired and decided to drive straight there. We got to my parents' house at around 4.00pm.


We then spent 8 days with family, did not do much else other than spend time with them this time.


On Wednesday 4/7, Mike called Ramstein AFB to find out what Space A flights they were offering in the next few days and we found out there was a flight to Baltimore the next morning with the Freedom Bird/Rotator (civilian plane contracted by the military who transports troops and families from an overseas assignment to the USA and vice versa). So we decided we would have more chance to get on that plane than to try to get on a MedEvac flight (plane that carries patients and medical equipment from Germany back to the States). We packed and left later that day. We rented a hotel room in Germany by the base, had a typical German dinner and got to the AFB early the next day.

The plane had 235 seats, 57 space available. We quickly found out we would be on the flight to Baltimore and were very excited (we paid about $27.00 per person to get on it). We left Ramstein at noon on Thursday 4/8 and got to Baltimore at 1.00 pm local time. The seats were mostly occupied by soldiers coming back from a deployment in Kowait. I have to admit it was pretty cool to see all those soldiers coming home after defending their countries. So 8h, 2 (big) meals and 4 movies later, we landed in the DC area.

We then decided to rent a car at the airport and drive to a hotel downtown DC for the night. On the way, we stopped at our old house to show the girls our first house where Emilie was born. We had dinner at a restaurant downtown and crashed into our (really comfortable) beds at the Washington Plaza Hotel. The next morning, we decided to go for a walk and show the girls the Mall, the White House. It was a lot of fun, I missed all those sights...

After that, we met with one of our good friend and his parents, the Veltris, for lunch and then headed to Andrews AFB. There were 2 other families with each 3 kids trying to get on the C17 to Jackson. We all got on after they deplaned the material and medics. One patient was left onboard with a medic. We left around 4.15 pm and got to Jackson less than 2h later. We got to see the cockpit and the girls loved it. It was pretty cool! After landing, a bus came to get us at the airplane and drove us ... to our car !!! where they dropped our luggage. Talk about first class service!


We then drove 3h back home, which was very tiring again and got home around 11h00 pm. The girls slept in the car.


So all in all, our first Space A experience was the best. It all worked out the way we wanted. The worst part was the 3h drive to Belgium and back home after the flights but all that was worth it because we got to spend time with family!!!

Our Space A Adventure - pictures

(Click on the picture for a bigger version - I will post all the pictures from our stay in Belgium on Kodakgallery.)


The C17 that took us from MS to Germany via DC on Monday March 29, 2010.

The girls are putting their earplugs.

Inside the plane, 2 bathrooms (blue doors), our luggage in the middle and a lot of space!

Inside the plane and on the way to Belgium in the car...

In Washington DC on 9 Apr 10

The White House

The White House and Washington Monument

With the Veltris in DC

On the C17 from Andrews AFB to Jackson MS, in the cockpit

in the C17 cockpit

Flying over West VA, the girls and especially Emilie are VERY excited!

A Med evac patient on the left and the girls having fun running around

They opened up the back of the plane after we landed, we were taxiing to the 'gate', pretty cool (see videos as well)