The Steely's: January 2013

As most of you know we are in Japan! We December 11th, 10th back in the USA we are 1/2 a day ahead of ya'll!

The start of our trip began with the movers, to which all came on the wrong days! But to their defense we probably would not have been ready for them on the correct day either!

We then moved to the the Aloft hotel by the Jacksonville Airport, it was a nice hotel but not for a family of four, next time we will stay at an extend-a-stay type place. December 10th came and we were ready to fly!

The flight from Jacksonville to Dallas to Sea-Tac, I thought I was going to have a nervous break down in Jacksonville as American Airlines told us that they couldn't send Roxy to Dallas because the temp was going to be 43 degrees and she could not fly below 45 degrees. I frantically made calls to the vet on base which was not helpful and to my step mom Lauren. Her and my Dad said that they would take Roxy and send her over here when the weather was warmer. My next thought is, are they going to have a flight to VA today? Thankfully Lesley at AA saw that we were so upset and fudged the temps that that Roxy could fly. I could see if it was a 10 degree difference but 2 degrees and it was just an estimate of what they thought the temp was going to be and when we got to Dallas it was 44 degrees so... Thank goodness we got her here and she is at the base kennel.

Well once we got to Sea-Tac it was 11 pm. With the time difference and everything we were ready for some sleep we headed next door to the Quality Inn. Scott had to get up at 1 am to go back to the airport to get us checked in. He thought with him just going over there with our information that he could get us taken care of, wrong again! Scott came back at 2 am and woke us up. We had to get everything packed quickly and head back over to the airport. Luckily, all of that went smoothly and we were able to get Roxy outside to use the bathroom and feed her a little bit. Then we headed to the terminal and we waited for 3 hours.

Then we began the 11 and 1/2 hour flight to Yokota, Japan AFB. I will be honest I slept for most of it and so did Lily. She was a dream on the flight, they played movies on the flight so we had something to keep us entertained. Once we landed we went in for a debrief and to turnover anything to customs that wasn't allowed. We then went to get Roxy and turn in all of her paperwork to customs. We were officially on Japan soil!

Our sponsor Jesse arranged transportation for us, because we had the dog. So we had our own private tour on Japan, it was about a 2 hour drive and we got to drive through Tokyo. Well the out skirts any ways.

We arrived at the New Yokosuka Hotel right outside the main gate of the base, because the Navy Lodge was booked until the 15th of December. We stayed there and that was an experience as well, also very small but had the common things that most Japanese homes and apartments have. They had a bidet which was an experience for me, as I had never used one before and they are also big on saving electricity here and the room key had a plastic stick that was attached to it and you had to put that in the light switch once entering the room in order for the lights to turn on.

The very next day Scott had to report to work. He made me promise that I would not stay in the room all day. I had no american cash and very little yen so headed to the 7-11, which let me just tell you, is NOTHING like a 7-11 back home no Slurpee's or taquitos. But all Japanese type things. Like chicken on a stick, and dumplings. I did however manage to figure out which bottle was a bottle of water and I purchased that with the little bit of Yen that I had gotten last night. I checked the ATM and Scott had not transferred any $ to our joint account.

I then ventured over to Mikasa shop way and found a 100 yen store, which is pretty much like a dollar store, only better. My first purchases in Japan were earmuffs, and a body sponge. Other than the night before I bought a Sapporo beer out of the vending machine in the lobby. The man the 100 yen store was so nice to me and I explained to him that today was my ichi day in japan, he kept saying domo, domo and bowing. I then left and felt completely over whelmed and felt like I may get lost so I decided to find my way back home, mind you I had Lily with me as well.

So I went back to the hotel for an hour or so, then decided to go out again, we walked the same route and I stumbled upon More's City! A nine, ten if you include the basement mall! I walked each floor than fell in love.

On December 15th we moved in the Navy Lodge on the very back end of the base. I have to admit I have not been off base nearly as much because it is a bit more challenging. I have to wait for a bus and wait twenty min or so to get the the front of the base and or take a taxi and pay to get the the front of the base. Maybe lazy in my part, but with a one year old, a stroller, a purse and or anything else you buy out in town. Sometimes it becomes hard to juggle. But we only have a week left till we move into our new home!

Last week we traveled to Kamakura and visited the Great Daibutsu or the Great Buddha, I absolutely loved it. And yesterday we had snow! The whole base shut down at noon and did not re-open till noon today! It was a crazy storm and I hear that this hasn't happened in over five years! Now what you all want to see some pictures!