Found a flight from the NAS in Ft Worth. Wasn't sure if I would be able to get on it, so I took the Casita to Grapeland as that is approximately halfway there. Was able to board it and since they canceled the North Island, Ca stop, it went all the way to Hawaii. Stayed in the Air Force Inn overnight. I was totally beat and had to walk over a mile to the room they provided. A very nice couple saw me walking with my bag and stopped to give me a lift. It is great to be a member of the military family. Caught a flight to Kadena AFB on Okinawa the next afternoon. Stayed overnight at Kadena and then boarded a flight to Yokota AFB near Tokyo. Bored yet?
Since I was concerned about jet lag - I stayed at the Yokota Air Force Inn for 3 nights to recover. Great place to rest up as the Enlisted Club, Officer's Club, and the chow hall (excuse me, it is now called the "dining facility"), BX, and Commisary were all within walking distance and there was a base shuttle bus to also ride if I wanted to do so. The lady at the front desk gave me a suite with a kitchen, bedroom, and living area for only $41.50 a night. As I am very picky about my coffee, I went to the commisary and bought a terrific blend of coffee and milk and had some of the best coffee I have ever made. It was so good that I made coffee for each family stopover I made while there (I know, it doesn't take much to make me happy).
There is good news and bad news: The good news is that I arrived during the peak of the cherry blossoms arrival. They were fantastic! I have a couple of pictures if I figure out how to post them. The bad news is that it was so cold that there was frozen sleet on the ground a couple of mornings.
One morning I went to breakfast at the Enlisted Club and since I was early and they had not opened yet, I sit on the couch in the lobby and happened to strike up a conversation with a newly arrived DoD civilian that was also waiting for the restaurant to open. He was from within 7 miles of my home in Spring and went to school in the Klein ISD. Small world. He took me shopping off base with his wife and daughter that evening. I needed to get some small gifts for the family in Japan as I visited each of them. Great family and I hope they enjoy stay in Japan.
Even though there is a shuttle from the Yokota Inn to the New Sanno Military Hotel in downtown Tokyo, I elected to take the train from Fussa Station to Ikebukuro for old times sake. By accident, I got on the express train to Shinjiku Station and it went with a minimum of stops all the way to Shinjiku. Changed to the train for Ikebukuro and arrived with no fuss, no muss. My nephew met me at the Tabu Dept Store entrance within the train station (I wanted to walk to his home, but he insisted).
My brother-in-law Masao met us at Eibo's (my nephew) house and took me to the family cemetery to wash the marble stones, burn incense and leave fruit and flowers. Very moving experience.
I stayed at Eibo's home for 3 days and we did some sightseeing one day while I was there. It was great to get up early in the morning and wander through Japanese neighborhoods and business areas. They keep them so clean.
Next installment I will talk about what happened during my visit (some very nice and some things unexpected)
So long until then.
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