Seven more days and a wake-up before I fly out of Kwaj on home leave. It's hard to believe that only a couple of months ago I bought the plane tickets and now I'm preparing to pack my bags for a little over a month away from this island paradise.
It's not going to be all fun and games. I have to do some work, like establishing my Nevada residency by registering my car (which I haven't driven in nearly a year!), switching my driver's license from Texas to Nevada, and sorting through stuff I own to either throw out or place in self-storage; the storage costs get reimbursed by the company, and either my family or I have access to the storage area, but the only drawback is that I don't get the move of my stored goods in self-storage paid for by the company when it comes time to PCS back to the mainland. I can live with that.
I don't particularly like living or vacationing in Las Vegas during the blazing hot summer, where temperatures routinely break the 100-degree mark daily, but it's when I could swing the vacation to time it with the upcoming high school class reunion in Fort Lauderdale. Having already lived in Las Vegas and experienced the blast-furnace heat (twenty years earlier, with occasional visits every 1-2 years to visit my younger brother) I'm already prepared for it.
The biggest ordeal will be the travel: a little over 24 hours flying through mostly vast expanses of empty Pacific Ocean. After departing Kwajalein and making a brief stop in Majuro, the flight continues on towards Honolulu. As we cross the International Date Line at the 180 degree line of east longitude, I'll experience a time warp: I lose a day traveling eastward, so I'll be experiencing the longest July 5th in my life.
After clearing immigration and customs in Honolulu, I'll have about four hours to kill in the terminal before checking into my connecting flight to San Francisco. The wait shouldn't be too bad; I bought a one-time day pass to the United Airlines Red Carpet Club, so at least I'll have a little time to relax and have a continental breakfast before going to my gate. I learned that from a previous job where I did more traveling on the company's dime that it's worth getting a membership (or at least buy a one-time pass) if your connecting time is greater than two hours.
Another five hours in the air and I'll be landing at San Francisco International Airport (first time I've ever flown there); after about an hour connection I board a third flight for my final leg to Las Vegas, arriving at McCarran at around 5:50 pm Pacific time. Most flights from California usually use the runway 1/19 complex that runs northeast to southwest at the western part of the airport (flights to and from the east coast and international use the runway 7/25 complex that runs roughly east and west).
This past weekend was a full moon weekend, and it certainly was crazy at Vets' Hall. A couple of people had their PCS party, combined with karaoke night. At times, it was practically standing room only inside the Caribou Lounge and the back porch. I think the full moon also brought the craziness to a high level; many were well on their way - or already were - blasted off their minds.
I'll write in more detail my travel experience next week.
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