On our last day in Montgomery, we spent the day at the zoo. For being a small city, their zoo was great. The weather was perfect so all the animals were very active and Owen loved it.
The train ride was the best part (well, aside from the ducks) and went all the way around the zoo and a nearby pond.
Our last and final days in Iowa went by in the blink of an eye. We were hardly there for 48 hours and we packed in a lot of fun and memories.
Elle and her cousin Lucy. Also known as the princess and the other princess.
We took Owen to the Des Moines Zoo for Night Eyes. Since we would most likely miss Halloween (as it turned out, we were just in time for it here in Korea, but were too jet-lagged to care) we wanted to make sure Owen got a chance to wear his costume. He was the cutest little dog I’ve ever seen.
Our first flight was to Seattle, where we had a few hours to crash at the hotel before our early morning flight to Korea the next morning.
We put Owen to bed and ordered room service for dinner. One of the most delicious cheeseburgers I’ve ever devoured made for a very perfect “last supper” in the states.
After a short nap, we were up and ready to go for our flight across the Pacific. The check in process was simple – before we knew it we were at our gate eating breakfast and Facetiming family.
We flew on a government contracted airline, so it was us along with all the other military folks on their way to Japan and South Korea. This was nice because we didn’t have to worry about the people next to us traveling without kids since they also paid $0 for their flight.
As it turned out, we were surrounded by kids all roughly Owen’s age. It got interesting at times as I think it was a first flight for several of those kiddos. It’s so tough, you just can’t explain jet lag and long flights like this to a little one. I have to say how proud of Owen I am. He rocked that long flight…the other kids were definitely not having it. I suppose all the traveling Owen has done in his short two years has prepared him well for flights like these but then it could have also been the pre-flight yoga he did.
We were greeted at the terminal on our new base by new friends and several of the girls from our squadron met me at the lobby in lodging to introduce themselves. I was so out of it, I don’t remember much of that day, but it sure was nice to see some welcoming friendly faces when we got there. The jet lag was brutal. We got settled into the TLF which turned out to be a tiny one-bedroom hotel (two dorm rooms modified into a hotel room) and poor sweet Owen was immediately slammed with a three day long stomach bug.
Things were pretty dreadful for the first week or so and the jet lag rolled into the second week. I would say it took a full two weeks to overcome the jet lag. We are 15 hours ahead of Iowa and just like traveling to Europe, we noticed it took a day to adjust for every hour. The benefit of the jet lag was that being wide awake at 4 am meant that we could catch all the good football games live.
And there’s a 24 hour diner within walking distance that serves breakfast all day. This is how chipper we looked at 5 am…we were pretty stoked about eggs and pancakes!
The weather here is a lot like Germany – it’s dreary and overcast all the time. But for a different reason. We rarely see the sun here thanks to smog from the factories in China. No joke. I guess they shut the plants down in a China for a week and it was miraculously clear and sunny here. It rains several times a week and if it’s not raining it’s gray and gloomy. To answer those who have asked, we got about 3 inches of snow a few days ago, so it does snow here! Much to my delight. Now that it’s getting colder, we’re getting more and more bored in our tiny living quarters…
This is the living room, dining room, and Owen’s room. I took the photo standing in the “kitchen” and entry way.
The beautiful thing is, even though it does have a kitchen, we are getting paid for non-cooking facilities which means we’re almost making money during our 5 weeks living here. I’ve been cooking as much as I can so it’s been a pretty good gig in that respect. Thank you AF, you actually do take very good care of us…
Last Monday we were FINALLY offered an apartment on base. We went to look at it and accepted it immediately. We move in this Thursday, which also happens to be someone’s SECOND birthday!! We are so anxious to have a home again. I’ll write another post hopefully tomorrow or Wednesday to fill you in on all the details. But for now, the almost 2 year old is demanding my attention so I must go…
I hope you all had a blessed Thanksgiving and long weekend!
xoxo