Homecoming??? Part 3- Almost There

March 22, 12:50pm.

I'm sure some of you have been waiting to hear from me to see if we made it on our flight... Well we did!!!

Here's the story!

We arrive to the terminal at 4:30pm. I'm wearing the same comfy outfit I'd worn the day before and I didn't even bother doing my hair (I opted to wrap it in a scarf and cover it with this cute knit hat that I have). We're a little nervous as we wait because there are tons of people in the terminal and there are only 9 seats but again I tell myself to be cool.

Eventually we hear the voice on the microphone. First the category 1 passengers are called, there were none. Next the category 2 passengers are called by name. If you've been following this journey then you know we expect to hear our name first but instead we hear, "Young, Marcus please report to the counter." A family of 4 rushed forward.

I shoot Marcus a look that says, WTF is going on!?!?! We better be getting on this flight!!

Marcus leans in and asks Marcus Young when he got his papers stamped.
The 13th.

The 13th!! How the f*ck is that possible?

We thought that you could only sign up once you've already taken leave and once your papers got stamped, your ass had better be there to check in for the next flight or you'd be S.O.L.

Anyway I look around the room wondering if any of these other jokers signed up 2 weeks in advance. The next 2 minutes fell like forever.
Marcus looks over at me and says, "If we're not the next ones called we're screwed."
My heart is racing- but when the voice on the microphone comes back he calls the Updegraffs.

I breathe a huge sigh of relief and grab our bags. We check in and within minutes are called to the gate. We figure we'd have to wait a while like the day before but as soon as we pass through the security checkpoint we're told to go through the doors and get on the bus. It all happens so quickly that we leave Charlie's booster seat.

The bus drives us to this huge gray plane, a KC-10 used for refueling other aircrafts. Once we step on we're met by the crew who are occupying 5 of the 16 seats on the aircraft.
The flight is pretty uneventful. The girls are well behaved and the ride is smooth.

When we land the crew chief asks for our attention so he could tell us what to do as we exited the plane. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I just want to let you know that there are no hats allowed on the flight line... hold the rail as you walk down the stairs... yadda, yadda, yadda."

"Excuse me," I interrupt, "Did you say no hats??"

"Yes ma'am, no hats."

If I wasn't so happy about being in Guam I probably would've been more annoyed that I had to remove my hat and scarf in front of all these strangers, but I just smiled and complied with the instructions.

Marcus' friend Moses picked us up from the terminal and he and his wife Kim opened up their home to us.

By the time we got to bed I was exhausted but last night I had the best night's sleep :)!!!

Today we took a walk down to the water and then took the girls to a small aquarium called Underwater World and in about 10 minutes we'll head back to the terminal and catch our flight to Hawaii.

I'll upload pictures from today a little bit later.

Mahalo :)