The PCS curse: if it can go wrong, it will! I'll try to make a very long story, really short; only enough details to remember it some day! We had no idea when they would send us to Japan. All we knew was that we were going, and that it would be sometime after Jesse CQed. We don't like to put the cart before the horse, so it was hard to prepare for Japan before Jesse had actually completed the FRS. Regardless, we started working on area clearances. I got mine with no problem, but Fletcher's was a little more complicated because he couldn't be cleared until his 2 month vaccines. This also pushed back the booking of our flights, because IPAC wouldn't schedule anything until the area clearances were done. After Fletcher's vaccines, I got all of the paperwork done and signed. All I had to do was take it to Point Loma to get signed by a special area clearance doctor. When we got there, she informed us that Fletcher and I would actually NOT be going to Japan, due to the endocrinologist recommending a 4 month endo check up. Iwakuni doesn't have an endocrinologist, so the appointment would have to be done in San Diego. When Jesse informed her that our lease was terminated and the movers were scheduled, she said, "well I guess you're moving home for awhile!" My stomach turned and I fought back tears. Jesse told me to get it together, and we left. I frantically started calling TriCare to book his 4 month visit in Cherry Point and switch our insurance to the East coast. Then we went to IPAC and cancelled our flights. I felt stressed but I was also upset that Jesse would be in Japan for 2 months without us. The worst part about moving for me is living in limbo, and 2 months of limbo sounded dreadful. The next day, the doctor called me and said that she spoke with our endocrinologist, who wasn't worried, and she cleared Fletcher to go. We called IPAC again and asked them to rebook our flights.
The actual move took place over 4 days. The first day, the movers took our unaccompanied baggage, which is 800 pounds of our 'must have as soon as possible' stuff. No furniture allowed. It gets flown to Japan and hopefully arrives the same time we do. It's been 30 days and the status online says "location unknown".
The second day they took our permanent storage items. Motorcycle, boat, large power tools, etc. The day before, they called Jesse and let him know that they couldn't store the boat. "DMO made a mistake, we don't store boats". So we're supposed to give away our boat? They did offer to store it for us on base for three years, for $60/month. Ha. Jesse went into DMO to let them know that their mistake wasn't our problem, especially not the day before. They ended up saying they would store the boat if he took if off the trailor and broke down the trailor. About the time he got home to take care of that, I got hit with a stomach bug. A BAD stomach bug. The kind of bug that makes you do things you don't want anyone to ever hear of, much less see. Jesse was somehow able to tackle the boat, take care of me, and get Fletcher to bed (on his own for the first time). My poor husband. When the movers arrived the next day, they told Jesse that they couldn't store the boat that way, and could he please put it back on he trailor.
Day three was golden.
Day four tested our sanity. Derby had to fly to Raleigh, the movers were finishing packing, we had to be out of our house, the car had to be dropped off at storage, and Jesse had to take Fletcher and I to the airport to fly to NC. First things first, get Derby to the airport. Jesse took her and when he arrived, they let us know that we were missing one document, and oh yeah her flight was cancelled. If that's not enough, here's some more; her crate is too large to fly into Raleigh, so she'll have to be rerouted to Charlotte on a flight tonight. It's only 3 hours away. So Jesse left the airport, took Derby to the vet, got the missing document, and came back to the house. The movers were finishing up so Jesse threw Corbett's mountain bike in the trunk, drove to storage, dropped the car off, and bicycled back. The movers left, Nichole picked us up, we got an early dinner, and Jesse drove Fletcher, Derby, and myself to the airport. We decided to fly out separately in case there was last minute business to take care of the next day.
Fletcher and I got to Raleigh early the next morning. Fletcher was amazing on the flights. He slept the entire time! My mom picked us up and we went to my sister's house. Then we drove 3 hours to Charlotte to get Derby. On the way back, we were supposed to pick Jesse up at the Raleigh airport because he was flying in that night. He called about halfway there and informed me he was stuck in a Salt Lake City because it was too hot for the airplane to take off. They needed 11 people to stay the night in SLC, and they were offering $400. I didn't think it was worth it so when Jesse told the airline that his wife said 'no', they offered $800! We took it. So Jesse didn't get into Raleigh until the next day, but the $800 bought our one-way tickets back to San Diego so we could catch our military issued flights to Japan.
You just can't make this stuff up!
Our vacation was smooth sailing from that point on, but we are still thanking our lucky stars that we made it out of San Diego!
