We left Hawaii, having sent Veronica ahead to spend some time with each of our folks, and embarked on a fairly adventurous trip that included a MAC flight from Hickam AFB to Travis AFB on a C130 Hercules cargo-transport plane, and that's quite a story!!!
For those who’ve never had the pleasure of "first class" accommodations on a cargo plane, I’ll explain. When we boarded, we were directed to the plush cargo-net seating (hung between pipe frames). Almost immediately we were visited by our flight attendant who, without the frivolous bother of a variety menu, distributed our in-flight meal. This was before we even took off, but I can explain that, too; our box lunch, a facsimile of a KFC mini-meal…but cold, had to be distributed at this point since, unlike Cracker Jacks, the prize was taped right to the top…our own pair of individually form-fitting foam ear plugs. Apparently the in-flight entertainment…the incessant drone of enormous engines…was a wee too loud for some!
Still, the best part of the trip was yet to come; we were no sooner off the ground and the captain announced we could "untie" our seatbelts, when my then-wife, Roseanna, asked to be directed to the "Ladies’ Room". The young airman in charge of "personal accommodations" informed her that it would be a few minutes yet; could there possibly be that big a line already, we thought?!? No, that wasn’t it; he explained that they were still assembling it; "it" was a 55-gallon drum tied off in one corner, with a special seat in the lid and a little set of steps. That was all together at this point; what we were still waiting for was the privacy curtain which they were still building with the help of a pocket knife, several black plastic trash bags, and a roll of duct tape…shades-o-McGyver!!! Well, the flight did cost us only $14 apiece!!!
Once we landed at Travis, we were met by my cousin, Pat, through whom we met and with whom we spent a little better than a week in San Francisco. We then proceeded, by bus, to Rockport, MO, to spend a few days with a good buddy of mine from the Skate, TJ Chard. That turned out to be all the bus travel we could tolerate so, when we left there, it was by air...to Buffalo to see my folks and Veronica who was there by now. Finally, we relocated to Connecticut, where Rose and Veronica are from and where I would find the career that would allow me to continue to be a submariner, if only by proxy and proximity!!!
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