Dollar Ride

Aloha everyone!

I’m sorry its taken SO long for me to get this post out (it won’t be the most up to date on what’s going on in my life) and I promise I will get around to adding my other posts, but I have to update you all.

Because I’m FINALLY flying!!

Let me tell you…its awesome, long, tiring, amazing, and I seriously have the best job in the world!

Local Flying

Before flying on a mission, we all have to fly a local around the islands (hard life I know).

For my local, we took off and went to the windward side of the island to see a couple approaches. Then, we went over to the Big Island to knock out some patterns and do a short low level around the south side of the island.

We had such amazing views and it was so good to get back into the jet again! I’m not sure how I prefer to view Hawaii, from the beach, mountains, or the air, because they’re all perfect views! 🙂

Dollar Ride

My dollar ride was amazing to say the least. I can now finally say i’ve been to Asia, into the Middle East, and put my feet into the Indian Ocean!

It was an awesome trip and I learned so much! We were pretty much on-time with getting back to Hawaii, so instead, they extended the mission and I got to be a part of a Medical Evac mission to San Diego, CA (another place I had never been to and loved).

We don’t always get to explore each place that we stop unless we crew rest there, but you still have to go out and put your feet on the ground to say you’ve been there…it counts right?

The crew and I did get to go out on the back half of the mission and drank purple drinks (very dangerous lol) and I even got to meet up with a couple of friends that are stationed at Yokota.

It was awesome to be able to grab lunch with Matt and Chantel and eat some crazy good fried rice (its cooked in a skillet as you eat it…just trust me, its amazing).

Diego Garcia was quite the interesting place and where we probably spent the most time on our whole trip. The hotel was…interesting. The island was absolutely beautiful. It just felt really weird being there, especially knowing there wasn’t too many people that actually live there.

On the back half, we got to explore a little more and walk around the island and go hit up the beach. I also got to experience “losing” my clothes and somehow finding chains in my bag. 🙂

San Diego, on the back half, was amazing. Beautiful weather, so much fun, great food. We even went out the night we got there with the crew, had AMAZING margaritas and tacos (restaurant is called Puesto…go there), and finally got my dance on!

We didn’t take-off until later, so I got some more free time to go explore. So, I checked out the USS Midway, walked around, and there just happened to be a food market right outside our hotel. So, of course, your girl had to check it out and came out with a delicious sushi burrito and got some cannolis for the crew.

All in all, it was a great trip and I was all ready for my next one. Even if I did end up with a pound of glitter in my bag at the end…and am still finding glitter. It’s everywhere, but I wouldn’t have had it any other way!

Thanks everyone on Reach 550, ya’ll are the best!

Thailand

Our mission to Thailand was a pretty quick one. It just was about 4 days with only one overnight in Thailand and a couple other quick stops.

Thailand (even though we didn’t spend much time there) was definitely beautiful and interesting. We arrived in the morning and then just decided to stay up in order to get back on a “somewhat normal” sleep schedule.

So, a couple of us went and saw the Sanctuary of Truth, rode an elephant, ate DELICIOUS Thai food, and got a massage and facial (only about $15ish total). It was awesome and so needed!!

We did a lot of night flying during this mission, and while it can be hard to stay awake sometimes, the views are still to die for. You can see the Milky Way so clearly and you see PLENTY of shooting stars!

The sunrises in the morning aren’t too bad either! 🙂

Guam

What was supposed to be a weekend trip, turned into a week long trip in Guam.

For this mission, we headed to the Solomon Islands to pick up a couple of transfer cases of people who passed away back in World War II and the team that retrieved them.

We kept breaking in Guam and kept having to try and find a new place to stay, since it was so busy there. It was somewhat of a headache, but that’s part of the job sometimes! Unfortunately, we didn’t get to do too much exploring due to the hotel situations.

In total, we stayed at the Hilton, Sheraton/Westin, and the Outrigger (but mainly the Hilton). So, if you need recommendations on them…let me know. Pretty much a pro now! 🙂

Guam was definitely beautiful though, just a cheaper version of Hawaii and I got to see one of my friends from Embry Riddle (its a small military)!

I’m totally good with not visiting there again for a little bit, but I definitely want to go back when I get a scuba diving certification, since the diving out there is supposed to be pretty amazing.

But, like I said earlier, the main purpose of this mission was to go to Guadacanal to pick up remains of soldiers who passed. It was definitely a humbling experience to get the chance to participate in and made being broke definitely worth it.

Life in Hawaii

To finish this post up, i’ll just give you a quick update on non-flying events.

In between all of these awesome trips, I’ve been able to check out a couple more places with great food and finally got to go hike to a waterfall!

The hike was to the Maunawili Falls with a couple of my friends here. The hike was beautiful and there was an awesome swimming hole right at the base of the waterfall to swim in. But, it was also very muddy, so if you ever go to this trail, wear shoes you can definitely get dirty (i’ll do a post later on hikes to do here when I get to experience more)!

I’ve, of course, gone to the beach, because even though I’m spending all this time on the jet, I’m currently lacking my tan.

But, I’ve got another mission coming up and I’ll continue to update you on my life, so I knew this post needed to go out to see all where I’ve been so far!

Mahalo and as always, let me know what you think or if there’s something you’d like me to post more about comment below!