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We finally got ourselves organized to take our first Space-A adventure thanks to my wife’s coaxing. We had the help of a wonderful couple named John and Lorena (Rene) Waterfield. My wife had sent an email to Ann Crawford asking how other couples get started because it seems somewhat intimidating.

With our permission, Ann placed the email in the Sept/Oct issue of R&R Travel News® under“ Subscriber Clearinghouse™” and that was how we met the Waterfields. As it turned out they live very close to us and were willing to share our first Space-A experience and be our guides. John is a retired CPO, U.S. Navy.

We decided to try to fly to Travis AFB in CA. The Waterfields had been there several times. We did the usual signing up on www.takeahop.com to depart from McGuire AFB, NJ and Dover AFB, DE. Although Dover was twice as far as McGuire, we wanted to have a few options. Dover also had more flights going to Travis. McGuire had none but we continued to check. We knew one would come up sooner or later.

We started listening to the recording and calling the PAX line on 12 October. Since Dover seemed to have all the flights going to Travis we concentrated on trying to get a hop from there. To our dismay, we went several times and the flight was either canceled or seats were filled by military personnel in higher categories. That’s when we decided to just wait until one came up at McGuire.

John Waterfield with Crew

That happened on Wednesday, 3 November. Showtime was supposed to be around 2300 so we decided to head for McGuire around 1900. My wife Elaine, called the PAX number and spoke to a rep who said the time had not changed. We arrived at McGuire in approximately an hour from when she had called and you guessed it, showtime was now pushed up to 1300 on 4 November. We spent the night at the terminal, which was not too bad. They have some comfortable sofas in the USO area which was open 24 hours. Elaine and I were prepared for all the obstacles dealing with Space-A thanks to all the stories we read in the R&R Travel News®. It was great having seasoned Space-A travelers like the Waterfields with us.

Our flight to Travis really happened on 4 November and by 1900 we were at Travis AFB. We rode on our first C-17 and it was unbelievable to be aboard such a huge aircraft. There were only six passengers including us and no cargo. That was the most exciting part of the Space-A adventure for us and continues to be. This C-17 was really cold. We were not sitting that far back where it usually tends to be colder. They did not have that many blankets. Some of the other C-17s had more blankets. Every flight was different. Just be prepared. It’s better to be overdressed than underdressed. Elaine had leg warmers which seem to work better than thermal underwear. You can put them on only if need be. We started calling around for lodging since Travis AFB had nothing to offer. We did learn that every other weekend Reservists are training there and it is difficult to get anything. It was a Thursday night but we were still not able to get lodging there. We managed to get a room at the Hilton Garden Inn in Fairfield for $84.

    We had decided before we left New Jersey that if a flight came up for Hawaii we would take it and it did. There was a flight going to Pearl Harbor-Hickan Joint Base (formerly Hickam AFB) the next day, Friday, 5 November. It was another C-17 with a 90 seat configuration used for paratroopers. They were the 535th Airlift Squadron returning from a drill at Fort Benning, GA.

Flying with military equipment on a C-17

Hawaii Float