Day One - Wednesday, May 19, 2010

We arrived at Dover AFB about 3:15 p.m. today, just missing a Space-Available flight to Spain by about a half-hour.

There were still about 4 other departures scheduled, including one tonight to Rota, Spain, and others to Germany.
The Space-A C-5 military flight from Dover  to Rota, Spain, was supposed to have a showtime of about 9 p.m.  So we went to move the car to long-term parking at about 8:45 p.m., still not knowing if there would be available seats on the flight, when one of the airmen at the terminal desk came out to the parking lot and told us the flight showtime has now been delayed until 2:45 a.m.  That's bad.  But then he said there are 20 confirmed open seats.  That's good!  There are not many people waiting in the terminal, so we are pretty sure we can get out.  But, no sense getting a hotel room, so we will try to catnap in the terminal or in the car until the magic hour.

Not expecting to get out today, Bob bought his usual favorite dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts in Pennsylvania.  He just bagged the remainder of them up and put them in his suitcase!

We are using the USO lounge at the terminal while we wait.  It is huge.  It has a fireplace and seating area with leather chairs and couch, a big gaming room with widescreen monitors, a smaller seating area with a widescreen TV, and another room with about 10 computer terminals.  This is the USO where Bob went to volunteer a few years ago, but it has been greatly renovated and expanded.

I went to shop in the PX for a while this afternoon.  Then we had dinner at the cafe in the bowling alley.

Dover is where the bodies of fallen soldiers are returned to the U.S.; we witnessed the arrival of one a few years ago as we waited for a flight.

We hope to go to Costa del Sol, Gibraltar and elsewhere from Rota.  Assuming, of course, that we get on this flight tonight as planned.