The Day We Left for Australia and Landed in Korea, Part III

We left Colene's very early in the day to be at Hickam terminal for roll call.  That usually meant that the plane would take off 2-5 hours later.  A fellow traveler (didn't verify it) told us if it is a Virtual Roll Call (Hawaii and a couple other bases do this), that the plane usually doesn't leave for 5 hours after the message is sent out.  I am not sure if this is true or untrue. The difference in regular roll call and virtual is that for virtual, an email is sent and the recipient has 40 minutes to respond in order to be placed on the roster.  For regular roll call, all persons who are flying have to be present in the terminal and ready to go.

There was a delay in our roll call, and it was moved from 8:00A.M. to 8:00P.M.  A short time before 8P.M., it was then moved to 3:00A.M.  There is at least one problem with all of this--you can't really leave the airport at 8 in the evening to get a room when the plane will potentially be leaving at 3A.M.   Thankfully, after the first slip, we kept our rental car  allowing us to go to Pearl Harbor and see it again, and we went to Nico's on Pier 38 to eat.  I highly recommend Nico's.

The view from inside the restaurant.  That is not a window, per se, but is just open to the pier.

Roy chatting to some of his Navy buddies--many military and locals frequent this place.

 We ate octopus, different types of marinated raw fish (poke, which Jason and Colene had told us about)--all just as a taste test in the fish market, and then we ordered Hawaiian pulled pork and Ahi as our entrees from the restaurant itself.  Awesome food!  When we returned to the terminal, however, and found that people had released their rooms and rental cars with the expectation of leaving at 8:00P.M., and that, due to the slip we all would be camping out on chairs that were not made to be restful, people were cranky!  I am glad to say that that evening was our one and only horrible experience!  We did fly out early that morning, however, and landed in Japan 9 hours later!  Roy would agree that this was the most tired that we were ever on the trip, but when we arrived in Yokota, Japan, we really wanted to go to the Inn and sleep, but, instead, we walked to the little town adjacent to the base and train station, purchased yen (frustrating experience) from a 7-Eleven (lol) and got on the train for Tokyo!  My overall impression as I drank in my surroundings was one of huge apartment buildings, tall and within spitting distance of each other, with rows of bikes belonging to the inhabitants of the apartments, lined up and chained ready for the transport of their owners from varying socio-economic levels.  Where, in America, we have structures in the city created solely for the parking of our cars, Japan has them created and equipped with racks solely for the parking of bikes.

Typical train scene (notice the not uncommon white mask)
--except when it is rush hour, multiply number of people by thousands!

Business Center Outside of Tokyo Train Stop

When we arrived in Tokyo, we got off in the business section, but after a short time, we found ourselves at Shibuyu Crossing.  Everyone needs to experience this area in Tokyo for two reasons, as per our experience: 1) there is a terrific sushi bar there and 2) for the pleasure of being one in thousands of people at that crossing coming from five directions and converging into utter chaos!

Shibuyu Crossing from the Street Facing the Crowd From Only One Direction

As we made our way back to the base, we grabbed a couple of doughnuts from Mister Donut, took a taxi to the gate to use up our surplus of yen, and climbed into bed and slept like babies.  The one thing we should have done, but did not do, was to cash in our extra yen.  If you wait until you get back into the States, the bank will charge you a $10 fee for returning the yen to the originating country, so the two possibilities in solving this dilemna are to find someone going to the country or go to an international airport to cash it in.

The next day we were off to Osan, Korea.  I need to say that both my dad and Roy's dad were Korean War Vets.  Although, this was not our destination of choice when we began this adventure, it quickly turned into our favorite leg of the journey.  We arrived in Korea, grabbed a shuttle to the Air Force Inn,  walked a short distance to the exchange, ate a meal from Captain D's, and went back and fell asleep almost immediately.  I said all of that to say that Osan AFB had everything together; it is very family oriented demonstrated through the sights of mothers and fathers walking along the sidewalks pushing strollers to the football team of the base high school being front and center as they ate before the big game hours later.   Events and activities were plentiful and highly advertised.  Another fact that made us believe this was the next morning, quite early, we decided we wanted a full breakfast and happened to stop in at Checkertails--the type of little place that might be featured on Diners, Drive Ins and Dives on Food Network--which was just next to the ITT (Information, Tickets and Travel).  As we sat there, three travel buses pulled to the curb, one behind the other.  I (it doesn't take as long to eat pancakes as it does eggs, hashbrowns, bacon, toast) went outside to ask the people who were congregating where they were headed.  Three different day long tours were heading out.  One or two of the people thought that if you weren't signed up then you possibly could not board, but I was encouraged to ask the driver. Yay!  When Roy came out, the driver and tour guide said "yes" but cautioned us that we might not get to go into the DMZ as our names were not on the roster.  It would depend on the military personnel in charge that day.  We took our chances as anyone who knows Roy at all knows that he "can talk anyone out of anything" and if not, it is not for lack of trying on his part!  One of our goals, if we did nothing else in Korea, was to go to the DMZ.  God had walked before us, put us at the right place at the right time, and had scheduled Kol (sp?) to be our tour guide!  The 73 year old who now lived in Seoul with his wife and adult children around him,  who had arranged travel and logistics for South Korean Commanders allowing him to travel to the states, and who had stories to tell became our dear friend.  We told him about our dads, and he sat across from us and talked and shared his cold sweet potato (which we could not recognize as such until we tasted it) with us!

One of Kol's comments about this building (the Congressional building in Seoul)
as we passed it was "This is a building where people go to work but do no work!"  
 I thought this to be quote worthy as it might apply to our country as well.

We stopped at several places on the way to the DMZ, one notable and worthy of mentioning was going into one of the tunnels (#3 of the 5-7 the South Koreans have actually found) made by the North Koreans wishing to enter South Korea for the purpose of killing leadership among other horrible things.  There was very little caution given as to whether a person should go into the tunnel, but when we were given helmets and sent into the tunnel which was so steep that I had to resist running. Those occurrences should have been our clues! After the run down into the middle of the earth, the helmets quickly made sense as you could hear and feel the helmets hit the protruding rocks very close to our heads.  At a predetermined point of the tunnel where North Korea supposedly began, we simply made a U turn and began the journey out walking what almost seemed straight up and utilizing the little benches placed strategically on the "down" side of the tunnel periodically.  I could never figure out why they were on that side!  Of course, our young buddies took no such breaks!  I had no shame in doing so, though, at my advanced age, and I was glad to provide Roy with an excuse to rest!  LOL

Other places at which we stopped all had to do with the DMZ, the train that will hopefully reconnect the two parts of Korea one day, the Liberty Bell and recognition of the US soldiers who fought in the Korean War, and the Bridge of No Return.  It is too exhausting for me and for you as a reader for all of the details to be cataloged here.

The Liberty Bell in Injingak
Park

Part of our tour was to stop at a local restaurant out in the country where a buffet of authentic Korean food had been prepared for our group.  What a wonderful experience!  It was a highlight of our trip, but not as interesting and exhilarating as when we arrived at the Demilitarized Zone.  Roy and I sat quietly as all ID's were checked, and we knew that God answered our silent prayers when we were allowed to advance.  It would take pages to include all of what we saw, the myriad of emotions, and even the humor we experienced via the military tour officers who accompanied us through making us aware of what was allowed and not allowed.  A couple of things that I will share is first that this is one of the few or maybe only place where our military meets their enemy face to face daily.  One of the North Korean guards who is stationed at the door of the North Korean facility has been nicknamed "Bob."  Bob stands watching the activity in the DMZ, takes up position behind a column for a change of venue, and occasionally calls many North Korean soldiers to come and bait and heckle visitors from the "Monkey House" if the visitors are important enough. We were not important enough, but he provided entertainment just standing there and at one time appearing to be locked out while we stood and watched him, never pointing at nor gesturing towards him!  The entire atmosphere is a bit chilling, a feeling intensified by the sheer professionalism and tenacity of the highly trained ROK soldiers as well as some of the best of the best of our own, of standing by the conference table where important peace documents have been signed by historical leaders, of seeing the site of the axe or hatchet incident and the resulting base of the tree (the "Paul BunyanMission" http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/paul_bunyan.htm), and the Bridge of No Return.  The more I travel to such places, the more I realize how little I know of the hardships experienced and the bravery displayed by our military!

Bob is standing in the building behind.  He can be seen just over Roy's right shoulder

Messages left by South Koreans
for separated North Korean family members

In the conference room with the ROK--stance
of strength!  

The train station where hopefully Koreans
will be able to go both North and South in
some distant future.

To conclude our travels, the next day was Sunday, so we attended the Chapel service on base, just happened to check the facebook page for the Osan Terminal and saw that within a couple of hours we could be back in Japan and headed home ahead of the Typhoon that had kept us from seeing Okinawa and a Chaplain friend and family there.  We made that Roll Call, manifested through to Travis with the understanding that we could fly straight into McChord, if we chose to do so.  Of course, future travelers of Space A, you must realize that this translates to a overnight stay at each base.  The crew of this C-130 was out of McChord, so they were awesome just as every other crew had been!  I should also say that this plane had seats along the walls of the plane and can be as warm or cool as the pilot and crew decide.  Just know to dress in layers to meet either situation!  We did find ourselves arriving in Hawaii about 1:00A.M. of the day before we had actually left Japan--that can really mess with your mind so don't give it too much thought--and given our past experience, we knew that we would be stuck in the terminal trying to rest sitting up on uncomfortable seats.  God sent a precious retired Marine Colonel who loves people and "pays it forward" to travel with us from Hawaii all the way to Osan and back.  As we were standing in the terminal in Japan and trying to decide how to make arrangements and reservations before we actually arrived at Hickam Field, the Colonel invited Roy and myself and another young couple, both of whom are in the Air Force, to spend the night in the "Bates Motel."  We did, and what a joy and blessing he and his precious wife were to us that evening and next morning!  They will be forever emblazoned in our memories of great people!  That morning, though, we decided that home looked good then rather than two days later, so we purchased tickets from Honolulu to Seattle and left for home, specifically our own bed and our furry babies, Huck and Finn, who had missed snuggling!

Australia is still out there, and we are already looking at making that trip in the future during leave time or retirement (although retired people are a lower category, if you are retired you can sign up 60 days out, so check it out)!  I must share that, before we began this, I read everything that I could get my eyes on of people who had traveled this way in the past!  So, my purpose in writing this was for those friends who have said, "I want to get with you and hear about how you did this and what you learned" or for those of you whom I have never met but are seeking firsthand experiences and, truthfully, I have written it for the joy of reliving it and documenting a personal "bucket list" experience.

The Day We Left For Australia but Landed in Korea, Part I

Before we travel out of the country, we call our credit card company, our service provider for our phones, our bank and our auto insurance agent just as a matter of alerting them, but also, refreshing our memories of what is offered concerning coverage and benefits!  This time when I called our insurance company, I asked the usual question as to the extent of our coverage, stating that we were flying to Australia or Japan or Korea next week--we weren't sure which--, and the person on the other end of the line laughed!  He later said, "I couldn't figure out how someone could not know exactly where they were traveling when you were about to board a plane!"  Well, it is like this, when you take advantage of flying Space A or military flights and you are open to adventure, you just take what is open and available to you.

Flashback to 1978-1980
In 1978, my husband was a sailor, and I taught at a private Christian school in Virginia Beach, Virginia.  We had little to no money, but we were already blessed with an oversized bump of a spirit of adventure.  I taught Spanish, but I had never travelled to a Spanish speaking country in my life.  I was, afterall, from the south, an only child and the daughter of  a former Airman father who was part of the Korean Conflict and had travelled all he wanted to by the time I came along.  Traveling would not be part of my future unless I took the "bull by the horns," so to speak.  But then I met and married an Eastern Kentucky "son of the coal mines" who hoped to never see the inside of one but did want to "see the world," so he joined the Navy.  We met in Virginia Beach, Virginia and got married. So, in an effort to meet some of my dreams, Roy (my best friend, dream delivering husband) decided we should go to Spain using "MAC" flights--Military Airlift Command--now known as Space A and controlled by AMC (Air Mobility Command).  In the seventies, the rules that applied to active duty personnel were that travelers paid $10 individually and dependents could not fly within the continental US using MAC flights.  Being in the Norfolk area, we were on the coast, so my husband had to take enough leave to give us flexibility, and we were off.  No glitches.  Just signed up, donned our backpacks, got on the plane, ate our boxed meal (paid for by the $10), and several hours later landed in Rota, Spain.  The flight itself does beg for explanation.  Our carrier across the Atlantic Ocean was a C5, a huge plane capable of transporting tanks, other aircraft, etc. on the lower level and move 73 passengers in seats not unlike commercial airlines in the upper level.  By this point in my life, I had only flown one time, so although I was not a frequent flyer, I noticed right off that there was one little quirk!  The seats faced the back rather than the front of the plane for the protection of troops in the event of a less than stellar landing.  Can you imagine my disorientation as we took off with our bodies leaning forward and upon landing, our backs were pressed to the cushioned seats behind us!

When we landed in Spain, we were on a viable and hopping busy military base.  We had arranged to stay with a friend of a friend in her small, off base apartment.  I was introduced to studio apartments and milk with a shelf life--the shelf in the pantry rather than the fridge--and in a box, not a carton or bottle.  No, it was not powdered.  Taking in my surroundings, I saw beautiful flower gardens being watered every morning by gardeners (I think our water was being rationed in Va. Bch. that year when it came to washing cars or watering grass), and buildings were white with a view of blue water and swaying palms moving to the rhythm of the cadence of the Spanish language in surround sound.

Well, I digress from flying Space A.  The stories of the trip are for another time or post.  We were so thrilled with this week in Spain that included a trek along the Mediterranean with stops in cities like Malaga (encouraged to not drink the water and we experienced bedbugs), Granada (the Alhambra--total uphill climb). Mijas(a little mountain town where only donkeys and carts provided transportation), Madrid (hostel requiring couples to be married and were serenaded from the street under our window), all of the sights between, and culminated back at Rota where we flew out of stateside bound, that we decided to repeat the experience one more year.  We had learned that if we put our final destination down--not our first stop but where we wanted to end up before flying back to the states (called being "manifested through"), then we would only be charged $10 one time and $10 for the return trip.  Who, in their wildest dreams, could fly to Europe for $10? And, I might add, who gets to go into the cockpit of a C130 while flying over Europe?  Answer:  the blessed wife of a military man! 

The second year, we travelled to Spain, flew an inexpensive commercial flight to Torrejon (outside of Madrid),  flew from there to Germany for one night and day (visited the little town of Landstuhl), and then we flew on to England, rode a bus to Scotland (saw the Crown Jewels, etc) and back, then reluctantly left England for home. We paid for the commercial flight from Rota to Madrid, the bus ride to Scotland, and shared the cost of the ride through the Chesapeake Bay Tunnel with a fellow soldier who drove his car from Dover, Delaware (where we had to re-enter the US rather than Norfolk) down the Eastern Seaboard, dropping us off at the terminal in Norfolk.

We left the Navy and Virginia Beach at the end of my husband's contract for the purpose of  his attending college in Nashville, TN.  Although, he remained in the Naval Reserves, the rules did not allow non-Active, other than retirees, to fly Space A.  So, for the next 35 years, we flew economy class on commercial flights or made a cruise ship our home, competing for the best prices my "Silas Marner" husband could scrounge for us to see England over and over, Italy, Rock of Gibraltar, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Belgium and France (one trip to see Normandy and the other Paris and surrounding areas) plus other states in the US and varying islands in and around the United States.  In case you are wondering. . .I LOVE BEING MARRIED TO SILAS MARNER!  Without his miserly ways, we would not have had half of the adventures because they would not have been affordable for us!

Now on to 2014. . .
I suppose everyone over 50, thanks to Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholas,  surely has a bucket list.  One of the items on our bucket list is to see Australia--specifically, Darwin (inspired by the movie Australia which my husband loves) and the Great Barrier Reef, and, of course, Sydney.  We were excited to see that Australia is now a possibility, though a difficult one, flying with AMC.  So October, 2014, in commemoration of our 1979-1981 trips on MAC, we donned our backpacks with three outfits only, 5 days of undies, and 3.4 liquid oz per container of sundries all properly stored in a ziplock plastic bag, and we flew to Travis to begin our journey to AUSTRALIA!  --con't next post

But Everyone is Leaving!

(Drafted in May, published in August 2014)

I have written 50,000 blog posts in my mind during the months that you have seen nothing published on my blog site.  Today, however, I am feeling that I will burst open at the seams if I don't write this and publish it as a therapeutic gesture!  Being part of the military family is both an adventure and a harrowing ride!  You spend a number of months, when it comes time to make a change, of living in flux that you yourself cannot control.  While you are living in this "valley of someone else's decision," the people with whom you have gotten really close in the vast scope of faceless others living on and around the base are getting orders and the "hail and farewells" begin!

 I feel alone in a crowd. I feel held in suspended space while everyone around me is spinning around bumping unto each other!

The sun is beaming outside, and if you know anything about the Seattle area, you know that more times than not it is raining!  As I prepared our juice for the morning, my husband and I watched a Allied moving truck, two times the width of our house, maneuver it's way in front of the house next door.  We are saying goodbye to the precious little couple and their little boy next door as they move off to San Antonio and forever sun.  In a few short days, our neighbors next door will be in the same position as they move their furniture to a bigger house a few streets away in preparation for the new baby who will be added to their family of three.  This along with recognition and goodbyes to all of the PCSers (for non military, this means Permanent Change of duty Station--the irony being on the word permanent) at PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel) yesterday produced my "being all alone on an island" feeling.

Many of those whom we recognized yesterday, in addition to the many more who were not there, are Chaplain's wives.  That is significant for many reasons.  The first reason is because my husband is a Chaplain, and it is with these women that I have attended coffees or learned to make bread in the home of our Senior Chaplain of the Post wife's home, or prayed together over one of our Chaplain spouses who was diagnosed with cancer.  Secondly, within our own SF Group this summer, three Chaplains will be covering down for what would normally be six positions.  What a hole to fill!

In civilian life, I have had friends move away;  in military life, I have had many friends move away all within days or months of each other!  That may be the harrowing ride of the military, but I readily acknowledge that the spouse of a frequently deployed Soldier may have many things to add to the dark side other than moving friends.


The adventure of all of this is that I am constantly meeting new people and making lifelong friends that I would have missed had we lived in our small town in mid- America.  I would not have experienced living in the Pacific Northwest or in the Mid West or where ever else The Lord and the military sends us had we not been part of this family of people.  I would not have pushed myself to engage in classes like water aerobics or yoga, or in community choir performances, or in spouse events requiring total foolishness on my part, or to help my husband meet needs of fellow Soldiers who need some encouraging words or home cooked meals!  The sun is shining, and my heart is at rest as I trust God to lead us and plug the lonely holes in our hearts.

The Blessings of Christmas 2013

Rather than beat myself up for not keeping my goal of blogging often, let me just concisely excuse myself by the following:  Life Happens!  We have spent our first Thanksgiving away from at least some of our biological family and friends and have adopted or been adopted by another couple of families.  We meshed our holiday traditions together--including those from Boston, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Germany-- and the end result was quite nice.  Since then, my husband surprised me by having our daughter and son-in-law to secretly fly across country from Orlando, Florida, and after giving me a fake reason for going out, drove to our airport, picked them up, re-entered the house to go upstairs and three minutes later had them to knock wildly at our front door!  Have you ever been so surprised that you can't get coherent thoughts to come to the front and usher sensible words out of your mouth?  That was exactly what I felt when I opened that door to see my daughter's sweet, laughing face and Philip's "Grizzly Adams'" look beside her as we swept each other into bear hugs.  We spent from Friday evening to almost a half day of Monday reconnecting and engaging in new adventures!  The Christmas season began with this visit!

Since that weekend, buying and mailing presents for family and friends have been the main focus.  (My tip for myself, in the event we do not get to be at home again next year, is to again start early and bypass any shipping companies other than the postal service, specifically parcel post, unless I am mailing an elephant!)  Roy and I finished it all in time to entertain a military group for lunch, attend a military ball, and fly to Phoenix for 7 days of relaxation and adventure.  The Christmas spirit still pervades our diminished family--Roy, myself and our two furry babies Huck and Finn--as we are currently at this point in our Christmas blessings.

Christmas Day arrives in five days;  we will open a few gifts and turn our sights to the week after the new year when our sweet boy arrives for a week of visiting and major playing with Huck and Finn.  We do and will consider ourselves blessed beyond measure as the 2013 Christmas season ends, and I will turn my eyes to March/April when I once more see my babies in person (hopefully, this time Thanh, Phal and the grandbabies also)!  Life continues to move on, and we are very aware of being in the center of God's Will as we enjoy peace that can only come from the Lord and trust Him to take care of us all.

I Truly am "Off My Rocker"

I pass through a gate on post on average 2 times a day except on Saturday.  I always appreciate the professionalism of the men who greet, scan and protect everyone who enters.  Yesterday, I was on my phone (no phone to ear just using my phone-sync to my car) talking to the Pet Brigade getting Huck and Finn set up for a grooming.  As I approached the gate, I told the girl on the other end of the phone where I was and informed her that I would be quiet for a moment.  I handed my card to the MP, and I noticed--as my groomer just continues to talk, talk, talk-- that he looked at me rather strangely and a little smile lifted the corners of his mouth.  He said, "Ma'am, I would love to accept this, but . . . ."  I looked up to see that my military ID had changed colors from a beige to a metallic blue, and I read the word VISA emblazoned on it.  LOL  There is something about being 59 years old that allows you to laugh and gives permission to the guard and, after I articulated to her what was happening, the groomer to laugh with you!  Bless both of their hearts, I made their day!

Who Makes Pie Crusts Anyway?

Even though I was asking myself the question "Who makes pie crusts?," I was quick to respond with a "Yes" to the invitation to learn to do so.  This bid to be a participant in the "class" was partly due to the fact that I have eaten the hosting Chaplain's wife's food on more than one occasion, and it has always been a delight.  Of course, she is gifted and has used that gift for a portion of her life as a caterer, owning a couple of  food businesses during those years.  I was fortune enough to meet her three years ago at Ft. Jackson, and she was then and still is now using this gift as a ministry on the base or post to which God sends her and her husband.  There was no way that I would miss this opportunity to learn to make pie crusts!

The invitation gave time and place as well as the ingredients to bring, in the event the attendees wanted to take a pie crust home.  Cool idea!  Immediately, I realized that my choice to pack lightly left me with no large mixing bowls and even had I been bringing everything from my kitchen at home, I would never have packed a rolling pin!  So, with that little confession, dear reader, you must realize that I am one of those women who go to the frozen section of the grocery store to get pie crusts.

What a class!  It was a huge amount of information and fun all rolled up in dough.  After having witnessed this process, I found my mind wandering to the two special people in my life who made their pies entirely from scratch--Mrs. Katie Welch (now in Heaven) and Mrs. JoAnn Vincent!  These two ladies rivaled each other in creating the very best coconut cream pies complete with homemade crusts that I have ever eaten in my life!  After long days at high school, I was so blessed to sit at the dining room table along with Mrs. Welch and her daughters Jennifer and Jane, my buddies and adopted sisters, and devour a healthy serving of coconut or chocolate pie as an afternoon snack with a glass of the best sweet tea ever!  Several years later in life, I would go to church dinners and make a run for a piece of coconut pie made by Mrs. JoAnn Vincent because it was common knowledge that if you waited until you had eaten your meal and then return to the dessert table for her pie, you would be sorely disappointed to find none left.  Oh my!  My mouth is salivating as I think of those pies!

I don't know if I will ever be a terrific maker of pie crusts, but this I do know:  there are some skills worth acquiring and keeping alive, and then there are some women who impact our lives in the best of ways, and I am thankful for the opportunity to have sampled some of both.

Refreshing Experience at the Commissary

As a military wife, I visit the Commissary a couple of times a week as I am already on base doing other things four days out of five.  I had not lived close enough to frequent this mainstay of military life for 20+ years, so during the first full month that we were here, I needed an item or two on the first day of the month, and I went in the door and what I saw led me to leave fairly quickly out the other door.  There were people everywhere and no carts in sight!  No one had told me to not go to the commissary on the 1st!  I now know that retirees or some military families who live some miles away and very organized military wives shop one time per month.  It is easy to identify them as they have two or three carts in tow.  Of course, it goes without saying that many families shop on payday which would account for some of the "hundreds" in the commissary that day.  Unfortunately, in addition to it being the first of the month, that day also was the day before the government shut down.  So, I picked the wrong day to go inside on many counts! 

I digress. The reason for my post today has more to do with something wonderful that I have observed.  It never ceases to amaze me how many husbands are there with their small children and/or with the entire family going up and down the aisles actively involved in the shopping experience and, at the end, helping to put the groceries into the SUV or trunk of the family car!  This is refreshing compared to what I have viewed  in the past at the local Kroger or Walmart!  This practice appears to cut across lines of age and rank.  I salute the military husbands and dads that I see being team players on the job and in the family!