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On Saturday morning we drove to Jacksonville with the hopes of getting to Rome by October 23rd for our cruise. We knew there were two planes flying from NAS Jacksonville that morning.

The most interesting was the first one which was scheduled to go to Norfolk, Virginia. We liked that one because there are usually many flights out of Norfolk that would help us reach our destination, which was Italy, but we would settle for anywhere in Europe. Showtime for that flight was at 7:00AM and we were there waiting with our luggage.

The second flight, with a Showtime of 8:45AM, was going to Oceana, Virginia but that was “iffy” for us because not many flights leave from Oceana. That means we could spend a good bit of time in Oceana before getting a flight to Europe and then not having much time to see any of Europe.

After signing in for the Norfolk flight, Bill called the terminal in Norfolk to see where the plane was going after Norfolk and it didn't help us at all; the plane was not going anywhere else. It was scheduled to stay in Norfolk for a while. To make it worse, nothing was going out of Norfolk in the immediate future that would help us get anywhere near Europe. This meant we would very possibly be stuck in Norfolk for a while.

Then he called the terminal in Oceana to see if we could connect with a plane going from Oceana to Europe but we were not hopeful. He asked the person who answered, “There is a plane leaving Jacksonville shortly and arriving in Oceanus. Can you tell me where it is going from there or of anything else you have going out?”

The man asked Bill, “Where are you trying to go?”

Bill told him, “We need to get to Europe. We need to be in Italy for a cruise leaving from Rome.”

The man asked Bill, “Why don't you just stay on the plane? It's going to Sigornella.” (That is the base in Sicily.)

Our luck was incredible. There was a DC9 going straight to Naval Air Station Sigornella in Sicily – and we got seats on it!

The plane had about 6 or 7 crew members and one other military pilot who was a passenger. Bill and I had the other 130 seats to ourselves all the way to Oceanus, where we stopped for a few minutes to change the flight crew and pick up about 8 more military pilots who were going to Sigornella. We were hungry when we landed in Oceanus and asked where a decent place to eat could be found near the terminal. They had a driver with a van take Bill and me, along with the pilots who were onboard out for a food run. Meatball sandwiches, hoagies, and junk food for the plane.

Next was a very quick flight to Willow Grove, Pennsylvania for fuel. We had to take a 30 minute break at a small private terminal and were given complimentary coffee, ice cream cones and soft drinks while we were waiting. Next stop – Newfoundland, Canada to fuel the plane again.

The seats on military planes are spaced further apart then commercial planes so there is a lot of leg room between the rows of seats. We put my air mattress across a row of seats and Bill's on the floor in front of me and we slept stretched out all the way to Shannon, Ireland. Soon it was time to fuel the plane again and as soon as we re-boarded I was immediately asleep on my air mattress and Bill was asleep in front of me on his air mattress.

When we woke up again it was morning and we were ready to land in Sicily. Hard to believe that Saturday morning we didn't know how or when we would get to Italy and the next morning we were there!


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