Our plane finally landed at 1:30 am on Friday, October 9, 2009. It was a humid 84-degrees. We were supposed to have arrived Wednesday the 7th but lots happened to change our schedule. First our flight out of Norfolk was delayed 8-hours. We were stuck in the terminal for the night with Benny in his crate. Benny was the lucky one. He had a place to sleep. Scott & I, along with all the other stuck travelers tried to sleep sitting-up. Didn't work. The good news is that we got a free meal out of the deal! At 6:30am we crated Benny up & left him for the baggage handlers to load him in the plane. We boarded a HUGE plane and finally took off. A little more than 4-hours later we arrived in Portugal. The usual 2-hour layover was cut to 30-minutes since we were off schedule. Some service members & their families got off the plane to either report to duty or to go sightseeing. Scott ran off the plane as well. We were supposed to be able to walk and give water to Benny at each stop. At first we were told we couldn't get Benny because of the short stop. Then Scott talked to someone who allowed him to quicly take him out for a quick pee & a drink of water. Scott said that Benny peed a bucket! Poor guy. When it was time for him to go into the crate again, he wouldn't go in on his own. I was so sad for Benny boy! He was so scared. Anyhow, we took off for Naples, Italy. That too was about a 4-hour flight. Again more service members and their familes got off the plane. The captain then came on the
speaker system to inform us that we were not going to be flying to Greece but would rather be spending the night in Naples. Normally I would have been thrilled to be in Italy, but we were pooped at this point. We had to get all our luggage and the dog and board these buses the airport had provided to take us to our hotels. These were big luxury buses. The bus driver was going to put Benny down below with the luggage and shut the door on him. I refused to let that happen. In the end, Benny sat next to Scott in the bus. From this point on Benny became everyone's dog. They LOVED him!!!! We spent the night in Naples, which I really was unimpressed with. It's very industrial & "gray." Benny could not stop looking at the statues in front of our hotel....he'd never seen Italian nude sculptures before. We were happy to take a shower and sleep in a bed. It was over 24-hours since we "slept." Our next stop was Crete, Greece. We had the full 2-hour layover there. Scott was able to walk Benny for a while. The rest of us were locked in the holding area. Literally locked in. Smoking was not allowed and all the smokers had to watch the air
port employees smoking outside our windows. So, they decided to liquor up. I was so pooped I could care less about all the noise they were making. People were laughing & hugging eachother. Most of them had never met before. Fun stuff to watch. Fortunately there was a small Greek food stand in our holding area. Scott and I shared one of my favorite things to eat in Greece, feta cheese pies. It absolutely lived up to my expectations. Scott seemed to really enjoy it as well. From Greece we started our last leg of the trip. Four and a half hours later we landed in Bahrain. Our sponsor was waiting for us when we landed. We felt like those important people at airports who have drivers holding signs with their name on it. We found our bags & dog & loaded up into the Excursion waiting for us. It was really heartwarming watching the kids that made this long trip with us reunite with their dads. We checked into our apartment within this beautiful resort & finally relaxed. The next morning Scott ordered a Lebanese breakfast. It was soooo good. Reminded me of my dad's morning breakfasts! For lunch I ordered delicious chicken kabobs & fettuche salad. Delicious! We were also so happy that right outside our room were the tennis courts. We could easily walk Benny over there and throw the ball around with him for a while. At one point, we had an audience of women and children on the other side of the fence watching Benny run after and catch balls. All of our relief & relaxation ended when a manager came up to us & politely told us we had to leave. Apparently his BIG manager told him to tell us dogs were not allowed. Funny how no one mentioned it when the reservation was made, when we checked in or for the day and a half that we were there. In fact all the employees came up to Benny, pet him and complimented us on him. We called our sponsor who made the reservation and explained the situation. They wanted us out that night so our sponsor found us a place at The Majestic Hotel. Well, The Majestic is not so majestic. It's actually a dump. We are totally grossed out over here. We are looking for a house to move into right away instead of taking our time as most people do. The positive side of staying at The Majestic is that we are a five minute walk from the Base. We took a nice walk in the 94-degree heat and bought a few groceries. I was finally able to use my Arabic with a guy named, Osama, who immediately recognized it as Egyptian Arabic. I was very impressed. While sitting outside a Navy guy waved at us
and came over to talk. Apparently, he had been on the plane with us throughout the trip. I didn't remember him. We met so many people because of Benny. Many people came up to us to share stories of their dog and to tell us how much they missed their dog. Benny loved all the attention. So, that's just a little bit of our road to Bahrain. It was tough but we're glad to be here and look forward to our adventures to come. I plan on sharing stories weekly, so come back & check it out!!!!!
Our plane finally landed at 1:30 am on Friday, October 9, 2009. It was a humid 84-degrees. We were supposed to have arrived Wednesday the 7th but lots happened to change our schedule. First our flight out of Norfolk was delayed 8-hours. We were stuck in the terminal for the night with Benny in his crate. Benny was the lucky one. He had a place to sleep. Scott & I, along with all the other stuck travelers tried to sleep sitting-up. Didn't work. The good news is that we got a free meal out of the deal! At 6:30am we crated Benny up & left him for the baggage handlers to load him in the plane. We boarded a HUGE plane and finally took off. A little more than 4-hours later we arrived in Portugal. The usual 2-hour layover was cut to 30-minutes since we were off schedule. Some service members & their families got off the plane to either report to duty or to go sightseeing. Scott ran off the plane as well. We were supposed to be able to walk and give water to Benny at each stop. At first we were told we couldn't get Benny because of the short stop. Then Scott talked to someone who allowed him to quicly take him out for a quick pee & a drink of water. Scott said that Benny peed a bucket! Poor guy. When it was time for him to go into the crate again, he wouldn't go in on his own. I was so sad for Benny boy! He was so scared. Anyhow, we took off for Naples, Italy. That too was about a 4-hour flight. Again more service members and their familes got off the plane. The captain then came on the 
speaker system to inform us that we were not going to be flying to Greece but would rather be spending the night in Naples. Normally I would have been thrilled to be in Italy, but we were pooped at this point. We had to get all our luggage and the dog and board these buses the airport had provided to take us to our hotels. These were big luxury buses. The bus driver was going to put Benny down below with the luggage and shut the door on him. I refused to let that happen. In the end, Benny sat next to Scott in the bus. From this point on Benny became everyone's dog. They LOVED him!!!! We spent the night in Naples, which I really was unimpressed with. It's very industrial & "gray." Benny could not stop looking at the statues in front of our hotel....he'd never seen Italian nude sculptures before. We were happy to take a shower and sleep in a bed. It was over 24-hours since we "slept." Our next stop was Crete, Greece. We had the full 2-hour layover there. Scott was able to walk Benny for a while. The rest of us were locked in the holding area. Literally locked in. Smoking was not allowed and all the smokers had to watch the air
port employees smoking outside our windows. So, they decided to liquor up. I was so pooped I could care less about all the noise they were making. People were laughing & hugging eachother. Most of them had never met before. Fun stuff to watch. Fortunately there was a small Greek food stand in our holding area. Scott and I shared one of my favorite things to eat in Greece, feta cheese pies. It absolutely lived up to my expectations. Scott seemed to really enjoy it as well. From Greece we started our last leg of the trip. Four and a half hours later we landed in Bahrain. Our sponsor was waiting for us when we landed. We felt like those important people at airports who have drivers holding signs with their name on it. We found our bags & dog & loaded up into the Excursion waiting for us. It was really heartwarming watching the kids that made this long trip with us reunite with their dads. We checked into our apartment within this beautiful resort & finally relaxed. The next morning Scott ordered a Lebanese breakfast. It was soooo good. Reminded me of my dad's morning breakfasts! For lunch I ordered delicious chicken kabobs & fettuche salad. Delicious! We were also so happy that right outside our room were the tennis courts. We could easily walk Benny over there and throw the ball around with him for a while. At one point, we had an audience of women and children on the other side of the fence watching Benny run after and catch balls. All of our relief & relaxation ended when a manager came up to us & politely told us we had to leave. Apparently his BIG manager told him to tell us dogs were not allowed. Funny how no one mentioned it when the reservation was made, when we checked in or for the day and a half that we were there. In fact all the employees came up to Benny, pet him and complimented us on him. We called our sponsor who made the reservation and explained the situation. They wanted us out that night so our sponsor found us a place at The Majestic Hotel. Well, The Majestic is not so majestic. It's actually a dump. We are totally grossed out over here. We are looking for a house to move into right away instead of taking our time as most people do. The positive side of staying at The Majestic is that we are a five minute walk from the Base. We took a nice walk in the 94-degree heat and bought a few groceries. I was finally able to use my Arabic with a guy named, Osama, who immediately recognized it as Egyptian Arabic. I was very impressed. While sitting outside a Navy guy waved at us
and came over to talk. Apparently, he had been on the plane with us throughout the trip. I didn't remember him. We met so many people because of Benny. Many people came up to us to share stories of their dog and to tell us how much they missed their dog. Benny loved all the attention. So, that's just a little bit of our road to Bahrain. It was tough but we're glad to be here and look forward to our adventures to come. I plan on sharing stories weekly, so come back & check it out!!!!!
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