First of all, let me just say the folks at Travis AFB were FANTASTIC!! It was pouring rain when we arrived. Airmen and volunteers took our heavy loads, carried children and got us from plane to bus to terminal as quickly as they could. A fantastic reception of fresh fruit, snacks, drinks and things for the kids to do awaited us. Personally I thought their processing system went very smoothly and flowed well. The kids thought it great that the Airmen sat down with them to play, draw, or talk. Once done with processing we were taken to various airports or hotels (in my case the San Fran. airport) with uniforms to accompany us in, carry our bags (some children) and make sure we got checked in for our flights. 
At San Fransisco Airport, we did come up against the usual flight delays. Several hours in the airport (though we did get a nice rainbow) and we finally got to head to Salt Lake. Another evacuee from Misawa did find us (we recognized each other by our exhausted children and our similar tired and haggered looks) It was nice to find a travel buddy for this last leg. As the flite got delayed I think we needed each other to keep our hopes up....Thursday the 25th proved to be 48 hours long for us.
But we made it to Salt Lake. I'm happy to say, that Andi is much more relaxed, and not flinching at every movement.
Of course Shane is still in Misawa doing his job. We miss him, but feel fairly confident that he is safe. We do talk almost everyday.
Our first weekend in Salt Lake found us traveling a bit southward to the Spanish Fork area for the Festival of Colors put on by the Utah Krishna's (utahkrishans.org....if you feel so inclined)First of all...the above picture. I have forgotten how WIDE Utah streets are, compared or our Japanese streets.
We didn't plan on going to participate in the throwing of colors (packs of powdered dye thrown skyward), just looking at others was enough for us! The llamas seemed to be enjoying the by passers. (really wonder what was going through their minds) 
Some folks though got the colors on them in a true spring type fashion. (I took their picture in exchange for me taking their picture with their camera. Complete strangers.....don't know their names or anything) There was so much dye in the air that I could only imagine people with asthma must've just been having fits. 
In the end, we didn't actually get far. The temple grounds were just PACKED! I had been hoping for some good cuisine...but getting to the food tent proved fruitless. As a result, we ate very American sandwiches at Subway. 
Though still a bit on the winter blah side of life....it is always good to see the mountains again! (minus any volcanoes hidden within them)AM will be traveling again this coming week, so updates will be spotty again. (yes, that's AM...we are missing the S) I'll do an update when we return back to Salt Lake.
In the meantime, Misawa continues to recover. From the updates I can gather on Facebook, the Air Force and Navy are working hard with the Japanese Nationals to restore the Misawa Fishery Port, and the Hachinohe Ports (fish and fuel). The volunteers there rock!
