Off to Guam The Grigsbys Go!
T-MINUS 3 DAYS ‘TIL GUAM!
On June 22nd we FINALLY got our plane tickets to Guam! We will be flying out on June 27th and land in Guam on the evening of June 29th.
West Virginia —> D.C—> Hawaii—>Guam
*Fun fact Guam is 20 hours ahead of Hawaii
Guam prep has been EXHAUSTING to say the least. It has been an absolute whirlwind the past couple of months. Getting married, Paul’s emergency appendectomy, Paul’s Optometry school graduation, letting our lease go in Columbus, me living in a friend’s basement for 2.5wks to finish work, and it goes on and on and on.
For the first two weeks of June Paul and I went to each of our parent’s home to spend time with our families. Paul and Piper were in West Virginia with his family enjoying his nieces and nephews, swimming in the pool, and making calls to Guam in the middle of the night (Guam is 14 hours ahead). I went home to the Texas heat and ate Tex-Mex and BBQ for every meal. I also went bridal beast mode and planned our whole wedding in 10 days. Lots of appointments, cake testing, tried on about 50 dresses but I got it done with my mom by my side! I of course got cuddles from my sweet niece.
I met up with Paul and Piper in West Virginia on the 16th and we have been working on Guam preparations day in and day out. Legit all hours of the day with managing east coast time zone and Guam time zone or as it is called “Chamorro Standard Time”. If anyone is or has been in the military, you know how challenging a military move can be. ESPECIALLY an overseas move!!!!! It’s been a lot of hurry up and wait kind of stuff. Seeing as how we just got our plane tickets on the 22nd and we leave on the 27th …it’s been a mess. Paul has to report for duty by the last day of June and we are going to make it there by the skin of our teeth!
What has been the most challenging…is Piper. With Guam being an island, they are “Rabies Free” and have very strict regulations on importing animals. Some will say it is easier to leave your pet with family or friends stateside…but she’s our baby! No way were we willing to leave her behind for the next three years. Selfish? Maybe. Also, we know Piper is going to LOVE Guam. I lived in Galveston, TX (island off of Texas) for 3 years during PT school and I called Piper “The Sandpiper” because she loved the beach so much. We have been working on her permit to enter Guam for months. Lots of vet appointments, applications, and waiting for more information from the Navy to complete said paperwork. One of the biggest requirements of bringing your pet is a quarantine period after a rabies titer is collected. This titer test can only be done by two labs in the country and takes 6-8 weeks to process. From the day the lab gets the blood sample starts a 120 day clock. Guam requires your pet to be in a “quarantine period” of 120 days. If you arrive on the island prior to the end of the 120 days, then your pet is put into 1 of 3 different programs.
1. Titer is <0.5 = full 120 days in a quarantine kennel on the island
2. Titer is 0.5-0.9 = finish the last of the days in a kennel (arrive on island at 100 days, then the pet has to do 20 days in a kennel)
3. Titer is 1.0 or greater = finish the last of the days in home quarantine
Thankfully Piper CRUSHED IT and passed her titer with a 4.0. SO she qualifies for home quarantine which will be for 30 days due to our arrival date on the island. Next bump in the road….Navy does not have temporary housing available for us that allows a dog over 50#. Piper is 60#’s…what difference does 10 pounds make?? I have NO CLUE. We spent time on the Navy Facebook groups and asking around if anyone would foster piper for 30 days or until we got our base house that we could move her in to. That did not pan out. However, 5 days ago we were given a letter of non-availability and the military booked us in a condo that would allow our dog to stay. PERFECT! At this point we were still waiting for our flight itinerary to finish up Pipers Guam permit paperwork and how to fly her to the island.
We finally got our flight YAY….but its booked with United. United is not currently flying pets in cargo “due to COVID-19”. WHAT?! Instant panic. We frantically scour the internet for someone that will fly her. We found her a flight with Alaska Airlines that will fly her to Honolulu but not Guam. Apparently if you email a special secret email address for United, don’t call them or they will tell you they can’t do it, they will fly military only pets from Honolulu to Guam. SIGH OF RELIEF. With flight itinerary in hand we were able to get the final approval from Guam for Piper to come to the island and be released to us for a 30 day home quarantine. Oh WAIT. Hawaii is an island… they also have very strict rules on being animals to the island. Even though Hawaii is not her final destination, she has to stay in Hawaii for 2 days due to the only flights available for her to even make it to Hawaii and meet up with us for the flight to Guam. The main reason it was so difficult to find any flights for her was because they will not fly animals in cargo if its greater than 85 degrees outside. This means she has to fly out on the first flights of the day for safety. This is helpful in a way because then she gets a good break between her flights to recoup. So, we scramble and figure out what the Hawaii Dept of Agriculture needs for her to come to the island. They needed money first, of course, and then hard copies of her rabies certificates, etc. We frantically overnight this paperwork so it can be processed….well we all know the state of the postal service right now. It was supposed to be overnighted but somehow is 2 days late. Another hiccup, the health certificate from the vet (can only be done within 10 days of flight) requires another piece of information for Hawaii Dept of Ag to accept her. So we have to run Piper back to the vet and get a new health certificate and tell Hawaii it is fixed. We are now in a race against time. Her flight leaves first thing Friday the 25th morning and lands in Seattle. Then Paul’s friend and old classmate is picking her up and keeping her overnight. Then he will take her back to the airport the next morning at 4:30AM. Tony is THE MAN! We owe that guy BIG. Then from Seattle she will land in Hawaii. Once in Hawaii they will hopefully process her and release her to a company who is going to pick her up, bath her, feed her, and keep her until our flight out on the 28th. Paul and I land in Hawaii on the afternoon of the 27th so we will get to go see her and love on her. Then they will bring her back to the airport the next morning for our final leg. Once in Guam another company will pick her up and take her to their facility for her final vet check and then release her to us.
If you feel like your anxiety is off the Richter and it’s a little harder to breathe after reading all of this….welcome to how we’ve felt these past several months. Ecstatic to go on this adventure, but the process to get there is NOT for the faint of heart. We will continue to update as we make this trip to the island so stay tuned for more crazy adventures from The Grigsbys!
