Back at Home
Well it’s August. I suppose I’m overdue but I really don’t know if anyone reads this or not so I suppose no apologies are really necessary.
Since I last wrote the following has transpired:
Returned from a long deployment
Revolution X
Mom and I ran off to Cedar Point
Larry and Karen celebrated their first anniversary at the same campground with the same mob.
Back to sea for a couple of weeks
Friends and Family day cruise
Shipyard – UGH!!!
So, starting from the top I guess.
Homecoming:
The homecoming was great. If you’ve never seen a homecoming for an aircraft carrier, it is indeed a spectacle to behold. Imagine 20,000 people, 3 or 4 TV News setups, radio, newspapers, etc. We got the ship tied up and put to bed smartly and headed out. I think we had the entire crew off in 30 minutes once we opened the brows. I managed to find Mom right off and we were home before we knew it.
The Revolution:
The following morning we left for Willie’s and The Revolution X. (OK, we did have to reshuffle the cooler and do some packing Wednesday evening…) Terri and the guys set my tent up the weekend prior so all we had to do we get the beer and galley set up. This year was probably the easiest setup that we’ve seen. A lot of stuff had been hauled up the week prior and that may be the deal for years to come.
Our setup crew was smaller than we’ve seen in years past (which was fine by me… all too often we get a bunch of ‘keg flies’ who are more interested in drinking than helping) but we had everything pretty much done early. As has become the norm, I think everyone was sound asleep by 10:30 that night.
Friday we set up the beer and pool down by the creek (Under Camel’s supervision… I don’t know HOW we ever managed without her before…) and welcomed hashers as they arrived. It was great seeing so many people after being gone so long. It really would have been nicer if there would have been an extra couple of days at home BEFORE we went up, but all in all, it was a great return.
My friend Mary got there Friday. After going through as much as we had this year, it was really special to see her. We didn’t get as much time together as we’d have liked, but it was great seeing her. More on that later.
The weekend was (relatively) drama-free and Monday was upon us faster than we thought. The new pool was a huge hit as it was hot as hell all weekend. Next year we’ll have 3 pools. Just what we need!
Cedar Point:
After getting back, unpacking and settling in for a day, we took off for Sandusky, OH and Cedar Point. This is a coaster park, all coasters and frankly, they rock! I think we hit almost all of them. 40 years ago, almost to the day, my sister freaked out on the Ferris Wheel at this park and made the operator let us off. I never did get a chance to get back on (which I’m sure contributed to my acrophobia…) so I made a point of riding it this time. (Talk about unresolved issues!) We had a great time, but the best part was the drive up and back, spending time with Terri, just the two of us and no distractions.
We stopped by Camel and One Hump’s house on the way back. They are great friends and seeing them is always special. Even though we had just seen them at The Revolution, it was a perfect ending to a perfect week. They just had a pool installed and we spend the afternoon / early evening with the kids. Bedtime brought out a case of Sicilian red wine (that I picked up in Italy on cruise…) and had some quality “grown-up” time.
Anniversary Campout:
Larry and Karen have celebrated their anniversary with a campout. They had their wedding there last year and have decided to commemorate the anniversary by inviting the same guests out for a camping weekend. We drank entirely too much, played miniature golf and generally had a great time. Jeff loaned us his camper, we got there Wednesday afternoon and stayed through Sunday. Mark the calendars, this is going to be a recurring theme!
Back to sea:
We sailed after the Independence Day weekend. Spent a couple weeks doing CQ for pilots in training plus a couple of squadrons from our wing. Followed up with 2 solid days off-loading the bombs we didn’t drop on AQI during the cruise. While the underway was relatively short, it certainly felt like it took forever. They really need to schedule that whole REFTRA thing for one week.
Friends and Family Day Cruise:
We did a one-day cruise with about 3500 guests on the ship. This is typically an annual (or so) event where the crew gets the opportunity to bring friends and family out and show off the ship. Mom cam out, Jonathan had 2 of his buddies from work along, Mary can out and my friend/colleague Tina came along. With a toy this big, there is plenty to see and I think everyone was pretty worn out by the end of the day. Half-way through there was an air-power demonstration. 3 F-18 Hornets, an E-2C Hawkeye, and a couple of helicopters showed their capabilities for the group. This is up-close-and-personal, and by that I mean the guests set up on bleachers ON THE FLIGHT DECK as the planes land and take off. Imagine being <100 feet away from an F-18 on afterburner as it leaves the deck. Needless to say, everyone was thoroughly impressed.
Mary:
I mentioned Mary earlier. We’ve grown pretty close this year. She’s had kind of a rough go of things lately and we’ve shared a lot as she deals with changes in her life. At times it was frustrating being half way around the world, but we managed to bridge the distance via e-mail. Like I said, we’ve really grown so much closer this year and it has been something as she has dealt with the changes in her life. As much as she’s been through, she’s come through it with such aplomb. I’m really proud of her. We had a great time at The Revolution even if we didn’t have that much time together. At Karen and Larry’s campout she taught me the finer parts of Flippy-Cup and we had a nice long talk (even if I was a bit tipsy…) We’ve (Mom, Mary and me) been having Sunday brunch together since I got home and she got the chance to see my ship on the FFDC. I really don’t think I’ve captured this part of my life correctly or completely, but who reads this anyway right? Anyhow, she’s doing great and I couldn’t be happier for her. I wouldn’t say she’s out of the woods yet, but a couple more hurdles and she will be, and Mom and I will be there for her as she needs us.
Speaking of being there, Mom has had her hands full with the girls from the ‘Burg. They seem to have a penchant for drama and insist on dumping it all on Terri. Frankly, I don’t know how she (Terri) does it. Here she is, left here while I’m gallivanting around the planet on my ship, and all they want to do is dig themselves into a hole and then dump on Mom. Don’t get me wrong, they’re out friends, but GEEEZ! You should see what these girls can get themselves into. Anyway, Mom is strong enough to take care of them but it does bug me the way they go about it. The drama in their lives is ENTIRELY self-inflicted (not like Mary, who was indeed the innocent victim) and it would certainly be refreshing if they would take responsibility for their actions. I guess the frustrating part is that they are good friends, so I’ll keep my yap shut and do my best to be supportive. (Mom doesn’t complain when I’m looking after Mary so I shouldn’t when she’s taking care of the girls right?)
I’m tempted to say that guys don’t have these issues, but then there’s Jonathan… Of course, he has an excuse… he’s in his twenties!
Shipyard:
Pulled the ship into the yard today. Have I mentioned I hate shipyards? The problem is that (and I don’t mean to brag…) I’m very good at managing ship repair and so I get to do my share of this stuff. The upside is this avail is relatively short (6.5 months) and the package is one of the simpler ones I’ve had to execute. Still, it will be nice to be leaving here in February and getting back into the workup cycle. The workups will be short this time as we deploy in 2009 on almost the same schedule (at least start / stop) as the last one.
I suppose I should start planning my barbecue menu…
More later,
On-On,
Gopher
Since I last wrote the following has transpired:
Returned from a long deployment
Revolution X
Mom and I ran off to Cedar Point
Larry and Karen celebrated their first anniversary at the same campground with the same mob.
Back to sea for a couple of weeks
Friends and Family day cruise
Shipyard – UGH!!!
So, starting from the top I guess.
Homecoming:
The homecoming was great. If you’ve never seen a homecoming for an aircraft carrier, it is indeed a spectacle to behold. Imagine 20,000 people, 3 or 4 TV News setups, radio, newspapers, etc. We got the ship tied up and put to bed smartly and headed out. I think we had the entire crew off in 30 minutes once we opened the brows. I managed to find Mom right off and we were home before we knew it.
The Revolution:
The following morning we left for Willie’s and The Revolution X. (OK, we did have to reshuffle the cooler and do some packing Wednesday evening…) Terri and the guys set my tent up the weekend prior so all we had to do we get the beer and galley set up. This year was probably the easiest setup that we’ve seen. A lot of stuff had been hauled up the week prior and that may be the deal for years to come.
Our setup crew was smaller than we’ve seen in years past (which was fine by me… all too often we get a bunch of ‘keg flies’ who are more interested in drinking than helping) but we had everything pretty much done early. As has become the norm, I think everyone was sound asleep by 10:30 that night.
Friday we set up the beer and pool down by the creek (Under Camel’s supervision… I don’t know HOW we ever managed without her before…) and welcomed hashers as they arrived. It was great seeing so many people after being gone so long. It really would have been nicer if there would have been an extra couple of days at home BEFORE we went up, but all in all, it was a great return.
My friend Mary got there Friday. After going through as much as we had this year, it was really special to see her. We didn’t get as much time together as we’d have liked, but it was great seeing her. More on that later.
The weekend was (relatively) drama-free and Monday was upon us faster than we thought. The new pool was a huge hit as it was hot as hell all weekend. Next year we’ll have 3 pools. Just what we need!
Cedar Point:
After getting back, unpacking and settling in for a day, we took off for Sandusky, OH and Cedar Point. This is a coaster park, all coasters and frankly, they rock! I think we hit almost all of them. 40 years ago, almost to the day, my sister freaked out on the Ferris Wheel at this park and made the operator let us off. I never did get a chance to get back on (which I’m sure contributed to my acrophobia…) so I made a point of riding it this time. (Talk about unresolved issues!) We had a great time, but the best part was the drive up and back, spending time with Terri, just the two of us and no distractions.
We stopped by Camel and One Hump’s house on the way back. They are great friends and seeing them is always special. Even though we had just seen them at The Revolution, it was a perfect ending to a perfect week. They just had a pool installed and we spend the afternoon / early evening with the kids. Bedtime brought out a case of Sicilian red wine (that I picked up in Italy on cruise…) and had some quality “grown-up” time.
Anniversary Campout:
Larry and Karen have celebrated their anniversary with a campout. They had their wedding there last year and have decided to commemorate the anniversary by inviting the same guests out for a camping weekend. We drank entirely too much, played miniature golf and generally had a great time. Jeff loaned us his camper, we got there Wednesday afternoon and stayed through Sunday. Mark the calendars, this is going to be a recurring theme!
Back to sea:
We sailed after the Independence Day weekend. Spent a couple weeks doing CQ for pilots in training plus a couple of squadrons from our wing. Followed up with 2 solid days off-loading the bombs we didn’t drop on AQI during the cruise. While the underway was relatively short, it certainly felt like it took forever. They really need to schedule that whole REFTRA thing for one week.
Friends and Family Day Cruise:
We did a one-day cruise with about 3500 guests on the ship. This is typically an annual (or so) event where the crew gets the opportunity to bring friends and family out and show off the ship. Mom cam out, Jonathan had 2 of his buddies from work along, Mary can out and my friend/colleague Tina came along. With a toy this big, there is plenty to see and I think everyone was pretty worn out by the end of the day. Half-way through there was an air-power demonstration. 3 F-18 Hornets, an E-2C Hawkeye, and a couple of helicopters showed their capabilities for the group. This is up-close-and-personal, and by that I mean the guests set up on bleachers ON THE FLIGHT DECK as the planes land and take off. Imagine being <100 feet away from an F-18 on afterburner as it leaves the deck. Needless to say, everyone was thoroughly impressed.
Mary:
I mentioned Mary earlier. We’ve grown pretty close this year. She’s had kind of a rough go of things lately and we’ve shared a lot as she deals with changes in her life. At times it was frustrating being half way around the world, but we managed to bridge the distance via e-mail. Like I said, we’ve really grown so much closer this year and it has been something as she has dealt with the changes in her life. As much as she’s been through, she’s come through it with such aplomb. I’m really proud of her. We had a great time at The Revolution even if we didn’t have that much time together. At Karen and Larry’s campout she taught me the finer parts of Flippy-Cup and we had a nice long talk (even if I was a bit tipsy…) We’ve (Mom, Mary and me) been having Sunday brunch together since I got home and she got the chance to see my ship on the FFDC. I really don’t think I’ve captured this part of my life correctly or completely, but who reads this anyway right? Anyhow, she’s doing great and I couldn’t be happier for her. I wouldn’t say she’s out of the woods yet, but a couple more hurdles and she will be, and Mom and I will be there for her as she needs us.
Speaking of being there, Mom has had her hands full with the girls from the ‘Burg. They seem to have a penchant for drama and insist on dumping it all on Terri. Frankly, I don’t know how she (Terri) does it. Here she is, left here while I’m gallivanting around the planet on my ship, and all they want to do is dig themselves into a hole and then dump on Mom. Don’t get me wrong, they’re out friends, but GEEEZ! You should see what these girls can get themselves into. Anyway, Mom is strong enough to take care of them but it does bug me the way they go about it. The drama in their lives is ENTIRELY self-inflicted (not like Mary, who was indeed the innocent victim) and it would certainly be refreshing if they would take responsibility for their actions. I guess the frustrating part is that they are good friends, so I’ll keep my yap shut and do my best to be supportive. (Mom doesn’t complain when I’m looking after Mary so I shouldn’t when she’s taking care of the girls right?)
I’m tempted to say that guys don’t have these issues, but then there’s Jonathan… Of course, he has an excuse… he’s in his twenties!
Shipyard:
Pulled the ship into the yard today. Have I mentioned I hate shipyards? The problem is that (and I don’t mean to brag…) I’m very good at managing ship repair and so I get to do my share of this stuff. The upside is this avail is relatively short (6.5 months) and the package is one of the simpler ones I’ve had to execute. Still, it will be nice to be leaving here in February and getting back into the workup cycle. The workups will be short this time as we deploy in 2009 on almost the same schedule (at least start / stop) as the last one.
I suppose I should start planning my barbecue menu…
More later,
On-On,
Gopher
posted by Gopher at 6:47 PM
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