Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Updates And The USS Hornet

We moved to our new site on Sunday.  Mom and I walked and directed Dad as he backed up our home.  We only moved liked 30 feet away from our old site.

My grunting pig.

I had a nice birthday.  I got a grunting pig for my present and some treats.  I had pizza bones for dinner.  My folks were home with me almost all day. 

Mom's bee sting is almost all better.  The camp host noticed the swelling and told Mom she was a nurse.  She recommended taking Benadryl to reduce the swelling.  It took about three days of taking it, but the swelling is now gone.  It is still healing and she thinks there will be a scar.

Sunday night into Monday, we had rain.  Since there hasn't been rain her for so long, the campground had standing water.
This was our parking spot. It was fairly deep. They pumped the water out.
 The folks visited the USS Hornet on Monday.  It is an aircraft carrier that was built during WWII.




  Here are some facts about the USS Hornet:
  • It took only 16 months to build.  
  • It participated in WWII, the Vietnam War and the first moon landing missions.  
  • It went 15 months without docking in a port while serving in the Pacific during WWII.  
  • She was attacked 59 times, but never hit by an exploding bomb, torpedo or Kamikaze aircraft.  
  • In 1969, she recovered the Apollo 11 space capsule and its astronauts.  A few months later, she recovered Apollo 12 capsule and its all-Navy crew.  
  • In 1991, The USS Hornet was designated a National Historic Landmark and in 1998, she opened as a museum.
  • 1 out of 4 people in Hornet's construction crew were women.
The folks were greeted by a friendly staff.  They were shown a short film and then given instructions for the rest of the tour.  There were places where the tour was self-guided and other places where a Docent takes visitors on a tour.  The folks were taken on a tour of the flight deck as well as the Island which included:

  • Signal Bridge – used by Signalmen who sent messages using flashing light, semaphore, or flags
  • Camera Platform – used by cameramen who recorded every launch and landing
  • Primary Flight Control – this is where the Air Boss controlled all aircraft launches and landings
  • Flag Bridge – where the Admiral and his staff controlled operations of the Task Force
  • Chart Room – where the ship’s location and course was plotted
  • Pilot House – helmsman controlled the “ship’s wheel”; navigation equipment is located in this room
  • Captain’s Bridge – where the Captain and his staff controlled operations of the ship
  • Captain’s At-Sea Cabin – the Captain’s quarters while at sea
Dad enjoyed that tour the most.  Mom liked it, but did not enjoy climbing up and down five ladders to do it.  It took about an hour.  There were three men from New Zealand on the tour.

Planes on the flight deck.

The flight deck.

The wings on planes are folded up so that more planes can fit.

View of San Francisco from flight deck
Well, this is embarrassing.  Mom doesn't remember what this is.

Gauge used to determine wind speed.

View from Signal Bridge
 


Part of Old Fax Machine

Another part of the fax machine
The captain's bed and bath.


The folks toured the Hangar and 2nd Decks on their own.  The Hangar Deck had planes, helicopters and Astronaut items.
 

Isolation trailer for astronauts.
President Nixon talking to the astronauts while they were in isolation.
Visitors can sit in a jet fighter.  Mom thought it looked really difficult to get in and out of it, so she passed.

This helicopter was involved in Apollo 11 and 12, but Mom was most excited because it was in the Apollo 13 movie.
 The 2nd deck included living quarters, medical offices, post office, library, chapel, laundry, etc.


Torpedo Shop

Operating room

Post Office
The area with the windows is where the folks took the tour.  Five ladders - Mom wanted me to repeat that.
After the tour, the folks ate dinner at Johnny Garlic's.  It is a restaurant owned by Guy Fieri.  They ate at one of his restaurants and really liked it.

Wings with a verde sauce.

Guy's Big Bite Burger.  It had bacon, cheese, onions straws and lots of toppings on a pretzel bun.  The fries are garlic fries.
 Mom enjoyed the burger, but it was very messy.  The garlic fries had too much garlic for her.

Pasta dish with shrimp and sausage.
They liked the food, but it is pricey.  The service wasn't very good and the floors needed to vacuumed. Sometimes we have that same problem at home.  BOL!  Mom would like to go back and try the Mac and Cheese Burger.

Joey,
The Greyhound Who Enjoys Getting Treats And Love From The Office Staff Here




1 comment:

  1. Glad you enjoyed your birthday Joey!
    Wow, that is one heck of a big ship - it's unbelievable it can actually float. Those meals look very tasty :)
    Dip and Elliot x

    ReplyDelete

Home Again - Part 3

 Well, we just realized that we didn't finish telling you about the rest of our trip home.  I don't know if we even remember the res...