USS Midway (CV-41) Aircraft Carrier

We're right smack in the middle of US Navy (and Marines) territory.  I wake in the morning to the cadence-driven tromp of Marine recruits doing their morning PT.  I had hoped I'd see some Navy ships while here, but I was quite surprised, (and filled with joy) to find out that the USS Midway (CV-41) was docked about 2 miles away, and had been converted to a museum.  My brother, Kelly, had been stationed on the Midway when she was ported in Japan.

Kelly was a rescue swimmer in the helicopter squadron. He flew Search and Rescue missions, and plane guard missions (where the chopper is in the air during launches and recoveries to retrieve the aviators should their plane go down) This was the type of helicopter he flew in.

When I saw this bird, my heart quickened, and my chest filled with pride, because when I was in the Navy, this was the type of aircraft I worked on. It's an A-7 Corsair II. The "A" indicates that it's an attack aircraft, which translates to bomber.  My first orders were to the A-7 squadron, VA-97, based out of Naval Air Station Lemoore, CA.

So you can imagine how I felt when I saw this decal on the port side of the bird.... YEAH BABY! That's MY Squadron insignia!

When VA-97 was deployed to my ship, the USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70), it had a "NL" on the tail, and of course "Carl Vinson" instead of "Constellation". It makes me wonder if I had worked on this bird.

As my friend Deb and I walked through the corridors of the ship, she mentioned that my brother's fingerprints were probably all over the ship. I went through the enlisted men's mess, and imagined him sitting there eating sliders and drinking bug juice.  It's quite possible he walked through this very passageway.  It was very strange, because he died in 2004, and I felt like he was there.

Balboa Rendezvous

So now I'm in San Diego for Balboa Rendezvous.  I'm here with my dance partner, Deb, for a weekend of sight-seeing and dancing, as well as fine dining.

We've met and spoke with some interesting people, and I want to share some of their stories.

At the airport in Canton, Deb spoke with the man next to her, asking if his flight was for work, or pleasure.  He said he was flying to Atlanta to see his 22 year old son, who he hadn't seen in 20 years, and his grandson.  That brought a flood of unasked questions to mind...

I was making conversation with our shuttle driver, Sandy.  We were talking about the Navy and Marine bases around, and she mentioned that the USS Midway was now a museum, open to the public.  I stated that my brother had been stationed on the Midway in the 80's, but then informed her that he had died.  She went on to say that her daughter, Amanda, who was 19, had died a month ago in a car wreck.  She said Amanda had her license for a year, and had never been in an accident before, but this was a rainy night, and she lost control of her car while going around a curve.  The young woman hit a propane truck.

While at Balboa Park, we sat in the back of the little trolley that makes it's rounds about the park.  We watched three young children perform a shell game in the seats, first Charlie and his younger brother were sitting together, then brother got up and sat in the back with his sister, Mags.  Their father called for Charlie to come to the back, but he didn't, instead, Mags went up to sit with him.  No sooner had she sat down, than Charlie got up and went to the back to sit in a bench by himself.  We spoke with them a little later and found out they were from Australia, on a 4 month vacation to Canada, the United States, and Mexico.

I've been delinquent...

Haven't posted here in a long time. So much for my 50,000 words!

I've got some new stuff to write, later today.

Day 3

The flight WAS fun! We had some turbulence, and a couple of moments of roller-coaster drops, then it steadied out. Deb and I watched Balboa videos until my laptop battery ran out, then I took a nap and she looked at home decorating ideas.

We had an excellent dinner at Bahama Breeze, then headed to the hotel for a nap before dancing. I was pretty worried about dancing with this caliber of dancers, but I just sucked it up and asked some ladies to dance. I did notice some differences between what I expect a follower to do, and what some followers who aren't from Cleveland do.

I'm getting sleepy. It's after 2am. Going to bed and start off tomorrow with breakfast in bed, then lessons all day.

Trip to Raleigh

I'm sitting at Cleveland Hopkins airport, just messing around while I wait for my boarding call. I haven't flown in several years, so this is going to be fun. It's also a small plane, so I'm hoping for turbulence. I found what must be the only outlet on the concourse, got on the wifi network, and I'm just click, click, clicking away. I'm a bit nervous about dancing at this place, because the skill level is high, while mine is low. I am looking forward to the classes though.

Last night, I started learning Blues dancing. It's a lot of fun, with a similar close connection to Balboa, which is one of the reasons I like Bal. With Blues, though, it's so slow, it takes a lot of concentration to try to follow the music. The main idea of Blues dancing is to interpret the music with body movements. More attention is required than with Jitterbug, which I use more structured moves for.