Ahoy Mateys!

We weren't home from Canada long before we were again rushing out the door to catch a plane! This time, we were staying a little closer to home with a trip to San Diego, California, to participate in Family Day aboard the USS Ronald Reagan - the air craft carrier that MeLissa's brother Christopher currently serves on.

We arrived in San Diego Friday evening and were greeted by Uncle Max and Christopher who had come to pick us up. We all settled in to wait for our guest, Sterling, who would also be participating in the festivities. After waiting for quite some time, we decided to head back to the hotel since we knew that Sterling would be flying stand-by and might have missed the earlier flight. Once Sterling had joined us, we sat down for a lovely dinner and a lively conversation. And, then, it was off to bed!

On Saturday, we all woke up very early to ensure that we'd be on the base by 5:30 a.m. We made it on board and ventured to Chris's office so he could get some coffee to stay awake since he had just recently been switched from overnight security detail to his former missile systems position. While there, we checked out one of his RAM missile launchers and amused ourselves by conversing with the other sailors and their families.

Once everybody had checked in and Chris had reported that all personnel were present and accounted for, we ventured into other areas of the ship to see what we could see. We spent a good deal of the day wandering from one end of the ship to the other seeing all there was to see. We were amazed at the small amount of space the sailors had to sleep in...imagine a bookcase with a mattress on each shelf - that's pretty much how it looked! We also enjoyed seeing the Ronald Reagan room which had a history of his life laid out in pictures and video.

Our favorite moments of the day were seeing dolphins playing behind the ship, and then, thanks to Christopher being one of the few priviledged individuals who had access to the RAM missile launch area of the ship, being able to be outside when the ship was coming back into port. We were one of the few who were able to do this because the launch area had a spot that was concealed from arial views of the ship which was important because an effort to take a picture of the carrier with its crew manning the rails was in process so the rest of the family members on board had to go into the hangar bay.

When we returned to shore, with the help of some powerful tug boats, we all piled into cars and headed out. Uncle Max decided to call it a weekend and head home once we arrived. The rest of us took some time to rest (and pack in Sterling's case) and then went out for a quick dinner at Brian's Pub in downtown San Diego. It was a great dinner and we were able to eat and enjoy each other's company just in time to rush Sterling to the airport so he wouldn't miss his flight! Since we'd all been up since the crack of dawn, we all headed to bed after dropping him off!

Our last day in San Diego was primarily spent visiting MeLissa's friend Tammy from high school whose husband, Matt, is also assigned to the Ronald Reagan. We all enjoyed visiting with Tammy and Matt and watching the antics of their children Mason and Malea! Then, we rushed off to the airport and returned home so that poor Chris could get some much needed sleep!