New Years Resolutions?
None would be the answer. They are never kept and it seems the old
ways wind up winning! As I wrote in the previous blog I kept thinking
that the dry dock period for the ship in San Francisco (Alameda
actually) was two years ago. We did go to the Bay Area for Christmas
and spend it with my father and my brother and his family. My son got
leave from the Navy and drove up from San Diego to be with us as
well. I did visit the old air station at Alameda, drove by my old
squadron hangar and the shipyard. Two of our sister ships were there
but it was on a weekend and didn't make an effort to get passed
security to stop and say hello. Besides they were likely back home
for the holidays.
My father had purchased
airline tickets for us to attend the family reunion last June.
However, my work schedule makes it difficult to plan to attend such
events. Especially when there is a manpower shortage and no one to
fill in if I were to take time off. Our ship was rescheduled and the
Northern Marianas cruise was pushed back further to summer. So when
the family was heading north to Alaska I was heading west to the
Marianas Islands with stopover in Guam and Saipan. I had been on
Marianas cruise with the Hi'ialakai in 2009 and 2011 so this was my
third trip to Western Pacific.
We rescheduled the
tickets for Christmas vacation to the Bay Area in California. This
would be the first time for my stepson and his girlfriend to San
Francisco. The wife and I had been there before, the last being for
my mother's memorial service when she passed away four years ago.
Reviewing ticket prices, it was best if we flew into and depart from
Oakland instead of San Jose or San Francisco. This was due to crowds
at those aiports long with higher prices. I've always flown in and
out of Oakland whenever I went to the Bay Area for leisure or
business. After reconfiguring the tickets and paying all the silly
surcharges to change dates we had our flight itinerary. We made
reservations to stay at Moffett Field Navy Lodge for the duration and
got a rental car.
After installing apps on
the smartphone first message from the airlines the day before
departure was the flight was delayed for 45 minutes! Oh no! The
rental car offices in Oakland closes at midnight and how are we to
take the 40 minute trip from Oakland to Mountain View? We were going
to land at 11:10 instead of 10:30 that night! Hawaii was experiencing
high winds and the weather was changing. I'm sure the flight was
hitting some strong headwinds coming to the island. We called a cab
to take us to the airport. We calculated that two way fare to and
from the airport was same as short term parking at the airport for
the ten days we were gone.
Unless you are coming to
Hawaii on vacation, the flight was uneventful. The pilot announced
that we will make up lost time and was relieved to hear that. Though
you have to be pragmatic. I set my watch to Pacific Time and the time
we made up was lost as we approached the California coast which was
experiencing the bad weather we had in Hawaii several days before! I
looked at my watch and we touched down after 11PM. Grab the suitcases
and rode the shuttle to the airport rental car offices and
phew....made it in time! Good part about being that late is no
crowds! I was hoping for a Toyota Camry, Nissan Altima or Honda
Accord but was issued a Chevy Malibu. I rented a Malibu eight years
ago during one of my inports in Hawaii and recalled the gas mileage
was below average. Malibu had power but whenever we put the foot on
the pedal the gas gauge needle would decrease! The interior with it's
blue lights looked like some fancy night club out of Miami Vice! But
hey it was to get us around and we made it to the Navy Lodge.
Along the way the family
was hungry and first stop was the In N' Out Burger in Milpitas. They
were open until 1AM and first taste of mainland style burgers.
Afterwards check in the lodge and off to sleep. Next day we went to
visit my 82-year-old father in Livermore and my son came over as
well. We still had Christmas shopping to do so we went to the Great
Mall http://www.simon.com/mall/great-mall
in Milpitas. First time I went there was in the 90's when I was doing
my Naval Reserve Annual Training at Moffett Field. It is an old Ford
assembly plant that had shutdown in 1983 when the US auto industry
was struggling against the Japanese juggernaut. The plant made Ford
Escorts in it's last days but assemble other Fords including Mustangs
during the apex of the US auto industry.
My brother had planned to
take us to Alcatraz as he got tickets. Next group of tickets were in
January so we considered ourself lucky. Unfortunately it rained
heavily that day and December in San Francisco gets mighty cold.
Fortunately we brought over winter clothes that had survived the move
to Hawaii in 2011. Traffic was dreadful coming back as we moved one
block after an hour trying to get on the Bay Bridge from San
Francisco back to Livermore. Instead we had dinner in Japantown
http://sfjapantown.org/ and
drove in a roundabout way back to Livermore down San Mateo and
crossed the San Mateo bridge from the peninsula.
Saturday was game day for
the 49'ers at their new stadium in Santa Clara. Our lodge was about
three miles away so we wanted to avoid Highway 237 to go visit family
in Livermore and instead took Dumbarton Bridge. You usually can see
the big hangars of Moffett but the weather the first weekend was not
cooperating. We watched the 49'ers fall to the Chargers in overtime
after blowing a 21-point lead. That game was the epitome of the
49'ers season as they lost in overtime after a fumble 38 to 35.
As a Seattle Seahawks fan
I visited enemy territory that Monday. We went on a tour of Levi's
Stadium and the 49'er Museum http://www.levisstadium.com/.
I do not hate the 49'ers like most rabid Seattle fans do but loathe
the 49'er fans here in Hawaii! Can't say that too loud as my stepson
is one of those rabid fans! So the visit for him was heaven! Plus
I've been to stadiums in Seattle, Oakland and San Diego so I wanted
to see what the new 49'er home looked like. It was an impressive
stadium to say the least! Much like Century Link Field in Seattle,
there is not a bad seat in the house! Due to it's proximity to
Silicon Valley, the stadium was high tech and the WI-FI system was
set up so a fan can order from the concession while in his seat and
pick it up to avoid the long lines you normally experience at
stadiums. The coverage also allowed fans with smartphones or tablets
to follow other NFL games and mobile phone amplifiers were abundant.
A far cry from what I maintain and experience when I am sailing! Ha!
I recall going to a
Seahawks game during their bad years in 2009 against the Tennessee
Titans and Chris Johnson was on the verge to break the single season
rushing record held by Eric Dickerson. After going to the restroom I
was standing in line to get coffee when the radio blared that Chris
Johnson had a run of 62 yards and had set a new single season record!
I remember the reaction of those who were in line like me. But wait!
A flag was on the field and the run was negated and called back.
Chris Johnson did not break the single season rushing record that
afternoon. When the tour guide told us about using the WI-FI to order
concessions, I always remembered that play that afternoon.
We spent Christmas Eve
and Christmas Day with the family and when the weekend arrived spent
Saturday matinee at the movies watching the last trilogy of The
Hobbit. Saturday evening was time for goodbyes. Always the painful
part when spending time with family. However, we enjoyed the visit
and I am hoping that when the ship is due for dry dock maintenance we
go back to San Francisco like we did in 2012-2013. Two things we were
glad to get away from. One was the cold weather and second was the
frenzied way of driving in California. When I lived in California,
people always claimed they were “kick back!” Sorry but you are
not kick back! If you want to see kick back come to the islands or
better yet come to South Pacific with me!
I'll post this to get rid
of the fill in I wrote yesterday! Tomorrow is half day at work and
the use or lose leave is used up!
Happy New Year and hope
2015 is a good year for all!
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