I have been a slacker, with regard to WP.  Not really, though, as you will see, there has been a lot going down.

On Feb. 28, I spent a better part of the day on the USS Midway, an aircraft carrier museum, docked in San Diego Harbor.  Here are a few shots of this incredible hunk of steel.

The 3-4 hours it takes to do this facility justice is well worth the time, even for someone not given to thoughts of warfare.

Like many, I will welcome the day when this type of vessel is no longer necessary, and I thank those who make, and have made, the sacrifices necessary to ensure that such a day may yet come.

Leap Day found me wandering among some other kinds of ships, at San Diego Maritime Park.  Chief among these is the Star of India, a clipper from the mid-19th Century.  There is an awesome program for children here, during both spring break and the summer.  They get to be a mini-crew and the “captain” takes them through the decision-making process that an actual crew would have had to engage.

There is a Soviet-era Russian sub.

“Master and Commander”, with Russell Crowe, was filmed aboard the HMS Surprise.

The rich and blameless had some killer yachts back in the 1900’s.

Then, there was a classy ferry running between San Francisco and Oakland.

The USS Dolphin is here, to represent the American sub fleet.  This one looks way more comfortable than the Soviet tub thumper.

My son, one of his shipmates and I went up to the little mountain town of Julian, where Penny lived and worked the year before we were married.  Here is how Julian looks after a winter storm.

We, however, got inside quickly, and had a great dinner at Julian Cafe.

Then, we mosied outside to the nature parks on the south end of Julian.

March came in like a lamb on Thursday, so we spent some time at San Diego’s South Bay, stopping first in Chula Vista.

Then we went down to Tijuana Estuary Nature Preserve.

I brought Aram over to San Diego Baha’i Center, where Penny and I were married, in June, 1982.

Of course, no trip is with out its personal growth experiences, and so, as we were returning towards Aram’s base, my left rear tire went pffft.  I got back to my motel, where my faithful son offered to change the tire.  He was successful, felt good about it and I got him back to base.

In the next post, I will feature my journey homeward.