A couple weeks ago my Mom and I were invited by the Money's to join them on John's ship for Family and Friends day. It was such a fun day! We had to get the base around 6am to get signed in, then have a breakfast on the ship and get ready to go to sea around 8am, returning around 4pm. We saw SO much in our time on the ship. Submarines, great big Blue Whales, helicopters, gun demos (BIG and small) and more! It was such a blast to be on an active Navy ship out to sea. It's a pretty rare experience, and we just loved every second of it! I have well over 100 photos, it was hard to pick, but here are some photos of our fun day!
Walking on to the ship...
Our group.
(from left to right)
Tom, Ted, Chris, John, Marilyn, Lisa (my Mom), Me, Jill
John's captain giving us a welcome speech and telling us what to expect of that days activities as well as some rules for the working ship.
A look inside John's room
One of the two Tug boats that helped us in and out of the dock
The Coronado Bridge and the ship
Ted and Marilyn.
We all loved this photo! They are so cute together!
Mom and I with our weapons
We look fierce, don't we?? : )
Going out and coming back in we passed another ship, and when we did they did what is called 'Rendering Honors'. The crew would line up on deck (on each ship) salute each other and they would exchange whistle blows. This was one of my favorite parts, I love the respect and
tradition.
A Submarine in dry dock, getting any repairs and painting done thats needed.
It was such a beautiful day to be out at sea! In the top right of this photo is a tiny black dot, which is a submarine that was heading in. : )
John
One of the areas that John oversees, where they launch some of missiles from
OH! We saw about 5 huge Blue Whales on our way out and in. That was awesome to see!!
This is the best pic I could get of them, with the tip his tale up! : )
The Officers lounge, were they eat and such.
In 'The Brains' of the ship. In here John (among other things) supervises the guys at the computers who are charting where the missiles go and launching them. He is the one and only Strike Officer on the ship. This was one of my favorite rooms!
The Bridge. Where they "drive" the ship.
This was fun to see in action!
Getting lunch.
They grilled up some great burgers, they were bigger than the bun.
They know how to make a serious burger! : )
While we were out to sea, we had a fly by. One of the helicopters that normally lands on the ship spent some time flying around the ship and showing us what it can do.
Where the crew dines
Entering the engine room...ear plugs required! : )
John showing Ted where the engines are and how they work.
The ship, clearing the Coronado bridge. It looked like it barely made it!
Chris and Ted watching the ship clear the bridge
The tug boat helping us back into the dock
Beautiful downtown San Diego from the ship
The hat we got for Brody, since he and Dad had to miss this trip because they were away at the Dallas Market.
They fired off SO many rounds from the guns while we were at sea, small and large (a couple of the large shells were about as tall as I am). And I got to keep a shell from the day! : )
(This photo was taken on my phone. not bad huh??)
We saw and learned so much! It was great to see Johns ship and were he spends so much time, before they deploy at the end of this month for around 8 months! We are so glad the Money's invited us, it was such a fun day!!
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