Blunoz Random Ramblings

Snoqualmie

2012-01-21T07:31:00.006-05:00

Snow Day Snow Angel

We've had a bit of snow here recently in the PACNORWEST, and I've been itching to get out and use the snowshoes I got for Christmas. On the holiday last Monday, a bunch of guys from my wardroom and I planned to go to Mount Rainier to do some snowshoeing and sledding. Unfortunately, there was too much snow and they road up to Paradise remained closed that day. Instead, we decided to go to The Summit at Snoqualmie, commonly referred to as simply "Snoqualmie."

I had no idea how big Snoqualmie is. For some reason, I was thinking Snoqualmie would just have one central parking lot where we all pile out and head off to the ski slopes or to the tubing area or to the snowshoeing area.

Not so.

The place is ginormous and spread out across three exits off I-90 (exits 52, 53, and 54). I'm glad I went with one of my shipmates who had been there before and led us directly to the Nordic center to rent snowshoes, because I never would have found it otherwise. Well, I suppose if I was going by myself, I probably would have done more research on their website before driving up there. The website clearly gives directions telling you which exit to use for which part of the resort you want to visit, and they have interactive maps of the place (click here for the maps).

Let me just say up front that I'm really glad we went. I took my boys, and we had a great time. Now that I've been there once though, there are a few things I learned and probably would have done differently. Our plan was first to go snowshoeing with the guys from my wardroom, and then head over to the tubing area, and it was a pretty good line-up of activities for our snow-fun day.

My boys in front of the Nordic rental center at Snoqualmie.

We got off I-90 at Exit 54 around 9:30-ish and got one of the last parking spots way in the back-forty of a HUGE parking lot. We trudged through the parking lot snow and across the ski resort to the Nordic center where they rent snowshoes. They DO have kid / youth-size snowshoes to rent there.

Traditional Blunoz family foot photo.

(Minus LW at home enjoying a day of peace and quiet.)

However, comparing the price I paid for rentals versus the price of new showshoes on the internet, if my kids used them TWICE it would have been more cost effective to have just bought them. Plus, the rentals at the Nordic center don't come with poles. They don't have any collapsible or kid-sized poles. Most of the snowshoes for sale online come with poles. Given the snow that dumped around our house this week and the 3 snow days the boys had off of school, I'm sure they would have used them just to walk around outside the house this week.

Leaving the parking lot, heading out on the trail.

If I had gone alone, then I probably would have sunk another chunk of change into the trail passes to use the trails there around the Nordic center. Luckily, going with someone who's been there before, he took us to a different area that was free and didn't require a trail pass. It was back two exits off of Exit 52 at the northern end of the Alpenthal area, and it took some time back-tracking through the snowy roads to go there after we had rented our snowshoes. If we had just bought our own snowshoes, then we could have gone directly there instead of going to the rental center. Shoulda coulda woulda.

My boys on the trail with a cross-country skier passing by.

The trail we went on was well defined due to heavy use, but I never saw any clear trail markers on the trees to guide me if I had been the first person out there for the day. There were a lot of cross country skiers and snowshoers out on the trail.

The boys and I did the snowshoeing thing for a little over an hour. Then we got back in the car and headed down to the "central" area of Snoqualmie where the tubing area is located. We ate lunch at the little grill / snack bar at the tubing area. Lemme tell ya... It's pretty bad when your 10 year old son claims the prices are "highway robbery." Considering he never actually pays for any of our meals, I was surprised he even noticed. As for me, it gave me flashbacks to Disney - both in price and quality of food and service.
Note to Self: Next time, pack a lunch.

The boys at the entrance to the tubing area.

They sell tickets for the tubing area in 2-hour blocks. We bought tickets for the 1:30 to 3:30 slot. After eating our lunch, we actually started tubing about 2 p.m., so we were on the tubing runs for an hour and a half. In that time, I think we probably flew down the hill about 7 times.

My youngest son taking off down the hill.

My youngest son was dragging his feet and said he didn't want to go tubing. I think he was just cold and needed some time to warm up in the snack bar area. When he got to the bottom of the hill his first time, he bounced up and down with glee, saying, "Again! Again!"

My youngest son on the tow line back to the top.

They DO have a tow-line that will tow you back up the hill on your tube, but the line of people waiting to get on the tow line was pretty long. So the first 4 times, we just walked back up the hill. (See the people on the right side of the picture above walking up alongside the tow line). THAT was quite a workout. ESPECIALLY the two times my youngest son's hand slipped, he let go of his tube, and it went flying back down to the bottom of the hill. So I actually got to climb the hill 6 times after walking back down to get his tube and bring it back up.

Going that fast down the hill on the tube, it was hard to keep my eyes open with the snow pelting me in the face.
Note to self: Next time, bring ski goggles.

All-in-all, it was a great snow play day for me and my boys. We added to the awesomeness of the day by bookending our fun in the snow with Krispy Kreme doughnuts on our way driving out to Snoqualmie and with Chipotle on our way driving back. I'm not sure why neither Krispy Kremer nor Chipotle have crossed the Puget Sound to open a location on the Kitsap peninsula yet. It was nice to get some while we were on the Seattle side of the water.

Lest We Forget

2011-12-29T07:08:00.044-05:00

Has it really been five years?

December 29th is a day that will always cause me to stop and reflect, give thanks for the many blessings in my life, and say a special prayer--a prayer for the Holtz and Higgins families and prayer for all my Mighty MSP shipmates who share my heartache on this day every year. I would never wish such an experience upon anyone, but having lived through it with the images painfully burned into my memory, I hope it makes me a better naval officer and leader to have experienced such a tremendous loss. I feel I owe it to COB Higgins and Petty Officer Holtz.

For background, please see this post. Also, last year's post had a video put together by an MSP shipmate.

Sailors, Rest Your Oars.

Great Wolf Lodge, Grand Mound, WA

2011-12-27T19:31:00.001-05:00

Hey folks! Posting has been light because I haven't been around much to write. This year I'm thankful to be home with my family for the holidays though. My wonderful wife said she wanted to go someplace warm during the holiday stand-down. Unfortunately, our passports are out-of-date / expired, so that ruled out a lot of places. I checked around a bit and we could have gone to Hawaii, but that was gonna cost us my right arm and her left leg plus our first born son. Instead, we settled for a visit to the Great Wolf Lodge about 90 minutes south of here in Grand Mound, WA.

In case you aren't familiar with the Great Wolf Lodge, it's a big indoor waterpark-hotel. It's not overly crowded and the lines are never very long because the number of people in the waterpark is limited by the occupancy of the hotel (you aren't allowed in the waterpark if you aren't staying at the hotel). It's fun for all ages - they have water slides and sections of park for wee-itty-bitty toddlers all the way up to adult-size scary swashbucklers. (Please note: Nobody at GWL is paying me anything to write this blog post - these are my honest opinions.)

The room rates might seem a little high for a simple hotel room, but it's important to realize that paying for ONE night in the GWL gets you admission to the indoor waterpark for TWO days (both the day you check-in AND the day you check-out. At any other major waterpark, we would have spent way more money for 8 admission tickets x 2 days than we spend for one night stay at the GWL. Oh, and they have a pretty good military discount, too (use promo code "HEROES").

We had previously visited the Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City during one of our drives across country. We also went to the Great Wolf Lodge in Williamsburg, VA for my younger son's birthday a few years ago. (You can click on those links to read the previous posts and see pictures from those visits.)

There were some nice changes this time around. Last time when we visited the Williamsburg GWL, I really liked the waterproof RFID bracelets you use instead of a room key. Now, they've taken that a step farther and linked the RFID chip in your bracelet to your credit card, so you don't need your wallet the entire time you're there. Just swipe your wrist band at the cash register in the restaurant, the bar, or the gift shop and they charge it to your room. Oh, but don't worry - the kids' wrist bands do NOT link to the credit card, so they can't go hog-wild in the ice cream parlor, arcade, and gift shop without you there.

Another pleasant change from our previous GWL visits was the food options. This time around, there were two restaurants in the lobby, the snack bar in the waterpark, plus you could order pizza to pick up and take back to your room. We never waited more than about 10 minutes for a table, the service was decent (not excellent, but friendly and eager to please), and the prices were reasonable (NOT Disney prices - I thought the prices were comparable to most restaurants here in the Kitsap area).

We did the MagiQuest thing again (see the Williamsburg post for a description of that). They've now made it so you can register the MagiQuest wands in teams, so you can work on the quests together instead of each child having to tap each clue as you go around the hotel.

Last time, I noted that the uniform of the day at the GWL for kids was either (a) swimwear or (b) pajamas. Pretty much everyone spends the day in swimsuits, then goes back to their room to shower and put on pajamas and goes to dinner in one of the hotel restaurants. This time, I noted that it wasn't just the kids. There were several adults wearing pajamas going to dinner, too. (That'll be me next time I go.)

My only disappointment this time was that there is NO lazy river at the Grand Mound GWL. That was one of our favorite parts about our previous two GWL visits. We would do the waterslides for a while, and after we got tired of climbing the steps to the slides, we'd take a leisurely float around the lazy river to relax.

Not here.

As a result, our routine at the Grand Mound GWL ended up something like this:
- MagiQuest (lots of climbing stairs inside the hotel searching for clues that could be hidden on any of 5 floors)
- Yellow slide for a warmup (I think there are 4 levels of slides at this GWL - the wee toddler size being level 1, the yellow and red slides on the fortress with the big bucket on top being level 2, then the blue and green slides being level 3, then the big insane tornado slide at level 4).
- Green slide, green slide, green slide (70 steps up each time - yes, I counted)
- Blue slide, blue slide, blue slide (another 70 steps up each time)
- Wave pool (sorta like being at the beach with an artificial wave-generator)
- Green slide, blue slide, green slide, blue slide
- Break time, more MagiQuest... climbing the inside stairs instead of the waterslide stairs
- Wave pool
- Blue slide, green slide, blue slide, green slide
- About this time my legs felt like jello and my knees gave out, so we called it quits for the day and went to get cleaned up and get some dinner.

Why did I run 3 miles on the treadmill that morning before going to the GWL? Note to self: Going to GWL is like spending two days on the stairmaster, so don't worry about exercising the morning you leave.

Overall, we had a great time, and we totally got our money's worth. It's a nice getaway not too far from home for those of you in the Kitsap area (or Seattle or Portland for that matter).

13

2011-10-10T10:10:00.008-04:00

8 homes.

7 moves (all at least 3,000 miles across country if not across an ocean) - 8 if you count moving from Boston to Groton when we got married.

5 deployments (3 to WESTPAC, 1 to CENTCOM, and 1 to EUCOM)

1 Change of Homeport (huge pain in the arse those are)

2 weeks after our first son was born, we were packed up in the car driving across country

3 days after our second son was born, I was recalled off of baby leave to go to sea because another boat broke.

13 years since my wonderful wife and I were married in Boston.

Happy Anniversary, Sweetie!

Olympic National Park - Staircase Rapids Hike

2011-08-03T19:31:00.017-04:00

The weather sure has been spectacularly beautiful here in the Pacific Northwest over the past several weeks. I've been itching to get outside and enjoy the natural beauty of summertime in Washington, but we've been busy digging out of the sea of cardboard boxes and making frequent trips to Home Depot for home improvement projects. (I really should buy stock in Home Depot.)

We finally achieved a sufficient level of comfort in being "settled in" to invite friends over for a barbecue a week ago Sunday. Having reached that milestone, we finally took Saturday to head for the hills.

During my first visit to Olympic National Park (ONP) back in June, I picked up the Falcon Guide to Best Easy Day Hikes Olympic National Park. The first hike listed in the guide is Staircase Rapids. It's listed as a 2 mile hike with only 200 feet of elevation gain, so I figured it would be a good hike to do with the boys. Plus, it's only open in the summertime, so I wanted to give it a try.

Now, in most national parks, the NPS website is pretty detailed and informative. I've been a little disappointed with the ONP website. ONP, as I mentioned in my previous blog post, is bigger than the state of Rhode Island. There are half a dozen or more different places in the park you can visit with different climates, ecosystems, trails, and things to do. Each one of those places deserves a unique page and pamphlet, but they just have one web page, one map, one pamphlet for the whole park. To wit, when we drove up to the Staircase Ranger Station, the Park Ranger handed us the exact same ONP pamphlet that I got up at the Hurricane Ridge Visitor Center in June. While it's nice to have a map of the ENTIRE park for general reference in choosing which part of the park to go visit, it would be useful to have more detailed information at each of the ranger stations or visitor centers. There are certainly dozens of others of websites with photos and guides for visiting different spots in ONP, but with so many to choose from, it takes time to sort through and figure out which ones are worth a darn.

Lake Cushman

To get to Staircase Rapids, you go to Hoodsport, WA, and there will be the standard brown roadsigns telling you where to turn to head up to Lake Cushman and the Staircase Ranger Station. I was rather surprised that there were a few miles of dusty, bumpy dirt road along the way.

Once we got to the federal property line and the ONP sign though, the road was paved again.

Time stamp - departing the Ranger Station.

While there isn't a visitor's center per se, but the Ranger Station does have the standard National Park stamp and some books and small souvenirs for sale. (Note: They only take cash.)

It used to be a loop-hike that would take you up one side of the Skokomish River, cross a bridge, then down the other side of the river back to the Ranger Station. However, the bridge is washed out, so for now it's just an out-and-back along one side or the other.

We crossed this bridge that is still intact right next to the ranger station and hiked up the west side of the river.

This baffled me. There were no fewer than a half dozen "no pets" signs at the park entrance, in the parking lot, at the ranger station, and TWO signs here at the trailhead. Yet, no sooner did we walk past these signs, a family passed us and headed up the trail with two dogs. What the heck?

Another thing that surprised me was to see people walking back toward the Ranger Station in wet bathing suits and wrapped in towels like they had just gotten out of the water. Sure enough, we got upstream aways and saw a spot where people were jumping off a large rock into a swirling pool of colgate-blue water. I didn't go down to feel how cold it was, but I figure that water's gotta be frigid snow-runoff.

The still photos of the Staircase Rapids don't do it justice. When you look at this photo, imagine a tremendously loud roaring noise as gajillions of gallons of water crash around these rocks and carve their way down the valley toward Lake Cushman.

The old-growth forest that the river cuts through is beautiful.

7-year old YB on top of the roots of the tree.

Overall, it was a very nice family hike. I'm not sure it was quite good enough to justify the long drive out there, but I was very glad to get out of the house with my family and enjoy the beauty of ONP again before summer sneaks away.

Hike Stats:

Date: 30 July 2011

Start Time: 2:59 p.m.

Moving Time Elapsed: 49 min

Stopped Time Elapsed: 23 min

Finish Time: 4:11 p.m.

Miles: 2.8 miles

Elevation gain: 98 feet

Temp: Forgot to write it down. It was low-70's, and we were all in shorts and t-shirts.

Wind: None.

Paddle Log #24: Port Gamble, WA

2011-07-28T19:08:00.001-04:00

Back in Virginia, I normally followed the 120-rule for kayaking. The 120-rule states that the air temperature plus the water temperature have to add up to at least 120F in order to go kayaking without cold weather gear like a wetsuit. The 120-rule is generally satisfied from around May to September there.

Not here.

Looking at the historic water temperatures around here, it's typically in the 50s, so it requires some pretty warm air temperature (above 70) to meet the same 120 rule, and that doesn't seem to happen all that often, either. I think maybe about a month from mid-July to mid-August. I picked up a book about kayaking in the Pacific Northwest, and I noted in the introduction that they refer to the 100-rule. Mmm-hmmm.

MWR here at Naval Base Kitsap (NBK) offers a lot of great outdoor activities. Actually, I think they call it Fleet & Family Readiness (FFR) here. Whenever I go kayaking someplace for the first time, I prefer to go with someone else who has been before and is familiar with the area and the hazards. The Pacific Edge Outfitters on the Bangor Sub Base offers everything you could possibly need to rent for any outdoor recreation. They also have regular organized trips, like a Wednesday night paddle.

That's another odd thing about Kitsap versus Virginia... the time of sunset. We're so far north in latitude here, it's 9:30 p.m. and I can still see orange sky above the Olympic Mountains out my family room window. Combine that with the fact that the warmest time of the day tends to be in the late afternoon when the sun has burnt off the fog and clouds, and it makes for some pretty nice evening kayaking.

Last night, my boys and I went with the FFR Wednesday evening paddle to Port Gamble. Each of these Wednesday night paddles have met up at Pacific Edge Outfitters at 5 p.m. and plan to be back to Pacific Edge around 9 p.m. We met up there and caravaned up to Salsbury Point Park just north of the Hood Canal Bridge.

Suit up! On the beach at Salsbury Point Park

getting ready to head out onto Hood Canal.

This was the first time kayaking for the boys this year. I was glad that my younger son's rain pants still fit. My eldest son has outgrown his rain pants, but his kayak has a lip that is able to use a kayak skirt, so we used one of the kayak skirts from Pacific Edge Outfitters. It did a great job keeping the water out of ES's cockpit and he was very pleased to stay dry and comfortable from start to finish.

YB seemed dry and comfortable for the duration of the evening, too.

Paddling on Hood Canal north of the bridge.

(Hood Head in the background)

From Salsbury Point Park, we paddled east along the shore past the small town of Port Gamble and around the old lumber mill. The Port Gamble Sawmill was the oldest mill in the country when it closed down in 1995.

We had a very nice paddle around the sawmill and back. We saw one bald eagle on top of the sawmill, a couple of bluejays and guillemot pigeons, plus 3 harbor seals. We looked for a family of otters that supposedly live to the south of the sawmill, but we didn't see any.

My youngest son took this photo of the bald eagle on top of the sawmill.

Heading back toward the Hood Canal Bridge.

Brrr.

Stats for the paddle log:

Date: 27 July 2011
Time In: 6:03 p.m.
Time Out: Approx 8:09 p.m.
Elapsed: 2 hrs 6 min
Moving Time (GPS): 1 hour 56 min
Stopped Time (GPS): 10 min
Mileage (GPS): 4.28 miles
Sea State: 1
Winds: 5-10 kts NW
Air Temp: 68F dropping to 62F
Water Temp: 60F
Current: Slack water at beginning, rising to 0.4 kt flood current at 1900.
Gauge Height: N/A.
Avg Speed (GPS): 2.2 mph
Max Speed by (GPS): 5.0 mph
Rapids? None.
Hazards? Wake from passing boats, chop from the wind.
Kit: Ocean Kayak Malibu Two XL (my youngest son and I), Perception Acadia Scout (eldest son). Ballcap, NRS paddling gloves, short sleeve shirt, NRS paddling pants, neoprene booties. Youngest son wore his rain pants and NRS neoprene socks. Eldest son had outgrown his rain pants from last year. He wore swim trunks and his NRS neoprene socks, but he used a skirt from Pacific Edge Outfitters and it kept him dry. He complained he was getting cold about half way through, so he put on his jacket. I brought both boys' jackets in the center storage compartment of my kayak.
Configuration: YB in front, me in the middle seat. ES in his own kayak.
Route: Put-in at Salsbury Point Park, east around Port Gamble and back (see Garmin Connect below).
Other comments (such as wildlife spotted): Bald eagle, blue jays, guillemot pigeons, seagulls, 3 harbor seals.

Guillemot Cove Nature Reserve

2011-07-06T19:08:00.001-04:00

This post is a little delayed. I've been a bit busy with my family arriving from Virginia, moving into a new house, having our household goods (HHG) delivered, and trying to dig ourselves out of the sea of cardboard boxes.

The weekend before my family arrived, I went for a very nice walk through the Guillemot Cove Nature Reserve. Sitting here now, looking at that website for the nature reserve, the photos don't look very exciting, and I probably wouldn't have gone out of my way to go there. Actually, I ended up there sort of by accident, but I'm very glad I did.

In searching for a new park to explore, I was just scrolling around Google Maps looking at the green spots that represent a park of some sort. I noticed Stavis Creek and read a bit on the web about the wildlife that can be seen in this park, so I actually went in search of Stavis Creek. I tried to get at it from a couple of different approaches, but I kept running into private property and no trespassing signs and turning away. It didn't bother me though, because I was enjoying the drive around the countryside. I ended up driving by the Guillemot Cove Nature Reserve sign purely by accident. I needed to get out and stretch my legs, so I stopped to check it out. (Post Facto Comment: I eventually found out how to get into Stavis Creek, but it wasn't until after I had finished my walk in Guillmot Cove and it was way past time for lunch.)

The trails are well-defined and easy to follow. There are a couple of trails to choose from, but they all lead down to the cove. Unfortunately, you don't get a trail map until you get to the bottom.

Down at the bottom of the hill near the actual cove, there is an information kiosk with a map of the property and the trails.

At the bottom of the hill, I discovered the trail to the cove itself was washed out, and I wasn't wearing shoes for trudging through the marshy bog. Even so, there are a couple of loop trails going off into the woods along a gurgling stream.

There's an old abandoned house and barn at the bottom of the hill. There are signs posted on the barn that the structure isn't safe for entry.

During my walk through the nature reserve, I heard beautiful bird songs that were unfamiliar to me. The birds I saw were too fast for my camera, and I'm not very good at identifying them. The only one I readily recognized was a beautiful red-headed woodpecker.

There were flowers of every shape and color imaginable. Everywhere I turned, there were beautiful pink rhododendrons in bloom, plus an abundance of little yellow buttercups closer to the ground.

I kept seeing these berries, and I wasn't sure what they were.

Then I saw this flower and remembered looking up the name of the flower after my Green Mountain hike, and it was called salmonberry.

Ahhhh, it all makes sense now! Salmonberry!

This one was new to me - American Starflower (Trientalis borealis).

This was also new to me - Nootka Rose (rosa nutkana).

This was the first time I had seen Foxglove. Since then, I've seen it along the side of the road just about everywhere I go.

There were some beautiful mushrooms and fungi growing here and there along the trail, too.

On my way back to the information kiosk and the trail back up to the parking lot, I rounded a bend in the trail, and I'm not sure who was more startled...

...me or the deer.

The deer didn't seem to mind me after the initial surprise. She continued to munch on the grass and slowly walk ahead of me down the trail.

Trip stats from the Garmin.

(2.7 miles walked, 1 hour moving, 42 min stopped)

It was a very enjoyable walk through the nature reserve, so I was in no hurry. By the time I got back to my car it was well after 1 p.m. and I hadn't had lunch yet. There isn't much between there and Silverdale except for my new favorite restaurant on the peninsula - Barbie's Cafe in Seabeck, so it was an easy decision to stop there for some of their kickin' crab chowder (crab and corn chowder with jalapenos) for lunch on my way back.

Kitsap Kayaking Resources

2011-07-03T19:31:00.010-04:00

From my experience in Virginia, I was always doing the same Google searches and going back to visit the same websites to get data for planning kayaking excursions, so I wrote my Virginia Kayaking Resources post as a quick reference for me and anyone else who is looking for certain data for planning. Now that I'm living on the Kitsap peninsula in the great state of Washington, I haven't found any pre-existing quick-reference list of links, so I'm going to create one here.

I will periodically come back and update this post with new links as I find more useful websites.

Water TEMP:
- National Estuarine Research Reserve System: Environmental monitoring buoys at Hoodsport, Twanoh, and Dabob Bay
- NOAA: Port Townshend

Water LEVEL (Tides or Gage Heights):
- Saltwatertides.com: Table format only, but for whatever date range you desires
- WSDOT Hood Canal Bridge: Graphic format for next 24 hours
- National Weather Service: Gage heights for rivers

Water CURRENT:
- NOAA Tidal Current Tables

Sunrise / Sunset:
- Wunderground Silverdale

Routes / Maps:
- Washington State Park maps.
- WDFW Water Access sites.
* * * Don't forget your Discover Pass. * * * As of 7/1/2011, you must have a Discover Pass to park at / use Washington State Parks. You can purchase either a 1-day pass for $10 or an annual pass for $35. If you buy one online, then they will email you a temporary pass you can print out and put on your dashboard until your permanent pass comes in the mail.
- North Kitsap Trails Association string of pearls map
- Paddle Kitsap route map
- Paddling.net under the "Go Paddling" pull-down menu, select "Places to Paddle" and then "~~Virginia~~ Washington." They have both an alphabetical list of place names and a GIS map showing verified and unverified water access points.

CLUBS:
- Olympic Kayak Club.
- Paddle Kitsap is an organized two day event that paddles around the Kitsap Peninsula on Aug 5-6, 2011.

GUIDES / OUTFITTERS:
- Pacific Edge Outfitters on Naval Base Kitsap (for military folks). I have not yet rented any kayaking gear there, but the staff was VERY friendly and helpful when I went to rent snowshoes and snowpants for hiking on Mount Ranier in the winter. They DO rent kayaks and just about any other outdoor activity gear you could possibly want.
- Navy MWR offers organized paddling trips such as Wednesday evening paddles (5-9 p.m. about once a month) and the Paddle-Pedal-Pack excursion (4 mile paddle, 10 mile bike ride, 2 mile hike). Search for these under "TRIPS" on their menu. Searching under "ACTIVITIES" will only return classes.
- Jackie's Marine & Kayak at the Brownsville Marina. Searched BBB and Yelp, found no results.
- Kayak Brinnon. This is across Hood Canal over by Dabob Bay. I hope to do their naturalist-guided paddle in the Dosewallips Estuary sometime. Searched BBB and Yelp, found no results.

BOOKS:

- Kayaking Puget Sound, the San Juans, and Gulf Islands.
- Kayak Routes of the Pacific Northwest Coast
- Paddling Washington: 100 Flatwater and Whitewater Routes in Washington State and the Inland Northwest

But alas poor Smokey...

2011-06-26T19:08:00.014-04:00

We are mourning the loss of a family member today.

Smokey was a good fish.

Loyal.

Friendly.

Resilient.

Okay, so "loyal" may be stretching it a bit. It's not like he had a choice who his owners were. However, he was definitely a friendly and resilient fish.

I never thought fish responded to people or showed any sign of personality before we got Smokey. He actually came out of his little fish-bowl house and appeared to wag his tail for us when we would walk into the room.

He was certainly a well-traveled fish, having made the trip to New Hampshire for summer vacation and most recently the 3,000 mile drive across country from Virginia to Washington. He proved his resilience more than once. The first occasion earned a Post-of-the-Week award for his tumble down the stairs.

Smokey's Travel Fish-bowl

The most recent occasion I now realize I forgot to write about. It was when we went on vacation in New Hampshire last summer. The boys and I had recently watched What About Bob, and they got the idea of taking Smokey with us in a glass jar like Bill Murray with his pet fish Gill. In anticipation of our upcoming PCS transfer to Washington, we decided to use the drive to NH as a test run for Smokey. He passed with flying colors.

Well... swimming colors I suppose.

There was a close call along the way though. When we stopped to tour the Valley Forge National Historic Park, we left Smokey in the car.

It got a little warm.

When we returned to the car, we found Smokey on floating on his side near the top of his water jug, periodically twitching one of his fins like a toy whose batteries were worn out. We manned battlestations-fish-resuscitation, cranked on the A/C and my wonderful wife held Smokey's jar in front of the vent to cool him off (but not so quickly as to put him in thermal shock). He seemed just fine a couple of hours later. No harm done apparently.

I suppose I didn't write about it so none of you would be calling the humane society on me for leaving a pet unattended in the car.

Along the way across country this month, he got to visit the Louisville Slugger bat factory, Mount Rushmore, and Yellowstone National Park. In hindsight, I am wishing we had taken pictures of him at all those places.

Well, Smokey has gone to to the big fishbowl in the sky now. This is a first time for my kids to deal with death first hand. My eldest son (ES) seems to be taking it harder than my younger son.

We asked the boys what they would like to do for a funeral for Smokey. We offered the burial-at-sea-via-the-toilet or the bury-in-the-back-yard options. ES didn't want either. The toilet seemed to undignified, and he said Smokey wouldn't want to be buried in Washington because he's a Virginia fish. We convinced the boys we should bury him here at our new home in Washington.

Actually, in order to calm ES down, my wife told him we would exhume Smokey when we leave Washington in a few years and head back to the east coast, and take him back to VA for a proper burial.

...Being a Virginia fish and all.

We're hoping ES forgets by then.

It was a spectacularly gorgeous day in Washington. Here my wife and son dig a grave for Smokey in our back yard.

So long, Smokey. You will be missed.

DC Gouge: New Submarine Exhibit Opening at Navy Museum

2011-06-09T19:08:00.003-04:00

If you're in DC and you've never been to the Navy Museum at the Washington Navy Yard, then I highly recommend checking it out.

My youngest son on the periscope in the Navy Museum

Soon there will be even more cool stuff to see at the museum. I just received this from the DC Naval Submarine League:

The submarine exhibit “Covert Submarine Operations” will be dedicated by the Naval Historical Foundation on Saturday, 18 June at the Washington Navy Yard Museum. The event is open to all connected with the Submarine Force and Naval Submarine League. The attached invitation (email me if you want a copy of the invite) provides the details and a map of the WNY with directions to the Cold War Gallery museum. Spouse/friends are included in the invitation.

(Event is past - so I removed the RSVP data)

The exhibit contains most of the artifacts from the Smithsonian’s “Fast Attack and Boomers” exhibit that was opened in 2000 as part of the Submarine Force Centennial celebration and is the first major exhibit in the Museum’s new Cold War Gallery.

If I were still in DC, then I know where I would be going next Saturday!

Olympic National Park - Hurricane Ridge Hike

2011-06-05T19:08:00.001-04:00

It was a spectacularly beautiful weekend here in the Pacific Northwest. I decided to get another use out of my National Park annual pass that expires this month and head over to check out Olympic National Park.

When I sat down at my computer to do some research and figure out when and where to go, I was amazed by the size of the park. It's bigger than the state of Rhode Island for cryin' out loud (777,000 acres in RI vs. 922,000 acres in ONP). There are several different visitor centers at different places around the park. I get the impression that each one is strategically located to show a very different aspect of the park - sub-alpine versus rain forest versus coastal).

I decided to try Hurricane Ridge, at the Northern end of the park, about twenty miles south of Port Angeles, Washington. I could tell from the webcam that there is still snow up there (there's a second webcam on the parking lot), but I couldn't find any useful gouge on whether I would need snowshoes or not. The thought of renting snowshoes at Pacific Edge Outfitters again crossed my mind, but I remembered that the National Park visitor center on Mt. Rainier offered snow shoes for rent there. The ONP website said they had snowshoes to rent, so I figured I would drive up there and rent them if I needed them.

Scenery on the drive up from Port Angeles

There was just a little bit of snow left over from "winter."

Well, come to find out, there are basically two seasons at Hurricane Ridge. During the winter season, they rent skis, sleds, snowshoes, and run a ski lift and have a big booming business. They even have park ranger led showshoe hikes. The "winter" season ends around mid March. Next, the "summer" season seems to start around mid July, and there are park ranger led hikes to admire beautiful flowers and stunning views.

Apparently though, if you go in between the end of "winter" and the beginning of "summer" then you pretty much get to make do on your own. Nothing is available to rent. No park rangers provide any guided hikes. It's all you.

Don't get me wrong. I had a great time, and I'm very glad I went. I was just surprised by the gap in activity offered at this park compared to most other national parks.

I had lunch in the visitor center cafe, and it was very good. Much better than the cafe at Mt. Rainier. I had a ham and swiss on rye with sweet potato fries and it was delicious.

This was the view I got to enjoy from the cafe while eating my lunch. Nope, no need to rent any showshoes or anything like that this time of year.

The park ranger at the visitor center told me they put out orange poles in the snow leading away from the parking lot to lead people to a scenic overlook. She told me the snow was packed down enough that I didn't need snowshoes.

Sure enough.

Oh, but don't walk past the LAST orange pole.

The view was indeed spectacular. The photo doesn't do it justice. In the foreground is Port Angeles, then the Strait of Juan de Fuca, then Victoria, British Columbia in the distance.

Obligatory Blunoz self-portrait

I hiked clockwise around the ridge. This is looking back at where those avalanche warning signs were.

See the signs?

Aside from walking the short distance along the orange poles from the visitor center to the view point, most people were just walking the plowed Hurricane Ridge Road. It was closed to vehicles and partially plowed, and it wound back and forth down the hill for a mile or so. The view was much better from up on top of the snow on either side of the road than it was from on the pavement. Since it was my first time there and I didn't have snowshoes or skis, I stayed close to the paved road. I did see some people showing up with their own snowshoes go trekking off into the snow though, and it made me wish I had my own.

For the portion of my hike that I did on the road, I kept thinking I was Luke Skywalker attacking the Death Star. Then I came to the end of where the plow had been...

Use the Force, Luke!

After crossing over to the south side of the road, I found an area where the snow had melted.

Over on this side of the ridge, I had several of these pretty birds following me along from tree to tree. I don't know if they were just naturally curious or if they've been fed by humans one too many times and were looking for a handout.

Overall, it was a gorgeous day, a very enjoyable drive, and a nice hike with stunning scenery. This will certainly not be my last time to visit ONP. Next time I'll just have to bring my own snowshoes, or come back in the summer season when the snow has melted.

Trip Stats on the GPS

Hike Stats:

Date: 4 June 2011

Start Time: 12:43 p.m.

Moving Time Elapsed: 1 hr 43 min

Stopped Time Elapsed: 30 min

Finish Time: 2:55 p.m.

Miles: 3.1 miles

Elevation gain: 443 feet

Temp: Began approx 57F climbing to 64F when I drove back down.

Wind: None.

Breakfast in Kitsap

2011-05-31T19:08:00.007-04:00

Inevitably when we PCS transfer to a new duty station, we end up crammed in a room at the Navy Lodge or a local hotel for some number of days, and we'll end up searching for someplace to feed our starving children when they get up too early in the morning. (Aside: It's especially painful if you ever move to Hawaii and the kids wake up at like 3 a.m. Hawaii time.)

Coming here to the Kitsap peninsula, we found ourselves in the Navy Lodge once again, and as expected, we embarked on a search for breakfast. It was harder than I thought to find a nice local place for breakfast. There are a few chains like IHOP, Shari's, and the Pancake House, but I had to cast my net pretty wide across the peninsula to find the unique family-run local joints.

If you end up on the Kitsap peninsula looking for some breakfast, here are my three favorites (so far) in no particular order of priority:

Oak Table Cafe in Kingston, about a half hour drive northeast from the submarine base. It is sooooo worth the drive. Their house special is a ludicrously ginormous apple cinnamon pancake, and it was fantastically delicious. There were some other pretty wicked items on the menu like German pancakes (a.k.a. "Dutch Babies"). The cream they serve for the coffee is real, thick, heavy cream, and it was wonderful. I look forward to going back here to try many of the other delicacies on their menu. The service was top-notch - very friendly, attentive, professional, and courteous.

Big Apple Diner in Bremerton. You'll hear people alternately refer to this as either the Red Apple or the Big Apple. It's right next door to a "Red Apple" market, but the diner is actually the "Big Apple." You can get there from Route 3 either by the Kitsap Way or Chico Way exit.

This is a traditional soda fountain / old fashioned diner. While I continue to be annoyed by Pepsi's monopoly on the Pacific Northwest, here at the Big Apple Diner you will find a bastion of Coca-Cola products. Not only that, they make caramel coke!

They have a nice variety of standard breakfast items from eggs benedict to cinnamon french toast. The service was polite and prompt. My food seemingly appeared like a flash of lightning on my table moments after I ordered it. Watch out for ordering things on the side though. I had a little sticker-shock when I got the bill because I ordered a side order of scrambled eggs and bacon with my french toast. IHOP this is not. The side order of eggs cost me about $2.50 and the side order of bacon cost me $3.25. Even though the bill was a little higher than I anticipated, I totally got my money's worth.

Barbie's Seabeck Bay Cafe in, well, you guessed it, Seabeck. Alright, so I must confess that I have not yet actually eaten breakfast here... yet. However, it is one of those small-town, very personable and intimate type cafes with excellent food, and they had a really good-looking breakfast menu.

Several people who have lived here much longer than me have said they didn't realize there was a cafe there. I found it through Yelp when I came down from my Green Mountain hike on Saturday. In order to get to the cafe, you have to walk THROUGH the old-fashioned Seabeck General Store. On the BACK side of the general store, actually on the bay is a very small cafe with seating for about 12 people (two 4-tops and two 2-tops if my memory serves me correctly). I think there might be more seating outdoors if the weather was nice.

Their lunch and dinner selections are mostly burgers, sandwiches, etc. I followed the waitress' recommendation and had a turkey Philly with a cup of the crab, corn, and jalepeno chowder. Both were EXCELLENT, and I'm going to make a point of driving down here to try this place for breakfast. Oh, their homemade desserts are positively sinful, too. In a small setting like that, the cafe wouldn't stay in business if they didn't have excellent service. The service was very friendly, attentive, and professional. I'll definitely be going back here.

I'll keep you posted if I find any others, but given the quality of Oak Table, Big Apple, and Barbie's, you'd have to offer a pretty strong recommendation to pull me away to someplace different.

Green Mountain Hike - Gold Creek Trail

2011-05-29T19:08:00.004-04:00

Although the forecast called for showers, scattered showers, and more showers yesterday, all I saw was sun, partly sunny, and more sun. It was a refreshing change! I decided to take advantage of it and try a local hike that didn't involve a 3 hour drive. Two separate people have recommended Green Mountain to me, so I headed down there to check it out yesterday afternoon.

Green Mountain is the second highest point on the Kitsap peninsula. (Aside: Don't ask me what the highest point is. I haven't learned that one yet.) In searching for information about it, all that came up in my Google search was a website that rhymes with rails and ends in dot com (I don't want to advertise for them). It annoys me and sets off alarm bells in the back of my head when a website insists on having my credit card information before they will activate my "free trial." Nope. Not. All stop. Do not pass go, do not collect $200.

I found in Google Maps that there was a Green Mountain State Forest. There wasn't anything else on my schedule for the day, so I decided to just wander around down there and see what I found. I happened upon the Gold Creek Trail Head, and there I found a small kiosk which identified it as part of the Washington State Department of Natural Resources and had a large trail map posted. Upon returning home, I found that you can access the DNR trail maps in pdf format at this website (the trail map of Green Mountain is here). I talked to someone in the parking lot who had just finished the hike, and he said it was 2.5 miles to the top, so I decided to give it a try.

There is actually quite a network of trails criss-crossing the mountain (see the trail map). The trails are well marked and mostly hard-pack dirt or gravel. It's a well-used recreation area, too. I passed 18 other hikers, 2 horses, 3 mountain bikes, and one noisy, smelly dirt bike (or rather, they passed me).

Along the way up, there were some very nice cascading waterfalls like this. The foliage is so different from Northern Virginia. I felt like I was on another planet because I didn't recognize any of the plants or flowers. I even bought a pocket guide to Washington State Trees & Flowers, but I still couldn't identify most of what I saw on the hike.

I think these might be a type of geranium. They were only about the size of the tip of my finger.

This could be serviceberry or trailing raspberry. I think it is trailing raspberry based on the shape of the green leaves underneath. Did you notice who's guarding it? I didn't even notice until I got home later and was looking at the pictures close up.

Here he is zoomed in. Looks ferocious, doesn't he?

Does anyone know what he is? I tried, but haven't been

able to put a positive ID on him yet.

Here he is from a different angle (again, I didn't notice this until I was looking at the pictures at home).

These look a little like buttercups, but I'm used to buttercups pointing up like a cup, not sideways and not with space between the petals like these.

~~I think~~ this is salmonberry.

Not sure what this one is, but it sure is pretty.

Aside from the flowers, the view along the way up the trail was peaceful and awe-inspiring.

The view from the top was extraordinary and well worth the hike up. That's Seattle off in the distance.

I used my sons' technique at distance photography, and this was the result. (Taken by holding my camera up to the binoculars. :-) ).

Stats from the Gold Creek Trail parking lot up to the vista.

For some odd reason, on the way back down, I got the song, "C is for cookie, that's good enough for me," stuck in my head.

That's Gold Creek by the way.

End of hike statistics back in the parking lot.

What a great way to spend an afternoon! It was good to get out, enjoy the fresh air and the beauty of nature. It sure reminded me of hikes with my family like the Sugarloaf hike, and it made me miss my family. This hike was totally doable with small children. In fact, I passed two families on the trail - each a mom and a dad with two young kids. I look forward to bringing my family to see Green Mountain when they arrive here in a couple of weeks.

Gold Creek Trail Hike Overview:

Distance: 5 miles

Elevation gain: 1,054 feet

Start Time: 1433

Moving Time: 2 hours 7 minutes

Stopped Time: 52 minutes

Finish Time: 1733

Weather: Approx. 55F, light breeze

Facilities: Outhouse in the parking lot at the trail head. Outhouse in the parking lot near the vista. No water or other facilities. No trash cans either, so unfortunately there were bits of litter here and there. I regret I didn't bring my Camelbak this time, because I carry spare trash bags to pick up litter along the way.

Pests: Aside from the one noisy and smelly dirtbike that passed me on the trail going up? There were a few bugs flying around my head at the top of the mountain, but they weren't overly annoying. I didn't notice in situ, but when I got home I discovered I had about 5 bug bites on the backs of my hands. I probably have some on my neck that I can't see or haven't otherwise noticed. Next time, use bug spray.

Geocaching: There are a few around this area. I looked for the geocache at the top of the mountain, but had to log a DNF. Maybe my boys will help me find it next time.

Seventeen

2011-05-21T07:31:00.001-04:00

This is a scheduled post, since I won't be anywhere near an internet computer this year for my 17th naviversary.

In previous posts I have been a bit more pensive and taken a stroll down memory lane.
16 years - Short thoughts
15 years - Pictures from commissioning ceremony at USD NROTC
14 years - Goofy picture of me as an Ensign with coke-bottle glasses and a history of where I was on each of my previous years of service

I don't have much to add to the stroll down memory lane I provided in my previous posts, except to say I'd never have imagined where I ended up at this point in my career. I've been very truly blessed with every set of orders I have received and every crew I've had the honor to work with, especially my current crew. :-)

Silly Legal Disclaimers - Vol IV

2011-05-12T00:16:00.000-04:00

Okay folks, get yourself a sheet of paper and some form of writing utensil.

I just returned from a quick trip down to San Diego and back for a shipmate's retirement ceremony. As I was boarding the plane in San Diego, I happened upon a sign at the end of the jetway...

Before I share it with you, take a guess. If YOU were an airport or airline executive who was paranoid about the current litigious environment in America, what warning sign would YOU put at the end of the jetway just before your customers board the plane? What do YOU think is the most likely reason your customers are gonna wanna sue you?

One might think it would be something fairly common sense like, "Warning: Don't walk off the end of the jetway if there isn't an airplane attached," or, "Stand Back! Airplane door swings outward!"

Nope.

Not. Even. Close.

Before I tell you the answer, write down what you think belongs as a warning at the end of the jetway. Be sure to post what you wrote down in the comments section at the end of the post, because I'm sure my readers can come up with at least a dozen more likely silly legal disclaimers than the one I spotted.

Okay, ready?

Here's what I found... (click on image to enlarge)

Seriously? Gosh, I'm glad they warned me.

Ya know, if I was a pregnant woman... and I had been drinking... and my baby was born with a birth defect... Do you really think I'm gonna sue the airline for not warning me about the hazards of drinking?

Probably not, unless in my drunken stupor I fell off the jetway without an airplane attached.

Keurig Shopping

2011-05-04T19:08:00.008-04:00

Over the years, my taste in coffee has diverged from my wonderful wife's taste in coffee. I prefer more dark, bold, strong coffee (Starbucks Kenya for example) and espresso, and she prefers more regular brews like Dunkin Donuts.

We decided when we moved here to Washington that we should buy a Keurig coffee maker so we could each make our own preferred kind of coffee. In case you aren't familiar with them, a Keurig uses a small pre-packaged cup of coffee grounds and makes individual cups of coffee instead of a full pot (with the accompanying mess of coffee grounds and filters).

So there I was...

Standing in the aisle at the Navy Exchange examining the different models of Keurig coffee makers.

Decisions, Decisions...

It was a hard choice. An old shipmate of mine happened by just then, and he and his wife recommended the smaller model (in the left on the picture) that doesn't have a reservoir. You just pour in one cup of water at the top, push start, and it makes the coffee. They warned me the ones with the reservoir have to pre-heat the water before it will make a cup. I regret that I didn't fully understand what they were trying to tell me. I did some quick research of user reviews on my Droid phone, and some people who bought the smaller one wrote that they wished they bought the bigger model with the reservoir, so I bought the second model from the left - the first one with a reservoir.

Now I understand what my friends were trying to tell me about pre-heating the water.

If I had to go back and make the decision again knowing what I know now, then I would have bought either one more model up from what I got or the smallest one that my shipmate recommended.

Here's the problem.

I wake up in the morning. I stumble out to the kitchen wiping the sleep from my eyes. I wince as my bare feet hit the cold kitchen tile. I push the power button on the Keurig, and I quick-step stagger back to the living room carpet so the angry voices in my feet will stop yelling at me, "ow, ow, ow, it's COLD!"

I wait.

Eventually, the light comes on the Keurig, signaling the water is warm and ready to begin brewing. My feet say, "No, no, no, no, nooooooo!" as I step back onto the cold tile and push the start button for it to start brewing my coffee. Then I go get in the shower and get ready for work, and the coffee is ready for me when I am ready to leave for work.

It doesn't take long to brew. It's just frustrating that it takes 2 button presses and there is a wait in between.

I now see the value of having the next model up that actually has a timer in it, so you can set it to start at a given time in the morning - NO button pushing NOR waiting NOR any angry cold feet.

My feet would be much happier if I had bought the next model up.

Okay, okay, so maybe I should wear socks.

Snowshoeing on Mount Rainier

2011-05-02T19:08:00.022-04:00

Last week, I told my new shipmates that I wanted to start exploring the area with a hike on Saturday. There was a sudden twinkle in their eyes and the gears in their noggins started churning on the plan for a most excellent outing to Mount Rainier National Park.

They told me I would need snowshoes.

This excited me, because I've been wanting to try snowshoeing for a while, and I was disappointed there wasn't any snow on the ground when we arrived in NH for Christmas this year.

There is an excellent outdoor recreation place called Pacific Edge Outfitters at Naval Base Kitsap. I stopped there on Friday and rented snowshoes and poles, plus some snow pants. I thought the prices were pretty reasonable. It cost me $20.75 to rent the gear for the weekend since they're closed on Sunday and I would have to return it on Monday.

We left the Kitsap area around 7 a.m. and started the approximate 2 1/2 hour drive to Paradise on the southern side of Mt. Rainier. There was a pitstop at Starbucks, then a rendezvous with some members of our group at Krispy Kreme, then another pitstop at the Rainier Basecamp. By the time we finally made it to Paradise, got suited up, and ready to set forth from the parking lot into the snow, it was 11:15 a.m.

The snowbanks were about 3 times as tall as our truck.

View of the mountain from the parking lot. Note how high the snow is on the lodge.

Tunnel entrance into the lodge.

It was pretty cold when we got there, too. The thermometer on the truck said 31F. I was glad I rented snow pants and brought my big snow boots. There were 8 of us total. Two members of our group had been here before and were experienced snow-hikers. We got all bundled up in multiple layers of clothing and headed out.

Time Stamp - Leaving Parking Lot

Snowshoe-Up!

I didn't keep detailed notes on the trail, but the initial timeline went something like this:
11:16 a.m. Set out from Paradise Visitor's Center parking lot.
11:20 a.m. Snowshoes on, commence trudging uphill through the snow.
11:21 a.m. If I were on the elliptical or exercise bike at the gym, then it would have dinged, saying, "Target Heart-Rate Reached, Resistance will change to maintain heart-rate at XXX bpm."
11:22 a.m. Sweating. Took off winter hat.
11:23 a.m. Still sweating. Took off gloves.
11:24 a.m. Sweating profusely. If I were on the exercise bike at the gym, it would be making angry beeps at me, "Reduce pace to lower heartrate."
11:25 a.m. Burning up. Took off jacket and removed fleece liner. Stuffed fleece liner in backbpack, put jacket shell back on.
11:26 a.m. Doing better without the fleece, but still wishing I had NOT put on that long-underwear and heavy wool socks. Unzipped jacket.

Actually, from then on it wasn't too bad. Next time I will definitely not wear as many layers.

On the trail, heading up the Skyline Loop Path clockwise from the Paradise Visitor's Center.

I'm pretty sure that's the TOP of a very TALL tree.

Looking back the way we came.

Can you see the footprints going waaaaay off into the distance up the hill?

Right here, we are hiking over this waterfall.

(Click the link to see what it looks like in summer.)

The scenery was spectacular throughout, and I'm very glad we went. Unfortunately, the battery on my Garmin Forerunner is dead, so I don't have a link for you to see our trip stats on MyGarmin dashboard. Using Google Earth, I think we went approximately 2.1 miles and climbed approximately 800 feet in elevation (starting around 5,400 feet and going up to about 6,200 feet).

Time Stamp back in the parking lot.

(Elapsed time almost exactly 3 hours.)

We made it back to the Visitor's Center just in time for a Park Ranger to tell us about the National Park. I have yet to be disappointed by listening to a Park Ranger, and this one was no exception. His description of previous expeditions to the summit was both educational and entertaining. They show a 21-minute video at quarter-past and quarter-til the hour, and the video was excellent, too.

Aside: < rant > Will someone please explain to me why Pepsi has a stranglehold on the Pacific Northwest??? EVERYWHERE we go, it's always Pepsi. You don't have to read my blog for long to know that I'm a Diet Coke addict, so this has been a frustrating part about moving to the area. As much as I hate eating at McDonalds, I will now go through the McD's drive through simply because it is one of the few bastions of Coca-Cola products in the state of Washington.

Case-in-point: The Cafe in the Paradise Visitor Center

Recommendation: Bring food and beverages with you, or be ready to shell-out movie theater prices at the Visitor Center. $3.23 for a soda the size of a medium at McD's, seriously??? < / rant >

To end on a positive note, we were able to stop at the REI in Tacoma on our way back and take advantage of some of their end-of-winter sale prices. Then we had some dinner at a Mexican place I hadn't tried yet and was very good. I owe some of you a review of the various Mexican restaurants I've tried so far on the peninsula though, so I'll cover that in another blog post to come.

In the meantime, if you would like some beginner info on snowshoeing, check out the REI website here. Next on my snowshoeing to-do list is Hurricane Ridge.

Opening a New Chapter

2011-04-17T19:08:00.009-04:00

Greetings from the Pacific Northwest!

My blog posting has been light because I've been traveling back and forth to multiple Navy schools over the past several months. Now that I have finally reported to my new Permanent Duty Station (PDS), I figured I should update the banner info on my blog.

For those of you (CW) who relied upon my blog to remind you of things like getting your uniform ready for sub ball, doing your taxes, or picking up your Mass Transit Benefit at the Pentagon, please accept my apologies. I have been delinquent on my public service announcements. Hopefully you weren't really relying on me to tell you when to submit your taxes. ;-)

Judging by the number of hits on my blog for Google searches like, "what to wear to the submarine ball," you can tell it's that time of year again. This post is too late to help most people since the Submarine Birthday Ball has already happened in most places. I attended the Submarine Birthday Ball in Omaha last week, and it was very nicely executed. Last night was the officer Submarine Birthday Ball in Seattle, and my wonderful wife and I had a great time. Next Saturday is the enlisted Submarine Birthday Ball in Seattle.

BT BT

Under the category of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," I discovered there is a new website for arranging household goods shipments. The new Defense Personal Property Management (DPS) website isn't as user-friendly as the previous SmartMove website was, and it has been a frustrating process so far. Here are a few quick lessons learned for anybody else getting ready to execute a PCS transfer and ship household goods:

1. Start early. After you register on the DPS website, they say it can take up to 72 hours to complete your registration (just so you can log-on to the website). It took me 3 tries to get my registration processed through the DPS website and get logged on to where I could start submitting my request for HHG shipment.

2. Pack out dates. Unlike the old SmartMove website that showed you a calendar with what dates were available, the DPS website just asks what date you want to move. I entered a Monday that I wanted the packers to show up, figuring they would pack Monday and Tuesday then load the truck Wednesday.

Nope.

The date you enter on DPS is the date you want your house to be empty, not the date you want them to show up and start packing. So if you enter a Monday date, then the packers will be coming to box your stuff up on Thursday and Friday the week before.

3. Call and confirm they receive your application. After submitting the move application online, I received an automated email response saying it was received and that I needed to fax in my orders for them to process my application. The next day, I faxed in my orders. The day after that, I called to confirm they received my fax. The gentleman I spoke with on the phone said, "Well, yes, we received your fax with your orders, but we don't know why you sent them to us because we don't have any application for you." So much for the electronic submission and the automated confirmation email. Recommend calling to confirm they receive your application.

That's all for now. More to follow as we explore and get to know our new home.

Oh, and don't forget to submit your income tax return.

Paddle Log #23: Hickam Beach

2011-03-05T07:08:00.002-05:00

For my last weekend on the island, I made an effort to get out and enjoy Hawaii while it lasted.

View of Kaneohe coming out of the H-3 Tunnel

Saturday I took two of my shipmates on a drive around the northern end of the island. We visited Tropical Farms and Waimea Valley.

As I've stated on previous visits to Tropical Farms, every time I got there I learn about some new fruit that I'd never heard of before. This time around I got to learn about the Star Apple. It looks more like a plumb on the outside, but when you slice it open you see the star pattern on the inside.

Star Apple

We stopped and had lunch at the famous Giovanni's Shrimp Truck as we drove around the northern end of the island.

Mmmm, Giovanni's :-9

I continue to be amazed by the quantity and variety of tropical flowers I see at Waimea Valley. Every time I go, I notice some spectacular new flower that I hadn't previously seen there. As usual, I took a ton of pictures, but I'll just share three of them here:

Not sure what this one was.

Ruellia Chartacea

Finger of God

We got to Waimea around 4:30 and they supposedly close at 5 p.m., so we didn't bother taking our swimming suits in with us. However, the staff didn't seem to be in any hurry to push people out the gate at 5 p.m. I think they just close the entrance and don't let anyone new in at 5 p.m., but there were still plenty of people swimming under the waterfall when we left.

Waimea Falls

(standing in front of my eldest son's favorite rock)

Sunday I made a point to get out on the water one last time. I wanted to try Kaneohe, but the forecast called for scattered showers all day on the windward side. So I went to Hickam instead.

Hickam Beach

You aren't allowed to go very far from Hickam Beach. You pretty much have to stay inside the box formed by the taxiway and the runway of Honolulu International Airport (see Garmin track below). Even though it was a fairly short paddle, I'm glad I got one last trip out on the water to enjoy warm water and the peaceful lapping of the water against the kayak hull.

This is as far as you are allowed to paddle away from the beach.

It was cool to watch the jets taxi by to the runway. Actually, as I sit here finishing this blog post, I am in the San Francisco airport. Just this morning, I was on a plane just like that, looking out the passenger windows toward Hickam Beach.

On item of note: In hindsight, this is an excellent spot to take your kids and give kayaking a try. It is a lot easier to get in and out here and not have the winds pushing you away from the marina like at Rainbow Marina on Pearl Harbor where I first tried kayaking with my eldest son.

Stats for the paddle log:

Date: 27 February 2011
Time In: 3:20 p.m.
Time Out: Approx 4:00 p.m.
Elapsed: 40 min
Moving Time (GPS): 34 min
Stopped Time (GPS): 6 min (had difficulty getting watch to stop after getting out of the water. Had to rinse with fresh water and dry off before it would accept the "stop" command.)
Mileage (GPS): 1.8 miles
Sea State: 1
Winds: Very little
Air Temp: 77F
Water Temp: Not sure. Warm. Bathwater.
Current: None.
Gauge Height: N/A.
Avg Speed (GPS): 3.2 mph
Max Speed by (GPS): 4.5 mph
Rapids? None.
Hazards? None.
Kit: Rental kayak (Ocean Kayak Scrambler). No hat, NRS paddling gloves, short sleeve shirt, swim trunks, Keen sandals.
Configuration: Solo.
Route: Put-in at Hickam Beach Kayak Rental hut, clockwise around the rectangular basin formed by the Honolulu Airport taxiway and runway, then counterclockwise back to Hickam Beach.
Other comments (such as wildlife spotted): Many crabs on rocks, coral, sergeant fish.

Paddle Log #22: Kailua to Mokulua Islands

2011-02-20T19:08:00.017-05:00

Ahhh, it's good to be back in port again after almost three weeks out at sea. It was a very busy time with no days off and not much in the way of sleep, so it was nice to have this weekend off to rest.

So what did I do to relax?

Went back out to sea, of course! Well, this time under my own propulsion.

A friend of mine and I went to Kailua Sailboards and Kayaks and rented a tandem kayak to paddle out to the Mokulua Islands and back. It was a beautiful morning on the water.

Normally, the winds around here are from the northeast (hence why this is the "windward" side of the island). More often than not, it will be cloudy on the windward side of the island with the clouds bunching up against the Ko Olau mountain range, and it will be bright and sunny on the south side where Waikiki and Pearl Harbor are.

Not today. Oddly enough, the winds were out of the south-southwest today, so it was cloudy on the south side of the island as I left the naval base, and it was gorgeous over on the (normally) windward side where we were planning to go kayaking.

Kailua Sailboards and Kayaks has kayak rental down to a science. They have an incredibly smooth process for checking people in, moving you on to watch their safety video (which is very informative, funny, and entertaining), check out your gear, head down to the waterfront, and get paddling. It is all very well orchestrated, and I was amazed at how many customers they were able to process in a very short period of time AND with friendly and professional service to boot.

Standing on Flat Island, looking back toward Kailua in the background.

On our way, paddling from Flat Island to the Mokulua Islands.

The Mokulua Islands are a bird sanctuary, so you can't leave the beach.

Evidence

Sidenote about my Garmin: I forgot to start my Garmin Forerunner before we got in the water. Paddling out through the surf we took a good amount of splashing and wave slap. The Forerunner uses a touch-screen, so when I tried to activate my Garmin on the way paddling out, the saltwater on the watch just drove the touch-screen nuts. I locked it (pushing both side buttons at once locks or unlocks the touch-screen) and waited until we got over to Mokulua Island. I rinsed it with fresh-water and let it dry out in the wind, then I unlocked it and activated it for the paddle back to Kailua, so that's why my Garmin Connect data isn't complete for this trip.

Overall, we had an excellent morning getting some exercise in the fresh air with some saltwater splashed on us. We wrapped it all up with a stop at the legendary Boots & Kimos for some banana pancakes with macadamia nut syrup. Mmmmmm. :-9

Stats for the paddle log:

Date: 20 February 2011
Time In: Approx 10:35 a.m.
Time Out: 12:35 p.m.
Elapsed: About 2 hours
Moving Time (GPS): unknown - technical difficulties with watch
Stopped Time (GPS): unknown - technical difficulties with watch
Mileage (GPS): Approx 4 miles
Sea State: 1
Winds: 8-10 mph E observed in Kailua (Intellicast), but overall winds from SW made for a cloudy day on the south side of the island and a clear day here in Kailua.
Air Temp: 77F
Water Temp: Not sure. Warm. Bathwater.
Current: None.
Gauge Height: N/A.
Avg Speed (GPS): 3.2 mph (at least for the second half paddling back to Kailua)
Max Speed by (GPS): 5.0 mph (I'm pretty confident we didn't exceed this paddling out INTO the swells on the way out)
Rapids? None.
Hazards? Waves breaking over reefs.
Kit: Rental kayak (unknown model). NH ballcap, NRS paddling gloves, long sleeve shirt, swim trunks, Keen sandals.
Configuration: Tandem. I sat in back, S sat in front.
Route: Put-in at Kailua Sailboards & Kayak rental, headed out into surf and over to Flat Island. After a brief stop at Flat Island, we paddled southeast parallel to shore and then out to the north Mokulua Island, paddling into 3 foot swells crashing into the bow. Rested on the island for a bit. Paddled back toward the shoreline, then northwest parallel to the shore back to Kailua.
Other comments (such as wildlife spotted): None.

Bucket List: Climb Koko Head

2011-01-31T07:08:00.009-05:00

One ~~hike~~ climb that was on my to-do list most of the time we lived in Hawaii in 2007-2008 was Koko Head. (Check out the gorgeous aerial photo of the Koko head crater on wikipedia.) I never did it while we lived here because it was above the level of difficulty for my two little boys (at the time anyway), and there were plenty of other hikes to do around the island that I could take the boys with me.

Now that I'm back on the island for a fairly brief period of time, I made a promise to myself that I would conquer Koko Head while I was here.

You may recall a couple of posts ago, there's a wonderful view into the Koko Head crater from the trail going up Makapu'u Ridge.

This time I had a completely different perspective of Koko Head. There is a set of railroad tracks that were used to take supplies up to an Army coastal observation post during WWII.

Warning: If you go climb Koko Head, be advised there is a bridge you have to cross which is open between the railroad ties down into a ravine. This might freak out someone who is afraid of heights or who has small children with them.

This turned out to be quite the stairmaster-type workout. The picture above was taken from a horizontal position to show you the slope of the tracks going up the hill.

On the way up, my heart was pounding so hard I thought it would leap out of my chest. I couldn't believe there were people passing me - RUNNING both up and down the tracks.

The view at the top was worth it...

That's Makapu'u Ridge in the distance.

In the foreground is the other side of the Koko Head crater.

Hanauma Bay

Diamond Head

I foolishly thought that going back down would be easier than going up. Going down was like a thousand squats. It's not like Makapu'u where you just walk down a flat, paved trail. Coming down those railroad ties was one careful and deep step down at a time.

Did I mention it was 1,083 feet of elevation gain in just 0.8 miles? It took me 50 minutes to get to the top and 35 minutes to come back down. Here are the Garmin stats with the altitude profile.

Today my legs are a bit sore and my right knee hurts, but I'm happy to cross Koko Head off of my bucket list.

Paddle Log #21: Pearl Harbor

2011-01-23T19:08:00.002-05:00

Deja vu. Back where it all started. Almost three years ago, my eldest son and I went kayaking together for the first time here at the Rainbow Marina on Pearl Harbor.

For exercise, I've been running almost every morning since I arrived here three weeks ago, but I have been taking Sundays off to do something different like the Makapu'u Ridge and Olomana hikes that I wrote about last week.

This week I wanted to get out on the water. I had originally intended to do a longer paddling excursion out of Kailua, but I had too much studying to do and a 3 hour test to take. So this afternoon I just took a quick break, went down to the Rainbow Marina, and checked out a kayak to get some exercise and enjoy some time on the water.

It was partly cloudy out, which was nice to give me some shade. It was also pretty windy - 12 to 14 mph winds according to Intellicast. That stirred up some chop on the water. Of course, the marina is at the windward side of the harbor, so you have no choice but to go downwind first and then fight your way back against the wind coming back. You can see it on my Garmin where my average speed was about 4.0 mph as I paddled down wind. Then when I turned around and started paddling back, you see my average speed dropped to about 3.2 mph.

It was a good workout paddling into the wind. After I paddled back into the lee of McGrew Point, I just loitered in the basin there enjoying the sound of the waves lapping against the hull, watching the water and the feeling the wind.

It was a short excursion, but it was a much needed break from studying.

Stats for the paddle log:

Date: 23 January 2011
Time In: 2:23 p.m.
Time Out: 3:46 p.m.
Elapsed: 1 hours 23 minutes
Moving Time (GPS): 1 hrs 5 minutes
Stopped Time (GPS): 18 minutes
Mileage (GPS): 3.6 miles
Sea State: 1
Winds: 12-14 mph NE (Intellicast)
Air Temp: 79F
Water Temp: Not sure. Warm. Bathwater.
Current: None.
Gauge Height: Not sure. Seemed about average.
Avg Speed (GPS): 3.3 mph
Max Speed by (GPS): 5.3 mph
Rapids? None.
Hazards? None.
Kit: Wilderness rental kayak (unknown model). Flop hat, NRS paddling gloves, short sleeve shirt, swim trunks, water shoes.
Configuration: Single seat. Only me this time.
Route: Put-in at Rainbow Marina. Examined the chart at the boat house and determined where the restricted areas were. Paddled to the red buoy north of Ford Island that marked the edge of the restricted area. Harbor security got nervous about me and sent a boat out to make sure I wasn't going to go past the red buoy. I told them I knew the boundary and that I would not cross it. Turned around at the red buoy and paddled back into the wind. Did an extra lap in the basin next to the PACFLT boathouse.

Other comments (such as wildlife spotted): A couple of local birds that I have not yet identified.

Olomana Hike

2011-01-17T19:08:00.001-05:00

Aloha and Happy New Year everyone!

I'm in Hawaii for some training courtesy of the U.S. Navy. I don't get much sympathy for being separated from my family when that separation involves sunshine, shorts, t-shirts, and sandals while my family is bundled up and shoveling snow in Virginia.

There isn't much free time in my schedule here, but I am getting out to do something adventurous each weekend. Last weekend I took some of my classmates to hike Makapu'u Ridge at sunrise.

Sunrise over Molokai as seen from Makapu'u Ridge.

We had a good glimpse of the Dragon's Nostrils, too.

Self-portrait with KoKo Head in the background.

This weekend, three of my classmates led me on an excursion to hike Olomana.

Did I say hike?

I should have said climb.

1,600 feet of elevation gain up a narrow ridge with several hundred foot drop-offs on either side. Check out the altitude profile from my Garmin.

The trail started off easy-enough, but then there were several spots with pretty steep rock-faces that required pulling ourselves up a rope.

There are drop-offs of hundreds of feet on either side of this ridge.

There are actually a series of three peaks in Olomana. The first peak is the highest, and that's as far as we went. It is possible to continue hiking the ridge down from the first peak and back up to the second and then the third peak, but those are advanced and even dangerous to attempt.

That's the third peak.

The views from the top of Olomana were extraordinary...

View Northwest to Kaneohe and up the Windward side of Oahu

View Northeast toward Kailua

The trip back down the ridge was tricky, but we were careful and took it slow.

It rained a little bit on our way back down, and the trail toward the bottom got pretty slick and muddy.

I slipped.

I do NOT recommend climbing Olomana if it has rained recently or is expected to rain soon.

Overall, this was a most EXCELLENT adventure - great exercise with a great view.

Book Reviews

2010-12-30T07:08:00.028-05:00

While I was up in Newport last summer, the President of the Naval War College, RADM Wisecup, recommended a couple of books. Since then, I've read two of the books he recommended, and both were excellent.

The first book I read was World War Z. The admiral himself admitted he felt odd recommending a fiction novel about a future zombie war. Apparently the story was good enough that the movie rights were purchased, and Brad Pitt is going to star in it.

From the title, I was expecting something of a gruesome horror flick of zombies grumbling, "braaaaaains" and reaching out to grab unsuspecting victims. However, it was actually a very thought-provoking story. It explored the concepts of how to manage the spread of a global disease and massive refugee migrations. It highlighted how the military is always trained and equipped to fight "the last war," and how that training and equipment would be useless in a global pandemic scenario like this. It also explored how the human race might adapt to meet their basic needs of food and shelter after a major world conflict had destroyed the "normal" methods of consumerism (farming, production, distribution and shopping). Overall an excellent book and a page-turner.

The second book I read was Execute Against Japan: The U.S. Decision to Conduct Unrestricted Submarine Warfare. The author, Joel Ira Holwitt is actually an active duty submarine officer who earned a PhD in History from Ohio State University.

It reads very much like an academic paper such as a PhD dissertation or a masters thesis with many quotes and endnotes. Holwitt makes some bold statements about the U.S. submarine force's campaign against the Japanese in WWII. He falls victim to some logical fallacies in his reasoning, and I don't necessarily agree with all of his conclusions. He makes statements that guess at the motives and intentions of key players in the President's cabinet, the Navy, and the State Department, and then claims that because he can't find any evidence to refute this, then his guess must be right. He also doesn't have any evidence that conclusively proves his assumptions.

For example, he presumes that the Navy never asked the State Department for their opinion on a strategy of unrestricted submarine warfare against Japan, "since the State Department's reaction would undoubtedly be negative..." (p. 129). The book is riddled with words or phrases such as perhaps, probably, undoubtedly, no one recollected, could have been because, seems highly improbable, and seems probable. Don't get me wrong. They're pretty good guesses and he's probably right, but his conclusions are based on the absence of evidence to refute his opening arguments and assumptions.

All that being said, it was a very interesting read. The thing I enjoyed most about reading this book was the description of the isolationist sentiment in America prior to December 7th, 1941, and the dialogue over what America's strategy should be in the event of war both internal and external to the Department of the Navy. I was aware of the isolationist bent of the general public at the time, but this book provided many specific examples of those sentiments from the neutrality laws, speeches, and letters.

Holwitt surprised me with some of the pre-decisional type documents he was able to find in various archives to illustrate how the leaders of the age were formulating their plans. We tend to take for granted our 20/20 hindsight of how things turned out in history and lose the perspective of how we got to the end result. That's a big reason why I enjoy historically based fiction books that bring to life the active debates, public sentiments and fears of the people leading up to major events before they knew the outcome.

Well, I'm very thankful to RADM Wisecup for the book recommendations. Both were very good books.

For anyone who might wonder why I picked World War Z over Execute Against Japan to read first, that simply boiled down to which one was available on my Kindle. I downloaded World War Z and started reading it on my Kindle while I was still in Newport. Execute Against Japan is only available in hard-copy, so I had to wait for that one to come in the mail.

Lest We Forget

2010-12-29T07:08:00.013-05:00

Just recently, a very talented MSP shipmate of mine put together this video in memory of COB Higgins and STS2 Holtz.

The families and fellow shipmates of COB Higgins and STS2 Holtz are in my thoughts and prayers throughout the year, but they weigh heavily upon my heart today.

Sailors, Rest Your Oars.

National Museum of the Marine Corps

2010-12-24T07:08:00.007-05:00

We've heard multiple friends rave about the National Museum of the Marine Corps, and it's been on my to-do list for a while. Last weekend, my friend Bob and I took the boys down to Quantico to visit the museum. We went with pretty high expectations, and we weren't disappointed.

The exterior invokes the image of the Marines raising the flag over Iwo Jima.

My youngest son under the F-4 Corsair

The museum is very well organized to take you through a chronological series of exhibits on everything from the Revolution through the War of 1812, the Mexian War, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World War I and II, the Korean War, Vietnam and the Cold War.

There was a LOT to see. The exhibits were very high-tech, interactive multi-media type displays.

Then there was some goofy fun, too.

My youngest son (6 years old) brought his stuffed-animal dog, Waggy, and we have dozens of photos of Waggy from all over the museum. My eldest son (9 years old) really liked the World War I exhibit since he's been doing a segment on World War I at school.

Amphibious landing craft used in the landings at Tarawa.

Bob and I especially enjoyed the World War II exhibit since we just finished watching The Pacific. It was great to see some pictures of the real Marines who were portrayed in the HBO series, and videos of interviews with them, too.

The first US flag flown over Mt. Suribachi, Iwo Jima.

In the Korean War section, we walked through a life-size diorama of the Chosin Reservoir with gunfire and mortars going off, tracers flying by, and they have the temperature in that room cranked down so you feel like you're freezing your butt off at the Chosin Reservoir.

The boys running down the ramp of the CH-46 into Vietnam.

You enter the Vietnam section through the fuselage of a CH-46 helicopter. The inside of the helicopter really SMELLS like a military helicopter. While in the helicopter, you listen to some radio dialogue between the pilot and the ground forces about landing in a hot LZ. Then you run down the ramp into the diorama of Vietnam, and it's HOT and HUMID and there's a battle raging around you.

Harrier and helo

I was impressed to see so many Medals of Honor on display here. Since it's illegal to reproduce or sell a Medal of Honor, you know the ones on display here in the museum are the real thing donated by the families of the brave Marines who earned them.

We arrived about 1 p.m., and they kicked us out at closing time at 5 p.m. We had to drag the boys out against their will. They were busy doing some interactive team problem-solving game when I had to drag them out because the museum was closing.

Two peas in a pod.

The National Museum of the Marine Corps is essentially a museum of American History. In every conflict our nation has ever fought, the Marines have been there and done that. This was an extraordinarily good museum and a fun time for all of us.

To top it all off, it's FREE! And when I say free, I'm not saying Smithsonian it's-free-but-you've-gotta-pay-$14-to-park "free" (like the Udvar Hazy Center). This is really no kidding FREE.

Don't forget to check out the Lego Sculpture in the Gift Shop!

Frivolous Lawsuits Vol. 5

2010-12-24T07:08:00.004-05:00

Okay, instead of "Frivolous" lawsuits, maybe the title of this post should be "Downright Sad Miscarriage of Justice." Here is yet another example of how pathetic the American legal system is, and this time it's not just costing someone a dollar amount but their livelihood.

We came up to NH for Christmas, and as we drove into town yesterday, just about every house had a "Free Ward Bird" sign on their front lawn. I had to google it after we arrived and got settled. Here's the story in a nutshell:

It’s a long story, but in the short– a woman trespassed on Ward’s property and he asked her several times to leave, but she refused. She claimed that Ward came out of his house with a gun, ran down his porch steps pointing it at her. At the time, Ward had only been home 9 days since emergency surgery for a ruptured abdominal aorta. Not only was he in no condition to do what she claims he did, he has always maintained that he never pointed or gestured towards her with the gun. Now he is doing 3 to 6 years in state prison because it was her word against his.

Amazing. What happened to "Live Free or Die" New Hampshire? If this had happened in Texas, he could have actually shot her for trespassing and would have been justified in doing it. I scratched my head and wondered what crime Ward had committed in asking a trespasser to leave his property.

This article provides a good explanation. This is the part that really pissed me off:

The key element of the criminal threatening law, for example, appears to be not the state of mind of the person making the threat but the emotional state of the target of the threat. If the person is scared enough, then the person making the threat is guilty.

Unfortunately for Ward, it also comes with a mandatory 3-year minimum prison sentence. That baffles me. I could understand some circumstances in which that law might be useful, but the mandatory sentence leaves the judge no room to account for mitigating circumstances. It seems pretty clear that the punishment didn't fit the "crime" in this case and the courts are enforcing the letter of the law without regard to its intent. Even the judge himself didn't want to send Ward to jail. It has the local community here in an uproar. Now Ward, husband and father of four and Cub Scout den leader is behind bars.

Is it just me, or is our legal system all about making each of us out to be victims of some wrong by somebody else so we can sue them (or in this case send them to prison)? This case has some similarity to my last Frivolous Lawsuits post. In that case, if you publicly say something bad or embarrassing about somebody, then they can't sue you for slander because what you said was true. However, they CAN sue you under the invasion of privacy false light tort because what you said made them LOOK BAD and caused them some sort of emotional trauma. In this case, it doesn't matter if someone is trespassing on your property and you have asked them to leave if the manner in which you ask them to leave causes them some fear or emotional trauma.

Our society has gone from a "the stupid shall be punished" philosophy to a "the stupid must be protected by the law so we don't emotionally traumatize them" and "what can I sue you for to get rich quick" modus operandi.

My thoughts and prayers are with Ward and his family tonight. I sincerely hope SOMEBODY with authority in the NH government sees what a miscarriage of justice this is and has the fortitude and integrity to pardon Ward so he can be where he belongs - at home with his family on Christmas.

Advice to Junior Officers: PCS Entitlements

2010-12-11T07:08:00.003-05:00

First, a disclaimer... As a general rule, I avoid posting rants against Navy organizations, institutions, or commands on my blog. However, in order to provide this advice to the junior officers who read my blog, I must provide some background information that will come across as a rant. Suffice to say, that's not my intent.

You probably don't have to ask more than one or two shipmates before one could tell you a personal story about a less-than-optimal experience dealing with the local Personnel Support Detachment (PSD). Throughout my career of 16+ years, I have dealt with 9 different PSD offices around the globe. On many (not all) occasions, I have walked out of PSD or hung up the phone with PSD in a state of frustration and angst. The most frustrating thing about dealing with certain PSD offices is the inconsistency of standards.

Disclaimer: I am NOT saying that ALL personnel working at ALL PSD offices are below standards of professionalism or knowledge of their field.

In the submarine force, we are trained to operate by procedure and to know the requirements of our business. If it's not a casualty that requires immediate action, then we don't operate on memory or by consensus amongst your shipmates. You break out the black-and-white written procedure and you follow it.

My observations have been that many people working in PSD offices operate on "tribal knowledge." They don't know what the requirements are or where to find them in written instructions or procedures. They rely on what other people have told them and either don't look up the rules themselves or don't keep up to date with changes to the rules over the years.

In the same way that local dialects of the same language develop in isolated geographic regions, so do local understandings and interpretations develop of how to apply the rules for what Sailors are entitled to when they PCS transfer from one duty station to the next. You may have the PSD at your detaching duty station assure you that you'll get X, Y, and Z when you get to your new duty station, but then when you arrive at your new duty station, the PSD there says, no, you aren't entitled to X, Y, or Z. Unfortunately, there's no mechanism by which the personnel at the first PSD are held accountable for giving you bad gouge and the resultant financial impact on YOU.

THE POINT:

YOU NEED TO LOOK-UP THE RULES YOURSELF.

As a submariner, I should have known better and learned much earlier in my career to look up the rules myself. The problem is, we (submarine officers / line officers in general) spend very little time dealing with PCS transfers and entitlements, so we rely on PSD to be the experts and to tell us what the rules are.

Arriving at our new homeport.

It wasn't until my XO tour that the effects of this were made painfully clear to me during a change of homeport. When a submarine (or ship) changes homeport, it is a monumental task for the ship's office and the PSD offices at both the old homeport and the new homeport. There are SO many different rules for what entitlements each Sailor gets depending on how much time he has left on board and whether his family is staying in the old duty station or moving to the new duty station. I created (and still have) a Change of Homeport reference binder that has printed copies of each of the pertinent sections of the reference documents, and it was worth it's weight in gold in making sure my Sailors received the entitlements they deserved.

A few months before our departure from our old homeport, we had a Change of Homeport Information Night at the base theater for the Sailors and their families. We invited representatives from PSD, the POV shipping office, the Household Goods (HHG) / Personal Property shipping office, Navy Legal Service Office (NLSO) for powers of attorney, the Housing Office for those checking out of base housing, and so on. When the PSD representative (a female civilian) got up on the stage, she ~~spewed rubbish~~ proclaimed one false statement after another about our entitlements. She was totally relying on tribal knowledge, and it was ALL WRONG.

She was doing an excellent job of getting my crew, and more noticeably their wives, pretty riled up. Thank goodness I had the applicable references in my Change of Homeport Binder! Before the wives in the audience could start throwing flaming barbed spears at the PSD lady's chest, I had to step in, politely tell the PSD lady that the things she said were incorrect, and read from "the good book" to assure my crew and their families what their entitlements were.

The lesson I have learned from that change of homeport, AND in hindsight from experiences I had before that, AND in experiences I have had since then, is this: Anytime someone at PSD tells me I am or am not entitled to something, I ask them for the reference. Make them show you in an official document.

That being said, here are some references you may find useful:

Joint Federal Travel Regulations (JFTR) - I tend to go here first, because in my experience, the other references below are derived from and reference back to the JFTR. For instance, if you look up PCS entitlements in article 1300-100 of the MILPERSMAN below, you will find:

"Service members who are ordered to make a permanent change of station (PCS) move are entitled to personal travel and transportation allowances per reference (a)." (Reference (a) being the JFTR)

The JFTR is mostly for PCS and TDY travel and per diem entitlements, including moving your family before or after you transfer. It also addresses things like when your BAH or COLA start or stop.
Two Examples of useful info in the JFTR:

Delay of Dependent Travel / keeping your old BAH Rate. In accordance with JFTR U10412, there are several circumstances (such as transferring to "unusually arduous sea duty") under which you are authorized to leave your family at your previous duty station or move them to another "designated place" (such as your home of record). If the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) rate at your old duty station is higher than at your new duty station, then this article covers the authorization to keep the BAH rate for where your dependents reside. (There's a form letter you send to Pers-451 to get authorization for "delay of dependent travel.")
Per Diem during temporary training in your previous or new ultimate duty station. In accordance with JFTR 5120.D., if you are executing PCS orders that have you make a stop for training in the same geographic location as your previous or ultimate duty station, then you are not allowed to receive per diem. ...But wait! That's not all! Many folks stop reading there, but the sentence doesn't end there. You aren't allowed to receive per diem IF you occupy the same permanent residence that you lived in at your previous duty station or are going to live in at your next duty station. To wit:

"No per diem allowance is payable at a TDY location ICW a PCS with TDY en route near the old or new PDS if the member commutes to the TDY from the QTRS occupied while attached to the old PDS or the permanent QTRS the member intends to occupy at the new PDS." (JFTR 5120.D. emphasis added)

Note immediately after that is a very useful and clear-as-day definition of exactly when the quarters are considered "permanent."

"QTRS (residence, suite, room, cubicle, etc.) at the old PDS are no longer permanent QTRS on/after the PCS HHG weight allowance transportation date. QTRS at the new PDS are permanent on/after the date the PCS HHG weight allowance is accepted."

Military Personnel Manual (MILPERSMAN) -

Leave and Liberty rules (1050) - I think this is the primary reference for Leave and Liberty. The JFTR doesn't touch this.
PCS Entitlement policies (1300) - Mainly refers you back to the JFTR, but offers some sample situations and how they interpret the JFTR.
POV shipping (4000)
HHG shipping (4000)

Submarine Personnel Manual (SUBPERSMAN) - COMSUBFORINST 1306.1. I can't find a link to this one on the 'net, but your ship's office should have it. This was an excellent reference during change of homeport. It provided me a one-stop-shop place to see what the entitlements were for moving families, household goods, shipping POVs, Dislocation Allowance (DLA), Temporary Lodging Expense (TLE), Cost of Living Allowance (COLA), Family Separation Allowance (FSA), and it points you to the base reference (such as the JFTR or the Enlisted Transfer Manual). I didn't even know the Submarine Personnel Manual existed until my XO tour, but it was the first place I would look for answers to the crew's questions.
Enlisted Transfer Manual (NAVPERS 15909G). This manual is also very useful in that it cross-references to other instructions and tells you what the baseline instruction is (such as the JFTR or the SUBPERSMAN).
Officer Transfer Manual (NAVPERS 15559B). I can't find this on the 'net, but your ship's office should have this on a CD. It is important to note that there are different rules for officers versus enlisted. For instance, in order for an enlisted crewmember to be entitled to a Change of Homeport certificate, his PRD must be at least 12 months after the change of homeport. For officers, the requirement is 90 days. It seems to me that a lot of people use the Enlisted Transfer Manual but aren't even aware of a separate instruction for officer transfers - as evidenced by the fact you can easily find the ETM on the internet but you can't find the OTM.

Hopefully, the PSD for your detaching command knows the reference and can show you. Write it down or make a photo copy. Then, if the PSD at your receiving command tries to tell you that you AREN'T entitled to what the detaching command PSD told you, you can show them the reference.

How about you? Do you have any similar lessons learned with regard to travel or PCS entitlements?

Baltimore

2010-12-04T19:08:00.009-05:00

Last weekend we had a wonderful Thanksgiving here in Ashburn with friends from church. Then my wife and I made a spontaneous decision to go to Baltimore on a family weekend getaway. We've been wanting to go for quite some time, but just never got around to it until now.

We drove up just after lunch on Friday. Our first stop was at Fort McHenry to see where the flag was flown that inspired the Star Spangled Banner.

I have yet to be disappointed by listening to a Park Ranger from the National Park Service give a talk. The Park Rangers here at Fort McHenry were no exception. This Ranger gave us a great introduction in the visitor's center, and another Ranger was dressed up in a uniform from the War of 1812 and was milling about the grounds of the fortress.

After the introduction by the Park Ranger, we went into the small theater to watch the introductory video. The video was a little on the cheesy side, but did provide good background on the sequence of events during the battle. Then ending was extraordinary though. As the video ended, an electric motor drew back the curtains to reveal the flag flying over the fort while a very moving rendition of The Star Spangled Banner played on the stereo system.

The entrance to the fort and a Park Ranger dressed in a uniform from the War of 1812.

My eldest son looking out over the entrance to Baltimore Harbor.

Self-Portrait with ES. That flagpole in the background is where Francis Scott Key observed, "that our flag was still there." Fort McHenry is an excellent National Historic Site with many interactive exhibits in each of the buildings inside the fort. Both of the boys did the Junior Park Ranger activity sheet and earned another Junior Park Ranger badge, too.

Next we went and checked into our hotel. We used our Marriott Reward points to stay at the Renaissance Hotel right on the waterfront in Baltimore. When we checked in, the lady at the counter gave us a free upgrade to a room with a view. Score!

When we got to the room, we found that they even provided binoculars in the room.

The front desk staff was VERY helpful with information about what to see and do nearby. We had already been planning on going to the National Aquarium Baltimore because it is open until 8 p.m. on Fridays. What we didn't know, and what the hotel receptionist informed us, was that the aquarium was only $5 after 5 p.m. to get into the aquarium on Fridays. Score! Cha-ching! Cha-ching! It was like 4:30 then, so we went and had an early dinner at a restaurant across the street first, and then headed over to the aquarium.

I've been to many aquariums across the country, and I was very impressed with the National Aquarium Baltimore. When you buy tickets, they are for a certain entry time, done in 15 minute increments.

The inside of the aquarium is organized in a manner to keep people moving through each of the exhibits, with moving walkways and escalators keeping people moving in ONE direction through the museum, not back and forth and all over the place. Having the time sequenced entry, limiting how many people are allowed to enter each 15 minutes, and having the layout to keep people moving was genius. It was very efficient and well planned.

Here is YB checking out the kelp forest. This felt like a homecoming to me. I "grew up" learning to scuba dive as a teenager in the kelp forests off of San Diego. You can see a beautiful male sheepshead in there, too.

YB with the jellyfish.

Toward the end of our visit to the aquarium, we came to this seemingly black wall. I probably wouldn't have thought anything of it, except for a smattering of various people sitting and standing around watching this wall as if they were watching a giant movie screen with nothing on it. Suddenly, there were "ooohs!" and "ahhhs!" and gasps through the crowd as these gray ghosts gracefully glided past behind the glass.

Ghosts

We ended up taking a seat to watch the dolphins swim past a few more laps before moving on. (Note the reflection of LW's pink sweater in the glass above.) This reminded me of being at sea off the coast of Southern California where the dolphins look like ghosts in the water, but there they are highlighted by a sheen of bioluminescence and leave a glowing trail behind them.

Night view of Baltimore from our hotel room.

Saturday morning, we went to tour the historic ships on the Baltimore waterfront. First we went to USS CONSTELLATION.

This boatswain's mate met us on the main deck of the CONSTELLATION, and he was AWESOME. He enlisted our help to do morning colors.

Raising the flag on USS CONSTELLATION

The Bo'sun showing the boys the ropes.

Oh say can you see...

The boatswain told us to come back after we finished our tour in order for the boys to receive their "pay" for working for him that morning on raising the U.S., Maryland, and Baltimore flags. When we returned for the boys to receive their pay, he explained how much they had earned and how much he had to deduct for their uniforms and candy they took from the ship's store, so they wouldn't actually get any pay. However, he said in honor of their service, President Lincoln was awarding them each a presidential medallion.

The boatswain presents "presidential medallions" to the boys.

ES inspects the presidential medallion he earned for doing morning colors. It looked suspiciously like a penny, but the boatswain assured him that pennies had Indian heads on them and that this was a genuine presidential medallion from President Lincoln.

We also toured the submarine USS TORSK, the last submarine to sink a Japanese ship during WWII. One of the volunteers on board told us the boat received an encrypted message in the middle of attacking a Japanese convoy. They sank two of the Japanese ships and were lining up to shoot a third when the radiomen brought the deciphered message to the captain reporting the Japanese surrender and directing U.S. forces to cease all hostilities.

While we were touring the USCGC TANEY, we were climbing up a ladder and my eldest son behind me said, "Daddy, there's a big hole in your pants." There is?

Why, yes, indeed there was a RATHER LARGE and GAPING WIDE hole in the crotch of my pants. No wonder I was so cold! My loving family proceeded to form a sort of privacy-screen walking in front of me as we proceeded down the street to the nearest department store to buy me a new pair of jeans.

Last stop for our whirlwind trip to Baltimore was the Port Discovery Children's Museum. The boys had a BLAST.

Here are two young archaeologists pulling themselves across a river in Egypt. I was actually pleasantly surprised by some of the side exhibits at Port Discovery like this Egyptian archaeology exhibit. There was an actual mission to find out the name of a pharaoh, and you had to put together pieces of pottery and take crayon rubbings of hieroglyphs and decode clues in order to come up with the answer at the end.

Later, YB asked my wife if he could get his own car when he gets older. She said, uhhhh, sure, why? He responded because then he could drive himself to Baltimore to go back to the Port Discovery Children's Museum. Sadly, by the time he's old enough to drive, I think he will have long forgotten how much fun he had there last weekend.

We had a great weekend getaway to Baltimore. There's still a LOT more to see and do around Baltimore, so we look forward to going back again someday.

Autumn Update

2010-11-26T07:08:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving. We had a terrific Thanksgiving dinner with a large group of friends from our church.

My posting has been pretty light because I haven't had much free time the past few months. Since September, I have been attending a three-month long school at the Washington Navy Yard. Most of my classmates are here as geo-bachelors away from their families, so while I haven't had much free time, I am thankful that I live here in the DC area and get to go home to my family every night and spend time with them on the weekends.

I love autumn. It's my favorite time of year. I love the trees changing colors. I love the chill in the air that warns of the approaching winter. I love the flavors of the seasonal dishes at local restaurants.

For our anniversary in October, my wife and I had an extraordinary dinner at the Parallel Wine Bistro right here in Ashburn. They mostly serve small tapas-style dishes, but they have a few normal entrees, too. I had the pork with apples and cream sauce and it was heavenly.

In November, I attended the Veteran's Day assembly at my boys' school and then went and had an awesome lunch at Clyde's with my wonderful wife. I had the potato leek soup and butternut squash ravioli, and they were to-die-for.

Full House at the Veteran's Day Assembly

We've had a couple of fun outings with the Cub Scouts this fall.

First, I went with my elder son's Webelos Cub Scout den to visit the Rust Sanctuary in Leesburg, VA. It was a beautiful park, and Ty, the naturalist who led our excursion around the park, did a superb job of teaching the boys and keeping them involved and engaged in the subject matter.

Naturalist Ty showing the boys a ginormous earth worm.

We lifted up stumps and identified the critters underneath.

We went for a hike around the property.

Spotted some beautiful (although deadly) mushrooms.

Spent some time by the pond.

If I just stay really still, then

the people won't see me here.

Next, I went with my younger son's Tiger Cub Scout den to visit the Heritage Farm Museum over at Claude Moore Park in Sterling, VA.

Our guide at the Heritage Farm was also excellent. She did great with the kids. In the picture above, she had the boys line up like they were a team of horses, and then she taught them some basic commands that farmers would use to get their horses to move or stop or turn, and she used those terms to lead us around the museum.

Explaining how a plow works.

Milking the cow.

Gathering the eggs.

I enjoyed taking the boys trick-or-treating this year. It was fun to watch them sort their candy afterwards.

I can't imagine where they got such anal-retentive organizational obsession. (sarcasm)

It's cool to watch my boys grow and develop their own personalities and interests. This year, my younger son decided he wanted to take up baseball. This surprised us to no end because nobody in our family is very athletic or into sports, but I really enjoyed going to watch YB's baseball games on Saturday mornings.

Go Grasshoppers!

My elder son continues to enjoy fencing epee with the Have Blade Will Travel fencing club. Last weekend I went to watch him fence in a scrimmage at Claude Moore Park. It had been a while since I had seen him fence, because he normally goes to fencing while I'm still at school. I could tell he had improved tremendously since the last time I watched him. His coach says he's doing a great job and will do much better when he grows a little more.

Touche!

(That's ES on the right.)

Then of course, there are the leaves, leaves, and more leaves. The past two weekends in a row we have raked leaves, and looking out my window now, you would never have guess we did ANY raking this season.

But I still love autumn. :-)

Pentagon Gouge: Navy Working Uniform (NWU)

2010-10-22T19:08:00.002-04:00

Like me, some of you have been in the National Capitol Region (NCR) for a while and not allowed to wear the new Navy Working Uniform (NWU). As I prepare to execute my next set of PCS orders, I have found it necessary to embark on the quest for my own set of NWUs.

It has NOT been a smooth or easy process.

In the interest of helping you, my shipmates out, please allow me to offer the following recommendations for making your NWU purchase easier than mine.

Step 1) Realize that the NWUs come in a completely new and different sizing system.
    Since the Navy uniform shop is INconveniently located in the bowels of the Navy Annex, I really didn't want to go out of my way to make the pilgrimage to the uniform shop only to find they didn't have what I needed. So I had this bright idea to order my NWUs online. The Navy Uniform website is actually a pretty good site.
    Unfortunately, I got to the website and discovered that you can't just order a size large blouse or type in the waist-size and inseam for my trousers. Each have TWO sizes on their label, like "L/R," "M/L," or "L/L." Huh?
    Okay, note to self: For the initial purchase of my NWUs, I should probably actually GO to the uniform shop and try them on.
    But wait! Don't leave the website yet!

Step 2) Go ahead and order the name strips, rank insignia, warfare pin, and U.S. Navy strip from the website.
    They get it done pretty quick and ship it to your home. The name strips take a few days to do, but it'll help make things go smoother when you already have them in hand. The other stuff could wait, but you never know if they'll be out of your particular rank or warfare pin when you arrive at the uniform shop.

Step 3) Look up the business hours of the uniform shop before you make the pilgrimage to the uniform shop.
    Did I mention how inconveniently located the uniform shop is in the basement of the Navy Annex?
    Here's what you DON'T want to happen. You DON'T want to leave work "early" at 1600 in order to make a run to the uniform shop "on the way" home, battle for parking near the Navy Annex, hike to up the hill to the security entrance, and descend to the depths of the building... down the stairs... past the NFCU... past the mini mart... around the corner... past the gym... alllllll they way down the hallway... and there it is.

The CLOSED sign.

    Yyyyyyyyeah, they closed at 1600.

I imagine my face was probably red and smoke billowed from my ears (flashback to those jalepeno chips at the NEX in Pearl Harbor) as I walked all the way back up the hallway... past the gym... around the corner... past the mini mart... past the NFCU... up the stairs... back through security... and back down the hill to where I parked my car again.

Step 4) Okay, wait, rewind. Backup to Step 2 above.
    Note to self: The NWU requires TWO name-tapes per uniform. One goes on the blouse. One goes on the back of the trousers. On your second trip to the uniform shop (because they were closed the first time you tried), if you go with just two name-tapes in-hand hoping to outfit yourself with two sets of NWUs, then you'll be disappointed.
    Oops.
    So much for saving yourself some effort by ordering them online before going to the uniform shop.

Step 5) Get all this done so that your new NWUs are ready for pickup BEFORE you detach from your current duty station and turn in your Pentagon badge. It just makes it easier for getting into the Navy Annex to go back to the uniform shop. That being said, I'm happy to report that it was not difficult to get a visitor badge at the security shack. It just would have been quicker and easier if I had done it before turning in my Pentagon badge.

Disclaimer: Please don't take my gripes about the location of the Navy Annex uniform shop the wrong way. I do not mean any of this to reflect negatively upon the uniform shop or staff. It's an excellent, well-stocked uniform shop, and the staff there are extraordinarily helpful.

I just wish the location of the uniform shop was a little more convenient for quicker access.

Bike Log: C&O Canal Tow Path

2010-10-03T20:44:00.001-04:00

This post is time-late. I started to write it and had troubles getting Blogger to upload photos, and I didn't get around to finish it until now.

My life has been pretty busy lately and I obviously haven't had much time for blogging. I'm in the midst of going through a series of fairly intense Navy schools. I was fortunate enough to have a week off between schools though, and I put the time to good use getting several errands run and projects done around the house.

On the Thursday of my week off (just after Labor Day), my friend Bob and I went for a 20 mile bike ride on the C&O Canal Tow Path, and it was awesome.

You may recall last year, Bob and I rode our bikes 13 miles from Point of Rocks, MD down to White's Ferry. This time, we started from the same spot under the Rt. 15 bridge at Point of Rocks, but we rode 10 miles upstream toward Harpers Ferry. Then we turned around and came back with a stop in Brunswick, MD for an awesome lunch at El Sloppy Tacos.

Starting off under the Rt. 15 bridge
at Point of Rocks, MD

On the C&O Canal Tow Path

Lock 29 and the Lock House

We passed Locks 28, 29, and 30 along the way. It was interesting to see signs at various places showing how high previous floods had risen. One flood, I think it was in 1996, brought the water level of the Potomac River up to the second floor of that lock house above.

We passed the remnants of the Catoctin Aqueduct.

This beautiful stone arch structure was originally built in 1832-1834 and was one of 11 stone aqueducts along the C&O Canal (such as the very nicely restored Monocacy River Aqueduct).
It collapsed back in 1973, but they salvaged the old stones from the Catoctin Creek and are raising funds to rebuild it to look exactly like it was with the original stones. If you want to sponsor one of the stones, then you can visit their adopt-a-stone website.

Of course, I had to stop and take pictures of flowers here and there. This was my favorite flower photo of the day. ~~I am having trouble identifying the flower in my book though. Anybody able to help name this one?~~
Update 10/21/2010: According to the Virginia Tech weed identification guide, this is a Wingstem flower (verbesina alternifolia).

We turned around when we got 10 miles from Point of Rocks. It just happened to be exactly where the Appalachian Trail joins the C&O Canal Tow Path just shy of Harpers Ferry, WV.

On our way back, we stopped at El Sloppy Taco in Brunswick, MD. On a previous trip through town, my friend Bob had noticed this little hole-in-the-wall Mexican joint and immediately thought of me. Not sure why he would think of me, but... Anyway, it had pretty good reviews on Yelp. Being the Mexican food ~~addict~~ connoisseur that I am, I must say that was a darn good tinga poblano burrito.

A glimpse of the Point of Rocks Bridge over the Potomac River on our way back.

Trip Stats
20.1 miles
Moving Time 2 hrs 35 min
Stopped Time 30 min 52 sec
Moving Average 7.8 mph

I turned off the GPS while we were eating lunch in Brunswick. Unfortunately, that broke my Garmin Connect download into two separate trips. This is my primary gripe against Garmin Connect: It won't let you edit the data to combine two data sets into one trip or to delete data off the end of a trip when I forget to stop and turn off the GPS. Oh well.

So this was the first part going up until lunch...

...and this was the second part from lunch back to Point of Rocks.

Overall, it was another awesome day out riding. As we prepare for the moving truck to come and yet another PCS move takes us away from NoVA, I will miss the awesome hiking, biking, and kayaking we've been able to enjoy here.

Advice to Junior Officers: Social Media

2010-09-10T19:08:00.013-04:00

Back when I was an Ensign (peanut gallery says, "Ooooooh, boy, here he goes..."), I had some great officers and chiefs teach me a lot about life in the Navy.

One nugget I remember was the warning about fraternization. Now, I'm not talking about male-female fraternization since women aren't yet serving on submarines. I'm talking about unduly familiar relationships between officers and enlisted Sailors.

It can be tempting as a 23 year old Ensign to become friends with the 23 year old E-4s because you're part of the same generation. You grew up listening to the same music. You watched the same movies. You played the same video games. You had the same posters on your bedroom walls in high school, worshiping the same teen idols - be it rock stars or sports stars or super models. You remember the same critical events in history (like where you were on 9-11 or when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded and how it affected you). You may be fans of the same sports teams and watched the same World Series or Super Bowl or NBA finals. You probably have a lot in common except for the fact that one decided to go to college and one decided to enlist in the Navy (which are BOTH honorable choices). Even so, you can't be friends. That would be "prejudicial to the good order and discipline" of the command.

Fast forward umpteen years later and enter the world of social media.

During my tour as XO on the Mighty MSP, social media was still pretty new. The Navy had not yet embraced social media as the important communication tool that it is, and there were no rules or guidance on whether it was okay or forbidden. It was just sort of out there. Sailors were using it. Most of my wardroom (including me) and our wives got ~~assimilated by the Borg~~ sucked into Facebook.

But nobody ever sat me down and said, "Shipmate, if you're going to be active on social media sites like Facebook, then here are some guidelines and things to consider..."

This ALNAV message (ALNAV 057-10) provides a very broad-brush-stroke, overarching guidance for the use of the social media by Navy personnel, but it is more concerned with not speaking on behalf of the Navy, not violating operational security and/or giving out classified information.

Aside: In the process of searching for information on this topic, I discovered that CHINFO has a very useful web page of social media references.

This topic of discussion came up during at a leadership school I attended last week. We asked a lot of questions like: As an officer in the Navy, is it okay to use Facebook? Is it okay to "friend" one of your Sailors? Those are tough questions with no clear right or wrong answer.

Some people will NOT use Facebook (or any other social media site) AT ALL to simply eliminate any risk to their privacy or security or implication of impropriety, and that's okay. In my case, I find Facebook is a very useful tool for staying in touch with family and friends scattered across the globe. Plus, as a leader, social media can provide some awareness into what's on your Sailors' minds. In several instances, it has brought to my attention when a friend or shipmate has been in need of advice or assistance.

While it is a useful tool, it should go without saying that you need to be cautious about how you use social media sites like Facebook. Keep the privacy settings on lock-down, and follow the good advice in the ALNAV message to minimize the risks of computer security and operational security. However, I think that's all "Social Media and Internet Safety 101" and doesn't address the questions I mentioned above. Is it okay for an officer to use social media and not jeopardize the good order and discipline of the command through fraternization or unduly familiar relationships?

For what it's worth, here's my unsolicited advice of the day.

Blunoz's Ground Rules as an O-Ganger on Facebook

Rule #1: I don't send friend requests to my subordinates. Consider it respecting their privacy. If they don't want me seeing into their personal lives and communications with their friends, then that's fine by me (even if it's because they're complaining about that a-hole XO they work for). If I did send them a friend request, then they might feel pressured or obligated to accept because of my position of seniority / authority in their chain of command.

Rule #2: I accept ALL friend requests from my subordinates. If you accept one, then you have to accept them all. To accept some and not others would give appearances of favoritism.

If one was concerned about fraternization through Facebook, I suppose one could impose a criteria such as, "I will not accept friend requests from enlisted Sailors." In my personal experience, I am Facebook friends with many of my enlisted shipmates, and I haven't had any problems with it. I generally don't post many comments on their pages except to say congratulations for promotions, weddings, births, etc.

Regardless of your personal preference or social media philosophy, it goes without saying that you have to be careful about what you post. Anything you write on any blog or Facebook post can go viral and end up on the front of the Navy Times. If you're hanging out at the same places the enlisted crew hangs out, and pictures get posted to Facebook showing you there with them, then it could create the perception of an unduly familiar relationship and/or favoritism with one or more of your crewmembers. I'm not saying don't go out on the town for fear of running into crewmembers. I'm also not saying don't take pictures with your shipmates. I'm just advising you to be aware of the possible perception and be cautious.

What do you think?

I don't claim to be an expert on this topic. I'm just sharing my personal philosophy about it. Do my ground rules make sense, or am I overlooking some other potential pitfall? Do you have other rules or guidelines for using social media? I appreciate any feedback you have to offer on this topic in general or on my ground rules above.

Update 10/29/2010: I found an excellent blog post on the topic of Navy leadership and the use of Facebook here: http://seanheritage.blogspot.com/2010/02/wasting-time-for-good-of-team.html.

DC Car Free Day

2010-08-30T07:08:00.015-04:00

Heads-up! DC Car Free Day is Wednesday, 22 September 2010.

Like last year, if you pledge on the website that you will not use your car that day, then you will be entered for some free prizes. I won a $10 gift card to our local bike store last year.

It's okay if you already use public transit or bicycle to ride to work. You can still pledge that you won't use your car that day and enter to win the free stuff.

If you check out the DC Car Free Day Facebook Page, you can find other useful information. For instance, Bike and Roll is offering FREE BIKE RENTALS that day. Check it out!

Ragged Island Hike

2010-08-29T19:08:00.012-04:00

The boys and I took the boat over to Ragged Island on Lake Winnipesaukee to search for a geocache there. We were really glad we went for two reasons.

First, we arrived there and found out it is one of the properties owned and managed by the Lakes Region Conservation Trust (LRCT). There are very nice, well-maintained boat docks at the south end of the island. There's a welcome kiosk with information about the history of the island. The best part though was the laminated nature guide you could borrow from the kiosk as you walked the island. There is a half-mile loop trail around the island with a dozen posts where you stop and read that section of the nature guide, and it explains to you what trees or plants you can see or what types of animals you are likely to encounter around the island. It was very well done.

Boat Docks at south end of Ragged Island

Welcome Kiosk

Nature Guide

The trail is well-defined hard-pack dirt covered in pine needles.

YB on the Ragged Island shoreline

This used to be the governor of NH's cottage back in the mid-1800s.

Second, the geocache on Ragged Island was AWESOME. It tied with a geocache in Hawaii for our favorite geocache. It required a good amount of teamwork between me and the boys. I never would have found it without them.

I picked up the nature guide and just followed the guide figuring we would eventually find the geocache as we followed the nature walk. As it turns out, the nature walk takes you on a clockwise circuit of the island, and the geocache takes you on a counter-clockwise circuit of the island. We finished the first clockwise loop of the island doing the nature walk and started the geocache hunt going back in the counter-clockwise direction. Then my wonderful wife called my cell to say there was a thunderstorm coming on the weather radar, so the boys and I got back in the boat and went home for the day. My eldest son and I returned a few days later in order to finish the geocache, and it basically required a complete loop of the island in the opposite direction as the nature walk.

But that's OKAY because we had a great time BOTH times walking Ragged Island.

Sorry no pics or GPS track for this hike, but I don't want to spoil the hunt for anyone else going to search for the Ragged Island geocache. Suffice to say, it was awesome and I highly recommend it. My eldest really enjoyed it, too. However, I recommend doing the nature guide walk in reverse order so you can do both the nature walk and the geocache at the same time.

Paddle Log #20: Squam Lake with LRCT

2010-08-29T07:08:00.090-04:00

In the search for kid-friendly hikes in the Lakes Region of NH, I browsed my way onto the Lakes Region Conservation Trust (LRCT) website. While there, I happened to notice they were offering a guided paddle excursion on Squam Lake to the Butterworth Preserve on Saturday, 21 August.

I like going paddling with groups on the principle of safety in numbers, especially when it is someplace I haven't been paddling before. I also like having a guide to lead us and tell us about the area and what we're looking at. The date of this LRCT guided paddle just happened to line up nicely with our family vacation.

Early morning sun = long shadows.

I dragged the boys out of bed at the crack of dawn. They willingly got dressed in return for the promise of Dunkin Donuts for breakfast on our way to Squam Lake.

It was COLD when we left the house. It's been a LONG time since I saw 50F on a thermometer!

Thankfully, the sun was out and warmed things up quickly. It warmed up to around 75F by the time we got out. Plus, the water temperature was really nice.

We met up at a small public access point along a private road in the northwest side of Squam Lake. The event organizer from LRCT laid out maps of the area and explained what properties are owned by the Trust and where we would be paddling.

This was 9 year old ES's third time using his Perception Acadia Scout kayak, and he did really well.

Right where we put in the water were some beautiful white water lily flowers.

The waterproof doodle pad was a big hit with both boys today. Here my youngest son YB (6 years old) drew lily pads and flowers.

YB liked poking the lily pads as we smoothly glided through the water.

The Butterworth Preserve is accessible only by boat because it is surrounded by private property on the landward side. However, there is a LRCT welcome kiosk with information about the preserve, and there is a well-marked walking trail to follow a loop around the preserve.

Ribbit!
Frog on the shore of the Butterworth Preserve

From the Butterworth Preserve, we paddled across Rattlesnake Cove and clockwise (south/southwest) around the Five Fingers peninsula at the base of East Rattlesnake Mountain. We ended up stopping at a beach in the Five Fingers to stretch our legs and have a snack.

Pit Stop

Stretching our legs on a beach in the Five Fingers peninsula.

Croak!

Toad on the shore in the Five Fingers area.

The boys took turns alternating between using the camera and using the waterproof doodle pad. From the time that my eldest had the camera, I have lots of pictures of my back and the tow line between our two kayaks, plus some pretty nice self-portraits.

My Eldest Son's perspective

Like Father Like Son

Meanwhile, back in our boat, my youngest drew this picture of our adventure. It's a kayaker with both ends of his paddle int he water. Then he drew the sun and clouds in the sky. Then he drew the trees on either side and birds sitting on the branches of the trees.

During the times that my youngest had the camera, I ended up with dozens of photos of the underside of the boat and the camera's floating strap dangling in the water.

He also tried his own variation of the self-portrait. He kept trying to hold the camera underwater and take a picture of himself up in the boat.

We saw one family of mergansers and a handful of pretty white birds diving into the water. I think the diving birds might have been terns, but I couldn't tell from a distance.

Toward the end of our trip, we passed a sign that gave me some hope we might see a loon.

Sure enough, this majestic loon came paddling right by two of the kayaks in our group and kept diving below the surface. He didn't stay on the surface for very long, so I kept my camera pointed toward where I thought he might pop up in hopes of capturing a good picture. He kept popping up in drastically different locations from what I expected though.

Here's the loon in between dives. I was surprised how big he was. I always thought they were probably about the same size as a duck. You don't get the sense of it from this picture, but he seemed about twice as big as a mallard duck - more like the size of a goose or a swan.

Many thanks and kudos to Kristen from the Lakes Region Conservation Trust for organizing and leading us on this wonderful day on the water! I am so glad the boys agreed to go with me on this trip. After we got out of the water and were loading up the car, the boys made my day when, without prompting, they both told me that the had fun.

Stats for the paddle log: (Note: The stats on Garmin Connect are inaccurate because I forgot to click "stop" on my Forerunner. The Garmin Connect data includes the first stretch of road we drove in the car until my Forerunner beeped at me to tell me we had finished another mile. Doh! Quick! Turn it off!)

Date: 21 August 2010
Time In: 8:39 a.m.
Time Out: 12:17 p.m.
Elapsed: 3 hours 38 minutes
Moving Time (GPS): 3 hrs 5 minutes
Stopped Time (GPS): 33 minutes
Mileage: 5.1 miles by GPS
Sea State: 0
Winds: Negligible
Air Temp: 50F warming up to 75F
Water Temp: 75.8F digital
Current: None.
Gauge Height: Lake level is about a foot or two below normal.
Avg Speed (GPS): 1.7 mph
Max Speed by (GPS): 4.1 mph
Rapids? None.
Hazards? None.
Kit: Ocean Kayak Malibu Two XL. Flop hat, NRS paddling gloves, short sleeve shirt, swim trunks, Keen sandals. Because it was initially so cold in the morning, I brought my Kokotat jacket & NRS pants, and I brought the boys' rain pants and windbreakers, but we didn't end up needing them.
Configuration: 6 year old YB rode in the front seat and I rode in the middle seat of our Ocean Kayak Malibu Two XL. 9 year old ES rode in his own Perception Acadia Scout.
Route: Put-in from a public access point along a private road in the northwest end of Squam Lake. [Note: If you are reading this in Google Reader, then you will not see the Garmin Connect map here for some reason. You actually have to come to my blog to see the map of where we went from the GPS.]

Other comments (such as wildlife spotted): Mergansers, loon, frog, toad, diving birds (terns?).

Similar to when we finished our West Rattlesnake Mountain hike, we got in the car and I did a search in our car navigation system for the nearest restaurant. Again, Walter's Basin in Holderness was still the closest. However, Holderness wasn't exactly on the way back to home, so we started driving back toward Moultonborough and searching for something else.

We ended up stopping at the Corner House Inn in Sandwich, NH. It seemed kinda fancy for us in swim trunks and t-shirts, but they had a pub upstairs and said we were welcome to have lunch there. Lunch was AWESOME. I just like saying, "I had an awesome sandwich in Sandwich."

West Rattlesnake Mountain Hike

2010-08-28T19:08:00.204-04:00

While we're up at Lake Winnipesaukee on family vacation, the weather will periodically prevent us from going out on the lake. For instance, when it's too windy and there are white caps on the lake, it's not worth going out in the boat, so we look for other places to go and things to do. There are a LOT of great hikes to do around the lake region, at least - from what I hear. I've been wanting to get out and do some of the local kid-friendly hikes.

The first opportunity presented itself last Friday. The boys and I headed over to the western side of Squam Lake to hike West Rattlesnake Mountain. It's more like a large hill than a mountain per se, and it's a very kid-friendly hike.

Parking Lot

There are two small parking lots right on the road at the bottom of the trail that can accommodate about a dozen or so cars. When we arrived at 10:30 a.m. on a Friday, there were only about three empty parking spots, and there was a steady flow of people both arriving and departing the parking lot. Although we saw many people along the trail and at the summit, it was by no means crowded.

The trail head is right at the end of the parking lot, and there is a welcome kiosk with a trail map and information about the hike. The kiosk also served as a sort of lost-and-found. There was a hat and a camelbak bottle that I assume someone found along the trail and left at the kiosk for the owner to retrieve.

The trail is well-defined with a lot of man-made wood steps and gravel. It is also well-marked with yellow trail blazes like in the photo above.

There were some stretches of hard-pack dirt or natural stones and tree roots to step over.

We arrived at what we thought was "the top" and spent some time there taking pictures.

ES admiring Squam Lake from West Rattlesnake Mountain

The boys took turns taking pictures of each other. I thought this series of pictures that my eldest son took of my youngest son were pretty funny:

However, THIS was my favorite picture of the day:

Self portrait with the boys overlooking Squam Lake.

After we had taken a bunch of pictures, we decided to continue on and look for two geocaches on top of West Rattlesnake. As it turns out, our first view point was NOT, in fact, the top. When we got to the summit, I said, "wow."

Panorama view from the top

Here from this view point near the summit, there is an earthcache, then just over the top of the summit is an actual physical geocache.

Found It!

Heading back down the hill again, the boys got a little excited and went a little faster than they should. We ended up with two skinned / bloody knees as a result. So be careful and watch your step on your way back down the hill.

Hike Stats: When I'm searching for places to hike with my kids, I appreciate having some basic facts and figures about the hike for me to judge if it's doable with my kids. With that in mind, I hope other parents considering this hike find the following information useful.

Date: 20 August 2010
Time of Departure: 10:30 a.m.
Time of Return: 12:39 p.m.
Elapsed: 2 hours 9 minutes
Moving Time (GPS): 1 hr 5 minutes
Stopped Time (GPS): 1 hr 4 minutes
Mileage (GPS): 2.3 miles (Note this includes a small extra hike over the hill to get a geocache and back. If you don't go for the geocache, then it'll be shorter.)
Avg Speed (GPS): 2.1 mph
Elevation Gain: 443 feet
Max Elevation: 1245 feet
Weather: Sunny but breezy.
Winds: It was fairly calm walking up in the woods, but out on the view point it was pretty breezy. According to NH Weather, it was 5-10 mph NNW.
Air Temp: 64F climbing to 67F (from NH Weather)
Trail: Well-defined trail. Hard pack dirt or gravel. Man-made wood steps or natural stones.
Hazards? Some steep drop-offs - keep on eye on your kids.
Kit: Regular sneakers. We brought our walking sticks but didn't really need them. We all wore shorts. The boys started out wearing sweatshirts, but had taken them off by the time we were done. I took a sweatshirt wrapped around my waist, but never needed it.
Route: There is a pamphlet with a trail map available in pdf format here. On the Garmin Connect map below, you can click on "terrain" to see the 3D relief / elevation. Also, if you click on the "Hike West Rattlesnake Mountain" banner and go to the Garmin Connect site you can see the actual altitude profile of our hike.
[Note: If you are reading this in Google Reader, then you will not see the Garmin Connect map here for some reason. You actually have to come to my blog to see the map of where we went from the GPS.]

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After we got back in the car, I did a search in our car navigation system for the nearest restaurants to get lunch. The closest was Walter's Basin in Holderness, NH. I had recently heard that Walter's Basin was good, so we went to give it a try. It was a very nice place right on Squam Lake, and we had an excellent lunch there.

Lunch at Walter's Basin

Paddle Log #19: Newfound Lake and Cockermouth River

2010-08-25T07:08:00.005-04:00

On the Wednesday of my week of vacation in NH, we went over to visit my wife's aunt and uncle who live at the north end of Newfound Lake. Like last year, I took my kayak with me. The boys opted not to go with me. They were more interested in riding in the boat with Uncle D and riding on "The Rocket" (a sort of hot-dog shaped inflatable tube you ride on while being pulled by a boat).

Last year, I paddled clockwise around the northern end of Newfound Lake, and it was an enjoyable paddle. This time, I did a little more research and planning where I wanted to go before we went over. This time I paddled counterclockwise / south from Aunt L & Uncle D's house down past the Audubon Society's Paradise Point nature preserve past the Hebron Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary and up into the Cockermouth River.

It.

Was.

Awesome.

Possibly the best afternoon I've spent kayaking. Peaceful. Beautiful. Calm. Lots of birds and flowers to admire. Not a single mosquito. I will share a few pictures with you here, but the pictures don't do justice to how relaxing and uplifting this afternoon paddle was.

Getting underway from AL & UD's house.

Awesome water temp.

Heading south along Paradise Point.

If you look closely in the distance, you can see my family out on the boat with Uncle D. I kept hoping they would drive over closer to me so I could get a better picture, but they were too busy and didn't notice me waving at them.

Paddling into the Hebron Marsh area and the entrance to the Cockermouth River.

Yellow Pond Lily

Cockermouth River

I spotted one majestic Great Blue Heron.

I saw several painted turtles.

Flowers along the river bank.

I took a lot of pictures of painted turtles and flowers and more scenes like those above with glassy calm waters and perfect reflections of the trees and flowers above and below the waterline.

Stats for the paddle log:

Date: 19 August 2010
Time In: 3:30 p.m.
Time Out: 5:30 p.m.
Elapsed: 2 hours
Moving Time (GPS): 1 hrs 32 minutes
Stopped Time (GPS): 28 minutes
Mileage: 4.2 miles by GPS
Sea State: 0
Winds: 3-8 mph NNW (from Intelicast) - very light
Air Temp: 78F (from Intelicast)
Water Temp: 76F digital
Current: None.
Gauge Height: Lake level is about a foot or two below normal. In the Cockermouth River, the water was typically only 1 or 2 feet deep.
Avg Speed (GPS): 2.7 mph
Max Speed by (GPS): 4.8 mph
Rapids? None.
Hazards? Some strainers, but no current to make them a hazard.
Kit: Ocean Kayak Malibu Two XL. Flop hat, NRS paddling gloves, short sleeve shirt, swim trunks, Keen sandals.
Configuration: Both boys went out on the ski boat with Uncle D, so I paddled solo sitting in the middle seat.
Route: Put-in from Aunt L & Uncle D's house at northern end of Newfound Lake and paddled south and then west around Paradise Point and into the Cockermouth River. Paddled up the river until I ran aground on a sand-bar, then turned around and paddled back out again.

Other comments (such as wildlife spotted): Painted turtles, Great Blue Heron, evidence of beavers, other birds that wouldn't stay still long enough for me to photograph or identify them.

Pause

2010-08-24T19:08:00.003-04:00

Bear with me folks. It'll take a bit to catch up on blogging from last week on vacation in New Hampshire. I'm now at a school down in Newport, RI, and my computer was temporarly taken out of commission by a trojan horse.

It was a Rogue Security Suite infection.

Basically, this thing that looked remarkably similar to an official Microsoft Windows Security Alert popped up on my screen every 5 seconds claiming to have found some sort of infection on my computer and asking if I wanted to clean it now.

Now, I immediately recognized that it was probably just some fake pop-ups designed to get you to click on it. However, since there was no "X" in the corner to close the window, I made the mistake of clicking "no" (as in I don't want to clean the infection) and it immediately started opening up multiple Microsoft Explorer windows trying to access several nefarious websites with words like "v i a gr a" and "p 0 r n" in the title. I immediately disconnected my computer from the internet until I could figure out how to eradicate this fake security alert thing. I tried clicking "yes" and it said I only had the "trial" version of their software and I would need to upgrade to the full version of the software to activate the cleaning function. I didn't buy that either.

I can't get the video from the Microsoft website to embed here for some reason, but if you go to the Microsoft website and click on the video, it explains the basics of it and what to do about it. Note they tell you DON'T CLICK ON ANYTHING in the pop-up window - JUST use ALT-F4 to close the window.

It took my McAfee security suite 9 hours to do a full scan on my computer and it found NOTHING. Even so, this fake security alert kept popping up every 5 seconds and it would not let me do anything to eradicate it. Each time I tried to go to the Control Panel or take any action that would undo the installation of the fake security alert system, it popped up a window telling me it couldn't execute the program because the file was infected.

Anyway, to make a long story short, thank goodness for the collective intelligence of friends on Facebook. I posted about the problem I was experiencing, and the next day a friend recommended downloading a free program called malwarebytes.

It worked!

Not only did it work, it worked quickly and easily.

Whereas McAfee spent 9 hours searching and found nothing, Malwarebytes spent 9 minutes doing a "quick search" and found 4 files infected with the "Rogue Security Suite" malware. Then it took about 9 seconds to delete the offending files, and now I'm back in business.

Now I have competing time demands between reading for school and catching up on my blogging, but I will get to it.

Suffice to say we had an AWESOME time on vacation in NH last week.

Paddle Log #18: Lake Winnipesaukee around Long Island

2010-08-16T19:08:00.000-04:00

Monday morning was dark with heavy cloud cover and a light drizzle outside. Those of you who know me well know that I have an aversion to sunlight, so this was PERFECT weather for a long paddle around the island.

It was an AWESOME morning on the water.

I used my Kokotat paddling jacket, NRS pants, and my scuba dive booties. With air temp in the high 60s and water temp in the low 70s, I didn't need a lot of warmth. These jacket and pants are just a shell to keep the water off - protection against wind and rain. I just wore a pair of swim trunks and a t-shirt underneath.

My eldest son graciously allowed me to use his waterproof North Face flop hat, and it worked great.

The winds were 8 mph out of the south-southwest when I got underway and turned south. The wind created a little bit of a swell, and it was fun watching my bow crash through the swells.

I loved how each of the hills in the distance was a different shade of silhouette, and I loved the wispy rain falling from the clouds in the distance. I had some light sprinkle on my head during the trip, but no steady rain.

There were three distinct phases of this trip difficulty and speed-wise. During this first southbound leg of the trip, my average speed was about 2.8 mph paddling into the wind. After I rounded the southern tip of the island and started paddling northeast, I was surfing on the swells coming from behind me and made it to a max speed of 4.5 mph. When I rounded the easternmost point of the island and started paddling NW, I was in the lee of the island and it was glassy calm.

Mergus merganser americanus

Over on the leeward side of the island, I happened upon two families of common mergansers. I couldn't get close enough to get any really good pictures of them though. I think they're beautiful birds, and I've never seen them anywhere but in New Hampshire. I don't know why all the local tourist shops sell wood decorative decoys of mallard ducks and loons but no mergansers.

Also on the leeward side of the island, I spotted a beautiful blue jay flying along the shore. My shutter speed wasn't fast enough to get a crisp picture of him, but I was surprised I was fast enough to get this blur of him flying past.

Here's where I could use some help from any bird experts in the audience. This bird was teasing me. He kept twittering away at me from a tree and each time I got close to him, he flew on ahead a hundred yards or so. I never got a real clear look at him. I thought he had a black head and wings with white spots at the end of his wings, a gray body and white under-body. I was surprised in looking at this photo close up to see a splotch of brown in there, too. I never noticed the brown with my naked eye. Any ideas what type of bird this was?

Even though the pictures didn't turn out so great, I really enjoyed the paddle around the island and admiring the birds along the way.

Now, I use my handy digital camera on a philosophy of "electrons are free." I take LOTS of pictures and hope that a few will come out nice. As I returned to base, who should be waiting for me at my landing spot but another family of mergansers. I said to myself, "Self, you're FINALLY going to get close enough to try an get a good picture of a merganser." Right after I took this picture, my camera informed me, "MEMORY CARD FULL."

Ahhhhhhhhh!

I tried to quickly flip back through the older pictures and delete some to make some room for new pictures, but they swam RIGHT by me and I missed it.

This is my exasperated self-portrait back on shore looking back out to where the mergansers swam off.

Trip Stats from the 60CSx

Stats for the paddle log:

Date: 16 August 2010
Time In: 9:12 a.m.
Time Out: 11:30 a.m.
Elapsed: 2 hr 18 min
Moving Time (GPS): 2 hrs 4 minutes
Stopped Time (GPS): 14 minutes
Mileage: 6.55 miles by GPS
Sea State: 1
Winds: 5-8 mph SSW (from Intelicast)
Air Temp: 66F climbing to 70F (from Intelicast)
Water Temp: 73.8F digital / 72.3F IR
Current: None.
Gauge Height: ~503 feet (above sea level, not depth of water). The lake level is about a foot or so below "full" right now (normal "full" level is just above 504 feet).
Avg Speed (GPS): 3.2 mph
Max Speed by (GPS): 4.3 mph
Rapids? None.
Hazards? None.
Kit: Ocean Kayak Malibu Two XL. My son's North Face flop hat, Kokotat paddling jacket, NRS pants, NRS paddling gloves, short sleeve shirt, swim trunks, dive booties.
Configuration: Both boys stayed home, so I paddled solo sitting in the middle seat.
Route: Put-in at Jonathon's Landing and paddled counter-clockwise around Long Island.
Other comments (such as wildlife spotted): Mergansers, Blue Jay, Sea Gulls.

Paddle Log #17: Lake Winnipesaukee around Sandy Island

2010-08-14T19:08:00.004-04:00

In order to get some exercise each morning here on vacation, I've been alternating jogging and kayaking. My goal has been to keep my heart rate elevated for an hour each morning. Friday morning I jogged 5 miles around the neighborhood here by the lake shore. Saturday morning I went kayaking down around Sandy Island and back. Sunday morning I jogged 4.8 miles (up and down some hills inland instead of near the lake shore). Monday I kayaked 6.7 miles around Long Island (that'll be paddle log #18).

Sandy Island shoreline

This paddle log entry is just for Saturday's trip down around Sandy Island and back. I was mainly focused on keeping a steady pace and keeping my heart rate up, but I do love the scenery on the lake.

Stats for the paddle log:

Date: 14 August 2010
Time In: 9:30 a.m.
Time Out: 10:52 a.m.
Elapsed: 1 hour 22 min
Moving Time (GPS): 1 hr 18 minutes
Stopped Time (GPS): 4 minutes
Mileage: 4.32 miles by GPS
Sea State: 0
Winds: 0-5 knots - just an occasional light breeze
Air Temp: 72 going up to 75 degrees.
Water Temp: 75.7F digital / 73.5F IR
Current: None
Gauge Height: ~503 feet (above sea level, not depth of water).

Level in the lake is a little low this summer.

Avg Speed (GPS): 3.3 mph
Max Speed by (GPS): 4.4 mph
Rapids? None.
Hazards? Occasional high speed motor boats and jet skis.
Kit: Ocean Kayak Malibu Two XL. Flop hat, sunglasses, NRS paddling gloves. Long sleeve shirt, swim trunks, Keen sandals.
Configuration: Just me in the center seat of the kayak. Both boys stayed home.
Route: Put-in at Jonathon's Landing on Long Island, paddled south around Sandy Island and back to Jonathon's Landing again.
Other comments (such as wildlife spotted): None.

Valley Forge and Washington's Crossing - Vacation Part 1

2010-08-13T07:08:00.026-04:00

On Wednesday morning, we loaded up the car to head out on a family vacation.

The boys were very excited.

So was Smokey the Fish. (Can't you tell?)

This is a practice run for our PCS move drive across country later. The primary reason for driving across country being so we can bring the fish with us of course.

I don't think we brought enough stuffed animals.

First, we drove up to Valley Forge, PA to tour the National Historic Park. It was awesome and totally worth the trip.

We arrived about 3 p.m. hoping to get the kids to join the Continental Army. Unfortunately, both the walking tours and the kids join the Continental Army activities were canceled due to the heat.

Instead, we watched the 18 minute introductory video in the theater, and then we went on the 90-minute Trolley Tour, and it was totally worth it.

Our tour guide, Brianna, was a local college student, and she was really enthusiastic and excited to talk about the American Revolution.

We stopped to see the replicas of the winter quarters the Continental Army built along the outer line of defense.

My youngest thought it was pretty cool to see life-size Lincoln Logs.

The tour guide said this was just like sleeping on a submarine. I think the racks on a submarine are more spacious and comfortable.

Park Rangers Ron and Scott gave us an awesome lesson on life in the Continental Army. Ron said their uniforms looked white because they were linen, and the linen wouldn't hold dye. The wool coats the Continental Army would hold dye though, so those were blue. They also explained the differences between the French and the American muskets and the things the soldiers had to do to keep the muskets in working order.

Next, they demonstrated how the Continental Army's muskets worked.

BANG!

Then we went to see General Washington's Headquarters. That's General Washington's flag in the grass in front of the HQ.

This is where LtCol Alexander Hamilton managed the day-to-day administration of the Continental Army, posting letters from Washington to congress about how inadequately supplied the army was.

That's the parade ground where Von Steuben drilled the 15,000-ish soldiers into a professional army. Our tour guide pointed out a statue of Von Steuben and mentioned the fact it has been relocated to a less prominent storage location twice in history. She asked if anyone knew why, and my Eldest chimed in that it was because he was German and they moved his statue during WWI and WWII. Brianna said my son should come be a tour guide there.

You won't find any sort of Valley Forge National Cemetary since no battle took place there and nobody was killed in combat. Those who got sick in camp were carted off to hospitals about thirty miles away from the camp so as not to spread the sickness in the camp. Likewise, if someone did die in the camp, they took the body elsewhere. Our tour guide told us that there are mass unmarked graves near those hospitals.

This monument is for the "unknown soldiers" who died during the winter at Valley Forge and ended up in those unmarked mass graves in other parts of the countryside.

This memorial was built in 1917 to remind America of the hardships endured by the Continental Army at Valley Forge while America endured the hardships of WWI.

At the visitor center, you can pick up a Junior Park Ranger activity booklet. For younger kids, they have to finish 3 activities in the book, and older kids have to finish 4 activities in the book. Both boys finished their activities and earned their Junior Park Ranger badges here like they did back at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens.

What I've provided above is a very brief glimpse of the things we saw at Valley Forge. I learned a lot in our visit there and I'm very glad we went. I highly recommend a visit and taking the trolley tour.

Continuing to test my theory that all breweries have good food, we went to the Rock Bottom Brewery in the King of Prussia Mall. One of the park rangers recommended it to us as a favorite of the park rangers, and a quick check of Yelp found a comment, "I should pay rent here." That's a sure sign of a place people go back to for a reason. We weren't disappointed. The food, beer, and service at Rock Bottom were extraordinarily good.

We stayed the night near Valley Forge before continuing our trek northbound. Thursday we made a brief stop at the spot where Washington crossed the Delaware River.

Pretty Exciting, I know. Try to contain your enthusiasm.

That's my family waiting for me back in the car.

Unfortunately, although the website claimed they just celebrated the reopening of the visitor's center, it was closed when we got there. I understand there is another historic park and visitor center over on the New Jersey side of the river, but the bridge was closed for repairs and it wouldn't have been very a very quick or easy trip to get over to that side to check it out. Maybe next time.

We hit I-495 on the outskirts of Boston at just the WRONG time. We spent a LONG time sitting here. I took us 1 hour 45 minutes to travel 29 miles, and most of that was at a stand still here due to an accident blocking 2 of 3 lanes of traffic. Ugh.

We have arrived safe and sound at our family place on Lake Winnipesaukee, thus opening a new chapter to our family's already long history here on the lake. I look forward to updating my favorites list, navigating the buoy system, and getting out for a paddle around the lake.

Pentagon Gouge: PCS Check-Out

2010-08-12T19:08:00.002-04:00

Tuesday was my last official day of walking the halls of the Pentagon as I rushed by many offices to finish my PCS check-out sheets. Just like the check-in process, I had three separate check-OUT sheets: one for the OPNAV Staff Support office, one for the N-code Secretariat, and one for my specific office. I was able to knock out almost all of the administrative stuff in a day speed-walking around the Pentagon and Crystal City.

Here are a few pointers for anyone else in the audience following in my footsteps and PCSing out of the National Capital Region and back to sea duty again (nudge nudge wink wink - you know who you are):

1. Don't wait for PSD to send you a transfer package. It required an active ping from me to get them to send me my transfer package a week before I detached. The OPNAV Support office will tell you who your transfer clerk is over at PSD Anacostia. If you call your transfer clerk, he/she will email you your transfer package so you don't have to drive over to Anacostia to pick it up.

2. The transfer clerk will tell you that you have to submit the ENTIRE completed package or it won't be approved / endorsed by PSD. Pages that aren't applicable need to have an N/A written on them and the sheet returned. This would not be a big deal if you received the transfer package more than 5 business days before your detaching date. As it was, the first day I had the transfer package in my hands, I had everything completed and ready to turn in except for one thing...

3. The "longest pole in the tent" for completing my transfer package was the medical and dental Sea Duty Screening. In hindsight, I could have gotten ahead of this even before I received my transfer package. I recommend starting this part of your PCS early.

I went to NNMC Bethesda to get my Sea Duty Screening done. I don't have any data to suggest the Army DiLorenzo Clinic at the Pentagon wouldn't be able to properly complete a Navy Sea Duty Screening. However, the Medical Readiness office at NNMC Bethesda is in the business of doing Sea Duty and Overseas Duty screenings. It's their raison d'etre. As I've mentioned before, I have been pleased each time I have gone there to get my Physical Health Assessment (PHA), and I continue to be impressed with how smoothly they completed my Sea Duty Screening.

Even with the friendly and professional staff in the Medical Readiness office, there were a few things that took some time that I wish I had done sooner.

- PPD. I learned something new. PPD tests are only required once every 3 years... UNLESS you are transferring to Sea Duty. If you are transferring to Sea Duty, then you must have one within the last year.

Doh.

Poke me in the arm and come back 48 hours later to have the corpsman verify I didn't react.

- HIV. You have to have an HIV test within the last year prior to transfer. It takes them 2 weeks to analyze the results.

- Dental. As you know, the Navy shifted to this strategy where you have your annual dental check-up and your PHA done in your birth month, which for me is in September. Low and behold, here it is August and I'm trying to get my Sea Duty screening done, so it's been 11 months since my last dental exam. They wanted to do my annual exam now.

The Dental Readiness clinic personnel at NNMC Bethesda were also very friendly and professional and eager to help get me out the door to serve my country on the pointy-end of the spear. However, they did the annual "check-up" and found something odd on one of my teeth. They were VERY cautious about signing off on me going to Sea Duty and would NOT put pen-to-paper until they were absolutely sure everything was good-to-go. This meant extra X-rays of the roots of one of my teeth and special tests of the tooth with electric probes, hot water, and cold ice stuff, and a consult with an endodontist.

In the end, everything worked out fine, but I had to spend a Friday afternoon and a Monday afternoon up at NNMC Bethesda to get it all done, and that was with the very helpful, supportive NNMC staff who do Sea Duty Screenings for a living and are intimately familiar with the rules and PUSHING to get it all done so I could get out the door on time. I'm not sure I would wager money that a non-Navy clinic would have gotten that done correctly or in-time.

So to sum it up:

1. Kudos and many thanks to the superb staff at NNMC Bethesda's Medical Readiness and Dental Readiness clinics.

2. If you're expecting to detach in the near future, get thee to the Medical and Dental Readiness clinics, get your PPD and HIV and annual dental exam done NOW so that your Sea Duty screening will be a breeze.

Pentagon Gouge: Photo Studio

2010-08-09T07:08:00.002-04:00

First, quick advice for other navy officers in the audience: Do you have a service record photo in your current paygrade? Just in case that isn't clear: If you're a LCDR, then you should have an official photo in your service record of you wearing gold oak leaves on your collar. If not, get it done now so it isn't a crisis before your next promotion or screening board.

For anyone in the DC area who needs a service record photo or portrait, the OPNAV staff has a photo studio down in the RSAC on the first floor of the Pentagon. I had no problem making an appointment. They had plenty of open slots on their calendar and were happy to accommodate whenever I wanted to come in. I went and had a portrait taken and was very pleased with their professionalism.

As recommended on the PERS-42 website, they took photos of me in summer whites with my cover on and off and in my service dress blues with my cover on and off. They emailed me the photos a few days after they were taken.

Here's the flier the photo studio emailed out to all the OPNAV staff with the hours and contact information for the photo studio:

(click on image to enlarge)

The New Horse

2010-08-08T07:08:00.002-04:00

Car salesmen really fascinate me.

One of the most useful things I learned in my social psychology class in college was the techniques that car salesmen use to convince you to buy a car... And not just buy a car, but the car they want you to buy. And not just the car they want you to buy, but for the price they want to sell it. Well, not really the price they want to sell it, but more than you want to pay for it anyway.

Just off the top of my head, here are a few of the methods they tend to use:

1. Cognitive Dissonance. That's not the name of the technique, but the psychological phenomenon that results from conflicting feelings in your head. The salesmen will do everything they can to make you imagine yourself in the car and talk about it being YOUR car. That way, any feelings of hesitation you have about buying the car will cause a feeling of discomfort and anxiety because it conflicts with the image of it being "your" car. They also try to get you to make little commitments here and there ("buy-in") that you would feel uncomfortable about reneging on.
    For example, as soon as you arrive at the dealership, the salesman will say things like, "Let's take a look at YOUR car." He's helping you to form that mental image that this is already YOUR car. Then when the price is higher than you wanted or it isn't exactly the model or the color you wanted, then you'll be willing to give a little in order to avoid those feelings of discomfort.
    For another example, they will try to get you to shake hands or initial or sign something just as a "good faith" measure that you are there to "seriously" discuss purchasing YOUR car from them.

2. Low-Balling. They lure you in or get you to agree to a price. Then they go to work on the paperwork and come back and apologize. They forgot that this car has option X or they were looking at the wrong price list or whatever other reason they can think of that will raise the cost of the car $500.
This goes hand-in-hand with cognitive dissonance. While he was off "checking" on the price, you were left by yourself to imagine how nice it will be driving on YOUR next family vacation to Lake Winnipesaukee in YOUR new car. So when he tells you it's going to cost a little more than you initially agreed upon, you are willing to pay the extra rather than disrupt those mental images of your family bliss on the road to the Lake.

3. Anchor-and-Adjust. This add-on package NORMALLY costs $2,000, but we have a sale today and it will ONLY cost you $1,500. They anchored $2,000 in your mind as the "value" of the product, and you think you're getting a great deal at $1,500, or 25% off. In reality, it probably only cost them $500, so they're still making $1,000 profit on it.
   Actually, the sticker price on the car itself is a perfect example of anchoring. Nobody pays the sticker price on a car. Even so, that sticker price anchors in your mind a reference point of the "value" of the car from which you will try to negotiate down in price.

4. Bait-and-Switch. You don't want / need THAT one. The salesmen aren't interested in selling you the car that you want... unless they happen to have it on their lot. They want to sell you the car they already have on their lot.
For example, many years ago we were shopping for a car and I told the salesman that I wanted the factory-installed tow-package, not the after-market add-on.
    Aside: The factory-installed tow-package had an increased cooling capacity in the engine and could tow a larger capacity than the after-market add on that did nothing to the cooling capacity of the engine.
    They didn't happen to have any with the factory-installed tow-package, so first the salesman and then the manager proceeded to question me about, "why do you want the factory-installed tow package? Why do you want to wait all that time for a special order to come in? We can have you out of here TODAY with that beautiful car sitting right here on our lot!"
They'll make similar attempts to convince you that you really didn't want THAT color because it'll be too hot in the summer or it'll be noticeable when it gets the slightest bit dirty. You REALLY want to get THIS color... and they just happen to have one in THAT color in stock.

5. Upselling. This is your typical extended service warranty or special paint or fabric treatment to extend the life of your car or make it more resistant to wear and tear. This one frequently goes hand-in-hand with the anchor-and-adjust. For example, they try selling you the extended warranty for $2,000. When you say no, they say, "well, I'm not supposed to do this, but just for you, I can get it for you for $1,500." They've established in your head that the value of the extended warranty is $2,000, and it's an ambiguous thing that you can't really put a definite price on, because it's all dependent on the probability of your car breaking and needing repairs.

    Aside: DON'T BUY EXTENDED WARRANTIES. Go to Consumer Reports and search for "extended warranties" and you will find many articles on why extended warranties are a waste of money.

In our most recent car-buying adventure, we experienced each one of the techniques above. We also went to three different dealerships before we made the purchase.

The last time we shopped for a car for my wife, we were torn between the Honda Pilot and the Acura MDX. Back then, the price wasn't that different and the MDX had seat memory. When the two drivers in your family have a height difference like my wife and I do, seat-memory is a very nice feature to have.

This time around, things have changed. Now there's a pretty substantial price difference between the Pilot and the MDX, and the new Pilots have all the features we wanted like the seat-memory.

This was our first time using the USAA Car Buying Service, and overall I am very pleased with the service. However, be advised - USAA's assurance of a haggle-free buying experience is only true if you aren't trading in another car. If you have a trade-in, be ready to haggle.

Dealership #1: Leesburg Honda. Overall, these guys are pretty good. Both the salesman and the manager I spoke with were very nice and very straight-shooters. No high-pressure sales tactics. The only problem is the Leesburg Honda is a pretty small dealership and they don't have a lot of inventory, so they can't work as close to invoice prices as bigger dealerships can. Their price was $1,200 over invoice, but they offered us a realistic trade-in value on the MDX. They didn't have the model we wanted, and we weren't going to pay extra for the model we didn't want, so we kept searching.

Dealership #2: Rosenthal Honda in Fairfax. STAY AWAY from this place unless you are a psychology student doing research on high-pressure sales techniques. You will experience every manner and method of high-pressure sales and manipulations at this dealership. Although the USAA guaranteed price here was only $300 over invoice, they low-balled us on the trade-in value of our MDX by $2,000. I told them that was a non-starter. Both the salesman and the manager gave me a very well-rehearsed speech about how Kelley Blue Book values aren't accurate. They also told me that I couldn't have both the USAA guaranteed price AND the 2.9% promotional financing Honda was advertising - I would have to choose one or the other. We actually had a better deal at Leesburg Honda paying $1,200 over invoice and getting the KBB value for our trade-in, but the Leesburg Honda didn't have the model we wanted in stock.

Aside on CarMax: The manager at Rosental Honda recommended we take our MDX to CarMax to see how much they would pay us for it and then come back to buy the Pilot. We actually did take the MDX to CarMax and they offered us just what the Kelley Blue Book website said the MDX was worth. Thumbs-up for CarMax.

Dealership #3: Pohanka Honda in Fredericksburg. When we walked into this dealership, I was feeling very skeptic that we would leave with a car that day. I figured they would also low-ball us on the trade-in value of the MDX, and if they did, we could take it down the street to CarMax, sell it there, and come back for the Pilot.
    I was actually VERY PLEASED with Pohanka Honda. They are honest, no-nonsense, no-high-pressure-sales-tactics professionals. Their USAA guaranteed price was excellent, and they straight-up offered us the Kelley Blue Book value for the MDX. Plus, they had the model we wanted in stock. To top it all off, they also gave us the Honda promotional 2.9% financing that Rosenthal said we couldn't have if we did the USAA price. Two big thumbs-up for Pohanka Honda!

LW behind the wheel of her new horse

Farewell Trusty Steed

2010-07-31T07:08:00.010-04:00

For the past six years, my family has been truly blessed to have an Acura MDX as our family car. It has served us tremendously well, and I will forever have countless good memories of the road trips and adventures we have embarked on together in our MDX.

Hiking Makapu'u Ridge

Kayaking Chinaman's Hat

Avenue of the Giants

Golden Gate Bridge

World's Tallest Thermometer, Baker, CA

Arrival at our new home in Ashburn, VA

Summer Vacation at Lake Winnipesaukee, NH

Heck, we've had the MDX as long as my Youngest can remember. He was only 9 months old when we moved from San Diego to the DC area and bought it when we arrived here. Our Eldest was only 4 years old, so he vaguely remembers the car we had in San Diego, but not much.

My wife and I have developed a pattern of alternating upgrading our cars over the years. We have orchestrated it so that we have one car that's paid-off and one car with a monthly loan payment. Each time we pay one off, we shop around to upgrade the other one. This time it was my wife's turn to upgrade. We still loved our MDX, but we just had the 75,000 mile service done and it is going to need some work in the not too distant future, so we decided it was time to upgrade again.

Farewell trusty steed, you have served us well.

(sniff, sniff - dabs at corner of eye)

Up next...

Adventures in car salesman psychology tactics.