Bring Your Family to Work Day

With Matt's deployment just around the corner, his boss, Admiral Faller, hosted a Bring Your Family to Work Day to give family members a chance to tour the John C. Stennis and learn a little more about what their sailor does when  he or she is gone for all those months.  It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot, including the fact that the C. in John C. Stennis stands for Cornelius.  I also learned that there are a lot of stairs on an aircraft carrier.

We started the tour in the hangar with a welcome from the Admiral and his wife, Martha.

Then we divided into groups.  Our group went up to see the flight deck first.  We got used to the ladder stairs pretty quickly.

 Although there weren't any planes on the deck, here is the cable, or arresting gear, that the planes hook on to as they land to stop the forward motion.  May look like just a wire but that is a pretty strong piece of steel.

Next we went to the flag bridge (up more stairs) where the Admiral gets to monitor things.  Space being kind of tight on a carrier, also on the flag bridge are a treadmill and stationary bike.  This is where Matt gets to work out. He likes it because he has a view.  

Next we went to the navigation bridge from where the ship is driven.  This is the helm. The little steering wheel turns the ship. 

This is the helm on Sun Break.  Seems like they should swap helms.

Then we got to go down  a few flights

Next up was the flight deck control room.  This is where the ship's Ouija board is.  The Ouija board is a scale model replica of the flight deck. During flight operations, miniature airplanes are placed in positions that correspond to each real aircraft's location.  Given the number of aircraft moving around, that is quite a job for some young, but capable sailor.

Thumb tacks are used to indicate the various sequences of each aircraft.

Then it was down again

to the Admiral's mess and the Admiral's office.

In his office, Admiral Faller gave a brief to a very high-level family official on how the deployment planning is going.

Next we visited the conference room where the staff holds meetings.

Then, just for good measure, back down

to the hangar where members of the Weapons Department showed us some of the arsenal of weapons onboard the Stennis.

We also got to take a look at fire-fighting gear that is always available for ship's safety.

And just because I like to compare the Stennis to Sun Break, here are the stairs in Sun Break.

That's it. Just one set.

Have a great week!

Baylee's New Dog Bed

We had plans for an overnight sailing trip this weekend, but Saturday's rainy weather prompted us to re-evaluate those plans.  Last summer after we first got Sun Break, we didn't let a little inclement weather stop us.  That only added to the fun.

But this year we are willing to wait out the weather in the relative comfort of home.  Guess the newness has worn off a bit.  As a result, Baylee got a new dog bed as the rainy day project.  We had tried couple of store-bought beds that just didn't seem right so it seemed we needed to custom make one for her.  Turns out that with a little guidance from some online tutorials, it was not too difficult.  I used some colorful, coordinating fabrics for the front and sides and fleece for the back.

The finished product.

We had to bribe her with treats to get her on it at first, but she seems to be getting used to it.

She has a matching collar that we had previously made.  Unsure if she realizes that her collar matches her bed.

Have a great week!

The New (Improvised) Old Man of the Mountain

Last week we traveled across the country to visit family and friends on Martha's Vineyard and in New Hampshire.

We had a great trip and enjoyed catching up with everyone. While in New Hampshire, we drove to Franconia Notch and rented some bikes.  Along the bike trail, we stopped at the site of the newly-dedicated Old Man of the Mountain Memorial.  The Old Man of the Mountain was a series of granite cliff ledges on Cannon Mountain that, when viewed from the north, appeared to be the profile of a face.  That profile became the emblem of the state of New Hampshire and appeared on state's license plate, state route signs, the statehood quarter, and a 1955 U.S. postal stamp.  Sadly, on the morning of May 3, 2003, between midnight and 2 A. M., the profile collapsed to the ground.  The collapse was caused by fissures in the granite which were the result of decades freezing and thawing.  There had been a late spring snow the night before the collapse.

This is the Old Man of the Mountain before the collapse.

The statehood quarter and USPS stamp with the iconic profile.

Here is the site as it appears now.

A non-profit organization is working to construct a monument to the Old Man.  The first of three phases of the monument was recently dedicated and is located on the shores of Profile Lake, so named because of its location beneath the Old Man.

Phase 1 of the monument consists of a viewing platform of steel profilers pointed towards the Cannon Cliff where the Old Man once kept a watchful eye over the White Mountains.

On the face of each spar are raised carvings.

By standing on the footprints corresponding closest to your height and viewing the profile of the spars,

the image of the Old Man is created in the spot where the old granite slabs once stood.

Pretty cool!  Phases 2 and 3 of the monument are in the works and include a gateway honoring those who worked on the Old Man and five large granite stones that, when viewed in alignment, will form the Old Man's profile.  Such a fitting memorial to a enduring symbol.