Easter Hiking Trip!

Ten of us took off in a Navy MWR (morale, welfare, recreation) van and drove 2+ hours east on I-8, and north on the scenic Sunset Highway. We ate snacks and watched the scenery! Wow, was it pretty! I had no idea that the Cleveland National Forest actually had trees... the stretch of it along I-8 over the mountains is all scrub land... and for the three times I've driven over the mountains, I've been either sarcastic or stupefied about a National Forest with no trees. But merely a half-hour away is a beautiful forest with campgrounds and lakes and gorgeous views of valleys. I stand corrected! And very pleased!

The trail head at Palm Canyon was tiny, and I was surprised they were able to turn that great big van around to park on the road leading to it (it was full). I lagged behind the others on the trail to take pictures and drink in the sights and smells... and fresh air. On the easy route around the edge of the mountain, we had to cross two streams... took my shoes off for the first and got the toe of my left shoe wet over the second (we were picking our way over stepping stones).

At the end of the trail, most of the party (and a lot of other people) went swimming in the pool beneath the waterfall. They said it was very cold. I've never been one for jumping into water like that, so I didn't even think to bring my towel or swimsuit. I enjoyed some snacks and took pictures. :)

On the way back, I went with 2 of my classmates and another Sailor up the way they had come down... or the hard way. It was roughly 50 yards of gripping and pulling with toes and fingers, going rather straight up. I shouted with joy when I got to the top! :) And then it was easy all the way back.

I slept soundly in the van for the duration of I-8 heading back to San Diego. Woke up when we were on Rosecrans! What a day! Got a little bit of sunshine on my forehead, but that's okay with me.

Jp

Hello!

from the greenhouse...

Show Time!

Yesterday after finishing the post, I spent a little over an hour at the library, then had a fun little dinner at my classmate's apartment with some friends. Ham, mashed potatoes, jellied cranberries (my favorite!), and some veggies and deviled eggs. Just for fun, and just for Easter weekend.

Couldn't stay too long though, because I had a ticket for STOMP at the Balboa theater downtown... and that started at 8pm. Caught the wrong trolley, but realized it in time to not get too far off course. Talked with a retired gentleman while waiting and he sat across from me when we got on board. He wanted to tell me about his years as a civilian teacher on board the USS Constellation. And I thought that was pretty neat!

The show was fantastic! I can understand why it's been going strong all over the world for 20 years. My seat was at the very top of the theater on the extreme right, but I could see everything quite well. The first couple dances involved push brooms... then candy boxes... and then they just danced while clapping their hands and themselves! They used tubes, plastic/paper bags, newspapers, sand, kitchen sinks (for real!), sticks, tin cans, big inflatable rubber tube rafts, metal folding chairs... and in the one dance, four of the eight dancers were suspended off the set and banged on the pots, pans, metal signs and other common instruments for quite the effect.

The finale was with their signature trash cans and lids... and not only was it a percussive dance, but throughout the entire show there was a great deal of comedic elements. There was even a dancer that was dressed like a nerd and was always trying to keep up. So much fun! It was worth every cent to go see. I was glad I used the trolley though. Traffic was terrible... and parking cost twice as much as a round-trip ticket. :)

Today... oh, today I spent wholly in Balboa Park... after a brief snack at Panera on the way there. With my "see all the museums free" pass I wanted to get there right at ten. I first stepped into the botanical garden, then the little art gallery... and was very impressed with their small collection. They had a beautiful book with all their art in full color, so I bought it and have already flipped through it a few times.


Then I went to the Museum of Man (that I have avoided due to their Darwinian philosophy), but I only needed to skip half the second floor. I loved their special exhibition on games... and their display of peculiar bones was incredibly interesting... as well as the mummies. I briefly stopped in another art gallery, but it didn't interest me. It was soon time for the play, which was the romantic comedy "Rafta, Rafta". I had a front row seat in the balcony... and enjoyed it very much.

Had dinner on the way home, then fell asleep on the back seat of the car back on base. What a beautiful day!

Jp

Peace & Plans

Besides Monday & Tuesday nights that I spent in extra learning at school, we were ordered to take Wednesday night off because we had taken our test... and I did. I was worn out already. Didn't want more Galley... so I got in the car, had a delicious dinner of clam chowder with diced red potatoes, a mixed greens salad with balsamic vinaigrette (which reminded me of my many salads on my East Coast trip last year), and one of the tastiest shrimp tacos imaginable... at The Tin Fish, a hip little seafood cafe in Liberty Station much comparable to Coho's back home in Redmond.

But I didn't want to just have dinner and go home. So I drove over to Panera Bread, got a dark chocolate cookie with walnuts along with a cup of hot, black tea (British Breakfast), and settled down with my laptop to check online and read the majority of the Monk book I picked up the week before. It was relaxing indeed.

Last night (Thursday) I didn't feel the need for extra study either, so I spent the evening resting my tired feet and reading a bunch in Ecclesiastes (which was wondrously encouraging). Then I finished Monk, and watched The Hound of the Baskervilles (Cushing, 1965 TV series), the first of the set I got at Target for cheap. I had watched "You've Got Mail" Monday night, as I was so keen on watching it... and as that's when it came. :)

But simply relaxing is not where my peace has come from this week... not entirely, at least. Sunday night, Mike and I had a really long talk... twice the usual length (because I called earlier!) :) and we started talking a bit more about when we want to get married and how... and we think the Lord is leading us to do the legal part in Norman this fall, perhaps have a bit of a honeymoon to the Boundary Waters in Minnesota, and then have a ceremony at home with my family and friends when it can be worked out... maybe next year.

Doing the legal part in Oklahoma is probably best... with my limited amount of time off, having to wait three days for processing a marriage certificate in Washington does not sound fun. And it would allow us an opportunity to celebrate with his family and friends. So depending on when I am allowed to take leave (Lord willing) we may marry in a few months... September is in mind... but we'll see.

This week has been great... I remembered to send a thank you card and I had a wonderful long talk with Mom on Tuesday night. And Mike reads a Psalm to me every night, and we've had several really good ones in a row... especially between 14-19. So with all this, and Ecclesiastes last night, the Lord is certainly comforting me and leading me on, as always.

Jp

Nothin' (much)

I did end up going to the small group Bible study Friday night at the Presbyterian church. But before I did that I finished "Mother Was a Gunner's Mate", took a nap, and read the chapter for the meeting. The headache I had from a long time in class was mostly gone, due to the nap and some pills. The meeting was great! Even met someone that wasn't there last time. A Navy wife with her husband on deployment. We talked afterwords. :)

Didn't get much sleep... and I had to wake up early to call in for duty day muster. Spent the morning getting gas for the car, picking up my race t-shirt and baseball game tickets at the NEX on 32nd street for the Bay Bridge Run next month. Used my discount coupon to buy a baseball glove so I can turn out for the softball teams forming up tomorrow (if allowed). Stopped at Panera for lunch. For the better part of the day I watched the BBC version of Pride and Prejudice that I picked up at Target this week. Ended up finishing the entire thing just before chat! My duty included learning how to be a duty driver... apparently our section is short on them... and all we did was check the four vehicles. Nobody to drive... just had to stay within cell range if needed, so I had dinner at the galley, and watched about an hour more of P&P.

Today I slept in! Just about twelve hours exactly... getting up around 1030. Went to Denny's for breakfast, then returned to read in the Monk book I got at the library sale two weeks ago, and watched most of a sermon online... slow loading. Gave up on that and decided to go help out at the library for a little while. They had saved a little present for me from the volunteer's luncheon I missed due to school! How nice they are! It was candy and a coupon from Balboa Park to visit any/all museums during the rest of this month for free! :) Yay! Next weekend!

Then I took a ride on my newly acquired bike (from home) along the waterfront all the way to downtown. Very fun, and I saw a lot of strange things at the Seaport Village and Embarcadero Park past the USS Midway. Lots of street vendors, a mime, a human statue that would dance for money... a palm reader... a guy with rescued parrots who wanted tips if you took a picture... pretty strange, but fun to look at. Right now I'm at Panera for dinner. And finishing up the sermon on the end of 1st Corinthians 13. A passage I've always had some kind of vague idea about what it means, but now it's a lot clearer.

How I love the Lord.
Jp

Family Visit

It was marvelous! Thursday evening we hugged quite a bit, and shared a Chinese dinner together before I had to go back for the night. Zac called though and announced he had been let off entirely for Friday, so he decided to come immediately. Didn't get there until after midnight though, so I didn't see him until they all picked me up around 1500 (3pm) Friday.

Our first task was to get the Navy parking form notarized... and right after that we headed for the Mission Valley Mall where we had an outstanding dinner at Outback Steakhouse for the beginning of a joint birthday/reunion celebration. Lobster & steak was *really* nice. :) They gave us ice cream on the house; I think we talked and enjoyed it for around an hour and a half.

Back at the motel, we found we needed to stop by MCRD for Zac to pick up the EGA insignia he had forgotten to bring along for the dress uniform pictures we wanted to take. So we made a little side trip of it just in time before they closed. Zac and I ran over to the MCX and found them right away.

Again, back at the Dolphin Motel, we relaxed and watched two movies: Disney's new cartoon "Tangled" (with Donna Murphy as the villain!), and "Crimson Tide"... since I haven't ever been able to sit down and watch the whole thing... always too many ad breaks. I loved Tangled! It had elements from Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and the Beast... a couple of my favorites. They did a great job putting their classic twist to classic tales. :) I enjoyed Crimson Tide too... but I noticed they got a perfect reading on the SONAR with a broadband signal... Maybe sub-surface SONAR is a little different. :)

So we were all together! Saturday morning we took a while getting up and had breakfast at Denny's. Then it was Sea World all day! We started out with the otters... and stumbled across a little building with a 3-month old baby feeding and playing to her heart's content. There were big windows on her, roughly 3-foot-square, pool... and the windows were only inches away from it. A trainer came out and told us all about her. The dolphin show was neat, but not quite as good as when I saw it in 2008. They had a strange middle part to the show with a couple birds and lots of swimmers dressed up like birds. It confused me terribly! :)

(here's a pic by Dad at the Orca Whale show!)

We then enjoyed the small aquariums, and then a free gondola ride across Mission Bay and back.











I didn't do the latter last time, so I was particularly happy about doing it now. We only had some popcorn and chips at the park, so when we were done, after first getting Zac's required haircut at the NEX, we went back to Mission Valley to eat at Chipotle and then shop at Best Buy, as he requested. As he bought Charade, I ended up buying Disney's "Oceans" from last year (that I saw in the theater with Chaya). Back home again, we watched last year's "The Fighter" with Mark Wahlberg, and then the newly purchased "Charade" (with Cary & Audry) during chat.

Sunday morning I guided them past my library to Ocean Beach for breakfast at the same diner I ate at with Mike. We got a table after just a minute or two, and I had a great big pancake with my corned beef hash and eggs. After this was a trip to the USS Midway (CV 41) that I saw in 2009. But last time I didn't have time for the bridge tour, which we definitely took advantage of this time. Had a great time wandering around again, especially with my family. When we got to the motel we had our little photo shoot with some success:


And then the grand farewell dinner with Zac was held at the Olive Garden near Target. Another outstanding dinner (I need to exercise a lot this week!) and good time with everyone. He left afterwords... and I decided I needed to sleep on base since Monday was a workday. We dropped off all the things they brought me (like my movies, some clothes and my blanket), along with my things from the weekend, and then we headed off for a little drive across the Bay Bridge to Coronado. Found a cute little creamery, and enjoyed some delicious ice cream... I had dark chocolate.

Next morning I met Mom & Dad at the gate at 0630 to get the temp pass I need to park their car on base. That went off without a hitch, and then I had a very long day at school. Did a mock PRT by myself before lunch on the course at Liberty Station... did very well for not having run in a while. I did a mere half-hour of open study in the evening (just to reinforce it) and then met Mom and Dad once more for a little trip downtown to see the newly released "Jane Eyre" at a little theater that plays foreign films. This was done by the British, so it very closely resembled the book... although they condensed the story into 2 hours, and therefore had to make it flash by. I loved it though. So very well done.

At the motel one last time I said goodbye to Mom and Dad, and then drove their car back to base. They got a taxi this morning to take them to the airport. They should be coming back the end of June to bring me mine and pick up theirs! I can't wait for another fun weekend! :)

Jp

End of the Week (Whew!)

This has been an extra-hard week... class was difficult. I put in an extra 8 hours of study from 5-7 every night, excluding Friday... because it was the weekend!

~

Right after class I practically ran to my room to change clothes and get off base. Went to the library for a bit of volunteering. After my usual re-shelving of the graphic novels, the librarian had me do a special job for her again. They needed lettering taken off giant fish signs so they could just put them out for decoration and free up the space they'd been taking up in the closet. :) Special indeed!

~

Tried out Ortiz's Taco Shop across the street for chicken enchiladas with the strangest, super thin (but delicious) guacamole, and rice & beans. Hung out outside the library, reading a few more chapters in "Mother was a GM" until it was time for the Bible study across the street.

~

There was a group of about 6 couples or so, going through a book called "The Good and Beautiful God"... this week's chapter was on God's generosity... and how we don't earn favor with God for doing or being good, but that he freely gives us his love. Here is the story that was given as the example - the Internet is so useful! I was very excepted into the group and was able to join in just fine. :) It's exactly what I've been wanting.

Saturday the 2nd: was started way too early! My roommate is Phase I, being straight from bootcamp, so she had to muster at 7am! I couldn't quite fall back asleep... so I went to breakfast at the galley (for the first time on a weekend since being here!). I then decided to fix my dress whites so they will be ready in case there is an inspection this coming week. The official turnover from blues to whites is tomorrow. Mine had lots of creases from being folded (in a plastic bag) in the bottom of my seabag since I left bootcamp. :) And I sewed on an E-3 patch as well. Ready!!!

After this, I went to mail a package, explored Shelter Island a little, had a fabulous Chinese lunch of fried rice, chicken, beef & shrimp to go. Caught the 28 down there where it started and strangely enough, met up with my roommate and her friends finally off for some fun when it stopped at Nimitz. From Old Town we took the Green Line trolley north to the Fashion Valley Mall... where I got a haircut (had to wait a half-hour or so... busy place! and read more in "Mother was a GM") where my stylist straightened my hair after shortening and layering it! First time ever for that! Then went shopping, and I couldn't keep my hands off my hair as I walked around. :) Had Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Belgian Chocolate ice cream at Haagen Dazs, bought a Donald Duck t-shirt at the Disney Store, then found cute, fancy leather shoes at an expensive store... and indulged myself.

Had interesting experiences on the way back. There was a guy passed out at the transit center... a little sparrow came up to the white pile of throwup on the ground behind the bench from him, tasted it, then shook his poor little head a few times before he hopped away. While waiting on the 28, our driver spoke about starting just recently and encountering lots of crabby drivers and riders alike. A guy came on wanting to know how to get to Point Loma High School... the driver was relieved I knew how... :) I even had a 923 schedule in my bag.

Since my lunch had been so big, I didn't have any dinner there. Just as I was wondering what I'd do since it was time to chat, I found they were doing a free bratwurst bbq! Heaven sent! :)

That brings me to today... where I wondered the same thing about lunch. Slept in late, read 8 chapters in Samuel to catch up... flipped through the earlier books to wrap my head around Israel's history again. Then came out here to Liberty Hall to do Internet and listen to 2nd Chapter of Acts... and they were serving the leftovers. Had a yummy chicken breast. More heaven sent! :)

For the rest of today I think I shall go to the library again and maybe search out a place I can watch the new movie Jane Eyre at.

We shall see.

Jp

Updated at 6pm... no movie, but I did buy a couple books at the library sale, then returned back to base. Enjoyed Ratatouille on TV... then some pie and some reading. Relaxing! :)