Monday 28 July
Family Bible Camp follows the same basic structure each day: breakfast, chapel, instruction hour, lunch, second instruction hour, free time, dinner, games, chapel, more games, supper and bed.
The kids have discovered a new game: gau-gau (pronounced "ga-ga"), played every free moment at camp. Mr Edwards thinks it is a version of a Hebrew ball game. Basically it is like dodgeball, but it is played in a small wood-fenced arena shaped like an octagon. You only get out if you get hit on the legs below the knees, and the ball isn't allowed to go up and over the fence. The ball can only be touched once until it hits a person's legs or the side of the arena, so often competitors will hit the ball against the fence to build up power before they bat it at the others. When there are only two people left, everyone calls "hands in" and then those who are out reach over the 50cm fence to hit the ball at the two competitors who are left. Earlier in the game, the only people who can touch the ball are those who are still in the arena. This is Sam's new favourite game and Joshua has also been playing it heaps. Even Anna has had a go at it with a smile on her face.
During our first instruction hour today, we climbed a hill to the base of a tall pine tree. Then everyone had the opportunity to suit up in a climbing harness and climb 15m up the tree. Anna bravely volunteered to go first and got to the top to ring the bell, but was a bit freaked out by the gentle drop down on belay. Joshua went next and got to the top and down again without a hitch. Abi was third, but only managed to get a short way up before she decided to return to firmer footing on the ground. Next up was Mr Jackson, but he decided to tackle the rope web which went up beside the tree. He got to the top of the web with apparent ease, but wasn't willing to tackle the rope ladder that continued higher. Then it was my turn. I am proud to say I also managed to ascend to the top of the tree (and sometime I'll work out how to link in the photos to prove it). Last up was Sam, who had been pretty pessimistic about the climb to start with; yet he managed to reach the top of the tree and was the most confident rappelling down the tree to end. Hooray for us all!
In our second instruction hour the parents and kids split up. The kids went to do laser tag in the trees at camp with their camp assistant, while Mr Jackson & I went kayaking on the Mississippi River, between Iowa and Wisconsin. The paddling wasn't too strenuous and was alternated with periods of floating downstream with the current, which is very strong. We were even able to have a short swim in "Ol' Miss", which was a special treat. Did you know that the Mississippi River freezes over every winter, and the ice gets thick enough to drive a ute on? Wow!
The four kids also had the opportunity to swim, in the lake at camp. They all had a blast and collected another camp helper, Josh, along the way. The family he had been assigned to help has teenagers who don't need much supervision, so he has agreed to help Sierra in helping us. Our assistants are great.
The younger kids went to bed at 8:30 but Joshua got to stay up to play Capture the Flag, which is the American version of Storm the Lantern. Dressed in his new black t-shirt and dark green shorts he was very hard to see in the dark except for his glow stick and the white skeleton hand on the shoulder of his shirt, which glowed faintly in the dark. (Thanks Granny!)
Monday, July 28, 2014
Dubuque to Village Creek Bible Camp, IA
Sunday 27 July
This morning I enjoyed re-learning how to make waffles in a waffle-maker at the hotel, cooking one for everyone to enjoy along with their donuts, bagels and scones. Donuts for breakfast! Iced donuts, too, not warm cinnamon donuts. In the USA scones are called "biscuits", which explains why biscuits need to be called "cookies".
We drove to Hope Church, an Evangelical Free church with around 250 people, and arrived just a little late for the 9am service. Joshua, Anna and Abigail were in the same Sunday School class, which was smaller than theirs in Cranbrook; but Samuel's class was bigger. Sam really enjoyed his time there and paid lots of attention.
The sermon was on the danger of thinking that we should try to live for God, that is, to try to earn God's favour. The preacher said, this can make our own efforts and ability and suffering into an idol. Instead, we need to seek a relationship with God, to get to know the true God (Jesus), to belong in him. The sermon looked at several Bible passages briefly, though none in great expositional detail: 2 Corinthians 11:23-28; Matthew 7:21-23; and Philippians 3:3-11. This sermon was part of a series based on a book called With, and was a bit wishy washy for Mr & Mrs Jackson's taste. It would have been good to have more explanation of the last few verses of the Philippians passage, where Paul wrote,
"I want to know Christ -- yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead."
Another part of the service was a testimony, like we have had recently at Cranbrook. However, unlike in Cranbrook where the people would speak in person, here the testimony had been video taped on at least three camera views and slickly edited before it was shown to the congregation, even though the young lady who spoke was from this church. The kids were excited to get free hot popcorn after the service, and the church also sells sermon recordings on DVD as well as CD, in professional cases.
After church we visited the Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium, which was excellent. We were able to learn about the historical importance of the river for the fur trapping trade and for westward exploration and expansion. We also learnt a bit about the paddle steamboat trade up and down the river, and read lots of quotes from Mark Twain, the author of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which we have been listening to on audiobook in the car. see live specimens of many fish and animals we had heretofore only seen on River Monsters on TV. We saw 1m long catfish and juvenile sturgeon, as well as a 56-year-old female alligator whose toothy grin was noticeably more curved than a crocodile smile. One of the best features of the site was the ability to touch some of these creatures in the touch pool, so the kids and Jeff got their hands wet grabbing for 50cm sturgeon and holding crawdads, which are a bit like black and red djoolgies.
We again took the scenic route along the state highway 52 north along the Iowan side of the Mississippi River, with a late lunch at "Greasers" in a little riverside town called Guttenberg. At 5pm we finally arrived at Village Creek Bible Camp. Our good friends the Edwards family drove in 5 minutes after us, having travelled all the way from Kansas in a night and a day. It was a very excited reunion for Mrs Jackson and Mrs Edwards, since we haven's seen each other in over four years, since our last trip to the USA. But of course we had to get the necessary tasks out of the way and soon the kids were off playing under the capable supervision of our camp assistant Sierra, while Mr Jackson and I attended the Newbie Camper orientation. There are so many exciting things planned for this week I could barely remember them all.
We had chapel after dinner, which they call "supper" here. Chapel is twice a day at camp, with morning chapel being Bible talks from Genesis 1-3 and the evening chapel including talks on the topic "Thrive" (live abundantly, be mature in your faith). The kids stay with us for singing at the beginning of chapel and then head out to their own age-based groups for kids' chapel. Last up was a snack before bed, which was an absolutely delicious but also delightfully surprising combination: pretzels with a sort of maple/butter/dip. Already I know the food at camp will be fantastic.
This morning I enjoyed re-learning how to make waffles in a waffle-maker at the hotel, cooking one for everyone to enjoy along with their donuts, bagels and scones. Donuts for breakfast! Iced donuts, too, not warm cinnamon donuts. In the USA scones are called "biscuits", which explains why biscuits need to be called "cookies".
We drove to Hope Church, an Evangelical Free church with around 250 people, and arrived just a little late for the 9am service. Joshua, Anna and Abigail were in the same Sunday School class, which was smaller than theirs in Cranbrook; but Samuel's class was bigger. Sam really enjoyed his time there and paid lots of attention.
The sermon was on the danger of thinking that we should try to live for God, that is, to try to earn God's favour. The preacher said, this can make our own efforts and ability and suffering into an idol. Instead, we need to seek a relationship with God, to get to know the true God (Jesus), to belong in him. The sermon looked at several Bible passages briefly, though none in great expositional detail: 2 Corinthians 11:23-28; Matthew 7:21-23; and Philippians 3:3-11. This sermon was part of a series based on a book called With, and was a bit wishy washy for Mr & Mrs Jackson's taste. It would have been good to have more explanation of the last few verses of the Philippians passage, where Paul wrote,
"I want to know Christ -- yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead."
Another part of the service was a testimony, like we have had recently at Cranbrook. However, unlike in Cranbrook where the people would speak in person, here the testimony had been video taped on at least three camera views and slickly edited before it was shown to the congregation, even though the young lady who spoke was from this church. The kids were excited to get free hot popcorn after the service, and the church also sells sermon recordings on DVD as well as CD, in professional cases.
After church we visited the Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium, which was excellent. We were able to learn about the historical importance of the river for the fur trapping trade and for westward exploration and expansion. We also learnt a bit about the paddle steamboat trade up and down the river, and read lots of quotes from Mark Twain, the author of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, which we have been listening to on audiobook in the car. see live specimens of many fish and animals we had heretofore only seen on River Monsters on TV. We saw 1m long catfish and juvenile sturgeon, as well as a 56-year-old female alligator whose toothy grin was noticeably more curved than a crocodile smile. One of the best features of the site was the ability to touch some of these creatures in the touch pool, so the kids and Jeff got their hands wet grabbing for 50cm sturgeon and holding crawdads, which are a bit like black and red djoolgies.
We again took the scenic route along the state highway 52 north along the Iowan side of the Mississippi River, with a late lunch at "Greasers" in a little riverside town called Guttenberg. At 5pm we finally arrived at Village Creek Bible Camp. Our good friends the Edwards family drove in 5 minutes after us, having travelled all the way from Kansas in a night and a day. It was a very excited reunion for Mrs Jackson and Mrs Edwards, since we haven's seen each other in over four years, since our last trip to the USA. But of course we had to get the necessary tasks out of the way and soon the kids were off playing under the capable supervision of our camp assistant Sierra, while Mr Jackson and I attended the Newbie Camper orientation. There are so many exciting things planned for this week I could barely remember them all.
We had chapel after dinner, which they call "supper" here. Chapel is twice a day at camp, with morning chapel being Bible talks from Genesis 1-3 and the evening chapel including talks on the topic "Thrive" (live abundantly, be mature in your faith). The kids stay with us for singing at the beginning of chapel and then head out to their own age-based groups for kids' chapel. Last up was a snack before bed, which was an absolutely delicious but also delightfully surprising combination: pretzels with a sort of maple/butter/dip. Already I know the food at camp will be fantastic.
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Lake Michigan to the Mississippi, IL
Friday 25 July
Today was a lovely day for the kids and a frustrating day for Mr Jackson. He had the onerous task of catching the blue line train back to the airport to collect our hire car while we had the far more pleasant task of catching a taxi to the North Avenue Beach for a swim in Lake Michigan. Providentially, we had a delicious breakfast of bagels and donuts for breakfast to make up for the fact that with all our running around, we skipped lunch entirely.
After checking out of the hotel, but leaving our bags behind, I caught a taxi with the kids to the beach. Unlike the shoreline we had walked along the day before, this was not sea wall but sand. We arrived just after 11am, who the lifeguards went on duty, and were interested to observe not only lifeguards stationed in towers dotted along the beach but also in rowing boats about twenty metres out, just inside a line of pylons, where they patrolled the wetter edge of the safe swimming area.
The water was lovely - a lake with no stinging jellyfish, no crocodiles, no sharks, no waves... the only problem was the invisible icebergs we were pretty sure must be floating past a few metres off-shore, given the crazily cold water temperature.
Meanwhile, Jeff took four and a half hours to collect our car, which cost an extra $1500 since they had no record of our pre-paying the taxes, despite the PAID IN FULL marked on our Flight Centre receipt.
The traffic was stop/start all the way out of the city, adding three quarters of an hour to our drive to the Quad Cities, four cities clustered together on the Mississippi River. Thankfully, the drive was absolutely beautiful once we were outside the city. We drove along the I-88 freeway, which was liberally dotted with tolls, making its name rather ironic. The corn fields either side of the freeway were dense with deep green stalks, with the farm houses only a kilometre or so apart. Such small farms is an indication that the land here must be very fertile and rich. For the first time I was able to sit with the kids and do a maths lesson or two. In Moline, we finally found a motel to rest our weary heads.
Today was a lovely day for the kids and a frustrating day for Mr Jackson. He had the onerous task of catching the blue line train back to the airport to collect our hire car while we had the far more pleasant task of catching a taxi to the North Avenue Beach for a swim in Lake Michigan. Providentially, we had a delicious breakfast of bagels and donuts for breakfast to make up for the fact that with all our running around, we skipped lunch entirely.
After checking out of the hotel, but leaving our bags behind, I caught a taxi with the kids to the beach. Unlike the shoreline we had walked along the day before, this was not sea wall but sand. We arrived just after 11am, who the lifeguards went on duty, and were interested to observe not only lifeguards stationed in towers dotted along the beach but also in rowing boats about twenty metres out, just inside a line of pylons, where they patrolled the wetter edge of the safe swimming area.
The water was lovely - a lake with no stinging jellyfish, no crocodiles, no sharks, no waves... the only problem was the invisible icebergs we were pretty sure must be floating past a few metres off-shore, given the crazily cold water temperature.
Meanwhile, Jeff took four and a half hours to collect our car, which cost an extra $1500 since they had no record of our pre-paying the taxes, despite the PAID IN FULL marked on our Flight Centre receipt.
The traffic was stop/start all the way out of the city, adding three quarters of an hour to our drive to the Quad Cities, four cities clustered together on the Mississippi River. Thankfully, the drive was absolutely beautiful once we were outside the city. We drove along the I-88 freeway, which was liberally dotted with tolls, making its name rather ironic. The corn fields either side of the freeway were dense with deep green stalks, with the farm houses only a kilometre or so apart. Such small farms is an indication that the land here must be very fertile and rich. For the first time I was able to sit with the kids and do a maths lesson or two. In Moline, we finally found a motel to rest our weary heads.
The Field Museum, Chicago, IL
Thursday 24 July
The Field Museum is immense. We started exploring the Egyptian Mummy section, which had 28 or more mummified specimens, some still in their sarcophagi, others wrapped in bandages, and some unwrapped to show the skin that was pitch black - literally, because the bodies were preserved in part by being painted in tar. We saw mummies of men, women, children, and even one that must have been of a premature baby, it was so tiny. Freaky. We also saw a giant boat that had been discovered buried near a pyramid, possibly to take the soul to the afterlife.
After that we explored the Hall of Gems, which had a beautiful collection of crystals and jewellery. We appreciated having already visited the crystallography exhibit at the Albany Museum over the school holidays to recognise the different shapes of the crystals in their matrix that were on display. Then we headed to the Hall of Jade, which had displays of many different things that had been made from jade by the Chinese over the centuries of their civilisation. We even saw jade sword blades, but I didn't think they would have been much use in a real fight. There was a half metre chunk of jade ore we could touch and I thought of the jade necklace I had made when I was a kid from a piece of ore my family acquired from Cowell, SA, on a holiday with my family when I was a kid.
Then it was on to the dinosaur display! The kids we excited to see so many dinosaur skeletons on display once I reassured Sam that they were all connected by metal rods and wouldn't fall apart on us. In the main hall of the Field Museum is "Sue", the most complete - and apparently most fought over - fossil skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex ever discovered. We also saw fossils of mastodons, triceratops, stegosaurus, and something Anna thinks might have been a spinosaurus, with a big row of spines rising from its spine, which would have held a sail of skin in life, presumably.
The last section we saw I the Field Museum contained plant and animal specimens from all around the world. We appreciated the displays of all the amazing large animals of the Americas, which dwarf the only two sizeable Australian animals, the emu and kangaroo. Here they have caribou, elk, moose, bears of a large range of sizes, as well as wolves and cougars (mountain lions).
The plant display was interesting because it focused on the plants used to manufacture a variety of objects. We saw the plants together with their fibres and the products made from them, such as cotton (cloth), jute (ropes), and agave (Panama hats). We also saw coffee plants and beans, cacao (from which chocolate is made), and tea.
By the time we left the museum, we'd been there for nearly five hours, but we could easily have spent five days, there was so much to see, read, learn and explore.
We arrived back at our hotel room in time to wake Joshua up, have a short rest for the rest of us, and then walk north through the city to the Chicago a river. We walked along the riverbank for a kilometre or so, admiring the strange pale jade green of the water, which we concluded must be the result of the water coming from snow melt. We passed the Trump Tower, sighted the Chicago Tribune building, and finally arrived at the Navy Pier, where we enjoyed Italian for dinner. we finally managed to get the tipping thing right, and enjoyed pizza, pasta and gelato for dessert, with unlimited soft drink which we all took grateful advantage of. It was too late to explohe Fre the pier and the Children's Museum which is located there, and to be honest, we were all museum'd out. But dinner was delicious and the taxi ride home took only 5 minutes, despite the hour and a half we had taken to walk to the pier. Everyone was in bed at a somewhat reasonable time, for once.
The Field Museum is immense. We started exploring the Egyptian Mummy section, which had 28 or more mummified specimens, some still in their sarcophagi, others wrapped in bandages, and some unwrapped to show the skin that was pitch black - literally, because the bodies were preserved in part by being painted in tar. We saw mummies of men, women, children, and even one that must have been of a premature baby, it was so tiny. Freaky. We also saw a giant boat that had been discovered buried near a pyramid, possibly to take the soul to the afterlife.
After that we explored the Hall of Gems, which had a beautiful collection of crystals and jewellery. We appreciated having already visited the crystallography exhibit at the Albany Museum over the school holidays to recognise the different shapes of the crystals in their matrix that were on display. Then we headed to the Hall of Jade, which had displays of many different things that had been made from jade by the Chinese over the centuries of their civilisation. We even saw jade sword blades, but I didn't think they would have been much use in a real fight. There was a half metre chunk of jade ore we could touch and I thought of the jade necklace I had made when I was a kid from a piece of ore my family acquired from Cowell, SA, on a holiday with my family when I was a kid.
Then it was on to the dinosaur display! The kids we excited to see so many dinosaur skeletons on display once I reassured Sam that they were all connected by metal rods and wouldn't fall apart on us. In the main hall of the Field Museum is "Sue", the most complete - and apparently most fought over - fossil skeleton of a Tyrannosaurus rex ever discovered. We also saw fossils of mastodons, triceratops, stegosaurus, and something Anna thinks might have been a spinosaurus, with a big row of spines rising from its spine, which would have held a sail of skin in life, presumably.
The last section we saw I the Field Museum contained plant and animal specimens from all around the world. We appreciated the displays of all the amazing large animals of the Americas, which dwarf the only two sizeable Australian animals, the emu and kangaroo. Here they have caribou, elk, moose, bears of a large range of sizes, as well as wolves and cougars (mountain lions).
The plant display was interesting because it focused on the plants used to manufacture a variety of objects. We saw the plants together with their fibres and the products made from them, such as cotton (cloth), jute (ropes), and agave (Panama hats). We also saw coffee plants and beans, cacao (from which chocolate is made), and tea.
By the time we left the museum, we'd been there for nearly five hours, but we could easily have spent five days, there was so much to see, read, learn and explore.
We arrived back at our hotel room in time to wake Joshua up, have a short rest for the rest of us, and then walk north through the city to the Chicago a river. We walked along the riverbank for a kilometre or so, admiring the strange pale jade green of the water, which we concluded must be the result of the water coming from snow melt. We passed the Trump Tower, sighted the Chicago Tribune building, and finally arrived at the Navy Pier, where we enjoyed Italian for dinner. we finally managed to get the tipping thing right, and enjoyed pizza, pasta and gelato for dessert, with unlimited soft drink which we all took grateful advantage of. It was too late to explohe Fre the pier and the Children's Museum which is located there, and to be honest, we were all museum'd out. But dinner was delicious and the taxi ride home took only 5 minutes, despite the hour and a half we had taken to walk to the pier. Everyone was in bed at a somewhat reasonable time, for once.
Thursday, July 24, 2014
Grant Park, Chicago, IL
Thursday 24 July
After a huge sleep in to catch up on last night's midnight bedtime, we set off to explore Grant Park and visit the Field Museum of Natural History at its south end.
First stop was the biggest water feature I'd ever seen, the immense Buckingham Fountain, from which we could see the amazing Chicago skyline to the north, west and south and the aquamarine waters of Lake Michigan to the east.
We walked around the fountain, testing my legs gently for my first day without any crutches. The kids all had some questions about the homeless man who was drying his clothes on one of the nearby hedges, and talking in a loud voice about life in the Marines. We explained that some people who go through wars as soldiers (or otherwise) can't cope with the mental strain and find it difficult to maintain relationships with their friends and family, and end up living on the streets. Seeing homeless people on the Chicago streets has been an eye opener to the kids. We prayed for the man before heading to a hot dog stand for brunch.
Chicago hot dogs are known for their toppings. We ordered two plain hot dogs, two chilli cheese hot dogs - like nachos but with a hot dog underneath - and two Chicago Specials, with tomato, onion, mild green pickled chillies (called "peppers" here) and pickles. They were certainly different from the Australian standard of sausages in bread with BBQd onion and tomato sauce. Tomato sauce is called "ketchup" in America, and the kids all grabbed little packets to squeeze onto their hot dogs as if the regular toppings weren't enough.
After lunch Jeff took Joshua back to the hotel (right on the edge of Grant Park, on the eastern edge of the city) for a much needed nap while the rest of us walked along the Lake Michigan shore to the Field Museum. Abigail saw our first wildlife other than birds, a small grey squirrel which had just run up into one of the ornamental trees by the side of the path and sat there, nibbling at something, while we took a few photos.
On the grassy lawn in front of the museum, we saw another interesting sight. Lying on a lightning white blanket on the verdant green grass was a man dressed all in white: white long sleeved shirt, white trousers, white shoes, white cap, white sunglasses - he even had a white beard! From a distance we couldn't even be sure there was a person on the blanket, all the white blended together so much! All we could see were his hands and face!
After a huge sleep in to catch up on last night's midnight bedtime, we set off to explore Grant Park and visit the Field Museum of Natural History at its south end.
First stop was the biggest water feature I'd ever seen, the immense Buckingham Fountain, from which we could see the amazing Chicago skyline to the north, west and south and the aquamarine waters of Lake Michigan to the east.
We walked around the fountain, testing my legs gently for my first day without any crutches. The kids all had some questions about the homeless man who was drying his clothes on one of the nearby hedges, and talking in a loud voice about life in the Marines. We explained that some people who go through wars as soldiers (or otherwise) can't cope with the mental strain and find it difficult to maintain relationships with their friends and family, and end up living on the streets. Seeing homeless people on the Chicago streets has been an eye opener to the kids. We prayed for the man before heading to a hot dog stand for brunch.
Chicago hot dogs are known for their toppings. We ordered two plain hot dogs, two chilli cheese hot dogs - like nachos but with a hot dog underneath - and two Chicago Specials, with tomato, onion, mild green pickled chillies (called "peppers" here) and pickles. They were certainly different from the Australian standard of sausages in bread with BBQd onion and tomato sauce. Tomato sauce is called "ketchup" in America, and the kids all grabbed little packets to squeeze onto their hot dogs as if the regular toppings weren't enough.
After lunch Jeff took Joshua back to the hotel (right on the edge of Grant Park, on the eastern edge of the city) for a much needed nap while the rest of us walked along the Lake Michigan shore to the Field Museum. Abigail saw our first wildlife other than birds, a small grey squirrel which had just run up into one of the ornamental trees by the side of the path and sat there, nibbling at something, while we took a few photos.
On the grassy lawn in front of the museum, we saw another interesting sight. Lying on a lightning white blanket on the verdant green grass was a man dressed all in white: white long sleeved shirt, white trousers, white shoes, white cap, white sunglasses - he even had a white beard! From a distance we couldn't even be sure there was a person on the blanket, all the white blended together so much! All we could see were his hands and face!
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
USS Midway in San Diego, CA; Flight to Chicago, IL
Wednesday 23 July
This morning we checked out of our hotel after another hearty breakfast and drove South for an hour on the freeway to San Diego. We drove just past the airport to the USS Midway, a retired aircraft carrier (ship) that has been turned into a museum. We parked on the pier and, after paying our fees and convincing Sam once again that this was not a dangerous activity and he would be safe, we boarded the ship. To give you a hint of what ran through his mind before and after the visit, in Sam's journal for today, he drew a picture of the USS Midway being swamped by a ginormous wave, with "infinity ladder steps" drawn above the flight deck.
After collecting our audio tour and the question sheets for the kids' discovery tour, we headed into the crew quarters, or cabin section, of the ship. The beds were only 6" long, so Mr Jackson would not have fit in any of them without bending his knees, which might have been hard to do since the bunks were stacks of three, not the usual two, and each had room for 30cm of storage space below the mattress, with all of this fitting into a cabin with a roof not much higher than 6". The bunks were close together as well, with photos on the walls of sailors attempting to dress with their knees in another sailor's face, and other contortionist moves. The officers only had it a little bit better, with slightly more space to stow their kit in a cupboard next to their bunk. The most senior officers had a room to themselves; but it doubled as an office and the off-duty bunk became a sofa for sailors reporting to their officers during the on-duty hours. The worst part of the accommodations MIT have been the showers. The water pipes ran alongside the aviation flues oil pipes, and apparently the stench of the latter carried over to the former. Then, because of the scarcity of that most precious commodity, fresh water, sailors had to keep one hand on the water tap at all times to keep the water running. So, showering was a matter of getting wet, then soaping up without water, then hastily rinsing off.
After that, we wandered through the control rooms, where the decisions were made to plan each day's flights, which must have been an amazing task of operational ingenuity, with tens and even hundreds of helicopters and planes taking off and landing each day before they were stowed away in the hangar below the flight deck. We also saw the briefing room, where pilots were given their flight plans for the day. It was a room laid out much like an old fashioned classroom, with rows of chairs looking towards a whiteboard; but the seats were much more comfortable than any I've ever seen in a classroom.
Next, we explored the brig, where naughty sailors were punished, before traipsing through the engine room. By that time, I was almost as anxious to get off the ship as Sam, having had my fill of cramped stairway ladders on one crutch. We headed up to the flight deck to observe several helicopters and planes on display, and walked to the end of the surprisingly short runway. I am mighty glad I never had to land a jet on that deck! Inside, in the aircraft hangar, we had seen a tiny plane that had to be landed on the USS Midway by a civilian pilot in a wartime evacuation manoeuvre, with the pilot's wife and five (probably terrified) children on board, escaping from a war zone. I am even gladder that wasn't our family.
At last it was time to head off the museum ship and dash to return our rental car before catching the shuttle bus to the airport. On only one crutch this time, I was much faster at limping through the airport but we still had to "stop.screen.go" three or four times before we were allowed on the plane. Boarding began just as we arrived at our flight's gate.
You might have noticed I made no mention of lunch. We had an apple each while we waited for the shuttle bus, but there was no meal on huge plane (which we hadn't expected) so we arrived very hungry into Chicago. The O'Hare airport must be huge, because it took over half an hour for the plane to taxi to our terminal after we landed, and we almost began to wonder if the pilot was planning to drive us back to California! It took hours to collect our bags, find the blue line train to the city, purchase tickets and finally, slump, exhausted, with suitcases everywhere, onto our train seats. We couldn't sleep though, because we needed to get off at the right stop I the city. At time the train was on rails suspended above roads below! and at other times we were underground. When we finally emerged from the train it was darkest night, but the city lights lit our way as we dragged our luggage,several city blocks to our hotel. We stayed at the historic Congress Hotel on Michigan Ave, perfectly situated between Grant Park and downtown Chicago. Providentially, check in was quick at that late hour, and everyone was in bed in our suite by about midnight - and fast asleep not one minute later!
This morning we checked out of our hotel after another hearty breakfast and drove South for an hour on the freeway to San Diego. We drove just past the airport to the USS Midway, a retired aircraft carrier (ship) that has been turned into a museum. We parked on the pier and, after paying our fees and convincing Sam once again that this was not a dangerous activity and he would be safe, we boarded the ship. To give you a hint of what ran through his mind before and after the visit, in Sam's journal for today, he drew a picture of the USS Midway being swamped by a ginormous wave, with "infinity ladder steps" drawn above the flight deck.
After collecting our audio tour and the question sheets for the kids' discovery tour, we headed into the crew quarters, or cabin section, of the ship. The beds were only 6" long, so Mr Jackson would not have fit in any of them without bending his knees, which might have been hard to do since the bunks were stacks of three, not the usual two, and each had room for 30cm of storage space below the mattress, with all of this fitting into a cabin with a roof not much higher than 6". The bunks were close together as well, with photos on the walls of sailors attempting to dress with their knees in another sailor's face, and other contortionist moves. The officers only had it a little bit better, with slightly more space to stow their kit in a cupboard next to their bunk. The most senior officers had a room to themselves; but it doubled as an office and the off-duty bunk became a sofa for sailors reporting to their officers during the on-duty hours. The worst part of the accommodations MIT have been the showers. The water pipes ran alongside the aviation flues oil pipes, and apparently the stench of the latter carried over to the former. Then, because of the scarcity of that most precious commodity, fresh water, sailors had to keep one hand on the water tap at all times to keep the water running. So, showering was a matter of getting wet, then soaping up without water, then hastily rinsing off.
After that, we wandered through the control rooms, where the decisions were made to plan each day's flights, which must have been an amazing task of operational ingenuity, with tens and even hundreds of helicopters and planes taking off and landing each day before they were stowed away in the hangar below the flight deck. We also saw the briefing room, where pilots were given their flight plans for the day. It was a room laid out much like an old fashioned classroom, with rows of chairs looking towards a whiteboard; but the seats were much more comfortable than any I've ever seen in a classroom.
Next, we explored the brig, where naughty sailors were punished, before traipsing through the engine room. By that time, I was almost as anxious to get off the ship as Sam, having had my fill of cramped stairway ladders on one crutch. We headed up to the flight deck to observe several helicopters and planes on display, and walked to the end of the surprisingly short runway. I am mighty glad I never had to land a jet on that deck! Inside, in the aircraft hangar, we had seen a tiny plane that had to be landed on the USS Midway by a civilian pilot in a wartime evacuation manoeuvre, with the pilot's wife and five (probably terrified) children on board, escaping from a war zone. I am even gladder that wasn't our family.
At last it was time to head off the museum ship and dash to return our rental car before catching the shuttle bus to the airport. On only one crutch this time, I was much faster at limping through the airport but we still had to "stop.screen.go" three or four times before we were allowed on the plane. Boarding began just as we arrived at our flight's gate.
You might have noticed I made no mention of lunch. We had an apple each while we waited for the shuttle bus, but there was no meal on huge plane (which we hadn't expected) so we arrived very hungry into Chicago. The O'Hare airport must be huge, because it took over half an hour for the plane to taxi to our terminal after we landed, and we almost began to wonder if the pilot was planning to drive us back to California! It took hours to collect our bags, find the blue line train to the city, purchase tickets and finally, slump, exhausted, with suitcases everywhere, onto our train seats. We couldn't sleep though, because we needed to get off at the right stop I the city. At time the train was on rails suspended above roads below! and at other times we were underground. When we finally emerged from the train it was darkest night, but the city lights lit our way as we dragged our luggage,several city blocks to our hotel. We stayed at the historic Congress Hotel on Michigan Ave, perfectly situated between Grant Park and downtown Chicago. Providentially, check in was quick at that late hour, and everyone was in bed in our suite by about midnight - and fast asleep not one minute later!
Sunday, July 20, 2014
One flight done, one to go
After a very hectic last few days in Cranbrook, we are finally only a few hours away from leaving Australia!
Everyone is presently sleeping draped over arm chairs in the international departure lounge in Sydney, catching up on a bit of rest after our midnight flight from Perth.
Everyone is presently sleeping draped over arm chairs in the international departure lounge in Sydney, catching up on a bit of rest after our midnight flight from Perth.
Wednesday, July 16, 2014
A Hearty Welcome
to anyone from Cranbrook, Kansas or even on a world cruise (Hi, Mum & Dad!) who might be reading this blog.
We'll be posting daily once we arrive in the USA on 21 July 2014, including photos if all goes well.
We'll be posting daily once we arrive in the USA on 21 July 2014, including photos if all goes well.
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