Fun Times! (Con't)

OK, after the floats passed and we could safely walk to our car, We were trying to think of what else to do. Dad suggested that there was a submarine on the other side of the river and we should go see that, since he'd rather see a sub anyway. I said "I don't think we can tour it". But then I suggested that we should go to the OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) because we all know how much dad likes a good museum. Plus they had a CSI exhibit there (Crime Scene Investigation). I thought that might be kind of interesting... So off we went looking for the OMSI. I knew it was just on the other side of the river, but not exactly sure where, so I called Ron at work and he gave me vague directions. Well, we all know how directionally challenged I am, and we ended up WAY lost. We were all the way in Milwaukie, which is ~20 minutes away. Yes, I knew we were going the wrong way, but once you get on McLoughlin Blvd, there's no turning back... Until Milwaukie. So then I had to call Ron back and get step-by-step instructions from John, a guy he works with, 'cause Ron was taking a bathroom break... anyway, it was quite embarassing.

BUT, when we finally made it to OMSI, we discovered that you could, indeed, tour the submarine. It is called the USS Blueback, and it's claim to fame is that it was in "Hunt for Red October" (starring Sean Connery, etc). However, as the tour guide explained, it was only featured in very short clips because when they tried to shoot inside the vessel, it was just too small to fit the cameras AND the people... (You'll see in the pictures comingup).

This first shot is from the outside. And, of course, you can see Oregon's cloudy skies in the background...


Mom & Dad standing outside, with dad at his usual spot (i.e. at the front of the class, building an instant friendship with the tour guide so he could ask lots of questions!)


Once you get inside, the doors that take you from one section to the other are VERY tiny. This is what we had to crawl through. I guess it's so they can easily seal off a section if it starts to flood.


But, as you can see, the door was not made for old people, or pregnant people for that matter.... Let's just say we all were humbled by crawling through those doors.

This is mom & dad in the torpedo bay. Torpedos are huge!


Their entertainment rack was actually state-of-the-art for the time. I guess the engineers who worked in submarines were the best of the best, so they got alot of perks (including the best chefs and an ice-cream machine).

The eating galley was as tight as everything else. The tour guide stuck me in the far corner since he didn't think I could fit anywhere else... :(.

And, of course, dad had to try the hot bunks for himself. They're called "hot bunks" because there aren't actually enough beds for everyone. So, if you're one of the peons, you share a bed on a rotational shift with someone else. Which usually meant that the bed was still warm when you got in. (ew!)

You can see how small the beds were and how little privacy you had:

It was kind of cool to look out of the parascope. You could see all of portland. And, actually, we got to see the dragon races that were going on at the time (during the Rose Festival, you know).


So, we ended up having a whirlwind tour of the Rose Festival (we even stood in line for an hour before we gave up on the navy ships). On the way back over the river, one of the bridges were going up to let a boat pass. I sarcastically said, shall we take that bridge and get stuck for a while? :) and, to my surprise, dad said, Yeah!! Let's go see it go up and down. So, I flipped a quick u-turn and we went and sat on the bridge while dad watched it go up and down. We could see the waterfront from our vantage point, so dad pointed out one of the "new" rides to mom. It was her first exposure to the human slingshot. (If you've never heard of this ride, It's where you sit in a seat that is attached to huge elastic ropes which are attached to the top of ~100 foot poles. You sit down in a comfy seat and then you get propelled 100+ feet in the air. Not something I want to try). Mom didn't want to try it either.... scary.

Monday, I had to go to work, so mom & dad hung out at the house with Ron all day. Ron decided to surprise us and take us on a picnic dinner at the coast. They picked me up after work and we drove to Seaside, where you can actually drive the car on the beach. We worked up our apetite by taking a short stroll (~.1 miles) to the viewing deck.


Mom & Dad were certain that the trail was MUCH longer than .1 miles, and the signs must be wrong! So Ron & I went back for the car by ourselves so that mom & dad could take a shortcut to the beach. :)


then we found a big log that we could sit on and munched on melons, cheese & meat & crackers and a whole bunch of other food that Ron brought. You would think we were feeding an army with as much food as we had. But, better too much food than not enough!

After dinner, we drove further down the beach to see the Peter Iredale shipwreck on the shore. It's interesting that sometimes the boat is more buried than other times. It had quite a bit above the sand this time around, so we got some good pictures. Mom wanted to send this first one out as a postcard to everyone saying, "We survived the cruise!" Funny, mom!


and here's an obligatory shot of me and Ron. In my coat, I don't even look pregnant! but if you look at my feet, I'm wearing flip-flops because nothing else fits my big fat swollen feet!


Ron took some nice shots. Here's a good one of the sunset.


Overall it was a nice evening. Towards the end of the week, mom and dad went back up to Seattle for Ashley's graduation. Unfortunately I couldn't go since it was on a Friday morning and work was crazy-busy for me that week.

"Travel is 90% anticipation and 10% recollection"
Edward Streeter