Growing up as a Navy Brat, I have experienced many family day cruises, and have pretty much gotten sea sick on all of them, with or without Dramamine. But, when I was in college, my dad was on the USS Kearsarge, another amphibious assault ship, a
nd I had the opportunity to go on a tiger cruise with him. A tiger cruise is an overnight cruise, whereas a family cruise is just for the day. It seemed as though everyone but me was getting sick on the Kearsarge’s tiger cruise, so I felt pretty confident that I would be okay this year on the Makin Island’s family day cruise. (The Makin Island and the Kearsarge are the same type of ship, so I thought I would be fine.) I took some Dramamine and was excited to embark on a day cruise with James and my Dad to enjoy the beautiful San Diego skyline and Pacific Ocean. The day began with an amazing sunrise over Cowles Mountain to the East, and an intriguing sail under the Coronado Bridge. It really did seem like we weren’t going to make it under the bridge, but of course it is just an optical illusion. We were outside enjoying the warm San Diego sun, the salty air, the seals, and the downtown sky line, and I was feeling fabulous.
We had barely passed the cliffs of Point Loma when I started to feel horrible. Even on those big decks, you really feel the waves and the movement, and I wanted nothing more but to lay down and for the rocking to stop. Thankfully James has a state room with just one roommate, so I was able to spend a lot of time in his ra
ck asleep. Even though I was sick, it was still a lot of fun, and I enjoyed not having to go to work for a day. My dad had been on the ship all week, since he went on the tiger cruise with James, and I think he enjoyed being on a ship without actually having to do any work. And he was given his own stateroom, so I’m sure he enjoyed the entire cruise! The activities for the day included fly bys of helicopters, navy security patrols, and LCACs. There were other demonstrations, but I missed them due to my lack of sea legs. It was interesting being in James’ workspace though, because it seems like a movie with the blue lights. It seems so secretive and mysterious, especially when everyone in his division was playing video games on the computers. In their defense, they couldn’t do any real work when the workspace wasn’t secure, but it was entertaining nonetheless. To see more pictures of my Dad and my epic sea cruise on the Makin Island, check out our flickr site by clicking on the photos to the left.
Once Nebraska lost the Big 12 Championship game to Texas by a last second field goal, we were excited to see them come to San Diego for the Pacific Life Holiday Bowl. I have grown up on Nebraska Football, watching the dominant Tom Osborne teams of the 1990s and was excited to see them play twice in the same year. Angela and I were in attendance for the Virginia Tech-Nebraska game in September in which the Hokies paid the devil back for delivering us Michael Vick with a last minute win over the Huskers. I have been impressed that Nebraska hired Bo Pelini to take over their program, as Callahan was the worst hire in modern college sp
orts history and nearly ran the program into complete mediocrity. I mean, who installs the West Coast offense in Lincoln?! The Huskers came into the game a bit disappointed and cheated from their game against Texas and were set to play the Arizona Wildcats who were coming into the game off of an upset of USC. With the game across the street, we were excited to possibly tailgate and meet some fans . We ordered Nebraska T-shirts and game-faces and made the perfect tailgate food in runzas. If you have never been to Nebraska, a runza is meat and cabbage wrapped in dough. Simple goodness. I made a few then we hit the tailgates. It was raining (odd in SoCal)
so was not as picturesque as normal, but there was a buzz in the air for an exciting game. We bought good seats from MWR, bought drinks (Margarita in a cup, really?) and watched a packed stadium enjoy pre-game festivities. The game itself was a beat-down by the Huskers, winning going away 33-0, and we had a good time trying to stay warm. Sitting near a guy in a chicken suit was annoying but we moved when all the Arizona Fans gave up on their team. We got some sleep and got ready to drive to Vegas for New Years!
Pumpkins remind me of the fall leaves in Blacksburg. I was never much of a pumpkin eater until I went to college, and now I can’t get enough of it. When I found this amazing pumpkin muffin pan at Crate and Barrel, I had to buy it. This pan makes 3-D pumpkins that you put together with frosting (cream cheese of course!) And to make the pumpkins even better, we found pumpkin muffin mix at Trader Joes. 