Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Aboard the USS George Washington

On Tuesday, Darrell, Megan, and Anna had the rare opportunity to tour the USS George Washington aircraft carrier while it was docked in Singapore. (Unfortunately, the tour was limited to 2 or 3 persons per family, so I didn't make the cut.)


The GW is the navy's only permanently forward deployed aircraft carrier. The ship is currently deployed in the Western Pacific and Indian Oceans. Here is the navy's official statement regarding it's duties in this part of the world:

"The security environment in the Western Pacific region requires the United States to station the most capable ships forward for deterrence and the best possible response times for maritime and joint force operations. The forward deployment of GW ensures the ability of Commander, U.S. Pacific Fleet, to fulfill the U.S. Government's commitment to the defense of Japan, and the maintenance of international peace and security in the Far East in support of mutual cooperation and security. This posture also brings our most capable ships with the greatest amount of striking power and operational capability in the timeliest manner."

Here are some amazing facts about the ship:

Commissioned: July 4, 1992

Propulsion: Two nuclear reactors that permit the ship to steam for almost 18 years before refueling.

Speed: More than 30 knots

Length of Flight Deck: 1,092 feet

Width of Flight Deck: 275 feet

Height (keel to mast): 244 feet

Flight Deck Area: 4.5 acres

Combat Load Displacement: 97,000 tons

Number of aircraft with embarked Airwing: About 75

Aircraft Elevators: Four, each 3,880 square feet

Number of Catapults: Four

Number of Propellers: Four, each 22 ft. in diameter, brass, five-bladed and weighing 66,200 pounds each.

Number of Anchors: Two, each weighing about 30 tons

Crew accommodations: 6,250

Length of Flight Deck: 1,092 feet

Meals served daily: 18,000

Number of Compartments and Spaces: 3,360

Daily capacity of Fresh Water Distilling Plants: 400,000 gal., enough to supply 2,000 homes

Length of Wiring and Cable: More than 1,400 miles

Tons of Structural Steel: 60,000

On the flight deck.



Standing next to one of the 30 ton anchors.

Inside.

In the driver's seat.

Not Your Average Pony Ride

My animal-loving girls have fed many animals in their day: giraffes and lory birds in San Diego, penguins at Sea World (thanks to Dad's Cousin Kim), and lots and lots of goats at Tanner's Orchard. However, one species they've never fed, much less ridden, are elephants. Singapore has a wonderful zoo, with great shows and large, open enclosures that allow you a close view of many of the animals. At many places in the zoo, the monkeys are in the trees right above you. One of their daily shows is the elephant show, which demonstrates how the elephants have traditionally helped with manual labor in this part of the world. After the show, you can purchase a basket of fruit (apples, bananas, & carrots) to feed the elephants. They are very good at grasping it with their trunks, the ends of which function kind of like a hand. And then at certain times of the day, you can purchase a ticket to take an elephant ride, which the girls did on Monday. I opted to stay behind and capture the moment on film.

MacRitchie Reservoir Park

Now that we are back in Singapore, we are keeping busy before school starts by doing more exploring of our new home. One unchartered area was the MacRitchie Reservoir Park, one of the nature reserves in the middle of the island that hosts a 250m long, 25m high free-standing suspension bridge. We recently decided to do a family hike to the "tree-top walk." Any type of outdoor activity in Singapore is always a sweaty endeavor and this was no exception. There was plenty of whining from Anna about having to walk 8km, but she loved the suspension bridge (Megan did NOT) and also the monkeys, until they started advancing rapidly towards her in hopes of a handout.


Here is a view of the reservoir at the beginning of our hike:

The girls enjoying a rest in the rain forest.
Two of many monkeys seen on our hike.

Our destination: the suspension bridge.

A large monitor lizard spotted in the leaves.

Our Trip Home

We arrived back in Singapore early last Monday morning after a whirlwind 5 week trip to Oklahoma, Kansas, Illinois and then back to Oklahoma. A Singapore neighbor and I were comparing notes and I counted that I relocated my huge suitcase 12 times during this trip (I won our little contest hands down). We had a wonderful time catching up with all of our friends and family and really appreciate everyone who fed us and let us stay with them. We also enjoyed eating all of our favorite foods, shopping at Target and other stores, driving through drive-thrus, and my personal favorite - pulling into nice wide parking spaces forwards.

Here are a few highlights from our trip:

OKLAHOMA

One of the highlights was loving on our favorite dog, Mr. Red, whom we adopted in Kansas. He was too elderly to make the move all of the way to Singapore. He is currently being totally pampered and spoiled by my mother in our absence, but he definitely remembered me and girls and was happy to see us. He has had some health problems, so we were thrilled that he was still around for our visit.

Two favorite pastimes at Grandma and Grandpa's house include feeding the ducks and geese and fishing in the pond behind their house. Anna was a very dedicated fisherperson, spending several hours fishing and she was rewarded for her patience by catching a bass as long as her forearm.

KANSAS

Anna and Megan had fun catching up with their Kansas friends during our visit to Manhattan. Here is Anna with Megan and Anna Keenan. Their parents were kind enough to host us for several days while we were there.

Another highlight of the trip was visiting our good friend, Ashley Foster, who gave Megan horseback lessons and taught her to jump while we lived in Kansas. Ashley was very kind to let us come and ride in her barn for a week and then took Megan and Anna's favorite horse Reba to a horse show in Topeka so they could both ride in the show. Ashley's mare Cosmo had recently given birth to a colt and here we are visiting with 3 week old "Durbin."

A rare moment of cooperation as big sister Megan helps Anna with her collar before her class (and Anna actually lets Megan help her).

Here are Anna and Reba before their flat class.

Here is Megan on Reba in one of their jumping classes and then after the class. Megan and Reba had a great day and won the medal in the their jumping division.

Here is fearless Anna having a great time riding Reba bareback. I thought that she would be frightened as she had never ridden bareback before, but she took off on Reba and trotted her around like a pro.

After the show, Megan and Anna were busy plotting how they could abduct Reba from K-State (who owns her) next summer. Steady and reliable Reba has been greatly missed since our relocation to Singapore, where the ponies continually buck, bolt, and refuse fences.

PEORIA

Hanging out with Garrett and Danielle Dominy at their house in Metamora.













An early birthday party for Opa's 70th.

Who are these stiff looking guys?

More fishing with the cousins at a pond near Oma and Opa's house.






Our trip to Peoria included visiting one of our favorite places there - Wildlife Prairie Park.




For the first time in all of our visits, these two badgers were out of their burrows and actively digging in the dirt.

Black bear at Wildlife Prairie Park.

One afternoon was spent happily playing with the cousins at Sommer park.

Another great day was spent reconnecting with Jenni Schuck and her kids at the newly expanded Peoria zoo. Jenni went out of her way to help us get settled in Singapore and is a wonderful friend. Her family relocated to Decatur in January and are greatly missed in Singapore! (The zoo expansion was pretty impressive too!)


The lions in Peoria have a new habitat over- looking the other Africa exhibits.

Anna and Morgan climbing on a statue of an animal instead of looking at the real animals!





The new giraffe exhibit.

Megan and Adam goofing around.


Another evening at the Dominys' house which included our friends the Polonuses and a quick drive to Roanoke to see their fireworks display.

CHICAGO

Our trip to the U.S. wouldn't be complete without a visit to the Diamond Headache Clinic in Chicago and, more importantly, spending time with our good friends the Daverns in nearby New Lenox. Here are my beloved college friends Lisa, Kim, and Amy (who I can only think of as "Sned").

Cailey, Sara, and Megan take a break from swimming to pose for the camera.

Anna hamming it up with Lauren and Rachel at the Daverns' pool.

OKLAHOMA (again)

As our trip neared its end, we headed back down to Oklahoma to spend a little more time with my side of the family, return our truck to my parents for safekeeping, and, ultimately, begin our very long journey back to Singapore.

We took my grandmother out for a barbecue lunch (something we don't get in Singapore). My grandmother Pearl recently turned 100 on May 1. She has a 98 year-old sister and they both are in amazing health for their ages.


Here is my grand- mother's beautiful backyard garden. Her favorite hobby keeps her young!



Four gen- erations.

Megan and Anna in grand- mother's backyard. Looking at this sweet picture, it's hard to believe how much they fight.

Grandpa Gale had the brilliant idea of pulling the girls behind his fishing boat on a tube. Needless to say, this was a very popular activity!

Even dad got on the tube! Grandpa may have created some monsters!

And then we had to pack up everything we had accumulated and prepare to journey back to the other side of the world for at least another year. All in all, we had a great visit and look forward to seeing everyone again very soon. In the meantime, you can see what we're up to here on the blog. I promise to be more diligent about updating!