This Flying Ace gave a speech to his 2nd grade class.It's been a while since we went out on New Year's Eve, but this year we partied on a decommissioned ship sitting at Alameda Point near Oakland, the USS Hornet. For the evening we were a crew of 7 including A, a high school sophomore, and her friend S, as well as S's mother L, K, and SM.
The faint, diagonal line of lights behind us at the top of the picture is strung from the ship's deck.
We had a table near the band, sandwiched between two dance floors.
The band was large, with 2 keyboard players, 3 singers plus additional backup singers, a couple of guitarists, a saxophonist, a drummer, and one of the singers also played trumpet.
The white 40's-ish hat came with the table. Walter and SM had the real deal and were complimented multiple times for their attire.
We were away the week before Christmas so, instead of letting a tree dry out and drop needles, we put up a small artificial tree. Evan did most of the decorating, including making the tree topper.
Thanks to Garrett, we now have toasty toes.
We were going to San Diego in August but events conspired against us, so we went in December. In August, of course, a campground cabin would have been perfect. In December we needed a space heater. But we were lucky -- It was sunny and uncrowded.
Evan provided inspiration for the tree. It wouldn't have been December without it.
Garrett and I went on a tour of the San Diego Bay. Though the boat was outfitted to hold a crowd, there wasn't one and we could sit or stand anywhere.
We visited ships and boats including Midway, a Navy ship built during WWII, and other Historic Ships at the Maritime Museum.
Z,D,R,I and Garrett after several rounds of Laserquest.
