November 2006- May 15, 2007--Really!
Well, the last time we wrote about our travels was months ago! We got to Grandma Etta's in Florida just before we flew home for Thanksgiving. Then we all went to Disney World. Then we had Sam and Hannah for a very fun week in Nettles Island. Then we flew home for Christmas and to help Heather move. Then we drove the motor home to Kissimmee so Mark could fly at the Kissimmee Airport and get his instrument rating. That took almost a month. But that was fine with me because I got to work on my quilt the whole time he was flying! In February we flew home for, we thought, a month so I could do everyone's tax work. However, we decided to go ahead and furnish 5 condo units we had for sale so that we could rent them out for short-term summer rentals. That meant that we had to stay for an extra month in Port Aransas. After Easter and the soon-to-be-Annual Spring Birthday Bash in Houston (since 3 of the 4 kids now live in the Houston area!), we finally flew back to Florida. We had the motorhome in storage in the same campground where we had camped for the month of January, so we got it out of storage and put it back on a different site in the same campground. Then I got to help with the long-arm quilting on my quilt. One of the campground owners teaches quilting and quilts on her long-arm machine both for residents of the campground and others in the area. It was VERY exciting to finally finish it--I started in 2004!
Mark drove with Grandma Etta back to New Jersey after we all visited with Aunt Mary in Ormond Beach. Then he flew back to the campground. (Love those free tickets from Brian!!) It is really quite ironic that on Sunday, May 13, we drove down to Fort Pierce and Grandma wasn't even there! We went to the SEAL Museum there.
Here is a short history of the SEALS. In 1941-1942 Draper Kauffman talked the government into setting up a training school in Fort Pierce to train Underwater Demolition Teams for the upcoming war. At first there were only 6-man commando teams, but these grew to become 100 man Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT). The Seabees (Navy engineers) constructed barriers and obstructions on the beaches and in the water for the UDT's to learn how to demolish them. In late 1942 the Army Scouts and Raiders came to Fort Pierce to train with the UDT's. After training in Fort Pierce, the UDT's went to Maui for further training.
In November 1943 a battle in the Pacific on the island of Tarawa taught the UDT's that they needed MUCH better reconnaissance and MUCH better maps before the troops came ashore. The training procedures were changed and with additional reconnaissance before the troop landings the results began to improve. The UDT's really had their work cut out for them in Normandy and proved their worth.
In 1962 a new, better, more elite group of UDT's started training to be Navy SEALS. These men trained for 6 extremely hard months. For one of those weeks of training, known as Hell Week, they were on the go constantly for 6 days with a total of about 4 hours of rest or sleep. They have a slogan for that week, "The only easy day is yesterday." The wash-out rate is extremely high. But for anyone who makes it through, they are regarded as the toughest of the tough.
New vehicles have been developed to enable the SEALS to arrive even more stealthily than ever before. The SDV (SEAL Delivery Vehicle) is an all black underwater craft that can open and disgorge the SEALS for their reconnaissance and return them to their ship. There is also an ASDS (Advanced SEAL Delivery System) that rides atop a submarine and enables the SEALS to arrive and leave without anyone knowing they were even close.
Probably every one but me already knew this, but Rudy Boesch was an enlisted man for 45 years and 3 months and a SEAL for most of that time. He competed on Survivor--but you probably know how that turned out. I don't...
We drove up A1A instead of taking the Interstate and then back to our campground.
On Tuesday, we finally packed up and left that campground that felt like home. We came in January and left in May--but we were home for 2 of those months.
We headed to Polk City to visit Fantasy of Flight for a second time. It was just as great as it was the first time. I know Sean would love the B-17 that you can walk through and pretend that you are in the war.
We are now in St. Augustine, Florida, which neither of us has visited in about 50 years! We are happy to be "back on the road again"!
A few pictures will follow when Mark gets to hook up to the Internet!
Mark drove with Grandma Etta back to New Jersey after we all visited with Aunt Mary in Ormond Beach. Then he flew back to the campground. (Love those free tickets from Brian!!) It is really quite ironic that on Sunday, May 13, we drove down to Fort Pierce and Grandma wasn't even there! We went to the SEAL Museum there.
Here is a short history of the SEALS. In 1941-1942 Draper Kauffman talked the government into setting up a training school in Fort Pierce to train Underwater Demolition Teams for the upcoming war. At first there were only 6-man commando teams, but these grew to become 100 man Underwater Demolition Teams (UDT). The Seabees (Navy engineers) constructed barriers and obstructions on the beaches and in the water for the UDT's to learn how to demolish them. In late 1942 the Army Scouts and Raiders came to Fort Pierce to train with the UDT's. After training in Fort Pierce, the UDT's went to Maui for further training.
In November 1943 a battle in the Pacific on the island of Tarawa taught the UDT's that they needed MUCH better reconnaissance and MUCH better maps before the troops came ashore. The training procedures were changed and with additional reconnaissance before the troop landings the results began to improve. The UDT's really had their work cut out for them in Normandy and proved their worth.
In 1962 a new, better, more elite group of UDT's started training to be Navy SEALS. These men trained for 6 extremely hard months. For one of those weeks of training, known as Hell Week, they were on the go constantly for 6 days with a total of about 4 hours of rest or sleep. They have a slogan for that week, "The only easy day is yesterday." The wash-out rate is extremely high. But for anyone who makes it through, they are regarded as the toughest of the tough.
New vehicles have been developed to enable the SEALS to arrive even more stealthily than ever before. The SDV (SEAL Delivery Vehicle) is an all black underwater craft that can open and disgorge the SEALS for their reconnaissance and return them to their ship. There is also an ASDS (Advanced SEAL Delivery System) that rides atop a submarine and enables the SEALS to arrive and leave without anyone knowing they were even close.
Probably every one but me already knew this, but Rudy Boesch was an enlisted man for 45 years and 3 months and a SEAL for most of that time. He competed on Survivor--but you probably know how that turned out. I don't...
We drove up A1A instead of taking the Interstate and then back to our campground.
On Tuesday, we finally packed up and left that campground that felt like home. We came in January and left in May--but we were home for 2 of those months.
We headed to Polk City to visit Fantasy of Flight for a second time. It was just as great as it was the first time. I know Sean would love the B-17 that you can walk through and pretend that you are in the war.
We are now in St. Augustine, Florida, which neither of us has visited in about 50 years! We are happy to be "back on the road again"!
A few pictures will follow when Mark gets to hook up to the Internet!
Editor's Note: They also had 5 grandkids in Port Aransas for the week of Spring Break!
posted by SienaBeanie @ 6:00 AM
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