Moving On

My time in Groton is nearing the end (thankfully). Not many memories that I will look back on favorably. The Submarine Command Course was challenging and frustrating. It is a necessary event, I suppose. I am glad it is done.

Next stop is in Newport, RI for two weeks of leadership training. After that I am home for a couple of weeks and then on to San Diego to report to the USS Topeka as XO. I am looking forward to this chapter of my career and hoping it turns out well. Anyone that finds themselves in the San Diego area - give me a call. I won't have a house or anything like that, but we can get dinner or something.

I spent Thanksgiving at home and it was great. Got to engage in relatively thoughtless activities like cooking and such. It was nice to see the family again. I am really looking forward to spending Christmas at home. This is my favorite time of year.

Take care.

Groton, CT

I made it to Groton, CT for the first stage of my school prior to relieving as XO on USS Topeka. Pretty uneventful trip through Detroit, MI. I arrived Saturday evening and friends Mark & Janelle picked me up and took me to their house for a little food and football watching. I got to my room on base at around midnight and set up shop. The room is alright. Clean and modern but no cooking facilities.

I have about a month here before we transition to the at sea phase where we ride a couple of submarines and do some war gaming stuff. Then back up to Groton to debrief the at sea time. I will be home for Thanksgiving and back to Newport, RI for a leadership school. Should be home for Christmas.

The Honda Fit is in the shop getting fixed after an accident Melissa had (no injuries). Total damage - $6,500. Ouch. Insurance pays for most of it, but the premiums seem likely to go up now.

I finished my ride to Glacier National Park the week before I left home. It was awesome. I posted some pictures over on my web site at www.web.mac.com/tnjallen. Not much riding in my future for now. Just have to keep looking at pictures.

That's it for now. Take care.

My Faith Took A Little Hit

So, walked out to the Honda Fit (Melissa's ride) to look at a paper in the window and this is what I saw when I came around the driver's side. Someone stole the rim and tire from the left front! And took the lug nuts, too. Unknown perps, but they have apparently been hitting people around our area and we are the third or fourth victim to have tires stolen from a Fit. At first I was just frustrated by the meanness of it, but now that I have the bill from the dealer (around $750), I am mad, mad, mad.

Not sure if I am more surprised at the lack of respect someone had for my property, or that I had any faith in that concept to begin with. Melissa suggested electrifying the car so they would get a surprise the next time. There is a little bit of me in that kid.

Either way, does no good to obsess, so on with life.

Naches Loop Trail

The family went hiking together last weekend on the Naches Loop Trail near Mt Rainier. It was pretty gloomy to begin but the sun managed to sneak out and the day was pretty nice overall.

Been busy and keeping busy this month and next. I just got back off a short ride on a sub and will be leaving next weekend for Japan for another ride - hopefully my last in my current job. After I get back I will be heading out for a week of motorcycle riding with a couple of friend out to Glacier National Park. The week after that I head out to Groton, CT for my school prior to going to my XO assignment. Busy, busy.

Glacier or Bust!

Only about a month until I leave on my motorcycle trip with friends to Glacier National Park in Montana. I am getting really excited!

My friend Ken and I are leaving western Washington on the 11th of September to meet up with Jason in Moscow, ID. The rest of the itinerary is purposefully vague as we plan to make it up as we go to a certain extent, and it is difficult to predict how far we will ride each day with so much awesome scenery to see. Destinations include Glacier, Helena, MT (Ken has family there), and two stops to see dams in Montana. Last year we pretty much stayed in motel rooms the entire trip. This year we will be camping a bit and that is another part I am really looking forward to.

I'll try to blog about the trip. I will also try to get some pictures posted on line as we go. Internet connectivity may be an issue, though. For those who haven't checked, or didn't know, our family web page is being updated again. The address is:

The Allen Family

Check it out. I have added a few short videos, too (need broadband for those). I plan to keep it updated in the future.

Other than that, I discussed a change in orders with my detailer and it looks like I am going to serve as XO in San Diego now instead of Hawaii. This is a much better deal for us as the family still plans to stay in Silverdale until Melissa graduates high school in 2011. I now await my orders.

Kids are getting ready to start school again. Melissa has band camp next week.

Take care!

Home Again

After the better part of 8 days and 3000+ miles, we finally made it back home Friday afternoon. It was a great trip! It was interesting that the weather back home was setting records while we were enjoying temps that were below normal and very comfortable for the most part. Highlights of the trip included Yellowstone, Mt Rushmore, the Crazy Horse memorial, Custer State Park, the Needles highway and lots of wildlife. We managed to experience a buffalo crossing on three separate occasions!

I have to say that Mt Rushmore was awesome. The visitor's center is very nice and clean, and getting in and out was pretty simple. We were here a week before the Sturgis bike rally and there were motorcycles EVERYWHERE! Made me a little bit in need of a fix, but that would have to wait. We were abel to hike a short trail around the base of the front of the mountain that gave interesting perspectives of each of the figures. The amount of detail is amazing. You could even see the glasses on Teddy's face. Mt Rushmore is only the centerpiece of the Black Hills, though. There is a full day's worth of adventure (maybe more) surrounding the area, and those mountains are some of the more picturesque I have seen.

Another interesting place to visit in the Black Hills is the Crazy Horse memorial. I have to admit that they are very interested in your money there, but it was worth it. The carving of crazy horse on the granite mountain is a privately funded venture. It has been in progress for a long time (like 40+ years) and all there is to see is the head and part of the arm. You can see the mountain in the background in the picture above. The white model in the foreground is a 1:34 scale model that I managed to capture with the mountain (not hard - it is set up for success). The memorial includes a rather large native american museum and restaurant and was a good stop.

The Needles highway in the Black Hills was also a very cool visit. It meanders up through solid granite and is rather narrow and very scenic. The drive included three tunnels carved out of solid granite. The most narrow was around 8 1/2 feet wide and I pulled the mirrors in for that one. That tunnel is in the picture above. Spectacular drive!

Our trip home ventured back through Montana, Idaho and eventually back into Washington. Jeannette and I went to a concert at Qwest Field in Seattle Saturday evening that included Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Montgomery Gentry, Sugarland and Kenny Chesney. It was awesome! Looking forward to a quiet day at home making sure the house is still standing before heading back to work for my last month and a half before transferring off to Perl Harbor.

On Our Way Back Home

Well, we are moving back towards the west. Strangely, we are driving through gray skies and 60F temps while our hometown of Silverdale is posting ALL TIME high temps in the low 100s. Good time to be gone!

We left Rapid City on our way to Livingston, MT this morning. I decided to make a side trip to the Devils Tower national monument - something I had not even heard about before this trip, but it is billed as the nation's first national monument. It was pretty awesome and I really want to return sometime when the weather cooperates a bit more and do the hikes around the base of the mountain. It dominates the surrounding countryside and can be seen from I-90 about 25 miles to the south. The tower rises about 1,500 feet above the valley floor.

We are staying in Livingston and will drive through Montana to Spokane on Thursday. Home on Friday! I am suffering from a slow network connection tonight and cannot post any pics ot my site, so stay tuned for those tomorrow, hopefully.

Our Family Vacation

We are halfway through our trip to Mt Rushmore. So far we have visited Yellowstone and the Grand Coulee Dam on our way to South Dakota. Grand Coulee was pretty cool and the size of the dam is incredible. You can't gain an appreciation of how large it is until you understand it is a mile across! It doesn't look that way. The dam puts on a laser light show every night during the summer. It was pretty cool and Melissa video taped it.

We left the next morning for West Yellowstone. Beautiful drive through a lot of mountains. The weather cooperated and it was a longish drive, but we made it before sunset. The town of West Yellowstone was a busy tourist place and the restaurants were pretty full even at 9:30 pm.

Yellowstone was spectacular. Our day started with sunshine and cloud free. As the afternoon progressed the clouds moved in and we had rain for a while. Our trip highlight was the buffalo herd crossing the highway near Hayden Valley. The picture in this blog is a shot of one of them. It was very cool and a little nerve wracking. I will put up more pictures when I get time.

We arrived in Rapid City, SD Monday evening. This was definitely the most exciting portion of the drive. We drove through a strong thunderstorm east of Sheridan, WY that made driving a pretty dicey proposition. Strong winds, heavy rain and lots of hail. I was doing between 15-20 mph and no one was passing us (we were not passing anyone, either). The best option was to follow the car ahead of you close enough to see his head lights. Reminded me of driving in Idaho during a blizzard. Whew! Also crossed the highest summit so far at 9400+ feet.

Today is Mt Rushmore. We are staying in Rapid City again tonight before heading home Wednesday.

New Driver In The House!

Well, Melissa passed her driver's test today. For reasons that are specific to WA state she must wait until August 5th to be fully licensed (must have permit 6 months before licensed). She was understandably happy, and we couldn't be prouder. I also talked to my insurance agent and she is going to cost me big time!

Not sure if I told everyone, but I currently have orders to be XO on the USS Bremerton in Pearl Harbor. There is a small chance that I could be assigned as an XO in San Diego instead. For now, Hawaii is my next home.

Been A While

On the Skykomish River

Well, it has been a while since my last post. Some of you already know this, but it may be news for the rest of you. After lots of soul searching, Jeannette and I have decided to continue our Naval service for a while. I had gone as far as getting my retirement approved for October 1st of this year, but never quite felt settled with the decision. After a little bit of arm twisting, I was allowed to stay in and will be moving on to be an Executive Officer on the USS Bremerton (stationed in Pearl Harbor). It will be my first assignment in Hawaii and it will a bit lonesome as Jeannette and the kids will not initially move out with me.

We really feel it is important for Melissa to be able to finish high school here where she has such a good start and great friends. Looks like a few frequent flyer miles in our future.

Our summer is kicking into high gear now that the kids are out of school and the weather is warming up. We have a family vacation planned out to Yellowstone and Mt Rushmore in July, friends Sherry & Charlie coming up for a visit in August and my last month at my current assignment in September. Also in September is a motorcycle trip out to Glacier with a few friends. Busy, busy.

Take care and more to follow.

Sun In The PNW

Sunrise Over the Puget Sound (Heading to Ken's)

This has been a nice week for me. I took a week of leave to get a break from work and was able to get out and ride a bit. My latest ride was up through the north Cascade mountains and it was spectacular. The area gets a lot of press and it is well deserved. It was another place that I have wanted to visit but haven't driven for some reason. I went with a friend of mine and we left early and got home late. A bit saddle sore, but it was worth it. There was a bit of snow up on the pass and the temperature dropped for a little while, but we mostly enjoyed 70F and sunshine - perfect riding weather because you can comfortably wear a jacket and keep all the protective gear on without becoming uncomfortable. Ken and I stopped for a bit of exploring on the way back through the mountains to get home. Hwy 2 follows a river for a lot of the trip down the western slopes of the Cascades and Ken likes to kayak and raft so he wanted to check out a particular set of rapids. It was nice and didn't take long to hike down to the river. A bit over 14 hours to do 460 miles and a lot of smiles.

Looking out over Diablo Lake in the North Cascades

Looking at Diablo Dam - one of the last you can drive over?

Also got some good news for Danny this past week. He was offered a position in the school district's gifted program and will be going to a different junior high school next year. He is excited and we are very proud. It was a tough decision for him as he had to give up football due to transportation issues. Those who know where we live also know that he walks about 30 seconds to get to school right now, but the new program he is going to do will require him to ride a bus.

I took leave for the next week and Melissa and I decided to do some kayaking on the Hood Canal Saturday. It was pretty decent weather for kayaking with clouds and about 55F. Turns out that anything much warmer is too warm for a wet suit, and the Puget Sound is too cold to not wear a wet suit! We had a great time and will definitely go again.

And Another Dam Trip!

Looking Out on the Sound From Edmonds

Yesterday was a pretty nice day by Pacific Northwest standards. It didn't rain, the sun made an appearance and it was a weekend day. A trifecta! I went for a ride east across the mountains and collected another dam near Wenatchee, WA. The dam's name was Rock Island dam. It was a very nice ride and I enjoyed it with some good company who had recently been convinced to sign up for the tour! I enjoy riding by myself more, I think, but it is nice to have company once in a while. It's not that I am a loner, just that when I am by myself I don't have to worry about whether me stopping every five minutes to get another "perfect" shot is going to annoy someone. My friend Roger is easy enough to get along with, though, so no worries.

Tim at Rock Island Dam

It was pretty cold when I left my house to meet up at the ferry to Edmonds. I got there in time but my friend was riding further and had less wind protection so he was late. I waited on the other side for him to catch the next ferry and that only helped warm up a bit as I drank a mocha and watched the birds. After we hooked up again we headed east over Steven's Pass. The road was in good shape but it was cold, cold, cold. 38F at the summit and about 45 minutes below 40F. Once we made it down the mountain into Leaveworth it warmed up to the low 60s. That was very welcome. On the ride back we stopped for a couple of pictures in the area where they filmed Harry and the Hendersons (remember that movie?!?). Got a picture with Bigfoot and then headed home. All in all it was a great day.

Me and Harry Hanging Out

Not much else to report here. Just looking forward to a summer full of sunshine.

Another Dam Tour Trip

Fishhawk Dam

So I decided to take advantage of the fantastic weather today (sunny and 70!) and rode down to northwest Oregon to pick up another dam. This one was more remote and required a bit of a trip that included some freeway riding, a bit of gravel on the road and a fair number of frost heaves to keep my back in the game. The gravel made some of the trip pretty stressful and I slowed way down to make sure I kept two wheels on the pavement.

The dam was purposefully built to make a lake for a housing community. These people live there just because they can - there isn't much anywhere nearby.

There was a light cloud cover (filtered sunshine) for much of the ride but you could see for a long ways. I managed glimpses of Mt Rainier, Mt St Helens and Mt Adams today. Not bad for spring time in the Pacific Northwest.

I stopped at an elk preserve on the way back to stretch my legs and a funny thing happened. There were about 15 bikes parked and as soon as I got off my bike this older gentleman comes marching over with some purpose and asks me "How much does a Roosevelt Elk weigh"? Huh? Apparently his group was doing some kind of rally and that was the question you needed to answer to get the clue to the next destination. I was confused for a moment but managed to eat my banana without being beaten up by anybody :)

Went on up to Astoria afterwards and then back up 101 to get home. All told it amounted to about 370 miles and 9 hours of riding. I am a bit saddle sore but feel accomplished!

Hired Help!

So when your son asks "Hey, Dad, can I earn some money?", you have to be ready to help out :)

Melissa's Winterguard Finals

Melissa's Winterguard Team

We watched Melissa's winterguard competition last Saturday in Auburn, WA. The kids did well and finished 5th in their class. There were quite a few teams and it was pretty cool to see all the effort they put into their performances. I will try to get a video posted on my site of part of the competition. The camera worked well but I am not technically proficient and can't figure out how to get the settings right so that you don't need a cable modem to view it!

Dam Tour

Washington State Capital at Deschutes Dam

So, I am doing this little adventure called the "Dam Tour" this year. It is really not much more than another excuse to get out and go riding. The object is to ride to a collection of PNW dams in Oregon and Washington (with a couple of bonus dams in California and Montana) and take a picture of your placard and the dam together. There are 8 in Oregon and 8 in Washington. My goal this year is to visit all 8 in Wahsington and that should keep me busy for most of the year, I think.

Today I managed to ride down to Olympia and visited the Deschutes dam. It was cold, it was a little moist, but it wasn't work (I had a day off, what better way to spend it)! I hope spring warms up a bit pretty soon. The neat thing about the Deschutes dam is not it's size (I had trouble actually seeing it), but rather it's location with the Washington state capital building in the background. I have included the picture I submitted with this post.

Have a great day!

Another Week Down

Well, another week down, another week closer to new employment. Things are slowly picking up steam on that front. I submitted my first resume and cover letter last week to an engineering firm for a job that I am not really qualified for. I am hoping to get some feedback in the interview process, assuming they call me back. I am hoping that my education as a Navy man will fill some holes that most people fill with more specific college degrees.

I am also attending a transition assistance class next week that will provide me valuable information about my benefits and also expose me to job hunting skills that I have not had to use in my entire life. There is a certain comfort level in being a career Navy person. The last job interview I had was for the dish washing job in high school. All I had to be able to demonstrate was the ability to lift a full garbage can up and into the dumpster. Check.

Not much else going on around here. Melissa had a concert last night at the high school. Stephanie is home on spring break this week and Danny and Melissa start theirs today.

Take care.

Home From Travel

Well, I made it back from Singapore and Guam. Had a great time there and was able to spend two days seeing the sites and getting very warm and sweaty. Singapore is only about 80 miles north of the equator and stays pretty warm all the time.

The trip back was uneventful. I am still trying to acclimate back to my home time zone. Strangely enough, I never seem to have a problem going to Japan, but it kills me when I come home. This trip was just about long enough that I became used to the time zone shift, so that made it even tougher. I think another day or so and I will be adjusted back again.

The second day in Singapore was spent riding the Singapore Flyer ferris wheel (the tallest in the world currently at around 190 meters). That was very cool and the source of most of the pictures attached to this blog. The view of the skyline was impressive. The trip all the way around takes about 30 minutes and the wheel never stops moving. It is going slow enough that you board and exit while in motion. The cars are all air conditioned, thank goodness.

We also made our way through Little India and a bit of China Town. Then I ran out of gas and headed back. We never made it to the night safari so I will save that for another trip perhaps.

Yesterday was Stephanie's 20th birthday and she comes home today for spring break. That means another round of tuition and such so that is going to hurt. Yeah! It will be nice to see her for a couple of weeks. Finally looks like spring is here to stay in the great Pacific Northwest. Please, please, no more snow!

Cheers!






This is a view from the Flyer at the top of it's trip. Notice the floating soccer field in front of the colored bleachers.

Singapore

So day one is complete. It was pretty much a lot of walking and browsing the first part of the day as we hit Orchard Avenue and the shopping district. Singapore likes to bill this area as their version of Fifth Avenue in NYC. Never been there, but it was pretty much stores as far as the eye can see. And the malls are set up in a very intuitive fashion in that the floors seem to be themed with common stores together. Baby and maternity on one floor, electronics on another, etc. That was actually pretty interesting in view of how we do it at home. Also, the malls seem to cater to a discrete level of clientele. We visited one mall that was very low end, and very crowded. It must have had a couple of hundred stores spread out on 6 levels. A different mall had maybe half as many stores on the same footprint and was clearly higher end. There are deals to be found and the stores will barter prices (don't worry Jeannette, I didn't buy anything :)).

Singapore strikes me as very clean and very polite. They are also very strict. There seem to be fines for everything, and stiffer penalties for some offenses. For example, get caught chewing gum or bringing it into the country and pay $500. Spit on the sidewalk, pay $500. And my personal favorite, don't flush the toilet and pay $350. Not sure how that one is enforced - I kept looking for cameras in the bathrooms but found nothing. Maybe some polite civil servant scurries in there after you and takes a peek. And I thought my job was bad!!! I did not see too many police officers out and about, but there are a large number of surveillance cameras on all the streets I walked, so maybe that's how they enforce.

After I tired of the shopping scene (and that happened sooner than you think) we took a bus tour around the city and saw some of the interesting sights. Also took a river boat tour down the Singapore River and got to see where they are building new casinos and where the F1 race circuit grand stands go. They are building everywhere. Amazing.

Transportation here is very user friendly with taxis, buses and trains very plentiful. Thank goodness because walking works up a sweat in a hurry.

The hardest thing for me is always the time shift and it hasn't been any better this time. My eyes popped open this morning at 0230 (1030 my time) and couldn't sleep again for about an hour and a half. About the right time to catch up on an episode or two of Lost. We are getting ready to go back to Chengi and do some more sight seeing through Little India, Little China and some of the other sights. I would post pictures but have not figured out how to get my notebook on the wireless here and the work stations in the hotel are pretty basic machines. I did get some good shots and will post later.

Take care.

Going On Travel

Well, things have already been busy and now off I go on travel. Hopefully this is one of the last long trips I have to make until I get out of the Navy. I fly tomorrow for Singapore through Tokyo. 18+ hours of flight time - not my favorite activity to begin with. The biggest issue for me so far has been something like a grocery store trip - window or isle. I picked window seats so we will see how that goes.

I get to spend a day in Singapore before going out to sea for a week and a half. I did a little research on Singapore and we plan to enjoy the night safari, a bit of downtown and then we will see where else we wind up. My journey ends in Guam. Oh, joy. Should be home on the 17th of March.

Stephanie's birthday is the 18th (she will be 20!) and I am planning a ride up to Mt St Helens to celebrate the end of winter on the 21st. I really hope the weather cooperates with that trip. March winds up with Melissa's color guard competition on the 28th. Oh, yeah, and Danny has a concert while I am gone. Man, this stuff makes the time fly by!

Hope to have some pictures to post on the Singapore trip for you guys. I am taking my small camera (only option - gotta keep it all in one bag). That's it for now. Talk to you all later.

Ready for Riding Season

I am trying a blog out to keep in touch a little better than I have in the past. I have included about ten e-mail addresses. If you don't want to be included please let me know and I will remove you.

I am definitely ready for the winter weather to go away. My bike is ready to go with a new (to me) seat and plenty of life in the tires. Plans this year include a long trip out to Glacier National Park in Montana with friends Ken and Jason (some group as last year's coast ride). I am really looking forward to that ride. I also hope to make trips down into Oregon in search of a group of dams that are on a ride list from a club I joined. Like I need another excuse to ride, right?

Getting ready to go on a long trip out to Singapore to jump on one of my boats. We will be in Singapore for a couple of days and then about 10 days underway before we pull into Guam and fly home. All in all I will be gone for a week and should be home on the 17th of March. I am looking forward to not doing that anymore!

OK. I think I may be done watching professional sports. They just don't seem to get it. The whole country is hurting right now and Manny turns down a $45M contract to play with the Dodgers??? I am not a Dodgers fan, trust me on this. The problem I have is that they don't seem to realize that they are turning me off.