Newport Beach Adventures

We had a great time in Newport Beach. At least I did. Dad was in classes all day. And he came down with a bad cold. But believe it or not, I think he still had a good time. He enjoyed his classes. We stayed at a hotel resort with sky-high palm trees. We were within walking distance of Balboa Island, and it was a short drive to the beach. We saw the sunset on the beach each night. It was wonderful. Now I have the cold and Dad is barely feeling better. We met some of Tommy's roommates yesterday. They were very interesting guys.

The Queen Mary

This is the boat my Dad sailed to Europe on in 1944. It is docked in Long Beach. It's used for tours and as a hotel and convention center. It used to be a luxury liner before it was commissioned to carrying soldiers. The inside is full of art and fine woods. I went early in the morning and was just about the only tourist on the boat doing a "self-tour" before my real tour. I got lost. It was spooky. This boat was known as the "Rocking Mary" because something in the design made it roll a lot. (they told us how much 20ft? and said it was a lot.) Dad told me that a lot of the soldiers were sick the whole two weeks or week? it took to cross the Atlantic. He never got sick. I guess that was rare. They took the doors off of the luxury cabins and put soldiers in bunks stacked five high. It still was a pretty fancy place.

The pictures of the sub

In the next blog, these pictures are missing.

The Russian Submarine

Bet you have already figured out how to run this thing.

These photos actually look more spacious than it was.

The technology was fascinating. So was crawling through the portholes.

Newport Beach

Here's Dad on the beach. It was so fun.

Here's me and a Russian submarine I toured

The submarine tour was a self-tour. As you entered each chamber through the porthole, a new recording would start describing the new chamber. It was very interesting. The narrator had a comical Russian accent.

News from Southeast Asia

We heard from Alex yesterday (letter). He didn't know anything about the Burma tsunami. Over 100,000 people have been killed. It has destroyed some of the major rice growing areas in the world. Apparently U.S. carriers with helicopters were practicing disaster rescues in the bay below Thailand. They are trying to negotiate with Burma (Myanmar) to let them in. They are loaded with supplies. The government in former Burma is reluctant to let the world in even though they are in a mess. I think they will. I hope they will. Fortunately Alex seems uneffected by this disaster. This seems to be an evil government. I don't really understand it, but the U.S. is working through China as they will talk to China, not us. The only place people are finding refuge is in Buddhist monasteries, which the government was trying to destroy before the storm.

Anyway. Things don't bode well for the rice supply for a rice-eating world.

Update

May 5, 2008

HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO We went to dinner at a Mexican Restaurant. They had free drinks with dinner (soda) and refills. And balloons. That was it. No mariachi band. No guitar strumming serender. No rallies or protests. Still, it's a great time of the year for a holiday.

The parents have plane tickets to fly to Washington over Memorial Day. It finally happened. We couldn't face driving. Not this time. The flights are still cheap!

We get to talk to Alex on Sunday. Does anyone have any questions for him? Then we fly to Newport Beach, Calif. in the afternoon. Dennis says it's really beautiful there.

I bought tomato plants for the backyard garden. Now that makes me feel like summer is coming.

The baby has a name: Laurel Soleil. Isn't that beautiful? I'm totally in favor. This summer is going to be pretty exciting.