Ships on Parade - and picture of the week!

I’m thinking I need to start a photo of the week posting…or month…a week may be too much pressure. Either way here is the photo of the week and its story.

Yesterday I had the chance to ride in the parade of ships that circled the sound and the Seattle piers as part of Seafair. (A traditional Seattle summertime festival of parades, hydroplanes, the Blue Angles, marathons, marching bands, the milk carton derby (my personal favorite), and of course the crowning of a local girl as Miss Seafair.)

So through people, relations, and those kind of odd connections that give you access to new things, I rode on the USS Princeton in the parade of ships. We boarded at the way too early hour of 8 am for breakfast, set sail, and filled our time parading around the Puget Sound with tours of the ship and meeting a few sailors. It was interesting even eye-opening—did you know that the severe gunmetal grey exterior of a navy ship is actually squishy and soft to the touch. It surely was a glimpse into a life far outside my own. Although I couldn’t shake the feeling of how odd it must have been for the many sailors to have three hundred or so guests crawling all over their home.

The USS Princeton was the lead boat in the parade and as such got to fire a seventeen-gun solute to honor an admiral that was sitting on one of the piers in Seattle’s waterfront. A sincere thanks to all the sailors for their stern advice about wearing the earplugs they passed out!

But the photo of the week (or month)!! By the end of the day everyone seemed to feel very comfortable on the ship, maybe a little too comfortable for life on a guided missile carrier. I couldn’t really wrap my brain around it. People milling about, talking, napping, even snogging on the missile launch pad! I’m not sure I would lie down in complete peace on the hatch door of a missile launcher. Are they crazy!?