So while we were in Coatesville, PA (where we were "landed" on our third day back on the road after our volunteering stint in VT from May-October) we went into Philly to meet up with a very dear old (as in long term friendship, NOT age because he and I are the same age) friend of mine.
Robert is the Chief Engineer of his ship
and graciously offered to give Rick a tour of said ship (he offered the tour to me as well, up until the time I had my mishap and broke my arm, at which time said offer was rescinded - no broken appendages allowed on board!!). Sadly, neither himself, King Richard, or I took a photo of the "stairs" from the parking area up to the ship ... with or without said broken appendage I don't think this blogger would have scaled those steps ...
Rick, surprisingly enough, didn't strongly object to the stairs and I think he has a worse fear of heights than I do ... then again, he knew a great tour was in order after the stairs so I guess that may have been what fueled his bravery!
Robert and I have been friends since junior high school ... (yes, that IS a looong time) ... his mother and my mother worked together and our parents were friends beyond that.
Robert went to Mass Maritime and traveled the world before "retiring" ever so briefly ... some people just aren't meant to retire and he is one of those people ...
The Regulus ("Robert's ship") is in what is referred to as a "ready reserve" status by the military and can be ready to sail per the military within 96 hours of order! She (why are ships referred to as she??) is 946 feet long and can carry 700+ military vehicles ~ YIKES! The link provides some interesting statistics - well worth the quick read.
While on the Regulus Rick got to see the USS Kennedy (foreground) and USS Forrestal docked ("moth balled"). He did find this quite distressing, although he did say that these ships were available as a donation to "anyone" willing to maintain them (??) I had hoped that the King himself would provide some personal thoughts about his tour here, but alas, that was not to be ... try as I might just not gonna happen ;-(
While Rick and Robert were touring I stayed in the car with a good book and my camera ...
Enjoying a pretty nice sunset and some seagull noise .... Indeed, a wonderful time was had by all (Thank you Robert, as always, it was great to see you, and hopefully we'll catch you on our April north bound journey somewhere in Baltimore!)
hopefully this post, and lack of cast, will get me back in blog mode .... stay tuned to find out ....
