Yokosuka and Yokohama, Jan.4 and Jan.5

I am writing this at 8 am on Tuesday, January 5, 2010:

Yesterday Mike took us aboard the Shiloh where we spent a couple of hours seeing his work spaces, learning a little about what he does as a sonar tech. We saw a piece of equipment that is a huge winch that lets out some kind of a sensor from the stern of the ship. He showed us an expendable bathymetric cartridge which they launch directly into the water to get the sea temperature. Temperature is one of the components that goes into calculating all of the sonar activities, etc.

We went past the galley and mess decks (if he sees the galley ever again it will be too soon!) and we went forward and saw the bridge. Very cool, although the ship was commissioned in the 70s (we think) she is still very capable! While on the bridge the on-duty topside rover, named Bell, came in and spent some time with us explaining in a basic way some of the radar capabilities of the ship. He is a Second Class and is moving up quickly. He's very smart in his specialization and says he is always learning more about it. He'll make Chief I'm sure. He just got back from a 3-week leave when he got married and spent their honeymoon in Tokyo, sweet!

While on the ship we encountered the CMC, the Command Master Chief, a short cheerful black woman who greeted us warmly. Mike says she really cares about the sailors. We didn't see Captain Laughlin, who is relatively laid back and has an open-door policy so that sailors can come and talk to him. Since he assumed command the moral has risen considerably, according to Bell. Last, as we left the ship we encountered a man and his wife who were coming aboard. She introduced herself as the new XO! So Mike first met her while he was on leave and in civies. Quite a day!

Sorry, no pics on base-- not allowed-- so you'll have to Google the Shiloh (CG-67) to find pictures of her.
After that Everett's body was toast, so after visiting the main gate to turn in our application for houseguest passes, we returned to the Navy Lodge. Chili's is right next door, so we walked there for dinner and that was our day.

Apparently we are allowed to tour the USS George Washington if someone is available, so we may do that later on. We'll see. It rained last night so today is clear, yay! The Shiloh is changing berths today, and at least the sea and anchor duty will be in the dry, for which all will be thankful!

9 pm January 5, 2010

Today, Tuesday, Mike escorted us to the Main Gate and Everett and I took our own tour. From Yokosuka we took the train to Yokohama and spent the afternoon looking around there a little. 

 

Basically we just walked to the Landmark Plaza and through it to the Queen's Square, which are two really big connected malls. The Landmark Plaza is pretty high end, like Tiffany's, and the Queen's Square is mostly clothing, home furnishings, and food.

At the far end is the Pan Pacific Hotel, across the street from the amusement park, which has one of the largest ferris wheels in Japan-- it takes 15 minutes for one circle!

We walked a lot and looked at the stores, but most were two pricey for us, but had the most beautiful jewelry and clothes!  One place we did go into was the Hard Rock Store! I bought a pin and two tee shirts (on sale for basically half price) and Ev got a shot glass. The girl who waited on us was happy to find out we were from Los Angeles; at least that's a city that people have heard of :-)  They had a cute Hello Kitty shirt -->

but at 50 yen it was too expensive for me!

Here's a picture of the ferris wheel, which I rode, taking pictures, pictures, pictures-- the view was magnificent.

After Ev's knees both had fits, we caught the train back to Yokosuka.  We never got lost, and only got really confused once, which I think is pretty darned good!  Back in Yokosuka, Blue Street at night actually looks quite pretty.