Friday - February 17 - Meet the Stennis and Ryan Day

After 14 hours of flying yesterday and then the 5-hour time difference, we crawled into bed at 10:45 PM in Hawaii or 3:45 AM eastern time......

Not sure when we'll get adjusted to all this time change, but what the heck, we didn't come here to sleep.....up and at'em this morning and after breakfast we left for Pearl Harbor and walked around reading all about that fateful day - 12/7/41.   Lots of people taking the boat ride to the USS Arizona Memorial.    We along with other Tiger family members had a great spot for viewing and with the binoculars, we could see the Stennis coming in from way out.....oh my, what a proud moment seeing all those sailors and officers on the flight deck!

Here comes the USS Stennis and Ryan

The USS Arizona Memorial

The Stennis was docked by 10:30 and while waiting for Ryan, we took many photos of all the families waiting for their loved one to disembark the ship; the HUGE garbage detail taken off the ship; the many trucks reprovisioning the ship and on and on.   The time passed quickly just watching all the activity.    We drove to the Hickam Naval Base where the Stennis is docked and watched as the first 1,000 left the ship....unreal!   5,000 more to go!    Ryan was in this first group and off the ship around noon!

We checked into the Hilton Hawaiian Village (beautiful resort on Waikiki Beach).   Had lunch at The Tropics and just sat and chatted away.....


Ryan and proud Dad 

Ryan and his proud Mama

Sat by the pool sipping pina coladas and mai tais - what a beautiful place and so thrilled to be here with Ryan as we wait for the Tiger Cruise.

We went for a long walk along the beach (after all that sitting yesterday, sure felt good) and then enjoyed the excellent fireworks on the beach - big crowd on this beautiful evening.   

My cousin, Clarine had surgery yesterday and praying and hoping for a complete recovery!

Time to catch up on some sleep!

2 comments:

M & N said...

Sooooooooo glad to have Ryan back safely. Now we can turn our "safety" prayers for him into "grateful" prayers for him. What an idyllic place to reunite. Enjoy. Pat - I hope you have an extra special birthday, especially knowing your baby is home safe and sound. Love to all N & M

Anonymous said...

My Oh My, Pat that sounds like a grand sight seeing the Stennis coming into port with all the crew standing on deck. We stayed at a Hilton on Waikiki Beach. I think we stayed at the Royal Hawaiian Hilton which is the big pink hotel on the beach. Our room faced the beach and we could see Diamond Head from our balcony. It is a beautiful spot and so appropriate for a reunion and to celebrate a birthday. It took several days for our bodies to get accustomed to the five hour time difference. You are literally up 24 hours. Going to Europe is not as bad as going West. Have a wonderful time and tell Ryan we are so proud of him and his service to our country. Love, JudyB