After a two hour baseball practice, Jack, one of his classmates and I took off for the USS Hornet in Alameda. Jack's cub scout pack organized an overnight trip to the aircraft carrier. Last year, we went with the pack and stayed on a submarine, the USS Pampanito.
When we stayed on the submarine, it was just our cub scout pack. On the aircraft carrier, there was more than a dozen groups, including other cub scout packs, boy scout troops, girl scouts and YMCA groups. In total, there were more than 500 people participating in the live-aboard youth overnight program. Our pack actually had the largest group with 56 adults and kids.
As group, we boarded the ship and made our way to one of the crew berthing areas. After getting settled in, there was a fire drill. We were one of the few groups that ended up on the flight deck as part of the fire drill. From the flight deck, there was a great view of San Francisco and we got a chance to watch the sunset on the city. After the sunset, we made our way to one of the mess halls and had dinner.
After dinner, we wandered the hanger deck and took docent led tours of the Engine Room, Cataput Room, Brig, and Combat Information Center. We also went on the flight simulator flying a desert storm mission.
We crashed about 11:00 p.m. Unlike last year on the submarine, I did not stand one of the watches. On the USS Pampanito, we could wander around while we were on watch, including the deck of the sub. On the USS Hornet, you sat in a room while standing the watch; they did not allow you to roam the carrier.
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