Seattle with Ragena!

Recently Army got to go PLAY with Ragena in beautiful Seattle. Ragena went up to Seattle to celebrate her sons 5 year wedding anniversary.

Ragena stayed at the Edgewater Hotel one night. Ragena's son works there and was able to get them a great rate at this 4-star Hotel. Many famous people have stayed at the Edgewater; everytime the Beatles came to Seattle they would stay here because it would help MAKE THEIR DAY. There was a little bear on the pillow of the bed, which Army became friends with. This was taken on the patio of Ragena's room, overlooking the Seattle Sound. If you look closely, you can see the gantry cranes in the background.

One appropriate stop in wonderful Seattle was at Pike Place Fish Market, the one in the FISH training video we have all seen a time or two. Here is Army with Ragena and two of the Pike Place Fishmongers, they were happy to BE THERE and pose for pictures. One of the fishmongers, upon Ragena's volunteering, even gave Army a little toss just like the fish that was "Goin' to Montana". Army didn't like the idea at first but he decided to CHOOSE HIS ATTITUDE and went for a little ride. So check out his flight by clicking on the box below.

Paris & Normandy France

Welcome to France!
There are hundreds of little villages scattered over the hills of Northern France. Every village has a church, but we did not let Army out of the ‘bag’ inside of the churches. This church was built in the 1400’s. The insides are still quite decorative with gold leafing on the alters, etc. The French used to be very active in their Catholic religion, but they are now very apathetic about religion. It is a socialist country and their response to the missionaries is ‘we don’t practice religion’. There is a traveling priest who does hold mass in the chapels on a rotating basis.

Mont-Saint Michel: George would not let army go into the abbey, but he did enjoy the warmth of the car that day while we battled rain, wind, and cold weather. Here is some history of this amazing site. Before the construction of the first monastic establishment in the 8th century, the island was called "monte tombe". According to legend, St. Michael the Archangel appeared to St. Aubert, Bishop of Avranches, in 708 and instructed him to build a church on the rocky islet. Aubert repeatedly ignored the angel's instruction, until St. Michael burned a hole in the bishop's skull with his finger.The mount gained strategic significance in 933 when William "Long Sword", Duke of Normandy, annexed the Cotentin Peninsula, definitively placing the mount in Normandy. Ducal patronage financed the spectacular Norman architecture of the abbey in subsequent centuries, completed in 1496 (500 years under construciton). It was converted into a prison during the French Revolution, but the ‘prison’ closed in 1863. The mount was declared a historic monument in 1874.

Notre Dame: Army loved the crowds and was very tired of being photographed with me, so I approached this young woman from China and in my best Chinese dialect asked her if she would hold Army while I took a picture with this marvelous edifice in the background. Of course, she had no clue what I was saying and thought I actually was trying to sell Army to her. She backed away from me and waved her hands, no, no!! I grabbed the camera from George and pointed to it and said ‘photo’…which I am sure is Chinese. She finally understood….so voila!! But she refused to hold Army… do you think they were warned before their tour, not to accept packages from strangers?

Louvre: This museum is massive. You had to check packages before going in….therefore, Army was back in the bag. Plan on several days just visiting the Louvre if you go to France. It was so windy that I did not dare set him down to take a picture or he could have been blown into the Seine river!

Eiffel Tower: Army did not get to go to the top of the tower. This tower is like a giant erector set made of 12,000 iron pieces with 7 million nails holding them together. I have always pictured it in the lovely park-like setting, but it is just stuck there right off the sidewalk. I understand that at night it is fabulous to view. It was built for the World Exhibition in 1889 in celebration of the French Revolution in 1789.

Omaha Beach: Again, windy and cold, and raining! Omaha Beach is the code name for one of the main landing points of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June, 1944, during World War II. It was one of the beaches of the D-day victory.

Napoleon Bonaparte: Army was excited to meet Napoleon who staged a coup d’etat and installed himself as Emperor of France in 1799.. and is remembered for being defeated at the Battle of Waterloo in June 1815. He spent the last 6 years of his life under British supervision but during his reign his policies laid the foundation of politics in Western Europe.

Where’s Army cemetery: Army got lost in this unique cemetery. Most of the flowers on the graves are glazed ceramic pottery pieces. The graves are covered as you see with stone plaques and various flowers… some of these graves were pretty current, so it is not an ‘old tradition’. The view in the back is Cherbourg harbor an important harbor during WW II where also Napoleon had built fortresses to guard the harbor.

Bread Shop: Army loved the baguettes in France. This was his favorite bread, purchased at a bar just around the corner from my brother’s apartment. I bought two loaves one day, left the bar, then went right back to buy another since I knew we would not be content w/ just two. My brother did not come so I had to communicate in French, “Encore! Un autre pain”. That did provide some humor for those in the bar.

Cows: We planned a picnic on one of our day trips. We stopped at a ‘boulangerie’(bakery) and purchased the sandwiches then drove through many quaint villages. This is the only ‘park’ we found and we were hosted by some French cows. Army loved having other ‘animals’ around.

Hope to be traveling with you sometime soon. Where in the world is Army Armadillo?

Panama Canal Cruise

Army’s Panama Canal Cruise Adventure
Jan 2,2010 to Jan 16, 2010
January 1 -Jennifer, her husband Paul and I flew to LA and took a shuttle to San Pedro for the night. Lots of Sail boats. I can’t wait to get on the water. Hey Pat, If this is what Group Therapy is like I am sure we would all like to sign up. Maybe this could be considered for our Division Retreat 2010.

Our stops along the way were Cabo San Lucas, Mexico where we went whale watching. Picture is for our favorite pirate, Phillip.
Acapulco, Mexico - where we watched the cliff divers. I tried playing the marimba and drums with my tail.
Huatulco, Mexico - where we saw Spanish folk dances. The local people loved me. I didn’t have the heart to eat my friends ( grasshoppers) a local delicacy.

Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala - where we visited the museum in the town of Baul to see Myan and Taltec artifacts. I found many new friends here. I also saw lots of sugar cane fields. We stopped in the town of La Democratia and saw several large stone carved heads called Olmec “fat heads”
Puntarenas, Costa Rica - where we took a taxi to church. Brother Gil and his wife from Portland were also at church. They were on another ship and I really felt small between the two ships. He served a mission in Puntarenas 30 plus years ago. First person he talked to as he came into the church was a man he baptized as a young elder. I found the Elders here.
Panama Canal, Panama - We were up about 5 AM as we did not want to miss anything.
Canal facts:
Canal actually runs north and south. It connects the Pacific on the South, and to the Atlantic on the North. Panama City is on the Pacific side and has many high rise buildings. The temple can be seen nestled in the jungle foliage on the hill side just outside Panama City. There are a total of six locks, two locks together and then a small lake. One lock and then the Culebra Cut that was dug for the canal. Then we crossed a big lake. Three locks to the Atlantic. It took between 8-9 hours to go completely through. It takes about 26,000,000 gallons of water to move a ship our size through the Canal. Water flows by gravity through the locks. The canal employs over 9,000 people and is open 24 hrs a day 365 days a yr. The toll or fee for our ship to use the canal was about $360,000 paid in advance. As we passed through the Culebra Cut, we also crossed the Continental Divide. Each lock raises or lowers the ship 27 feet.
Cartayena, Columbia - South America we took a sight-seeing tour of the city. We were amazed to find a large city with high rise buildings next to the old city that was very clean and well kept.
We were told by the tour guide to ask for Coca Cola if we wanted a drink. Jennifer got her first Coca Cola here since leaving LA. Boy did it taste good. Ask for Coke and you may end up in jail. Columbia is a main producer of Emeralds in the world.
The Pacific was calm sailing with wavelets (0.5 ft to 3 ft) but the first day and a half on the Atlantic side was rough (7.5ft to 12 ft.)
Some of my experiences on the Norwegian Star:
Lots of food
Over 2,000 passengers
Over 1,200 crew. My favorite was Madi who left me a new towel animal every night.
It was nice to have a new friend to hang with.
Entertainment
Chris Archer - fantastic banjo player
Jon Stetson - Mentalist just like on TV. I personally did not like him
The Second City - Improve comedy show
Ken Groves -Ventriloquist with dummy George and then Howard on another night.
He also used people from the audience
Chris Riggins -great singer - does modern, opera & broad way kind of stuff
Bob Trumell- magician
Dr Scott Lewis - Hypnotist- couple shows and seminar on stress and weight loss
We had a show put on the ships crew and another one put on by the passengers
Live music several different places on ship every night
Miles traveled by water - 4554 nautical miles (1.15 miles) from LA to Miami. Miles flying - 3243 miles. Total - 7797 miles give or take. There are many more awesome pictures that I wasn't able to include in the Blog, so if you would like to see them, please go and talk with Jennifer about them.

A Look Back at 2009

As 2009 winds to a close we take a moment to look back in reflection on what this year has been. In his first year of existence Army the Armadillo traveled an estimated 27,653 miles that took him all over the United States, including Hawaii, Philadelphia, Arizona, San Francisco, a MoTab Choir Tour, a Pacific Cruise and so many more beautiful and serine locations. The Blog was pretty successful as well as it was visited nearly 700 times by friends wanting to read one of the 11 blogs posted throughout the year. The whole adventure has brought a new dynamic to vacationing at Missionary Medical and Army is excited for the upcoming year and the places it will take him.

To begin 2010 Army will be going international as he visits the Panama Canal with Jennifer. Army also has a trip planned back home to San Antonio, TX with Nicco in February. One thing that Army has asked for is the opportunity to meet some famous people in his travels. He is excited and looks forward to many Road Trips, Flights, and Cruises with the great people of Missionary Medical. Here is to 35,000 Miles in 2010.

Queek Creek, Arizona

Courtney recently drove for 24 hours in an 84 hour vacation (can you say CRAZY!) to Queen Creek, Arizona to support some friends of hers at a baby blessing. Along the way Courtney decided to take a few dam pictures (Caution: if you were just offended by that pun, you may not want to read on as there will be a few dam puns throughout this posting, as Hoover Dam also plays off the "dam" pun humor). As Courtney was about to take this picture traffic was at a stand still. She got out to take the picture, and when she turned around to get back in the car the dam traffic had picked up and Courtney had to run across Hoover Dam to catch up with Curtis.

The trip actually started from Syracuse, UT and moved speedily down to Las Vegas, NV where Courtney didn't even spend a penny on gambling. Good Job Courtney! She did manage however, to take a picture of the Stratosphere in Las Vegas. The Stratosphere boasts the title of being the Tallest Freestanding Observation tower in the United States. It also has claim to the three highest roller coaster thrill rides in the world. Big Shot (1081 ft.) Insanity (900 ft.) & X-Scream (866 ft.).

The next eventful stop was just outside of Lake Mead at the Hoover Dam. The Hoover Dam weighs 6.6 million tons, which is the equivelent of 13.2 billion lbs. It produces over 2000 megawatts of energy with it's 17 dam generators, and provides water to over 25 million people by storing up to 9.2 trillion gallons of dam water. It is now the 18th largest dam in the world, though at one time it was the largest dam. It was also the first structure to contain more masonry than the Great Pyramid at Giza. The first death of the Hoover Dam Project was JG Tierney in 1922, exactly 13 years later to the day, his son was the last person to die by falling from an intake tower.

The Hoover Dam is currently constructing a bridge that will end up taking the traffic off of the dam, and moving it over to a bridge opposite the Lake Mead side. Courtney and Curtis may have been the last people from our office that were able to brave the dam traffic of Hoover Dam. Though it would have been fun to stop and take a dam tour, or a dam helicopter ride, they kept on driving straight through to Queens Creek, AZ.

This is an 8 foot mural in the home of Courtney's friend. It was painted by Courtney's friends brother-in-law (did you follow that?) and given to Courtney's friend as a gift. Notice that Army is posing in the bottom right corner of the picture. After Courtis and Curtney arrived in Arizona they helped their move from a city outside of Mesa, to Queens Creek. Then they attended the baby blessing and then drove back home. Not exactly your typical relaxing vacation, but one valuable lesson is learned. If any of us happen to move 12 hours away, and then need to move again, you can always ask The Larsen's to help out.

San Francisco, 2009

Golden Gate Bridge Facts - The Golden Gate Bridge's paint color is orange vermillion, also called international orange. Architect Irving Morrow selected the color because it blends with the bridge's setting
The bridge was fully painted when it was first built and then touched up for the next 27 years. In 1965, the original paint was removed because of corrosion and replaced with a inorganic zinc silicate primer and an acrylic emulsion top coat, a project that took 30 years. Today, painters touch up the paint continuously.
38 painters work on the bridge, along with 17 ironworkers who replace corroding steel and rivets.

One of the most interesting Golden Gate Bridge facts is that only eleven workers died during construction, a new safety record for the time. In the 1930s, bridge builders expected 1 fatality per $1 million in construction costs, and builders expected 35 people to die while building the Golden Gate Bridge. One of the bridge's safety innovations was a net suspended under the floor. This net saved the lives of 19 men during construction, and they are often called the members of the "Half Way to Hell Club."

Total length: Including approaches, 1.7 miles (8,981 feet or 2,737 m).
Middle span: 4,200 feet (1,966 m).
Width: 90 feet (27 m).
Clearance above the high water (average): 220 feet (67 m).
Total weight when built: 894,500 tons (811,500,000 kg).
Total weight today: 887,000 tons (804,700,000 kg). Weight reduced because of new decking material.
Towers: 746 feet (227 m) above the water. 500 feet (152 m) above the roadway. Each leg is 33 x 54 feet (10 x 16 m). Towers weigh 44,000 tons each (40,200,000 kg). There are about 600,000 rivets in EACH tower.

Lombard Street

Lombard Street is one of San Francisco’s most enjoyable attractions. Lovingly referred to as "The Crookedest Street in the World," it's actually crooked for a very good reason. It’s unbelievably steep! If not for the serpentine curves taming this treacherous slope, people would likely be killed rolling down. This stretch between Hyde St. and Leavenworth St. was built in the mid-1920s to accommodate the steepness of the slope.
Lombard Street is "The Crookedest Street", because of its eight sharp turns on a 40-degree slope. But it continues in both directions, going all the way east, up Telegraph Hill to Coit Tower, and continuing west down through the Marina, where it becomes the major conduit to the Golden Gate Bridge. A walk in either direction makes for a pleasant hike.

Some of the classiest and most expensive Real Estate in the city exists on Lombard Street. This Russian Hill neighborhood, somehow possesses stately mansions, condos and townhouses, even with the endless array of tourists pouring down the street every day. In the spring and through the entire summer, Lombard Street is alive with color, as the chrysanthemums, and other well tended flowers are in full bloom.

San Francisco Skyline

San Francisco has 215 historic landmark buildings, ten historical districts and 14,000 Victorian homes. From Alamo Square, the city skyline is a modern contrast to Victorian "postcard row."

Just found a little story about Army's cousin, this proves that we are in elite company with carrying around an Armadillo purse on our vacations. I don't know if this is true, but take it for what it is worth. http://tinyurl.com/y9tgvse