Europe Trip - Salzburg, Austria

I love the trains here in Europe. It is a great way to travel, in the little compartments with bench seats that face each other. It makes it very easy to meet new people and strike up interesting conversations. On our night train we were able to pull the seats together for a convenient bed and get some good sleep.


We have been in Salzburg for two days. Yesterday, we hiked up to the Hohensalzburg Fortress on the hill yesterday. You can see the entire city from the watchtower with great views of the surrounding countryside and mountains. We went on a nice tour of the castle and saw some pretty chilling torture instruments. It was ruled by archbishops in the past and has never been captured by enemy forces.


Our hostel was close by the base of the fortress. I played some volleyball with some French Canadians staying there as well. They sucked! Heh! The cute girl who invited me to play was very nice. Too bad, I don't speak French. After a huge dinner, Greg and I bought a bottle of wine and walked across the river with Wendy and hung out at a park, playing cards and on the playground equipment.


Today we went to see the Watergardens at Hellbrunn. We got pretty wet. They filmed the movie "Sound of Music" here in Hellbrunn and Salzburg but I have never seen it. Afterwards, Carey and I explored more of the city. We stopped and had this really delicious sausage with cheese in the center. It came with a tasty roll and some really hot mustard. I am going to have to get that again before we leave.


I played some more volleyball tonight. It is my favorite sport to play.

p.s. This postcard cost 9 schillings which is about 1 dollar.

Europe Trip - Venice, Italy

Getting to Venice by train is very interesting as it leaves the Italian mainland behind and crosses the lagoon on a long causeway. I was struck by the first amazing view of the city as we left the front entrance of the station onto a broad terrace leading down to the Grand Canal with the domed church of San Simon Piccolo on the other side. We took a waterbus and checked into the Ostello Venezia which is a nice hostel right on the edge of the Canale della Giudecca.


Traveling around a city by the "vaporetto" is so different and very cool. Every type of boat can be spotted cruising by, garbage boats, delivery boats, construction boats and police boats. We went to the Piazza San Marco and climbed to the top of the bell tower, the Campanile di San Marco. It had a great view of the city surrounded by water on all sides. The piazza below was swarming with pigeons. If you jump into the air and stamp your feet when you land, a flock will take flight around you. Pretty cool.


After that we went exploring further into the city, checking out the canals and visiting the "Bridge of Sighs". A little kid in front of us almost fell into one of the canals while riding a toy car. His father grabbed him right before he fell in. There was an interesting leaning tower near a square where we stopped for a hot salami pizza. We found Italians to be very friendly on this trip but the exception was in Venice. The waiter was one of the only friendly Venetians we met. Maybe they are tired of dealing with so many tourists here.


Today, we took a water ferry across the Lagoon from Venice to Lido and walked across the narrow slip of land to the beach on the Adriatic Sea. The water was very warm with no waves and we stayed till five before heading back.


We are having dinner at the hostel and later tonight we are taking a night train to Munich, then hopping a train to Salzburg in the early morning. We are leaving Venice earlier than we want to because there is no room in the hostel for the girls for another night.

Europe Trip - Florence, Italy

Greg and I arrived in Florence today about 3pm. We were able to see allot of the city, visiting the crowded Duomo and the famous bridge, the Ponte Vecchio. We also went to the Galleria dell'Accademia to see Michelangelo's statue of David. It was much bigger than I thought it would be. Another cool statue was the Rape of Sabine. Afterwards, we had a really nice dinner at a small little restaurant for only 14,000 lire.


While staying at the hostel in Rome, I was given a unused Florence bus ticket from a Mexican who had just arrived from there. I stamped the ticket in the machine when I jumped on the bus here and everything was fine until an inspector came on the bus at the next stop and started checking tickets. He didn't seem to like mine and asked for my passport. I don't understand Italian so I had no clue what the exact problem was but he wrote down my passport number and gave me a yellow citation. I don't know what it says so I am just going to ignore it. (Shrug)


The hostel here is surrounded by vineyards and has the appearance of a large country mansion with nice courtyards to hang out with fellow travelers. Greg and I were given a smaller two person room with its own bathroom which was also very nice.


There are thousands of fireflies dancing around tonight. We are leaving for Venice tomorrow to meet up with Wendy and Carey who went to Milan instead of here.

p.s. We keep having the same problem when we buy bottles of water. We keep accidentally buying carbonated water which we don't like. It is hard to tell by the label and even when we try to ask we still get the wrong one sometimes. Oh Well.

Europe Trip - Rome, Italy

Well, we just did Rome in a day. We started out at the Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museums near our hostel. The Sistine Chapel was smaller than I expected but the Vatican museums were very extensive and the best I have seen so far. Afterward we took the subway to see the Coliseum and the Ancient Roman Forum.


Outside the Coliseum we saw the strangest sight, a man grabbed a Gypsy women by the front of her shawl and started slapping her back and forth across the face while screaming. Her small children were yelling and grabbing at the man for several long seconds before she finally pulled his wallet out her clothes and handed it back. He was lucky his friend had spotted the women pickpocketing him. After getting our backpack swiped in Barcelona, I wasn't too concerned about the rough way he had gotten his wallet back.


On the walk from the Forum to Trevi's Fountain (after tossing a coin into the 2nd tier) we stopped for pizza and calzones. The lira here stretches much further with our $30 dollar a day budget and we are getting allot to eat. We then went and saw the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. Very Cool! Wendy and Carey kept complaining about getting felt up when ever we were in a crowded area. We ended up back at St. Peter's Basilica and waited in a line to check out the inside.


It was a very long day and it was nice to just hang out on the steps of the hostel and talk to the other travelers when we got back. Ostello della Gioventu Foro Italico is the largest, loudest and craziest hostel we have stayed at on this trip. Down in the game room, the ping-pong players are insanely good. They were fun to watch.

p.s. It was hotter than Hell in Rome! I tried to keep cool by sticking my hand in every fountain we passed.

Europe Trip - Genoa, Italy

We arrived in Genoa, Italy on Saturday. There was big parade for the patron saint of the city. It had big wooden crosses that were 15 feet high and really heavy. A man would carry one in a harness with his hands behind his back and supporting it with his head only. Fireboats were spraying water in high arcs in the harbor.


We met up with Wendy and Carey, the two girls from Colorado we met in Bordeaux and walked around the city. We tried the Italian Gelato and were blown away. Wow!! I also had Pesto for the first time for dinner. I guess it was created here.


On Sunday we all visited the house of Christopher Columbus and took a train to Cinque Terra for the day. They are five little towns on the Italian Riviera. We hiked from the first town of Monterosso al Mare to the second of Vernazza on a trail that wound through vineyards and along the cliffs over the Mediterranean. The water was so clear. It was amazing.


We had a big pizza for dinner and I saw fireflies for the first time as we walked up the hill to our hostel. Pretty Cool!


p.s. We could see the entire Genoan harbor from our hostel on the mountain side. Great view and the nicest place that we have stayed at so far.

Europe Trip - Nice, France

We left Barcelona on Wednesday for Nice and had a really fun 8 hour stopover in Montpellier, France. There was a big music festival with thousands of people crowding the streets with bands on practically every corner. We had a great time untill we boarded our night train after midnight.


Yesterday we went to the beach in Antibes, which is a short train ride from Nice on the French Riviera. Antibes had a nice sandy beach which was nice compared to the cobblestone beaches we found in Nice. It was very hot and sunny and I was able to work on my tan.


Greg and I got a bit lost looking for the beach. We were navigating the narrow streets and found a long rock wall blocking our access to the sea. We spotted a pretty girl in a bikini walking by and we decided to follow her thinking she would be able to lead us to a beach. We were right.


Today we visited Cannes and Monte-Carlo. It was raining & cold so we didn't get to see that much. In Monte-Carlo, we took the poor man's tour by hopping onto the city bus and riding the circular route through the tiny principality. The alternating hot and cold weather we have been having has given me a mild sore throat. Hopefully it won't last long.

p.s. It is pretty weird sleeping with the paper sheets they give us at the Espace Magdan, our hostel in Nice.

Europe Trip - Barcelona, Spain

This is our second day in Barcelona. It was a long train ride with standing room only, but the views of the countryside as we crossed over the Pyrenees into Spain made up for it. We are staying at the Pension Fernando, right off of Las Ramblas, the tree-lined main street. I have wanted to come to this city since watching the 1992 Olympics.


It was beautiful today, so we went to the beach. It was my first time at a beach with topless women so I tried hard not to stare. Lots of boobs.

We had our backpack ripped off. We were sitting resting on some steps and Greg had the pack sitting between his legs when a guy came over from our left asking for a cigarette. He chatted with us for a minute, distracting us while his friend snuck up from the right and snagged the bag. We didn't notice it was missing for a few minutes after he left and then we ran around looking for him. Greg was really pissed. The backpack had the camera with allot of cool pictures in it, my sunglasses, and my walkman. The worse loss for me was all the pictures we took in Tours, Bordeaux and here in Spain.

Europe Trip - Bordeaux, France

We went to the huge sand dune, La Dune de Playa, in Arcachon about an hour's train ride from the city of Bordeaux. It was amazing and 117 meters tall at its peak. We took some cool pictures from the top as we took turns making huge leaps down the sand faces.

    When we got back to Bordeaux, we went bar-hopping with two girls we met from Colorado and two French girls that are students here. They were fun. We ended up staying out until the sun started to rise in the morning. It started to rain on Sunday so we just slept most of the day to catch more sleep as we are still very jet-lagged. We stayed at the Maison de Estudiants which is student housing during the school year but rents rooms to travelers during the summer when most of the students are gone. I tried speaking some French at a nearby store with my phrase book but totally failed. Heh! p.s. It was 10 dollars for a tiny pitcher of beer.

Europe Trip - Tours, France

We took an early morning TGV from Paris full of screaming school kids. The TGV is the very fast bullet train here in France. It was a very smooth ride but I would get startled every time another train would shoot by on the second track at full speed while I was admiring the countryside.


We are staying in a nice little place called Mon Hotel about a block away from the Saint-Gatien Cathedrale. Greg and I were so tired from two nights of no sleep that we didn't care that our room only had one bed. We passed out on the bed and slept past noon. Tours is very nice and full of young people. I think that is because this is a college town. I wish I could speak French.

We had some great coffee at a cafe and ended up seeing "Dumb and Dumber" dubbed into French at a theater. It was still funny.

Europe Trip - Paris, France

I bought this postcard in a little shop in an alley outside of Notre-Dame. Right now it is 2 am in the morning and I am sitting in the waiting room of a very cold train station. My friend, Greg, and I are going to the city of Tours in the morning because Paris is very expensive. Earlier we had been hanging out in the warmer locker room, but the French Police came in, looked at our passports and then kicked us out of there.


We flew here from LAX with Air France and they had the best airline food I have ever had. I like the baskets of rolls that they pass around with the meals.


We walked from Notre-Dame to the skyscraper at Gare Montparnasse, then over to the Eiffel Tower, and then finally to the Arc of Triompe. They have some interesting portable pay toilets in the streets I have never seen before. They have an electric door and are self-cleaning after each use. Weird!


I knew France was known for their topless beaches but I was surprised to see the amount of nudity displayed on signs and posters around Paris. It is a rather interesting difference from America.

Army Reserves - PLDC Training

I spent this year's two week drill for the Army Reserves going to the "Primary Leadership Development Course" or PLDC as we like to call it in the Army. It is a required training course if you want to become a sergeant. The course was held at Fort Lewis in Washington, just south of Seattle.

Over the last five years, I had gotten used to the more relaxed attitudes at my Reserve units, the 728th & 478th Transportation Companies at Camp Pendleton so it was a bit of a shock getting back into harsh training mode at Fort Lewis. The instructors weren't official Drill Sergeants with the recognizable hats, but they made up for it by being tougher. While Basic Training had the tough physical challenges, PLDC was much more mentally stressful with any mistake as a reason for them to send you home early as a failure.

One of the biggest things you learn in Basic Training is how to follow commands and march in Drill & Ceremony. In PLDC it gets tougher as you have to learn how to lead a platoon of your fellow soldiers around the parade field without embarrassing yourself or marching them straight into a wall. We had to do a lot of practicing, each of us taking turns marching alongside and shouting the correct commands. Another thing we had to learn was how to lead a Physical Training (PT) session, considering how much PT we do in the Army it is pretty important. I really had to cram the night before my turn to remember all the different exercises, the correct order to do them in and the count for each one. I didn't want to get my ass chewed like some of the guys before me. Most of the time though was spent in the classroom, studying and taking tests.

The toughest part of PLDC for me was Map Reading & Land Navigation. Normally I am very good with maps, but trying to navigate over natural terrain with just a compass is allot harder than trying to find your way around a city. The first practice compass course they took us to was very tough. It was in a very scenic spot in the woods of the Northwest, but in a heavy forest with lots of underbrush it's hard to follow a straight line with the compass to find the small numbered stakes at the test coordinates. I was only able to find one correct stake so I was very worried about failing the compass course and being sent home. I was very relieved to see that the actual course for the final test was in a much more open area. I needed to find at least 6 correct points out of ten and I was running full bore to find my seventh point as insurance before the time limit ran out. I was very happy to get all seven correct.

Near the end of PLDC we had our FTX or "Field Training Exercise" to learn Warfighting skills. The exercise was about 36 hours, going the whole night without any sleep, playing war games and each of us taking turns leading the platoon or squads through different scenarios. Each squad had one M60 machinegun, which we took turns carrying, to go along with the rest of us with our regular M16 rifles. We were all wearing the MILES system, which is the Army's version of laser tag. On the front of our weapons, we attached a laser transmitter that shoots a laser pulse whenever a blank round is fired from the rifle or machine gun. To receive the laser signals, we all wore optical detector vests and headbands that went on our helmets. If we got hit, the vest would beep and we would have to play dead until a sergeant could turn it off with a special key.

I wish I could say that FTX was a breeze for me, but it started out rough. We started out by doing a lot of patrols in the woods, working on our troop formation, hand signals and taking cover in the bushes along side the road. Once it got dark, we had to dive for cover every time a flare went up or a artillery simulator was set off which sounded like an incoming artillery shell whistling in and then exploding with a loud bang. I have to admit I really wasn't in the mood for diving to the ground when this frequently occurred and I snapped after first falling down into a ditch while carrying the heavy M60 and then getting hit in the face with the butt of another guy's M16 as he dived to ground alongside me another time. After that happened around 2 am, I recovered quickly and then really started to enjoy myself for the rest of the exercise which started to get more fun as we attacked and defended different positions from the other platoons or ambushed them along the road. We were really tired and dirty by the time we got back to our barracks in the late afternoon.

Overall, it was a great experience and I am really glad to have passed and received my certificate. I am now eligible to be promoted to sergeant.

Army Reserves - 2 Week Annual Training

Well, we are back at Fort Eustis in Newport News, Virginia this year to practice what we learned here in school last year. I started out as a "44 Bravo" in the Army which is a Welder. When my Army Reserve Company switched from the 728th Amphibious Vehicle Unit into the 478th Transportation Company we all had to learn new a MOS (Military Occupational Specialty). For the majority of us in our new company, that was "88 Hotel", a Cargo Specialist.


As Cargo Specialists, we had to learn how to operate cranes and forklifts to load and unload cargo and vehicles onto ships and trains. It was pretty interesting, especially when we got to operate one of those 10-story tall cranes to practice removing the huge hatch covers from the hold of a merchant marine ship. Now that we are back in Fort Eustis, we are doing a training exercise to show off our new abilities.


This year's training didn't start out great because I had received a bad sunburn at the beach a day before we before we flew out here. I was amazed to find out that that could technically get me an "Article 15" for damaging military property. That meant that even though it was torture to stand out in the blazing sun, I had to make sure the sunburn didn't effect my work. I think that it is even hotter here in Virginia than it was last year, and the humidity is off the charts. This is bug heaven as well and they all love to bite. I don't know what is worse, the mosquitoes, ticks, clouds of gnats or the microscopic chiggers that leave a red rash.


We worked pretty hard this year with no time off at the end of the day or on the weekends. The weather started to get a little rough near the end of the exercise and we received a hurricane warning while we were out in the field. It was actually a relief because the strong winds help cut down on the heat and insects and allowed us to head back to the barracks a little earlier and relax.

Me and Allison

Seattle Cabin (Ski Trip to Stevens Pass & Whistler)

This year instead of our usual cabin trip to Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains, northeast of LA, we decided to go somewhere different. We got a nice cabin in the little town of Skykomish, directly east of Seattle. I flew up with Jeremy, Shauna, Greg, Pete, Scott & Savannah to Seattle where we got a rental van and drove out to our new place. The cabin was right on the South Fork of Skykomish River which rushed right through the backyard. It was a beautiful spot but it was raining with no snow on the ground anywhere.

A few of Jeremy's cousins lived nearby and went with us to Stevens Pass Ski Resort to go skiing. Stevens Pass was in the Cascade Range, 78 miles east of Seattle on Highway 2. We had been told that there was snow a little higher up at the resort, but we were pretty worried by the fact that it was raining for most of the drive to the ski area, but just like magic the rain turned into snow right at the last turn before pulling into the parking lot. The good news was that it was snow. The bad news was that it was very wet snow.


Stevens Pass is pretty big compared to Big Bear and it also had several runs going down the backside of the mountain into Mill Valley. We all decided to try snowboarding for the first time. It took me and the rest of the guys about two runs down the beginner slopes before we felt comfortable to take a lift to the top of the mountain. Snowboarding is great in that it really feels like surfing or skateboarding. It felt really nice to not have to worry about my knees but I soon found out about the perils of catching an edge and smacking my head against the ground. Having to sit down in the wet snow all the time with the snowboard, we were soon soaked to the skin. Jeremy, Pete and I stayed for the night skiing after everyone else went home to the cabin when the sun went down.

The next day we made a trip into Seattle to give our muscles a rest from all the snowboarding. We were all groaning from how stiff we all felt. In Seattle, we first checked out the Pike Place Market, the highlight was watching the fish mongers fling the large fish back and forth to each other at high speeds and visiting a small S&M shop. Afterwards, we went to the Aquarium, rode the little Monorail over to the Space Needle and visited some coffee houses for which the city is famous.


Jeremy's cousin, John, had told us that he had found some mushrooms growing in front of the town hall which he claimed were magic mushrooms. So one night in the cabin we made some mushroom soup, really bad tasting mushroom soup. I could barely choke it down. Most of us felt nothing but a bad taste in our mouths, but I think it had a placebo effect on a couple who swore they could feel something. I can't believe we ended up doing that, the mushrooms could have been poisonous or something.

After a few days in the wet snow of Stevens Pass, we decided to make a day trip up to the Whistler Ski Resort in Canada. We had to get up really early and leave around 4am so we could get to the mountain with a decent amount of time to ski. It was a long drive, but very scenic along the Sea to Ski Highway outside of Vancouver. Jeremy, Pete and I were the only ones who bought lift passes and we explored both the Whistler and Blackcomb mountains while the rest decided to stay at the base and explore Whistler Village.


Jeremy, Pete and I were amazed by the size of the place and the length of the runs. The best part was skiing on the glacier atop Blackcomb, but we were disappointed that the mountain closed so early at 3pm before we had a chance to fully explore it and swore we would be back. When we got picked up by the rest of the gang afterwards, we found out that they had had a horrible day. The van had been towed to an impound lot for parking in a illegal spot and they had spent the rest of the time trying to get it back before coming to get us. That sucked.

On January 17th, a large earthquake struck Los Angeles, but we missed it because we were still up in Washington. It was our last day of the trip, but it was on the news everywhere at the airport. The epicenter of the quake was in Northridge where Greg's father lives, we were happy to hear he was unhurt.

Scott's Bachelor Trip to Laughlin, Nevada

Scott got married on Sunday, but last weekend was the more important experience, the bachelor party. We decided to go all out and make it a four day bachelor trip to Laughlin as well. The festivities started off in the early afternoon at the house of Jeremy's friend, Benji, for a party that all our friends could attend who wouldn't be able to make the trip. I won't go into the details of the party's activities, but I saw some amazing stuff. Afterwards, we headed out to Laughlin. Scott drove with his best man, Chad, who had flown in from Mississippi and I drove with Jeremy and the two Gregs in the mini-van we had rented.


It was very hot in Laughlin when we arrived late Friday evening. To help our wallets, we had planned to camp instead of getting rooms at a hotel. We set up our tents at the Lake Mohave campgrounds and tried to get to sleep. I think I was the only one who was able to fall asleep in the heat and everyone was tired and grumpy in the morning. We tried moving our campsite out onto a sand dune on the lake after picking up our reserved speedboat, but it was pretty miserable because a strong wind kept blowing sand all over our stuff. Chad decided that he couldn't take another night in a tent so we all drove into Laughlin hoping to find a room on a busy July 4th weekend. We lucked out at the Flamingo Hilton where they were able to give us their last available room. We didn't tell them that there would be six of us in the small room.


Now that we were all in a good mood again, we went back to Lake Mohave. Cruising a long way up the lake we found a nice inlet with calmer waters where we could practice our kneeboarding. After everyone had enough tries, we anchored the boat further back in the cove where we did some swimming, snorkeling and found a fun rock to jump off of into the water. After a couple of leaps into the water, Jeremy realized that he had left the keys to the van in his pocket and now they were at the bottom of the lake. We spent a few minutes trying to find them before deciding to head back to find a locksmith, but the boat wouldn't start no matter what we tried. After waiting more than a hour for help, we ended up getting the boat to start. We sped back to the marina and were able to get to the locksmiths fifteen minutes before it closed up for the weekend. That was close.


The great thing we found out about Laughlin is it's dual nature. You get the outdoor fun of Lake Mohave combined with a mini-Las Vegas. Laughlin's hotel casinos are located right alongside the Colorado River, just south of the Davis Dam which holds Lake Mohave. One of the fun things to do is walk along the river boardwalk that links all the hotels from the Flamingo Hilton to the Golden Nugget. Much nicer than walking the Las Vegas Strip. We all had a good laugh when Jeremy walked into a wall right as he was giving a smart aleck remark to some kid.


Sunday, July 4th started out auspiciously when we got up later than we wanted and headed out to the lake. We had the music blasting and Greg had just lit up a joint in the back seat of the van when we were pulled over for speeding. We were franticly rolling down the windows and sliding open the side door of the van as the cop walked up to us. It was pretty pathetic attempt to clear the air and the cop probably smelled it anyway. After each of us had given a nervous sounding "No?" to his direct question about whether we had been smoking, he gave us a stern lecture and let us off with a warning. No speeding ticket either. Turns out he was leaving the next day for a vacation to Hawaii and didn't feel like doing the paperwork if he took us in to the station. Whew!


Glad to be on the lake and not in jail, we kept the boat near the top of Davis Dam and had fun mooning a few of the passing cars. The water was much colder there, creating a sharp contrast with the scorching heat. Our beers quickly got warm which was bad but the Zimas ended up tasting better warm. We drank a lot on this trip (never leaving our hotel room without a beer in each hand), but strangely we never got drunk. Maybe it was the heat. In the water, I was getting pretty good on the kneeboard, but when I tried to copy Jeremy's 360 spin I ended up wiping out pretty spectacularly. It would have been funny, but I pulled a muscle in my back and the pain still hasn't gone away. It was getting pretty dark when we were heading back to the marina. We got stopped by the rangers, but they let us off with just a warning for being out too late on the lake.

We had so many things start to go wrong on this trip but miraculously turn out okay that we started to count them. The seventh and last one was pretty cool. On our last day we were pretty low on cash. We had enough money to either pay for the gasoline to fill up the speedboat so we could return it or fill up our cars for the long drive back home but not both. As we were debating what we should do in the lobby of the Hilton, Greg played the last three quarters in his pocket into a slot machine. He won one quarter. Dropping in the last quarter, he hit triple sevens and won $175 dollars. Now flush with cash, we were able to fill the boat and our cars to make it home. Since we were starving, we were able to have a nice meal as well.

Parachute Jump from 3,000 Feet

I jumped out of an airplane yesterday at 3,000 feet. It was a static-line jump where you jump out of the plane by yourself and a cord that is attached to the plane pulls the chute open as you fall away. Kinda like the parachute jumpers you see in World War II movies.


I went down to the San Diego Air Sports Center in Otay Mesa with Jeremy, Scott and Greg. It was Scott's Birthday, so Jeremy and I decided to go jump with him.

It was a long, stressful, but exciting day. We got there early and had to sit in a class that lasted till around 2pm as we learned all the ways to fix a problem if the main chute has a problem opening or how to release it and pull the reserve if all else fails. We also learned how to correctly jump out the door of a mock-up plane and they taught us how to steer the parachute and come in for a safe landing.

The worst part of the day was the long wait at the picnic tables after the class listening for the loudspeaker to call our names to suit up and board the plane. It felt like we were waiting for our turn before the firing squad. My stomach was doing flips. We tried to stay calm by watching the small planes taking off on the dirt airstrip, trying to spot early jumpers as their chutes opened high above us.

When they finally called our names we went over to the equipment shed to get our jumpsuits, helmets, altimeter, 2-way radio & most importantly, our parachute. Mine was #11. We tried to steel our nerves as the small Cessna landed and our jumpmaster rushed us out to load us onto the small plane. Since I was the lightest, I would be jumping last and I was squeezed into the small place on the floor where the co-pilots seat should have been. My view for the rest of the flight was the steering wheel in my face unless I looked back out the open door.

Beside the jumpmaster and the pilot, there were four of us jumpers crammed into the rickety little plane with lots of duct tape holding things together in the interior. I started to get a little airsick as the plane gained altitude, but it might have been just fear. The first jumper had done this before and was pretty calm but it was still shocking one moment seeing someone sitting in the doorway behind me and the next he is gone with a bang as the metal clip on the end of his cord hit the bottom of the plane.

Scott was next and I can still vividly see the look on his face as he yelled, "Oh Shiiiit" as he dropped out of view below the door. The plane would circle around between each drop to get back into position. Jeremy was next and then he too was gone. Then it was my turn. Strangely, all my fear left me as the jumpmaster shouted, "Next" and I maneuvered around the small plane to get closer to him. I felt like I was on automatic pilot as he hooked the static-line to my parachute and patted me on the shoulder to signify that I was ready to hang my feet out the door and prepare to jump.

I had to fight the strong wind as I held onto both sides of the door frame with my hands and hung my feet out the door. I edged out until my butt was barely on the edge of the frame and waited. The jumpmaster shouted, "Jump!" and I threw myself out into the sky. My adrenaline must have been in overdrive because my vision went black and the next thing I remember was the loud pop as my chute opened with a strong jerk.

It took a second for me to regain my senses, but then I remembered to look up and check out the condition of my parachute and reach for the two handles above my head. I lucked out, my chute had opened perfectly with no line twist or end-cell closure to fix. I was then free to enjoy the scenery and steer the parachute back and forth by pulling on the handles while frequently checking my altimeter. I tried a sharp spin by pulling on one handle until I was almost horizontal with my chute on the third rotation.

Around 1,000 feet, I started to follow the treeline alongside the airstrip and look for the man on the ground with the big arrow who would guide all of us first-timers into the landing area. He led me along the trees and then turned me around for the final approach into the field. My parachute was designed to descend around 14 miles per hour but if you pull both handles at once you can brake and slow down for a much softer landing. Another man was holding paddles at the landing spot to indicate when to brake for the landing. I looked at the wind sock and watched the guy's paddles carefully as I neared the ground. I braked hard right before the ground but was surprised at how hard I hit as I rolled onto my side to absorb the impact. I didn't feel that I was going that fast.

I gathered up my parachute and carried it across the field with a huge smile on my face to meet up with my friends and take off and turn in my gear. Scott, Jeremy and I were all on an adrenaline high for awhile afterwards reliving our experience and describing it to Greg who had watched from the ground. By the time I got home last night, I was mentally exhausted and ended up going to sleep early. I was burnt out.

Army Reserves Party

At the end of this year's two week Army Reserve drill, my unit, the 728th threw a little party with some special alcoholic punch brewed up for the occasion. A little dry ice gave it a nice effect. I couldn't keep track of all the things the sergeant poured into the metal bowl, but it tasted great.

Bungee Jump from Hot Air Balloon

I went bungee cord jumping out of a hot air balloon last weekend with Greg. The name of the company I jumped with was Bonzai Bungee and we met up with them in the early morning with a group of people in a field off of Mira Mesa Boulevard.

Bonzai Bungee had a large hot air balloon that they kept tied down by three pickup trucks. It was an interesting system. One jumper at a time would have his bungee harness attached and then climb into the basket. The balloon would rise until the three ropes were taut at 300 feet. The jumper would then climb out of the basket onto the little wooden ledge and jump after the crowd had counted down from 10.

It was fun to watch. After the jumper would stop bouncing at the end of the bungee, the balloon would slowly float to the ground. All of us spectators would grab ahold of the thick bungee cord to keep it off the ground and untangled while the next person was hooked up. I wasn't nervous at all on the ground while waiting for my turn to jump. Even when it was my turn to get hooked up and climb into the basket I felt fine.

The fear finally found and hit me hard as I stepped out onto the little ledge and looked down at the hard dirt 300 feet below me. There was no net or air bag below to break my fall if something went wrong and my mind wanted to rebel. It actually took two countdowns before I summoned the courage to leap, but once I did the feeling of falling was amazing. As I sprung up from the bottom of the bungee's stretch, I did fun flip in the air that I had seen several other jumpers perform before me.

After my first jump, I had the opportunity to do another jump so I took it. The second jump was a little more painful because the bungee cord caught me as I flipped and gave me a nasty jerk between the legs. Ouch! Greg rode up with me in the basket both times even though he didn't jump. At the end of the day I got a nice T-Shirt and a video of my two jumps.

p.s. A reporter from Channel 7 News was also there to jump and do a story on the bungee company. He said it should be on TV sometime next week.

My Army AIT at Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD

I just finished my Advanced Individual Training (AIT) at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland where I learned how to be a 44 Bravo, the Army MOS for a Welder. Operation Desert Storm has started with the bombing of Baghdad before I got home, but the coalition ground forces have not yet entered Iraq. (Update: I got home two weeks before the ground invasion to free Kuwait from the Iraqis.)

Random Observations & Experiences:

I learned four types of welding; Oxyacetylene Welding, Arc Welding, TIG Welding (Tungsten Inert Gas) and MIG Welding (Metal Inert Gas). TIG Welding was my favorite and Arc Welding was my least. Having a small drop of molten metal fall into my shirt and down into my pants while I was arc welding an overhead pipe was not fun.

This first thing we wanted to learn at AIT was the Weekend Pass System:

A Pass (Whole Weekend Off - Friday to Sunday Evenings)
B Pass (Off-Base Pass w/Nightly Bed Check)
C Pass (On-Base Only w/Morning & Evening Formations)
No Pass (Confined to Barracks and Mess Hall - Army Uniforms Only)

The pass system was mostly based on PT scores. I spent most of AIT with a B Pass. It took me a few weeks to get my push-up numbers high enough for it, but I was never able to get an A Pass because my 2-mile run times never got low enough. I spent one week with a crappy No Pass because of a bad cramp during a sit-ups test and that was normally my easiest event.


If I thought that the food at Basic Training was better than I expected, the Mess Hall at AIT was even better. They had really great food. A favorite item of mine was getting two eggs over easy and making myself a breakfast sandwich with bacon, cheese and toast.

Private Riggs was the only other soldier from my Basic Training Company to take the same AIT Training as me.

We had a nice Rec Room in our barracks. We had two Pool Tables and a big screen TV. After the isolation we experienced in Basic Training it was nice find out what was going on in the world. We all eagerly watched any updates on Operation Desert Shield.

We had a lot of inspections in Basic Training, but the number increased greatly in AIT. Every inch of our room, locker and uniforms had to be perfect order according to our soldier's manual. After a few inspections, I got the hang of it and they got easier as I kept about 25% of my things unused and ready to go in display condition. We also had to keep our camouflaged BDUs (Battle Dress Uniform) that we wore from getting too wrinkled. We had to frequently dry-clean them and they were starched so heavily that they could practically stand on their own.


One of the worst things about AIT was Physical Training (PT) at 5am every morning before school. Since it was the winter, it was freezing outside. At least we got knit caps and gloves to protect us a little bit from the wind cutting through our thin sweats. We would alternate between Strength and Agility days.

Besides the regular Fire Guard duty we had take turns doing one night of guard duty for a gate out in the field. The weather was so freezing the night my squad had the guard duty that we had to limit the shifts to only 15 minute at a time. Every minute seemed like a lifetime as we counted every second before we could go back into the tent with the heater.

Another of the duties we had to perform at AIT was Flag Duty. It was a week-long task for five people that was rotated through the company. We would raise the flag at the Battalion Headquarters for 6:30am Reveille and lower the flag at sunset. Three of us would handle the flag while the other two would stop traffic in the nearby street.

We had to take a lot of Drug Tests in AIT. It seemed like every other week we were woken early to line up in the hallway and wait for our turn to piss in a cup. Sometimes the wait was unbearable if you were at the back of the line. Lots of guys hopping from one foot to the other.


Growing up in California my experience with snow was very limited. Spending the winter in Maryland I had plenty of opportunities to shovel snow. It wouldn't be that bad if the snow didn't stick to the shovel so much. Actually, I enjoyed the snow for the occasional snowball fight and the temperature actually warmed up while it was snowing. It seemed a lot colder when we had clear skies with lots of wind and ice on the ground.

One of my pet peeves during AIT was all the smoking & tobacco chewing. Smoking was banned in Basic Training, and I think all the nicotine addicts are trying to make up for lost time. Nothing is grosser than half-filled spit cups.

My other little day trip besides Washington DC, was to the city of Baltimore. We walked around the city a little bit and visited the Baltimore Aquarium out on a pier in the Harbor. It was a pretty big building with a tropical rainforest greenhouse on the roof. I liked how the escalators crisscrossed high up over the large sting-ray and shark pool as we checked out the fish on each of the five levels. We also watched the dolphin show.

For the last month of AIT, I graduated to a two-man room. It was great after the eight-man rooms in Basic Training and the four-man rooms at the beginning of AIT.


Our two-week Christmas Vacation home was cancelled because of Operation Desert Shield in Iraq. My classmates who were active duty soldiers were really upset because they would not get an extra vacation before leaving for Iraq at the end of school, but for me and other reservists it just meant finishing two weeks earlier to go home.

Normally near the end of AIT, students spend a few days out on a field exercise (FX) practicing our infantry training. Because of the situation in Iraq, we still stayed out in the field in tents, but we spent all our time cleaning out old barracks for the ITT Reservists who would be staying there before heading to Iraq.

In Basic Training, I respected but feared my Drill Sergeants and did everything in my power to stay invisible to them. In AIT, it was different. The Drill Sergeant for my platoon was a great guy, easy-going but still tough when he needed to be. Whenever he would drop us for push-ups, he would get down and do them as well to lead by example. I spent several nights hanging out with him in his office.

I received my first rank promotion at the end of AIT. I went from an E-1 Private to an E-2 Private. There is not much difference except an E-2 gets to wear the single stripe on his uniform (mosquito wings).

Link to my Basic Training post at Fort Dix, NJ

Trip to Washington DC

I convinced some of my friends from my AIT Company to make a day-trip into Washington DC with me on the weekend. The capitol is about 60 miles south from our base at Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland. Driving into the District, we went through the most run-down section of any city that I have ever seen in my life. It was a sharp contrast with the gleaming center when we arrived.


Our first stop was at the Lincoln Memorial in front of the reflecting pool at the west end of the National Mall. After visiting Lincoln sitting on his large chair we headed over to the nearby Vietnam Veterans Memorial. It is a sublime memorial in the way that the black granite wall covered with over 50,000 names blends down into the grassy landscape around it. It was a little difficult to find and we had to backtrack to find it. I really liked the statue of The Three Soldiers nearby.


It was a sunny day but it was freezing. The wind cut like a knife as we walked down the Mall towards the Washington Monument. We waited in line and took the elevator to the top of the monument which is 555 feet tall. Even through the narrow rectangular windows, we had great views of the surrounding area. After descending we walked over to the White House nearby, looked though the fence and observed a few groups protesting about Operation Desert Shield.


We only had time to visit one of the famous Smithsonian Museums so we went to the National Air and Space Museum. It is a cool place to visit with all the historic planes and spacecraft hanging from the ceiling, including the Wright Flyer and the Spirit of St. Louis. Afterwards we walked over to the U.S. Capitol building and the nearby Supreme Court for a brief visit and checked out a Washington Metro station. The last place we visited was the National Archives where we got to view the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights under heavy plates of bulletproof glass.

Letter from Army AIT - 1/1/91

Hello Dad,

Here is some more traveler checks. Could you put them with the rest? Thanks!

I found out I won't be graduating until January 29th, a week later than before. I go to FTX next week. It's going to be cold. It snowed here last Friday. I like it better with the snow. It was warmer out than when we just had ice.

I finished I Annex which is Auto Body. I start E Annex tomorrow.

Oh well, I gotta go now.

Love, Noah

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PVT. UNSWORTH, NOAH
Co. B 601st ORD BN
APG, MD 21005-5245