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A video from the expedition up Mt. Etna to watch the lava. It's about 7:00 minutes long and mostly just crazy driving up the mountain.



This is a throw-back to early 90's when Heather was still active duty. It's her re-enlistment ceremony at NAS Brunswick, Maine.

Hiking Mt. Etna

A friend of mine from work, Dax, has been telling me about this great trail on the Mt. Etna. The views are awesome and there's a great spot to see the lava coming down the east side. It didn't disappoint.

The drive up was a road I had never taken before. It was 45 minutes straight up the hill from Dax's house in Nicolosi. The trail head was at an intersection and there were about half a dozen cars parked when we got there.

We took a break a few times, the altitude really sucks the air out of your lungs! The pictures:

First is a break on the trail and some hikers were on their way down with flashlights. Next is me, Dax and another friend who went with us, Ryan. Third is the city of Catania with Jupiter up in the top left corner. Catania is the second largest city on Sicily. Finally, another shot of the lava. Enjoy....ciao!

Never Argue with the Data!

Sunday morning ride....Greg, Trisha, Shane, Erin, Eric, Ray, Mo and Me. This was taken at the bar where we stopped for a cappuccino - at the half-way point. Luigi (one of the Italians Heather and I usually meet every Sunday morning) took the photo.

I set my new Garmin 305 to auto-pause, auto-lap, auto-everything...but it was in running mode. I didn't even think to check when I switched to bike mode this morning so my data is totally skewed. I hung with the EOD crowd at about 19-20 mph, average cadence 90 rpm, total calories 1,695. We went 22.89 miles - not long, but fast!

It was eventful...Trisha got cut off by a car at an intersection and laid her bike down. Her knee is all tore up but her thank heaven her bike and riding outfit are ok. It is a fashion show, after all.

Eric got a flat. We had all these cool gadgets - canisters, adapters, etc - but in the end nothing fit. So luckily Greg broke it down old-school for us with the collapsible pump.

MWR is having a family fun bike event in a couple hours. They're riding perimeter road all the way around the airfield and then playing in the pool and BBQ-ing some burgers. I told the lady who's in charge that I would go early and help out. It's in my best interest - last time they did this we had half-dozen riders take a wrong turn and rode across the runways!

Happy Birthday to Nick and Tom! Hope you guys had a great birthday...you better call me tell me what you got....

Ciao,

Bud

6:30 am Bike Ride

Got up around 0600 this morning for a bike ride with Trisha and Erin. Which is quite a feat with Heather being gone! We drove to the Tamoil gas station and rode up to Motta for a cappuccino. I intended to meet our Italian riding friends so I could give Salvo his Garmin 305 we bought for him. I figured if we parked there and rode up to Motta we'd be back around 0830. It worked, but now I feel like a slug because we only rode 10.57 miles round trip! But, we did climb the hill for a snack so it wasn't too bad.

So, now it's 10:00 am - it's too early on the east coast to call Heather. Maybe I'll go for a quick run before it gets too hot.

Bud

Happy Independence Day

I woke up this morning about 8:30 am. I got out of bed around 10:00 am.

Had some grocery shopping to do and needed a cappuccino, so I headed over to NAS 1. Ran into Art, the new First Class I'm sponsoring, and we met up at the commissary. We bought some BBQ grub and ran into a couple of shipmates who were on the way to see the Pixar film, Wall-E. But it was the premier showing on base, and I wasn't about to subject myself to that...at least not without Heather and the boys. Art and I headed back home for a couple hours.

We returned to the Land Annex at NAS 1 around 6:00 pm. I parked by the gate so I could make a speedy get-a-way after the fireworks. Grabbed a hamburger at the PW tent and then hiked over to the commissary for another cappuccino. Picked up an Astronomy and Backpacker magazine at the NEX and then went back to the car to retrieve my beach chair. Got set up on the grass next to Trisha and her girls and there I sat for two hours. I should have taken my hat off so my head could get some sun.

I guess that doesn't make much sense...I shaved my head the day Heather and the boys left for the States. I went to the barber and told him I wanted it real short. He took it all the way down to the skin. So I just went home and shaved it. We'll see how easy it is to maintain and what Heather thinks.

Soul Sacrifice took the stage and played for about an hour and a half. They're a Santana tribute band from L.A. They sounded ok. They played an instrumental version of the National Anthem. I don't think many people recognized it because we were on a military base and only a handful of us stood up and took our hats off.

The fireworks started promptly 30 minutes late at 9:30 pm. There were a couple of really low ones and a few that exploded on the ground which caused a couple of brush fires all around. I was glad the car was by the gate...I made my escape right away.

Grabbed a glass of wine when I got home and called Heather. We'll see if she blogs soon. Then I rode my skateboard over to Trisha's to get the pictures of the fire off her camera.

Happy 4th,

Bud

"Navy Juliet Whiskey Three One Four....

...departure, RADAR contact, climb and maintain one three thousand, leaving two thousand turn left on course."

Heather and the boys left for Rota, Spain just a few minutes ago. :-( They are going to try and fly Space-A to Delaware and then rent a car to drive up and visit her Dad in New Hampshire for a few weeks. I'm sure they're having a good time on their very first Space-A flight in the back of a C-130 (big, hot, stinky Navy cargo plane!)

What am I supposed to do for three weeks all by my self?

Ciao,

Bud

P.S. Sssshhhhh! Whoever's viewing our blog from New Hampshire, keep quiet...it's supposed to be a surprise to Heather's dad.