Disruption In California 2018

San Francisco

San Diego

San Jose

We started our day at 4:30 am at the Spirit of Haida Gwaii statue in Vancouver Airport. From there, we took our first flight to Seattle then a second to San Diego.

Our first stop was lunch at Hodads. After we fuelled up on burgers and chicken strips, we made our way to the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve where we learned about the endangered Torrey pine tree while going for a small walk through the pines. Afterwards, we saw La Jolla Cove and Coronado Beach, then went to dinner at Miguel’s Covina. We arrived to our hotel and went to bed to prepare for our next day.

Pines by the Beach

Me And Chicken Strips
By Robbie Wharton

Me and chicken have an understanding,
I don’t like them and they don’t like me,
But their protein keeps me going,
So they’re alright by me.

My Dinner Of Chicken

 Air Balloon Observation Experience 

The Air Balloon Observation Experience is 400 feet in the air. That’s over 90 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty.

Safari Park Entrance 

I believe that activities, like the balloon ride, are important for safari parks because they enable visitors to learn how much space is being given to the  animals to ensure they thrive. It also shows that not every part of the park is a display for tourists because so much of the park is employee access only.

On this day we visited the USS Midway. It was the longest-serving aircraft carrier of the 20th century at 258 feet wide and 1001 feet long. That’s longer than three football fields. This was the destination for the third day of our trip.

The carrier was named after one of the most famous and decisive naval battles of the Pacific during WWII. The Battle of Midway took place on June 1942. Unfortunately, the USS Midway did not serve during WWII. That’s because it was decommissioned on September 10, 1945.

 At the time it was built, it was the largest ship in the world and cost $85.6 million dollars.

   The technical use for aircraft carriers is as a weapon that allows countries to deploy and retrieve aircraft from a mobile unit. But there is another reason for them: they’re a statis symbol. The bigger the aircraft carrier the more powerful the country appears to be.

While I am interested in being in the Canadian ground forces, specifically the combat engineers, I’m not really interested in working on the USS Midway.  This is partially because the Midway’s conditions are harsh: bunks are very small and cramped and the constant bombardment of engine noise and planes landing and taking off are around you when you want to sleep. That’s something I don’t think I would be into.