We carpooled to the Lynnwood office, only to find out the van was too full... and we ended up taking one of their people as well. But we got there really early, so we were able to hang out with our chief for a while. He made us guess what a hunk of metal on his display case was... and let us hold it. I correctly surmised that it was from a statue... and then that it was from Saddam's... wow. And then since I'm going to be missing this month's meeting, the chief conducted my 30-day (prior to shipping) interview. It a little over 30 days from now, but, gosh, it is coming up fast.
So we drove to Seattle and walked a few blocks to the stadium. Around 50 recruits showed up (from all over the Puget Sound) with around 8 recruiters and a couple chiefs and officers, including the district XO. We formed up after a while and filed in to get our tickets. We did a lot of standing around on the wide sidewalk outside (good practice for RTC...) and a recruiter asked us who we were and "who's the best?" and made us yell back "United States Navy" for the people sitting in traffic to hear. It was pretty fun!
Finally, we went inside and lined up behind home plate for a brief ceremony, repeating the oath of enlistment for a video camera to be played prior to the national anthem during pregame. We then practiced lining the grass around the infield and standing at attention, which is what we'd do while the Navy band played the anthem and a Navy color guard displayed the flag. While we were out there I saw the Blue Angels zipping around... they are practicing today & tomorrow for their Seafair performance on Sunday. So very cool! and loud!
After this, we were free (and had to leave the stadium) for at least two hours. The three of us crossed the street and spent most of it at the neighboring alehouse. I tried a hard pear cider (and liked it, although my head didn't feel completely the same after drinking it... just a little light feeling) and a salad with a bite of Thomason's seared ahi steak and Larson's garlic fries. Wow! Everything was really good!
Only another half-hour after this and they let us back into the stadium (4:10 pm) an hour earlier than everyone else so we could watch warm-ups and batting practice. Some people got autographs, but not I... no pen, and I barely know anyone on the team anymore... :)
And then we all went up to the third deck (on the end of the field by home plate - overlooking Puget Sound) where The Boeing Company provided a hot dog buffet for all Naval personnel attending, with a performance by a Navy guitar band.
Then by 6pm, we all had to go back to the basement on the third base side to line up for the anthem. It was neat to be recognized for joining... but really just awesome to be on the field with lots of future shipmates in front of so many fans before a game.
On our way to our seats after this we picked up the free t-shirts for "Navy Night". And the game itself was great! A 7 to 1 victory over the Royals! Ryan Langerhans got the game-tying homer in the third that jump-started our offense. Next guy got a triple... and he ended up scoring on a sac-fly. Two more runs the next inning... and two more in the sixth... and the last one in the eighth. And what a defense! There were at least three or four really outstanding plays... the kind where guys dive for it and come up with it! The starting pitcher went for eight innings and did beautifully. Wow! What a game to go to!
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