Say hello to the USS Hornet. It's the one on the left.

Okay, it's not just a boat. It's an aircraft carrier. More specifically, this is the USS Hornet. We arrived here by happenstance. We had just left a warehouse sale, and while we were navigating our way out, we could turn right and head on our way, or go left to visit the USS Hornet museum. Which way did we go, obviously left, even though we still hadn'nt had lunch and it was 4 p.m. Military history wins when Cole is behind the wheel.

The placed closed in an hour, so we didn't get the full visit, but we did scurry up to the flight deck so that we could tag onto a tour. I didn't have my regular camera with because this was an improptu visit. I did manage to capture a few moments with my phone. You can enjoy these for now, but I am guessing we will be back (and I'll take my camera with then). Why? Because as we were leaving we saw a ton of Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts toting sleeping bags. They were about to stay the night on the ship. And apparently, this is something adults can do too. We got Cole signed up for their emails so we can stay in the loop. :P

Cole tells me that's the island and some radar. He knows stuff, so I'll trust him.

This little plane sits on the flight deck with a nice view of San Francisco in the background.

Meet Tom. He gave us a tour around the inside of the USS Hornet, telling us all about how it operated. Cole and I must have looked friendly and interested, because after the tour, he took us out to see the optical landing system, aka meatball.

I was paying attention. Kinda.

Just a LTV A-7 Corsair II chilling on the flight deck. I obviously knew that right off the top of my head. Didn't you?!?

A little sunny in Cali that day, but hey, it's better than snow in April.

Chomp. Chomp. It's a close-up of the F-14 Tomcat.

Beware. Thankfully, this is just a museum with old guy tour guys roaming around. Not a lot to cause alarm or harm. Unless you are tall. Then, you have to watch out for your forehead while walking around inside.

Quite. The. View.

Glad we pulled left and went on an unexpected adventure.