After touring in Ecuador, I flew home to spend time with my sister and the rest of the family.  I have returned to the states every 4-6 weeks to spend time with my sister, Julie.  She has been ill and I return to help her out.   We spent some time hanging out in the sun, shopping a bit and seeing some friends.  Following my time in Portland, we took my father to visit the battleship he served on in WWII.  It is now a museum in San Pedro, CA:  The USS IOWA.  The museum was awesome and treat all vets with the utmost respect.  They provided us with a private docent that toured us in all the places that Dad wanted to visit whether it was on the regular tour or not.  They do not have a lot of retuning sailors who served aboard the ship in WWII.  He was in the mailroom during his tour on the ship, so they asked him to leave his signature in the safe there.  He had a wonderful time on the tour with Doug (my brother), Brian (Julie’s son, my nephew) and me!  While Dad and Doug returned to Portland, I flew on to meet up with the boat again for another new adventure.