William Larsen:  

Life I enlisted in the Navy and spent a number of years in different areas. Florida was hot, Great Lakes was cold, back to Florida where I enjoyed the beaches and riding to Coco Beach from Orlando. Spent time in Idaho Falls where I hiked in the snow covered Tetons. Spent time in Treasure Island, CA, which is nothing more than an island (rock) between San Francisco and Oakland. Spent a few months in Bremerton, WA, which was fantastic. I found a large hill one day while riding. I actually got going so fast down this nearly three mile mountain that pedaling was useless. The only problem was what went down, had to go back up. I was able to swim daily, run and ride, clearly the best months in the navy. I was hoping to compete in the Iron man later that year. The ship completed its overall in September of '79 and we sailed to San Diego. My car was shipped by freighter and would arrive prior to the Fox. We came into port on a Friday and we were looking forward to the beaches. With my station wagon, I could haul a lot of people. The only problem was I had to pick up my car by 5:00 PM Friday at down town San Diego or I would have to wait till Monday to pick it up. The guys familiar with San Diego drew me a map and bets were being placed whether I could make the 13 miles before 5:00 PM on my bike. I would wax my bike on the fantail of the ship. It was my pride and joy - over 20,000 miles. We pulled into port and were berthed outboard of another cruiser. We had to pull shore power, water and phone lines down a quarter mile pier, over one ship onto ours. Copper cables were heavy and the segments bolted together. Engine room had to be secured prior to anyone leaving. All these things had to be completed prior to anyone from M-Division leaving. The clock was ticking down and at about 4:35 PM they let me off. I did not kno...Expand for more