Anchors Aweigh

I’m fortunate in having had the opportunity to live in the four corners of North America (excluding Mexico). I spent several months observing migrating whales from the edge of the Arctic Ocean near Barrow, Alaska, the northernmost community in the United States. But the United States Navy took me to the other three corners—San Diego, California; Key West, Florida and the island of Newfoundland, Canada.

After graduating from high school, I continued working at a gas station for another year before joining the Navy in 1974. It was my understanding that, as an Ocean Systems Technician, I would be studying oceanography. Instead, I was locked into a top secret submarine surveillance program code-named SOSUS. In other words, they lied.

The Navy was a mixed bag. On the one hand, it gave me my first taste of bureaucracy and corruption. I learned that various corporations exploited military secrecy in bilking taxpayers out of vast sums of money.

On the other hand, the military introduced me to the world outside West Dakota. I attended boot camp in San Diego, where I saw my first palms and was first exposed to minorities other than Native Americans. (Before I joined the Navy, I had only seen a handful of black and Asian people, invariably just passing through.)

I was sent to school in Key West, Florida, another beautiful place. (I came to appreciate the symbolism of the “Conch Republic” long after I was finished with the Navy.)

Newfoundland

From Key West, I was sent to Argentia, Newfoundland, where I spent 1 1/2 years. We worked in windowless buildings, and the work was tedious at best. Outside, it was often foggy. Yet I loved Newfoundland, with its bleak yet spectacular landscapes and seascapes.

Courtesy The Jam Nightclub

Argentia was the site of a huge military base during World War II. When I was stationed there, I lived on one of the upper floors of “The Q,” a building that housed only officers during World War II. In 1974, the Q was virtually a city inside a building. From my window, I had spectacular views of sunsets and winter blizzards.

The isolation and harsh working and living conditions nurtured a camaraderie that I’ve never experienced anywhere else. I had more friends at “Arg” than I ever had in high school or college or any time since.

Courtesy Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism (See a bigger picture)

Newfoundland is surprisingly similar to West Dakota. It’s remote, isolated and distinctive, with no really big cities and little industry. The people were close to the land (or water) and often had hard lives. But Newfies, as the locals are nicknamed, are among the nicest people in the world. Like West Dakota, Newfoundland has some awesome blizzards.

West Dakota and “The Rock,” as Newfoundland is nicknamed, are both in transition. The depletion of cod torpedoed the latter’s main industry, while much of the Great Plains region is losing people as farmers’ children shun an often hard lifestyle in favor of the big city.

Round the World and Back

My next and last duty station was Pacific Beach, a very tiny community near Ocean Shores on the coast of Washington State. It wasn’t as isolated as Newfoundland and didn’t share the same camaraderie. But it was a beautiful area, and it was a choice place to end my military career, as I felt my future was in the Pacific Northwest or Alaska.

When my enlistment expired, I decided to celebrate my freedom by traveling. After being discharged around Christmas, I spent some time back in South Dakota, visiting relatives and working on a farm for a month. (With daily temperatures hovering around -20°, it was the most brutal work I’ve ever done.)

Next, I spent about a month in Hawaii and a couple months in Kenya before starting college in Bellingham, Washington.

I hate to dismiss Hawaii and Kenya with a single sentence, but I don’t have many special insights to offer, and I don’t want this to sound like a typical tourist’s travelogue. After all, I was a tourist.

I climbed to the summit of Hawaii’s Mauna Loa (left), the world’s biggest mountain, and to about 14,000 feet on Mt. Kenya (right), Africa’s second highest peak.
Courtesy Joe Dellinger and WildHerps.com (Click either photo to see a bigger picture.)

Courtesy SACrS (See a bigger picture)

Hawaii and Kenya are both incredibly beautiful. In fact, Kenya has palms and sandy beaches that are reminiscent of Hawaii. There are also places in Kenya that reminded me of West Dakota.

As you may have guessed, the main attraction that lured me to East Africa is the wildlife. But I was pleasantly surprised to find the landscapes and the people equally spectacular. Just think of the Great Rift Valley carpeted with wildebeest and patrolled by spear-bearing Masai warriors, with an ancient volcano looming in the distance.

Compared to Ice Age Newfoundland, Pacific paradises and African savannas, Bellingham, Washington seemed dull. Yet it was one of the most wonderful cities I’ve ever visited, and I wanted to make it my home. Of course, that was before the population doubled, fueled largely by an exodus of Californians.

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