May 25, 2010 | Family Portrait,Life in General,Weekend Wrap-Up
Mr. Blue Eyes is my niece’s boyfriend. He’s a marine currently based out at Camp Pendleton. Today, he left for Virginia to start his job training (bulk fuel). Over the weekend, Babendude and I drove my niece down to San Diego to see him before he left.
Don’t they make the cutest couple? Our time with him was much too short. We left at 430am. We got to the base about noon. He was supposed to be released between 11am-1pm.
He didn’t get out of there until 330pm.
He told us that they were supposed to be released at 8am, but, well, it’s the military. They’re gonna make you work for your liberty (aka free time). We stayed at a hotel in Oceanside (he couldn’t go too far) and went to the nearby beach. We walked the pier and it was a beautiful sight.
It was a little bit cooler than Phx, in the early 60′s, but we still had a good time.
We had dinner Saturday night, had breakfast the next morning, then went to the mall to kill time.
We had to have Mr. Blue Eyes back to base by 330pm.
That’s Mr. Blue Eyes (on the left) with bunkmate, Starch. They don’t know each other’s first names. They all go by last names here.
We didn’t realize how big the base was until we went through one gate…and then had to pick him up all the way on the other side. It took us at least 20 mins to get to Area 52, where we had to pick him up. It’s ca-ra-zy how big that base is.
“I wonder if anyone has gotten lost out here. And never been found,” I say, as we drive to to the other side. LOL. Seriously. It felt like we were on another highway, driving through the mountains.
And then we passed an airfield filled with helicopters.
Mr. Blue Eyes later told us that if we had stopped to take a picture of that airfield, we would’ve quickly find ourselves surrounded by MP. Good thing we didn’t stop. Seeing as how my Dad is former military, you’ve seen one helicopter, you’ve seen them all. LOL.
Mr. Blue Eyes was very grateful–and thankful (can’t tell you how many times he thanked us. Profusely)–that we came down with my niece. He so needed to be with her, to see her, before he left. She may be 20 yrs old, but I still didn’t feel comfortable letting her drive down there by herself. Besides, it was a great, spontaneous road trip for me and Babendude.
We got a chance to get to know Mr. Blue Eyes better and find out a little bit more about the military life and what it’s like to live on base. Rules, rules, and more rules. LOL. I’m not surprised, though. Before we knew it, it was time for him to get ‘on line’. He’ll be coming home for good around the second week of July, but for the two of them, it’ll seem like another 3 months (boot camp was a killer).
My niece found a great guy, though. I highly approve of him. I liked him before he enlisted, but this experience has definitely changed him. In a good way. He stands straighter and is more confident and I thank God his personality didn’t get stripped in the process. Don’t worry guys. It’ll be over soon.
