Marcella's Blog

Yes, I am home now but I forgot to add one more story about our first trip out to El Paso. So on the drive home from our race the Check Engine light came on in the car. No worries, I thought, I will just swing by the car rental place and exchange the car for a new one. I quickly took out our personal belongings, but left the car full of trash and no gas. We showed up to the car rental place and there was no issue with changing over the cars. They printed us a new slip and gave us our new car keys. They told us to check our old car over one more time before proceeding to the new car, just to make sure we got all our personal items. As we were walking to our car there was a family in front of us. They headed directly for our old car! Uhoh! Then they proceeded to load their luggage and get into our old car! There is so much wrong with this situation I don't know where to begin! First, we never got to look over the car one more time! So I sure hope nothing personal was left inside that...

So just as we are getting comfy it is time to start focusing on re packing and heading back to BRRRRginia! This is what the clouds look like most days! It's so pretty! This weekend was awesome! Friday night we went out downtown to this loud club called Groove. Ironically enough we just stood around not really getting into the crowds (though I did get asked to dance). I didnt want to rock out too hard since I was running a race the following day! On Saturday, Ellen and I ran a 5k at a local park. We ended up winning and getting medals! I got first for our age group and ellen got second. If I need to boast any more, I was the 2nd girl to cross the finish line! I wont tell you how many people were there though....;) After the race we decided to take our chances and head down to Mexico!!! We took a trolley, we were the only ones aboard, so the driver, Cesar, dropped us off at his friends shop. We bought up the store and even had a few free shots! Then they took us by car to the City Ma...

Our view driving to work in the morning: Our first night out we made fast friends with the owner of the mexican bar! (Me, Owner, Ellen) All the tress lean due to the winds: View from the Desert El Paso, TX (foreground: East El Paso, Middle: Fort Bliss, Far: Mountains)

Well we have finally finished with our primary work on the main post so we headed out to the desert today. First, we ate at the mess hall, which was a real treat. I felt like I was in college again with the lines and all you can eat buffet. I had an omelet and biscuits and hash browns! I think I was the only civilian girl in there! After getting a solid breakfast in us we prepared for the 30 mile drive into New Mexico to a base camp in the desert. We got to see some troops head out to participate in mock simulations and even heard some test bombs go off. We traveled to another more remote base camp in New Mexico after, and had the most exciting afternoon ever! We traveled with a Staff Sargent to capture some remote buildings. We were off roading like woah! He took us all over the shooting range and we even went over some sweet jumps in his Super Duty F350! Talk about whip lash, but it was totally worth the experience. The neat thing about that base camp is that the only known wild must...

G'day Mates! The touristy stuff we did on Sunday worked out well. The Mcgoffin house was actually closed for Christmas Tea, but we persuaded them to give us a tour anyways! The house is made completely of adobe. If you are not familiar, it is a clay like substance and when it rains the house leaks. Four generations of Mcgoffins lived there before turning it over to the state. There are only two steps in the house because of the adobe there is no foundation but the walls are 3ft thick. The aerial tramway was also pretty sweet. We ventured to the highest point in Texas. It was about a mile above sea level at the top of the Franklin Mountains. At the top, we walked around and saw two nations and 2 states. It was a clear day out so we could see well in to New Mexico and the snow resorts. I then visited some family friends and they took me to the best taco place in the area. It was sooo good! Yesterday, we went out to dinner and all entered in a free giveaway. Two people in our group w...

Yesterday was our first full day to spend exploring the city of El Paso. We went downtown to the convention center where they were having a Cowboy Boot Liquidation Sale! I tried on many pairs of boots, but none were orange. They were not that comfy to wear either. We walked around the Railroad and Transportation Museum and then headed to a famous hotel. In the hotel there was a spectacular Tiffany style dome and underneath they put a circle bar. It is supposed to be one the top ten places to grab a drink. After admiring the architecture, we headed down to the Gran Mercado. The streets were filled with people and cheap items to buy. It was like a big flea market. We walked to the edge of Texas and saw the border patrol escort people in to Mexico. We might venture across one of these days, but for now I just took a picture of the bridge. Last night, we went out for wings, which were delicious and went downtown for a margarita. In the Mexican restaurant we saw a few bands preform. They we...

If I don't lose 10 lbs by the time I get home... Yesterday and today were our first work days. My team spent the majority of our day checking out buildings and photographing. I say I am going to lose weight cuz we walked around all day from place to place. My feet are aching, but that is something I rather have then sitting at a desk all day. We have met so many neat people and have heard so many cool stories about war, life on base, history of the base, etc. I met this one Special Agent today who is going to hook us up with VIP passes to Juarez next weekend! One of the highlights of today was seeing 4 fighter jets fly overhead. The noise the formations were awesome! Tonight a few people from the White Sands, NM group are coming down and we are going to check out downtown El Paso. I think tomorrow we may head to UTEP (University of Texas El Paso) to see that part of town. You know me being the tour guide...I have to evaluate the others.. ha ha ha I hope everyone is doing well! Miss...

This day was also dedicated to learning. We spent a large portion of the day in more training, but we also got to tour some buildings and practice what we have learned. Seeing more of base made me want to live on it more. And those men in uniform make it even more appealing! mmm mmm Anyways, we figured out where "The Pass" (el paso) actually is. It is in the valley of mountains that run between Juarez, Mexico and Texas. About 2-3 million people live just across the border in Juarez and one can easily tell from the amount of light you see on the horizon at night. About 600,000 people live in El Paso. This evening we went on a run and then went out to "Teddy's Lounge." It is supposed to be a hotspot with a live Mariachi band. It was ok. Drinks were el cheapo but there was not much dancing and we were by far the youngest people there. The band was good and I even got to tap into my spanish to try and translate what the songs were about. On our way home we stopped ...

Today was a day full of learning. We had training all day. We went out to lunch and saw a lot of Border Patrol personnel at Chili's. We went to check out the mall....there were stores there that we have never even heard of...it is not a mall I will be shopping at. We went to Hooters for dinner. It was a intense process trying to find it, but once we saw that great orange sign we knew we were good to go. That was a delightful experience. Our waitress gave us a list of places to check out downtown. I think I want to live on base. It seems like a fun time! Eating out twice a day is making me sick. I might learn to cook while I am out here! Woo HOo! Finally, she is becoming domestic!

What a long day! The morning started out well. I met Steve at the airport and we headed out to Dallas for the first leg of the trip. The plane was full, but we were lucky enough to have a spare seat between us. It was a comfy flight, we even talked geography (yes we are nerds). We got to Dallas ahead of schedule and the connecting flight was late, which gave us about a 3.5 hour layover. We walked all around the terminals and had an alcohol infused lunch (the drinks were large). We then met up with everyone on the connecting flight and headed to El Paso. We got our luggage and rental car with no problems. Next stop :Hotel First Impressions: Uhhhhh....where do we park? Highlights: The front office was closed due to construction so we had to check in in the laundry room. The only elevator in the building is broken. (Naturally, we are on floor 2) Danny's reservation was lost. Best Part: I went to check into my room, after a long day of traveling, and much to my surprise I open the door...

Sweet! I remembered my password! So I am off to El Paso tomorrow morning. I am looking forward to traveling for work. We are going to Fort Bliss to measure the "usable space" in the military buildings. Our goal is to measure 4000 sq.ft per hour. Good thing we are wearing tennis shoes. We are using these neat laser measuring things, which should be an ineresting experience. The first two days we are there Steve and I will be taking pictures of all the buildings! I sure hope it doesn't rain! :) Right now I am taking a break from packing. It is had to pack for a long time and for both work and pleasure. Not to mention I am such a girl when it comes to things like that.