2 Days in a Marine Corps Town

Early Monday morning, I rolled out of bed ready to get on the road and head to Jacksonville, North Carolina. It was waaaay too early to be awake, my contact lenses said so. If you have to wear contacts, you know what I'm talking about. Anyway, we left around 7 a.m, and got on down the road. It was cloudy the whole way to North Carolina, and stayed that way all the way back home yesterday. Anyway, we stayed in a hotel in Wilmington, North Carolina which was about 30 to 45 minutes out of Jacksonville (where Camp Geiger is located). After having to switch hotel rooms (our first room had pubic hairs in the bath tub, and unmentionable spots on the bed spread..yuck), I took a hot shower and we got ready to head on over to Camp Geiger.

Now, I must say that I loved Parris Island way more than Camp Geiger. Parris Island was clean, and organized. The grass was trimmed perfectly, as were the trees. The buildings at Parris Island, looked like they had been cleaned perfectly with a tooth brush (probably had been). Camp Geiger looked older. There were dead spots in the grass, the buildings looked older, and the MCX wasn't near as big as the one at Parris Island. Still, it was a Marine Base and there were lotsa sexy Marines walking around.

My Brother was a bit irritable, or so he seemed, when we first got there. I think he was pretty fed up with Geiger. He talked about the things he did that were fun, like throwing real grenades and doing the 3 day war, but then he talked about the things that aggravated him the most. They a "Buddy-System" in which they were assigned a buddy for the entire 29 days they were there. This buddy went every where with you, including the bathroom. We were a little surprised that they enforced the "buddy-system" even on Family Day. It was kind of annoying that we had to go everywhere with my Brother's Buddy and his family. It wasn't as personal.

Camp Geiger definitely wasn't like our experience at Parris Island, but I don't think that it was supposed to be. We hadn't built it up in our heads like Parris Island either. Even still, there is something about that final dismissal at the end of the Graduation that makes me cry every time. "Aye Sir! OORAH!" From there, my Brother went back to his Barracks, got his stuff...boarded a bus to Raleigh and hopped on a plane to California (Camp Pendelton).

When I got home last night, my house was a disaster. Still not sure how 2 people could make such a mess in 24 hours especially when they were hardly home, but they did. Today, I had hoped to spend some time by the pool, but it looks like I'll be doing laundry, vacuuming floors, and doing dishes all day. As soon as Paul can take my Day 30 p90x pictures, I will get them up for you, but until then...here are some pictures from Camp Geiger!

My Family & then us, the siblings. Wouldn't guess I was the oldest of the 2 would you?


Really cool Marine Corps boots & then me and my Brother :)


The Graduation ceremony!