For years Barney and the sons have talked about living on base, and I could only imagine what it would look like. Now that his partial disability allows us to stay on RV campgrounds on military bases, we’re ready to see what it’s like at the Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. Barney spent some time here in the late 1970s when he came from New River Air Station south of here to do his SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape) training.
The next day wasn’t so easy. More about that at the end of this post.
Every young woman I saw while shopping was either pregnant or had a young child–or both. It’s the age.
Saga of the ants: They’re still with us but getting better. We’ve used spray and traps, but keep seeing them.
a Sunday drive
We were at Cherry Point for only a couple of days. Primarily because we would be close to New Bern, NC, about 30 minutes north of the base, and it’s where we’ll go next. But first we decided to go to Oriental, NC, on our Sunday drive.
The town’s claim to fame is that the first motorized school bus service happened here on September 5, 1917. Now it’s a lovely coastal town of 4000.
The town got its name after the sailing steamer Oriental that was built in Philadelphia in 1861 and was used as a Federal transport ship in the Civil War. A year after being launched, she ran aground and was wrecked 33 miles north of Cape Hatteras (66 miles from here as the crow flies). Passengers and crew were saved. One of her portholes is on display on the town’s history museum.
time to go “home”
So our challenge when we returned to base after our Sunday outing. Another corporal was on duty who was strictly following the rules. Barney could get in with his VA card, but he couldn’t “sponsor” me, so I couldn’t enter. We chatted for a while, and he sent us onto a higher ranking Marine in the area where they could x-ray trucks (and RVs). We chatted with him for a while, and he didn’t budge. The only choice he gave us was for me to stay at the gate and Barney go get the RV. No, we didn’t think so.
Finally he called someone else. When he came back, he said he could give me a 24-hour pass until the visitors center opened at 6:00 a.m. At least I was legit for that night. Tim, our camp host, said he would sponsor me if necessary (thank you!).
The next morning I packed up the inside, like I normally do, so that if Barney had to drive the RV out of the base, he could do so easily. We went to the visitors center, and the man on duty said, “No problem.” I started relaxing. He entered Barney and me into the system so that whenever we went to a base (that wasn’t just an Army base–they have there own system), we’d be in the system. We’ll verify this when we go to Charleston at an Air Force Base. At least now we know what to ask at every base when we make a reservation.
Now on the New Bern, our real reason for being in this area.
