Saturday, May 31, 2008

Kealoha at Twentynine Palms, CA

Sorry the blog hasn’t been updated but since I am on the road K’s mom has been posting for me. Unfortunately, she fell and ended up on crutches so she is way behind on everything!

I am in Oregon now but my visit to California was awesome! I’ve met Marine pilots before at home at Vance Air Force Base so I was pretty excited to visit the Marine base at Twentynine Palms in California and check out how our ‘sister service” does things when they are at home. I didn’t realize Twentynine Palms is the world’s largest Marine base, home of the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center. They have infantry units stationed here as well as the largest formal school in the Corps, Marine Corps Communications and Electronics School. Students there learn to troubleshoot, operate and fix anything dealing with communications equipment from radios, to faxes, printers and phones. SEMPER FI! (I love the Marine motto - it means "always faithful" - but I better get saying it all the time out of my system before I get home. )

Joshua Tree National Park is also at Twentynine Palms, so there was lots to see and do.

My new friend Cadence (isn’t that the coolest name for a Marine family doll?) was nice enough to show me around. I arrived during Little League season so I got to go to lots of games; I wish I had brought my cheerleader uniform! The kids in the family play softball AND baseball so Cadence and I spent lots of time running back and forth between from the ballfields but we didn’t miss a single game!

Unfortunately, I was a little late getting off to my next host in Oregon because one of the kids hurt his knee at a game. I needed to stay and make sure he was going to be okay before I could leave; I would have worried too much to enjoy the trip otherwise.

Cadence also introduced me to the vast desert and the endless sand here in the "high desert." I had never seen the desert before; it was amazing! Cadence likes to pretend she lives on Tattooine like Anakin Skywalker! Even though it's very hot and they don't get much rain, there are still trees/shrubs/and small plants…even some flowers!

The city of Twentynine Palms is called the Oasis of Murals. There are approximately 18 murals scattered around town painted on the sides of the local businesses. Each mural tells a story of the history of the town. My favorite mural was what Cadence’s family calls the hide and seek mural. It's a huge desert scene and the legend across the bottom that helps you find different items like hidden coyotes, plants, flowers, lizards, etc. You can spend hours looking at it!

I also got to meet Cadence’s sister, travelling Corde, when she came home for a little break between visits. Corde told me all about her visit with Miss April in Colorado. I was so excited! I will be visiting her after this trip to Oregon is through…I can’t wait!

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About Me

Oklahoma, United States
Kealoha is an American Girl doll living happily with her family in Oklahoma. Since she belongs to a military family she is used to seeing new places and new people. It's been a year since we moved from Hawaii to Oklahoma and she is getting bored so she will be setting out soon to visit friends all over the country!