My first visit to Bangor

Chad checked into his new unit just 13 days after checking out of his old one - we had been here only a week. He is now part of the Marine Corps Security Force at Bangor Trident Naval Base. Since then he has been leaving M-F mornings at 645 and returning between 1630 and 1700 each evening. He usually comes home quietly, without much to say about his day. Apparently, there just wasn't much to say - until receiving a badge - there really wasn't much for him to do.

He must have finally gotten it, because yesterday he came home smelling like metal - this meant he moved some ammo cans - thus, finally, getting to do his job. So things should be getting better, and hopefully he'll start telling me more about his day to day.

Yesterday though, he did take me onto base for the first time. He wanted to make macaroni and cheese, and we needed to go to the store for that. So we took the opportunity to check out our new commissary. On the way, he showed me where he worked - a large inconspicuous warehouse right off the main road.

I have to say I was impressed by the base. It was very clean, had new-ish looking buildings and a lot of entertainment variety. There was a movie theater, bowling ally, and a venue where they have shows. And in true Washington fashion, the entire base is covered in trees and bright green fields.

The commissary was awesome. They had a huge number of vegetables and fruits and all about 20% cheaper than the stores in town. They had a most excellent selection of meats and a huge ethnic food isle. I was surprised to see escargot and every Asian noodle imaginable, but sorry to see they didn't carry grape leaves, short grained rice or couscous. It just looked like a supermarket - with people in uniform shopping in it.

On the way out, we noticed there is a "Comics on Duty" show this weekend, we might check it out. There are supposed to be some pretty well known comics there.

The base entrance is only a 5 minute drive from our house, the commissary not much farther than that - so I think it will become our primary grocery store... so long as I'm not wanting to make dolams...