Independence Day Recap

I woke up early this morning to see Al off to work.

We had such a wonderful 4-day weekend and spent a lot of time just relaxing together.

Thursday night Ft. Bliss hosted a concert as part of the Let Freedom Sing series at Freedom Crossing. Freedom Crossing is the PX/Shopping Mall area here on post. It is by far the best you'll see on an Army post. Maybe even on any military post. We have a brand new movie theater, HUGE shopping complex, including a food court, at least 4 sit-down restaurants, and a gorgeous pavilion with fountains and seating and an outdoor fireplace. It really is phenomenal.

Anyway, they set up an outdoor stage and invited Eli Young Band to play.

Admission was free, so we just had to get there early enough to set up our chairs and grab a beer. We ended up making friends with the couple that sat next to us who were *surprise* NOT military. He was an El Paso firefighter and his wife works at the Army hospital as an ER nurse. Al was very excited to have met a civilian couple until the guy started talking about drugs and other weird stuff. Nevertheless, they were at least fun concert buddies.

It was a nice concert. The band only has a couple of songs (Crazy Girl is the new one on the radio that I love) that I'm really familiar with, so we were able to chill, chat with friends and just hang out while the music was playing.

Saturday, we were invited to a BBQ and are making fast-friends with Jessica and JG.

I am having so much fun with them and definitely intend on making it a life-long friendship. I am working on a post later this week dedicated to that friendship, but I am so glad that I have gotten to know them this summer.

Sunday and Monday was spent swimming, spending time exploring the city and hiking through the mountains.

This is a mining pit in the mountain. It's less then 3-minutes off the normal walking path in McKelligon Canyon and if you didn't know, you'd probably fall right in. It's at least 5 miles deep and is almost an instant drop-off. Talk about a breath-taking experience.

Then we discovered a new drive through the Franklin Mountain range. We usually drive on a different scenic path, but discovered this one after we left the McKelligon Canyon Park and it is aptly named Scenic Drive. Let me tell you, the view of the city from here is phenomenal.

Video I took of the view, describing what you're looking at.

Of course, with every holiday weekend, vacation, day-off, there's more to do when you get back into the grind. That's especially true today since the post-office, bank, etc...were all closed.

I also have a couple of great blogs planned for the week and a give-away, so stay tuned.

In the meantime, enjoy your Tuesday!