China Lake VX-9 Vampires

We were stationed at NAS China Lake for a few years. I attended grade school at Groves Elementary and my youngest sister was born at the base hospital. The nearest town to the base was Ridgecrest, but we lived in base housing. The floors were often home to ticks and my 10-speed bike tires were constantly punctured by thorns. One afternoon I even had a large black widow crawl up my leg. Luckily I was able to swoop it off. During a trip to have my left hip examined, we went to Sea World and a diver brought up a black pearl for me. I am not sure what happened to it. It might have been put into a ring setting for someone (against my will). I took horseback riding lessons, visited Calico Ghost Town, and overall enjoyed living there from what I can remember of it.

After China Lake, we moved back to Whidbey Island.