Tracking A Camel...

This is what makes blogging fun and interesting. I happened to 'stumble' upon this young woman through a blog I was reading. We've made contact and she sent this interesting e-mail about her search for a camel as a sideline to her service in the U.S. Army. I e-mailed her to get her permission to post this on my blog and....she consented!

Her story about her experience is related in her e-mail below the picture. I thought this would be a great human interest story. Hope you enjoy meeting Sheila and Joe, the Camel.

To all my Family and Friends, March 3, 2009

Good day to you all!! I am presently in Qatar….where I tracked down a camel!!!

I told you I would find a camel!!!

To get to this camel, I had to ride in an MRAP (it is a huge uparmored vehicle)……which was very cool. I was suppose to ride a rhino (like a bus on steroids, not near as cool as an MRAP). This MRAP convoy was headed my way…so I hitched a ride. It was going close to BIAP….the airport. I ended up at a palace. I met a LTC before the convoy, and he said he would give me a ride to BIAP from the palace. At BIAP, I had to wait a little more than 10 hours for the plane. It finally arrived, a C130. If you have never had the pleasure of riding in a C130….let me tell you about it. The seat is like the chairs you take to the lake…only not as comfortable. Temperture control was set on cold. We had to ride in full battle rattle with our gear in our lap. (Our body armor and helmet on.) All seats were full, and we had to interlock our knees with the person sitting opposite us. We landed once to re-fuel the plane. Everyone exited the plane, which was a relief. The port-a-potty never looked more inviting! Only thing was , we had to stand outside while the plane was re-fueling…and it was cold. But I was on a mission….Camel or Bust!!!!

Finally…we were ready to get back on. Unfortunately, I did not get my same seat. My new seat had a support bar of some sort, positioned on my tail bone.

Yup....right between my cheeks!!! We made one more stop, but just to let people off, and more people on. The plane was at full capacity….so I was stuck with my support bar. I boarded the C130 at 2345 (1145pm)….and did my final exit at 0630 (6:30am). Needless to say, I did not sleep any. Two more bus rides, 3 briefings….and I was on my 4 Day Pass in Qatar. It is the greatest thing the Military does for us here. Ahhhhh……it is nice to feel half way like a girl again. I get to wear civilian clothes, get my nails done, there is even a Dairy Queen here….of all places, in the gym!!!! They have a good size PX (Army store) and a full service MWR, including the USO! And other lots of activities to do.

But back to the camel!!!! After an exhilarating ride thru the city of Doha….(ok…who’s rode with Wayne….imagine him on drugs) and a small ride into the desert…. I found Joe…the Camel. (See attached pic) I paid $5 for a 30 second ride and all the free pictures I could take. Camels are pretty cool. They have all these knots on them, really long legs and they sound just awful. With big brown eyes and this mound of hair on the top of their head, they would make an interesting pet. As long as you keep the spit mask on them. You would have loved them Sis. I wish the ride had been longer. It would have been cool to ride for like an hour or so.

After 10 minutes with the camels, we climbed back into the 4x4’s and continued on into the sand dunes of the desert. I have to tell you, not much different than the sand dunes in Oregon. I kept expecting to see Matthew and Kyle go flying past me on quads. Well, about 30 minutes of playing in the sand, we made it to the beach. Yes….I, Sheila Graham….swam in the Persion Gulf. It was cold at first, but I got used to it after a bit. It was salty. Burrrrrr….. I swam for a little while, then laid out on the beach. It was nice. Only our little group was there. Like a private beach. I did not know anyone on the tour, just signed up for it. It was very relaxing. I stayed by myself most of the day. It was so quiet. I took some pics. I will post them on myspace for anyone that wants to see them.

After finding my camel, I felt my mission to Iraq was complete….and I am ready to come home now. But the Army won’t let me.

I would write more, but I have scheduled a massage…..its rough here!!! LOL So until next time my people!!!! I love and miss you all
Sheila

Blessings to you, Sheila. And thank you for the material for this post.