Choke Canyon for one night, Llano River for a couple nights, then a tacky RV Park in Big Spring. By that time we had gone so far north we were just even with Interstate 20, and the southern border of New Mexico. 2016 Summer Trip Map Now we’re at Oasis RV Park outside Amarillo on Interstate 40, even with Albuquerque. Looking to the east, we’re just across from Arkansas and the southern border of Tennessee. We’re one day away from Colorado but now we’re watching for weather windows. Colorado is having a bout of springtime winter weather again. We’ll spend two days here in North Texas where it’s still warm, until the weather clears in Southeastern Colorado.
That doesn’t happen very often
We drove into a Verizon dead zone. South Llano River State Park. A marvelous place.
Got our usual spot. We can get satellite TV there, but no cell or internet. We stayed two days anyway. This is an emotional week. It’s the week fifty years ago I came home from Viet Nam. Judy is tracking it day by day. Monday I landed at Travis Air Force Base outside Sacramento. Mom and Dad met me there. They knew I would be arriving, but these were the olden days; no such thing as phone calls back and forth to coordinate. No such thing as notice from the Army about what plane I was on. Mom and Dad (and all the other families) met every plane for days, standing at the chain link fence watching lines of soldiers deplane to the tarmac, each family trying to pick out their loved one, soldiers searching for a glimpse of family after a year of isolation. I saw mine waving. Today, Wednesday, I arrived back in Long Beach and rang the bell to surprise Judy. She says I hugged her so tight she thought she would pop. She didn’t ask me to stop though. It gets a little teary, reminiscing.
Got our usual spot. We can get satellite TV there, but no cell or internet. We stayed two days anyway. This is an emotional week. It’s the week fifty years ago I came home from Viet Nam. Judy is tracking it day by day. Monday I landed at Travis Air Force Base outside Sacramento. Mom and Dad met me there. They knew I would be arriving, but these were the olden days; no such thing as phone calls back and forth to coordinate. No such thing as notice from the Army about what plane I was on. Mom and Dad (and all the other families) met every plane for days, standing at the chain link fence watching lines of soldiers deplane to the tarmac, each family trying to pick out their loved one, soldiers searching for a glimpse of family after a year of isolation. I saw mine waving. Today, Wednesday, I arrived back in Long Beach and rang the bell to surprise Judy. She says I hugged her so tight she thought she would pop. She didn’t ask me to stop though. It gets a little teary, reminiscing. Thoughts from 50 years ago today
Judy has some thoughts as well: 50 years ago today, Steve was at Tan Son Nhut air base, Vietnam, lined up, waiting for his name to be called, to board a commercial airliner to take him home. He had been there for most of a week. He has told me this was the most frightening time in the 364 days he had been in Vietnam. The base had been under artillery fire off and on. Scary to be so close to being home. 3 days waiting for your name, lots of guys leaving, most waiting for the next day. His turn came. I often try to imagine what he felt when that plane’s wheels went up. I can’t.
Life on the road
It was a leisurely start; gone at the crack of 12:30; right after lunch. A 150 mile day got us to Choke Canyon State Park for the night.
Not much to say. I know; I’ll make a trip map! 2016 Summer Trip Map Choke Canyon; a charming place we’re well familiar with. We didn’t have it totally to ourselves; but close enough. We were going to go up through Brazos Bend State Park south of Houston, but they’re closed due to severe weather and flooding. We’ll go west instead. Warm weather. 90 degrees. We’re not due in Colorado until next Monday, a week from tomorrow. We’ll find another easy day tomorrow. (I don’t mention work much, but I still do (work) (half-time). Easy days allows time in the afternoons to keep abreast.)
Not much to say. I know; I’ll make a trip map! 2016 Summer Trip Map Choke Canyon; a charming place we’re well familiar with. We didn’t have it totally to ourselves; but close enough. We were going to go up through Brazos Bend State Park south of Houston, but they’re closed due to severe weather and flooding. We’ll go west instead. Warm weather. 90 degrees. We’re not due in Colorado until next Monday, a week from tomorrow. We’ll find another easy day tomorrow. (I don’t mention work much, but I still do (work) (half-time). Easy days allows time in the afternoons to keep abreast.) Time to move on
I checked our top 100 bird rankings on ebird (after the big day). We’re still not on the radar nationally, coming in at number 195. Well at least we cracked the top 200 (briefly). We moved way up in Texas though. Number 35 in the state. We didn’t really add anything to Hidalgo County (where we live) with the big day, just the elf owl, but that’s where we bird the most, so we’re at number 12 in Hidalgo. Now it’s time to move on for our summer trip north. We’re packing today. The bus leaves tomorrow and we mean to be on it.