Texas
Thursday, March 3
Off to Bedford, Texas to see old friends Rich and B arb Falcone. Steve was best man at Rich's wedding 35 years ago, and Rich returned the favor 33 years ago. We haven’t seen them in 6 years - maybe more, but have kept up with each other’s lives - children, graduations, engagements, weddings, job and career changes. Steve’s looking forward to seeing Rich and exchanging jabs with him. The two specialize in personal putdowns – all in a friendly spirit. Bedford’s near Dallas, and we’re shooting for Abilene by the end of the day, which is 2/3 of the 480 mile distance, but we quit when we reach Sweetwater, Texas – it’s dusk and Abilene is still another 60 miles. We arrive in Bedford the next afternoon, and spend the next 3 days with Rich and Barb, abandoning our home on wheels for their guest bedroom. Despite the 6 year gap, it’s like we just saw them yesterday – there’s no sense of time passing (except for the grey in Steve & Rich’s heads!). That’s the definition of true friendship; you can pick up where you left off without missing a beat.
On Monday, it’s on the road again. . . .we decide to spend some time in San Antonio, visiting the Alamo and the Riverwalk. I’ve seen both but it’s been 10 years or more. The Alamo is a big disappointment, I’ve warned Steve – but you have to see it once. We find a park in Bourne, Texas, 20 minutes from San Antonio. The Top of the Hill RV Park is indeed a find – nicely landscaped, friendly staff, off the main highway. Bourne is a sweet little town with an old-fashioned Main Street, lots of antique shops and old-fashioned craft and candy shops. We spend one day in San Antonio, strolling the River Walk and touring the Alamo (all blow and no go) - and decide we prefer the Texas hill country to its cities. The only disappointment – we don’t have time to tour the Texas wine country (really!) because we have to get to Houston for Steve’s flight to Seattle on Saturday– he’s going home to pick up some documents our accountant needs to do our 2004 taxes.
On Thursday we pull out of Top of the Hill (we want to stay another day but the park is fully reserved with an incoming classic car rally) and move on to Fredericksburg, a clone of Bourne with a German twist. Fredericksburg is home to the Nimitz Pacific War Museum; I go in with Steve expecting that I’ll take off in 15 minutes for more interesting activities (browsing antique shops . . . ). Instead, we discover the museum is a fascinating and well-designed trove of information and interactive displays about the U.S. and Japan’s history and growth as world powers leading up to Pearl Harbor, and the events and battles of the Pacific theatre in World War II. We stay until closing, spending 3 hours there, and return the next day for another hour.
Friday, March 11
Heading for Houston (actually, our destination is New Caney, 20 miles north of Houston and relatively close to the airport) we pull over in an empty lot near the Austin airport & unhook the Jeep. I have a $400 travel award from America West for volunteering to give up my seat a year ago on a flight from New York – but it can only be redeemed at the airport. When we walk into the terminal, I immediately feel a sense of longing – not for the pleasure of flying (that went away 15 years ago) – but for what it represents: travel to far away places. It’s the one thing (besides friends) that I miss about Thunderbird – the opportunity to see cities like Bangkok, Beijing, Sydney, Munich, Dubai and other places I might never have visited otherwise. I haven’t been on a plane since I left Thunderbird, Scottsdale and my former life last September. There’s a pang indeed. Steve thinks I’m crazy, of course – he reminds me how I used to complain about those 12 or 14 hour flights elbow to elbow with sneezing, snoring, hacking tourist-cabin seatmates. But I remind him that the destination was usually worth it.
Off to Bedford, Texas to see old friends Rich and B arb Falcone. Steve was best man at Rich's wedding 35 years ago, and Rich returned the favor 33 years ago. We haven’t seen them in 6 years - maybe more, but have kept up with each other’s lives - children, graduations, engagements, weddings, job and career changes. Steve’s looking forward to seeing Rich and exchanging jabs with him. The two specialize in personal putdowns – all in a friendly spirit. Bedford’s near Dallas, and we’re shooting for Abilene by the end of the day, which is 2/3 of the 480 mile distance, but we quit when we reach Sweetwater, Texas – it’s dusk and Abilene is still another 60 miles. We arrive in Bedford the next afternoon, and spend the next 3 days with Rich and Barb, abandoning our home on wheels for their guest bedroom. Despite the 6 year gap, it’s like we just saw them yesterday – there’s no sense of time passing (except for the grey in Steve & Rich’s heads!). That’s the definition of true friendship; you can pick up where you left off without missing a beat.
On Monday, it’s on the road again. . . .we decide to spend some time in San Antonio, visiting the Alamo and the Riverwalk. I’ve seen both but it’s been 10 years or more. The Alamo is a big disappointment, I’ve warned Steve – but you have to see it once. We find a park in Bourne, Texas, 20 minutes from San Antonio. The Top of the Hill RV Park is indeed a find – nicely landscaped, friendly staff, off the main highway. Bourne is a sweet little town with an old-fashioned Main Street, lots of antique shops and old-fashioned craft and candy shops. We spend one day in San Antonio, strolling the River Walk and touring the Alamo (all blow and no go) - and decide we prefer the Texas hill country to its cities. The only disappointment – we don’t have time to tour the Texas wine country (really!) because we have to get to Houston for Steve’s flight to Seattle on Saturday– he’s going home to pick up some documents our accountant needs to do our 2004 taxes.
On Thursday we pull out of Top of the Hill (we want to stay another day but the park is fully reserved with an incoming classic car rally) and move on to Fredericksburg, a clone of Bourne with a German twist. Fredericksburg is home to the Nimitz Pacific War Museum; I go in with Steve expecting that I’ll take off in 15 minutes for more interesting activities (browsing antique shops . . . ). Instead, we discover the museum is a fascinating and well-designed trove of information and interactive displays about the U.S. and Japan’s history and growth as world powers leading up to Pearl Harbor, and the events and battles of the Pacific theatre in World War II. We stay until closing, spending 3 hours there, and return the next day for another hour.
Friday, March 11
Heading for Houston (actually, our destination is New Caney, 20 miles north of Houston and relatively close to the airport) we pull over in an empty lot near the Austin airport & unhook the Jeep. I have a $400 travel award from America West for volunteering to give up my seat a year ago on a flight from New York – but it can only be redeemed at the airport. When we walk into the terminal, I immediately feel a sense of longing – not for the pleasure of flying (that went away 15 years ago) – but for what it represents: travel to far away places. It’s the one thing (besides friends) that I miss about Thunderbird – the opportunity to see cities like Bangkok, Beijing, Sydney, Munich, Dubai and other places I might never have visited otherwise. I haven’t been on a plane since I left Thunderbird, Scottsdale and my former life last September. There’s a pang indeed. Steve thinks I’m crazy, of course – he reminds me how I used to complain about those 12 or 14 hour flights elbow to elbow with sneezing, snoring, hacking tourist-cabin seatmates. But I remind him that the destination was usually worth it.
posted by Anne-Marie | 3:51 PM
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