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The morning after the Buzzard Reunion…did I say morning? I meant VERY early the next morning, Ilene and I jumped on Southwest Airlines and flew into LAX for our 15-day cruise to Hawaii.

We decided not to travel light on this one since we’d be spending a total of 9 days at sea so we each dragged a bag as well as a backpack filled with goodies to keep us occupied on the Star Princess.

It’s a 40 minute bus ride from the airport to the seaport and fortunately it was on a Sunday so traffic wasn’t too hectic.

Greeting us as we pulled into the port area was the USS Iowa and well-appointed and well-organized terminal.

It wasn’t long before we were onboard and exploring the ship and prepping for a four days at sea. Continue reading Hawaii Cruise from San Pedro, CA

The first part of our trip to Las Vegas was filled with reunions. First we had the opportunity to see Sam and meet his fiancee Susan and her son Kevin.

We had a pleasant lunch at Olive Garden and came away feeling blessed that Susan and Kevin would soon become part of our family.

Las Vegas was the home for the 510th Fighter Squadron 75th Reunion. We served in the “Buzzards” when we first arrived at RAF Bentwaters/Woodbridge in 1987 and after a short time with the 78th Fighter Squadron (Bushmasters), I served with them until the were moved to Germany after Bentwaters/Woodbridge closed in 1993.

It was nice catching up with old friends like Bill “Senator” Rial, “Coach” Allison, Rodger Flotta, and Tom. Needless to say a few toasts were made, a few whiskies were had, and most of all it was great seeing the traditions of the A-10 Buzzards are still around with the F-16 Buzzards now stationed in Aviano, Italy.

We stopped in Tucson for a few days to meet old friends and get reacquainted with our old home.

Ilene and I stayed at the Lazy Days KOA and although a bit “pricey” we really liked the park. Spaces were ample-sized and dotted with orange, lemon, and grapefruit trees which gave it a nice tropical rather than desert feel.

We popped into Davis-Monthan for a trip down memory lane and stopped by my old squadron, the 354th “Bulldogs”.

They say you can never go back and in this case we went back to our home on Tanque Verde and to be honest we were disappointed in how the new owners had let the property run down.

No trip to Tucson would be complete without a run down to Tombstone and this trip was no different. We spent a nice afternoon walking the streets that Earp, Clanton, and Holiday once trod.

Keith even had a full straight-bladed shave at the Tucson Mustachery by a barber dressed up in his 1880’s garb complete with six-shooter.

It was cold with rain and drizzle when we pulled into Leander KOA. We stayed two days and had the opportunity to see our dear friends Hoss and Janet once more before heading West.

The KOA is a nice one and if we ever return to the area one we’d stay at again.

We picked up the Audie Rose at the end of January and headed north from Houston to McKinney, TX.

McKinney is the home to MCD Innovations a company that specializes in roller shades for businesses and RVs. MCD has several electrical hookups in their parking lot which allows us to stay there while our old pleated shades were removed and replaced with the new shades.

While we were there we took advantage of the low-priced movies and even managed to pop into the GW Bush Presidential Library.

Here are a couple of before and after shots of the AR:

BEFORE

AFTER

I think you’ll agree the after photos were worth the trip.

But like all things this past few months we had to contend with some COLD temperatures and we woke up the day before we were to leave with a little surprise on the AR:

All-in-all, it was a good trip but due to the cold weather moving in we decided to head further south to catch Interstate 5 and hopefully warmer weather.

 

Our oldest friends Harvey “Hoss” Barker and his wife Janet offered to let us stay with them during the Audie Rose upgrades. We’re now in Round Rock, TX living in their home and visiting some of the local Texas sites.

According to Wikipedia: Round Rock is a city near Austin, Texas. It’s known for its outdoor activities and historic sites. The Round Rock, a large stone in Brushy Creek, marks the site where wagons made low-water crossings in the 19th century. Nearby, Chisholm Trail Crossing Park has plaques detailing the city’s cattle-driving history.

Keith discovered the Round Rock accidentally when he made a wrong turn coming back from an oil change on our Honda. The area nearby has older homes build of river rock and is quite interesting.

While visiting Waco last week, Ilene and Keith dropped by Magnolia Market. That’s the business owned by Chip and Joanna Gaines of Fixer Upper fame on HGTV. The market is really a large building next to the famous grain bins, a large open area with picnic tables and food trucks, and the bakery next door.

We didn’t go into the bakery for one of their famous cupcakes since the line was around the block. But we did learn that the bakery truck behind the market sells the same cupcakes as the bakery…with no line! OK, the selection isn’t quite as extensive but…

Ilene picked up a tea towel and we had just enough time to drive over to the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum across the highway.

The Hall of Fame offers dioramas about the history of the Texas Rangers, several displays on famous rangers and weapons displays. We started the tour with a 45 minute video on the history of the rangers. We highly recommend watching it if you visit.

The film introduced us to Sam Bass and A.W. Grimes, two roads here in Round Rock. Seems Sam Bass was an outlaw who shot and killed deputy A.W. Grimes in Round Rock. Texas Rangers witnessing the shooting managed to kill several of Sam Bass’ gang and wound him enough so that a couple days later the outlaw perished for his nefarious deeds.

Interestingly, one of the other witnesses to the altercation was con man “Soapy” Smith. Seems Soapy met his demise on the dock in Skagway, AK in 1898. One of our stops on the cruise we took with the Barkers back in 2014. It’s a small world after all!

 

We dropped the Audie Rose off at Best Preowned RV on Thursday morning for our renovations. Over the next few weeks they will:

• Remove carpet and replace with laminate wood floors
• Remove the old love seat and replace with an entertainment seat
• Remove the propane oven and replace with drawers
• Remove the galley table and make the space into a desk
• Mount the new 40″ TV in the lounge
• Replace the RV refrigerator with a residential refrigerator
• Mount our 34″ TV in the bedroom dresser
• Remove the washer/dryer and replace it with storage space
• Additional odds and ends

At the end of the renovation the Audie Rose will look like a new coach and be remodeled for our needs. Needless to say Ilene and I are very excited about the upgrades.