Some of our Texas Travels, The Beginning

One day, Sharon got up and said, "I haven't been camping since Field Camp and I think we should go camping."

OK. I started thinking back to the last time I went camping. I figure it was about '73 when I took my only vacation by myself. I quit my job as a roughneck for FWA Drilling, loaded up my 1972 Plymouth Cricket, and headed west. Sorta.

My first stop was Big Bend National Park where I spent a couple of nights camping along the Rio Grande and found that I wasn't hearing those 12-cylinder LeRoy engines on the rig. I decided I liked that absence of sound. Then, I headed up to the mountain camping area and spent another night there. Very pleasant.

From there, I drove along a very bumpy dirt road for what seemed like several days. Heading north, I camped near Carlsbad, NM, before heading towards Albuquerque. Spent some time there figuring out which way I ought to go next.

Lo and behold! I decided I'd like to see the Grand Canyon. Got all of the way to Gallup, NM, before my car decided to stop. The car guy said, "It'll take a few days to get the part for that foreign car here. Might take even longer 'cause it's Thanksgiving, you know." Bummer. In Gallup, New Mexico, right next to Where The Hell Am I? and Middle of No Where. Had to actually rent a motel room. Good news was that, at the time, the drinking age in New Mexico was 18 so at least I could have a beer. Better news was the folks running the motel were pretty decent and invited me to share their Thanksgiving supper.

After 4 days, my car was fixed. Couldn't leave Gallup fast enough. Got to see the Petrified Forest and put up a campsite on the south rim of the Grand Canyon National Park. Woke up the next morning and my sleeping bag was covered in snow from the big, fluffy snowflakes from the night snow storm.

Headed to San Diego and then up to Los Angeles where I met my first Scientology group. Asked me to take a test which basically asked me what was my favorite color. They then proceeded to inform me that I was in dire straits what with my potential for severe drug addiction and anti-social behavioral problems. But if I joined them, I would be saved by the science of L. Ron Hubbard. (Hey, wait a minute. I knew that name. Didn't he write some dynamite science fiction?) Sorry, but no thanks. I then left Los Angeles as fast as my little Cricket would take me.

Short journey through Nevada and Utah, into Colorado and back to New Mexico - avoiding Gallup like the plague. Finally, back to Barnhart, Texas, where I found out that my sister and grandmother had been in a very serious car accident and no one was able to contact me. (For my younger readers, that was before everyone on the planet had a cell phone.)

Anyway, Sharon ... remember Sharon? That's who started this conversation off in the first place ... Sharon decides we'll buy a tent, cooking stuff, air mattress, and oodles of other camping related things. Next thing I know, she's planning on visiting some Texas State parks for overnight excursions.

But that's for another posting!