Friday, January 13, 2017

Lackland AFB, TX 9/29/16


I gotta say we are blessed with hubby's prior military service & retirement because it allows us to use the military bases for shopping & now for rv'ing. It's only $20 to camp on the military bases, but most bases don't take reservations. It's first come first served so you take your chances (kind of like flying Space A) & you can only stay for 30 days at a time (I know some places have tweaked that a bit). They may not all be the fanciest places, but that's ok for $20 I won't complain. On this base all the full hook up sites were taken & most of the partial hook ups, but we were able to score a full hook up space since one guy was leaving. Sa-Weeet! We had to wait a bit, but it wasn't that long & it was worth it to wait for full hook ups. There was no playground and no doggie park, but they did have bathrooms with showers & a laundry room. I used the laundry room, but not the showers. They needed some serious updating. I would think that Lackland of all bases would have a nice big campground since they have hundreds of airman graduating all the time. Parents & family members come out to see their airman graduate & I think a bigger campground would be beneficial, but that's just me. I'm sure the air force doesn't see that as a priority. The Air Force is all about winning awards for this or that so I wonder if they have one for their FamCamps? If not they should since that would be motivation for updating & expanding.








Anyway, once we got into our site hubby wanted to take a trip down memory lane. He was at basic training back in 1989, I believe, so he wanted to see if he recognized anything. We drove all around & I was surely lost. I had only been on that base a couple times when I was in my early 20s so nothing looked familiar to me. Hubby was going “awww yeah yea that was the ….” or “oh ok I remember that” then there was the “that looks different so they must have remodeled.” Ooookkkay. One thing I was NOT expecting at all was the 5pm Retreat call over the base sound system. Not all bases do that & well we're out of practice & simply forgot. Needless to say it scared the bajeezees out of me because we were apparently near a loud speaker & just happened to be outside. Of course I wasn't as scared as much as the crack of dawn Reveille. I was not a happy camper about that. I don't think in my 18 years of going from base to base did I hear that in the morning. Ugh! I do have to say; however, how I miss that fellowship of being part of something. I enjoyed the military life and always made friends with the other spouses, but since hubby retired I've felt at a loss of where I fit in. We lived 2 ½ yrs in Tucson, AZ but rarely went to the base & in that time I never really clicked with anyone. It got to be a lonely time, but I kept busy with my kiddos. However now that we're on the road I feel that new sense of belonging in a group. It's a full time rv traveling kinda group that “gets” what you're doing, why & how it makes you feel. Love it & enjoying camaraderie.

During our two day stay here I got to see my mom & older brother. They came out to the campground the first night & just hung out. The kids begged her to stay the night, but she wasn't prepared & I said next time. At some point during our little visit one of our little dogs apparently ate something that was making her sick. She was puking constantly & I worried that she would get dehydrated. I did some research & it turns out acorns are bad for dogs. Well that solved the mystery since we were surrounded by them. I had the kids go on an acorn hunt & gather them up & toss them away from our trailer area. After a day of puking, little dog was on the mend & I was happy to be done cleaning up dog barf. Blah!

The next afternoon we met up with my mom & brother at the Alamo & walked along the Riverwalk then had an early dinner at an Irish restaurant. Mmmm Shephard's Pie, reminded me of my time working at Fado' Irish Pub in Henderson, NV back in my younger days. Good times. Oh so back to our visit. I got to briefly explain to the kiddos what the Alamo was all about. I'm sure my 9 yr old got the whole idea about it, but the other two, well they were hot & hungry & didn't seem to care too much. I always have these big visions in my head about going to a historic place like that & talking to my kids about it so they can learn some history. Pssssht I really need to lower my expectations & work on a less grand scale or simply just do away with the visions in my head. That's ok a quick snap shot was taken for the memory books. All they cared about was seeing their grandma & eating her delicious tortillas. I don't blame them one bit. There's just something spectacular about grandma's tortillas. Perhaps because they're made with love. Speaking of tortillas. I was NOT about to leave the city without some tamales & tortillas from Victorias. On the morning of our departure I got up early (I'm not a morning person) & drove the short distance to Victorias & stocked up on my goodies. In my book that's worth getting up early. I think I bought 150 tortillas & 6 dozen different tamales. Skip the chicken tamales & just go for the pork or bean. Soooo good. I probably ate 3 or 4 tamales on my way back to the base. Hey it was breakfast time after all. Thanks for the yumminess San Antonio & adios to my family. Time to move along!





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