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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