Texas

My goodness is Texas a large State and we have explored it all and even lived in the State

Our first child was born while I was at Fort Bliss over forty years ago

That was quite a time in our life as we lived in a wooden house

That had a water cooler in the window

We would drive around El Paso especially up on the side of the hills overlooking the city

El Paso is a city filled with sights and sounds and much tradition

Like the luminarias at Christmas

We went to the Sun Bowl parade one year and

We also went to a memorable Righteous Brothers concert

Where we sat front row and Linda was a full nine months pregnant

It was cold, hot, humid, exciting, mean, loving and so much more

In the very early moments of marriage living in Fort Bliss

We had a wonderful kind man as a Pastor who took us to dinner and

To see Jimmy Rogers with my sister in Mexico

There was another Priest who was the first of many who was a mean and

Abusive Franciscan also in our life

Years later, we used to drive 1-35 south from Oklahoma City to Laredo every month to purchase Mexican goods to be sold in our stores

On a trip like that when we were just starting our business,

We had a flat tire near San Antonio and a man with the same name and rank as Linda's dad stopped and helped us

Often our daughters would drive with me and once we went to a fine restaurant, Golding’s, where my daughters and I were treated wonderfully

I remember taking them to see the original Superman at a small theatre there

There was a real speed trap in Selma just outside of San Antonio where the speed limit dropped from 70 to 65 for only about a quarter of a mile with no signs

We have gone tubing down the Guadeloupe River in New Braunfiels and purchased stein ware and other neat things from a supplier there

Once we got burned so badly on the river that we thought we would almost die, and there were snakes floating next to us, wow that was a time

Another time we took our blue Tercel and headed off to Carlsbad Caverns after going to Mexico and on the way we stopped at Judge Roy Bean's place

Later in life we would travel to Nuevo Laredo often to buy medicine we could not afford at home in Kansas

The drive from San Antonio to Laredo is only slightly over a hundred and twenty miles but it is a very hot dry and desert area

Earlier in our life, we lived and worked for an entire year for $110 a month and room in Floresville where the people we loved and served had even less than we did

We had to "borrow" fifty dollars from the parish where we worked in order to buy glasses, something you don't forget

Sacred Heart in Floresville is filled with so many difficult memories and we were only beginning our journey as Lay Ministers

The Hispanic families invited a priest from Mexico to come and direct a mission with the blessing of the pastor and our help

He arrived when the pastor was not at home so I of course put him in an unused guest bedroom, one of several that was empty

When the pastor arrived, without speaking a word to me or the guest, he had the housekeeper move the visiting priest to a local run down motel

The Pastor explained that you just did not put "those kind of people up in your home".

Years later this same pastor would give us a glowing recommendation that got us the best Church job we ever held in North Dakota

At a Diocesan Conference, a priest that would become a Bishop later, overheard us saying we were trying to build bridges at this parish

He interrupted and said plainly, "you should be building bunkers, not bridges."

This priest was one of our closest allies and was a good man but had been hurt very badly in San Antonio

One time after about six months there, a woman brought us a handmade puppet and a can of greens and offered them to us as a welcoming gift

I remember that she explained that she did not have anything to welcome us with when we first arrived

We were VESS Volunteers and the people we replaced wrote a true but very harsh book about their experiences in Floresville

We were sorely disappointed in the Alamo as it was tiny and in the middle of the huge bustling city

We really enjoyed and liked the River Walk in San Antonio and walked it often and have taken the boats and gone up the tower

We would drive from Floresville to San Antonio to go to the movies as often as we could afford to, and that wasn't very often

We have gone to the Strawberry Festival in Pleasanton and worked the Peanut Festival in Floresville

We have driven to Victoria through Goliad and I was "slain in the spirit" in Kenedy

The incredible cathedral like church in Cestohowa dominates the tiny town and is so beautiful

I especially remember the blooming of the bluebonnets which filled the fields and dominated the senses

I attended the Mexican American Culture Center and learned basic Spanish but more than language, learning about the people was much more important

We have been to the hill country east of San Antonio and also driven to LBJ's ranch and gone through more hill country up around Austin

We have attended conferences in Del Rio with a wonderful Bishop Popp who was older when he became a Bishop and never fit the mold but indeed was a holy man

We have driven I-20 from Shreveport to El Paso and also I-10 from Louisiana to El Paso and beyond and both ways

We have visited Dangerfield where we were offered a position but declined when the person we would be replacing told us we were not her choice

On yet another time we deliberately went to Big Bend National Park because we had never been there and it was worth the wait and the trip

We saw wild pigs along a very hot Rio Grande River where you could almost wade to Mexico with no apparent border protection

We tent camped up in a mountain area where it was cool and we watched bears through binoculars and listened to the wind come howling down the valley

We did this all on the same day in Big Bend and took a wonderful sun rise picture the next morning and saw deer as we drove out

We drove up through highway 385 and visited a famous observatory that Linda had always wanted to see

It was pretty even slightly mountainous country and we saw deer and pretty vista's including a scene where a small hill was emerging form fog that was very neat

We have been to doll shows in Odessa and the Midland area and I went to a drive in movie to pass the time once in Lubbock also known as the Buddy Holly town

We have been to the great flea market in Canton and tried to sell goods but was unsuccessful still we enjoyed the flea market which may well be the largest in the whole USA

We used to go to Dallas for the trade shows in order to again purchase goods for our business and we would eat always at the place with the "lady in a swing"

We went to Six Flags for our honeymoon and we often took our children there later on

We have a picture of Linda and Mercedes riding the largest wooden roller coaster in America at Six Flags, a great memory

One time we were there when the Park was closed because of ice while we were actually at the park and they gave us rain checks which we used later in that summer

We were coming home from a Christmas vacation with our children and while approaching Dallas in a terrific ice storm

We were stopped in a line of traffic on the interstate and watched as a trailer truck turned over while not moving

I once taught a class and attended classes at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth

I spent over a week there exploring and enjoying the warmth while Linda was stuck in North Dakota's 25 below zero weather

Our children liked to eat at a steak place where if you wore a tie it would be cut off and they had a slide in the middle of the place and live music

Amarillo is a place where we have spent some time and it is a neat place where you can have a blizzard one moment and a tornado the next

Well let’s just agree the weather is volatile and changes instantly in that part of Texas

No visit to Amarillo is complete with stopping at the Big Tex Steakhouse

This nice older thunderbird was in the Big Tex Steakhouse parking lot last time we were there

We like Blue Sky Cafe and of course the buried caddy's on the way out of town

We were at the Blue Sky on New Year's Eve just after Linda survived a horrible Christmas respiratory attack

We took shelter one extremely hot tornadic day in a cool mall in Wichita Falls and a huge tornado did indeed strike near where we were

We also visited there to see our son-in-law complete an Air Force school there

Houston is a huge city that you used to drive in pass a place where you could see the Goodyear Blimps docked and the traffic makes LA seem like a calm town

We have also eaten at PappaDeaux's a great seafood restaurant there while taking care of computer clients

We have driven through Galveston and once we stopped to visit the Houston Space Center coming from Padre Island

Padre Island is a boardwalk of adult fun filled beaches and touristy things to do

We camped one time on what seemed to be a deserted beach and played in the water

The next morning we discovered the beach we were on had been closed because of, yes, sharks close in on the beach

Actually they were about to have a shark fishing contest and had thrown lots of chum in the water

Brownsville is yet another fascinating place with the unique Gladys Porter Zoo where you can get really close to the animals

Tyler Texas is one of America's rose growing capitals and a beautiful pace when the roses are in bloom

If you have never seen the magnificent Christmas Light display in Nacogdoches, well, this is something you should try to see at least once

Thank goodness we have never been in but we have driven past the Huntsville prison area and seen "chain gangs" hard at work with armed guards

The Red River always seemed to be where Texas began for us as you drove up and out over the bridge  down I-35  into and through Gainesville and then Denton

From the 8700 foot Guadalupe Peak to below sea level with desert, and rolling green pastures, long horned cattle, wild pigs and so many horses

Texas is all of that and more including wild metropolitan areas and quaint picturesque towns, BBQ, huge steaks, and Mexican Food

A vast culture of people to fill an even vaster area of land is all of what makes up this huge State

We have travelled it all, we have seen almost all of it and yet we know there is much more

I suppose I will end these memories of Texas at the place it all began

Below is a picture of the motel we stayed at in Arlington while on our honeymoon

At the time it was glamorous now it just seems rather ordinary

Still an extraordinary relationship and marriage that has lasted over 45 years began here

and it was a glorious time