April 16, 2013
We get up fairly early and pack the van, eat our oatmeal,
and start driving to the Dallas area. (It’s COLD this morning—not sure what the
temp is but feels like in the 40s, with a chilly wind blowing. Need a jacket
for sure!) We plan to stop for a visit with Jack’s Coast Guard Academy classmate and
buddy Ted Leigh and his wife Marge in Aubrey, TX, which is northwest of the
city.
The first part of our drive is in the very flat and
featureless country that surrounds Amarillo. We second-guess our GPS and find
our own route, since the GPS wants us to go north back to Amarillo and then east
on 40, and we don’t want to backtrack. We end up taking non-interstates and
really enjoy the drive, as the speed limit is 75 most of the way and we see
more of the ranches and the way people live—and there’s almost no traffic! Just
the way we like it. (Only the occasional truck blocking the left lane, to annoy
Jack…)
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| Typical road blocking antics of 18-wheeler drivers. |
The land changes as we drive between treeless flat plains
and somewhat rolling rugged land with small trees and shrubs, arroyos and rocky
formations.
We see our first oil wells on this route, passing one big field
with maybe 40 or 50 working oil wells.
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| Note oil well just above steering wheel. |
We go through several one-horse towns,
one called Matador, with billboards advertising upcoming rodeos and
agricultural events. Most of these towns don’t look too prosperous (in some,
the speed limit only slows to 60 mph—seems like you’re encouraged to keep on
moving!).
We get to Ted and Marge’s house around 3:45 pm. They have
the Coast Guard flag flying on the front of the house for us. Ted was head
usher at Jack’s wedding to his first wife Ann in 1960, and they roomed together
one year. They’ve seen each other a few times since college days, but it’s been
decades since they had a chance to really visit with each other. Ted retired
from the Coast Guard after 20 years and worked in industry for a number of
years after that. Marge is a retired nurse. They both are very involved with
church activities, gardening and their kids and grandkids, many of whom are
nearby.
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| Marge, Jack and Ted |
We talked nonstop during our visit, reminiscing and
catching up on many years of happenings and interests.
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| Marge, Ted and Carol |
They prepared a
DELICIOUS dinner (including scrumptious asparagus fresh from their garden), and we visited until after midnight,
watching videos and websites of old Coast Guard days, church services, Olde
Surber Station (our vacation rental restored log house) and others. Ted and
Marge had also restored an older house in rural New York some years ago and we
regaled each other with our “old house restoration” stories and pictures. The
photos of their former home were beautiful—our kind of place!
The comfortable house they live in now is on a cul-de-sac
in a quiet-seeming community far enough away from Dallas to almost seem like
living in the country, but close enough for city amenities. Their flower and
veggie gardens are impressive! Made us jealous! We’re going to plant some
asparagus roots when we get home…
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| Marge and Ted's beautiful gardens and house. (Also more gardens in the back.) |
We spent a comfortable night in our RoadTrek in their
driveway and had a delicious breakfast together (thanks again for the banana
bread, Marge!) before we all had to head off for our various appointments
elsewhere. We vowed not to wait so long to do it again…
Now we’re heading to Cypress, TX, near Houston, for a
several-day rendezvous with 8-year-old granddaughter Sarah, son Jeff and his
wife Mariann. We’re looking forward to some visiting and relaxation.
State count: still 8 [Virginia, North Carolina, South
Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas]
Odometer count:
Surber, VA: 107,435
Aubrey, TX: 109,654
Where we are:
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