Category Archives: 2024

Just two more stops before we get home again. The first stop was in Heber Springs, Arkansas to spend some time with our friends Art and Barbara Jackson. Barbara and I worked at the same bank for many years and they both attended the same church with us in Ocala until we moved to Leesburg, and they moved to Arkansas. Besides being excellent host and hostess, their son Raines doubles as a tour guide along with grandson Logan. Heber Springs is a beautiful area of Arkansas creating a fishing and boating mecca for vacationers from far and wide. After seeing their new location, we know their future happiness is assured.

A few days later, we were at the entrance of Camp LeJeune, North Carolina to see our Grandson, Ryan, the Marine. Of course, as soon as we decided to some see him the Marines found lots of jobs for him to do and our 5 pm arrival had to be pushed back to almost 7 pm. We actually had to wait until he got off from work to even get into the base. His Sargent took pity on him and let him off early, but the rest of his group worked past 8 pm.

He had to sign us into the hotel and is officially responsible for our actions while on the base. I guess we had better behave ourselves!

Ryan did a quick shower and change out of his uniform and then off we went for a world wind tour of the base and a hunt for food other than Taco Bell, Wendys, or Canes, apparently staples of Marine life. We wound up off the base on the ocean at Beach Bum Pizza eating dinner at 8:30. It was well worth it because we were able to introduce Ryan to Stromboli which he had never had.

The next day he was back to work, and we were on our own to navigate the 154,000 acres of the camp trying desperately not to get lost. We found a beach, a lake and lots of places where picture taking is frowned upon.

Tonight, however, there was no special favors and Ryan had to work along with everyone else until the assignment was complete. Fortunately, it was closer to 6:45 when they finished, and we had found another eating option for him. This time he had a “real” quesadilla, not from Taco Bell, and topped it with crab dip while we enjoyed the view.

After dinner he took us to see some Osprey planes which we couldn’t photograph. We did see one from far enough away while it was landing, so we took this. I don’t think the Chinese can use any information from this.

We left Ryan back at the barracks to rest up for his 0600 start the next morning.

All that’s left is our 1- and 1/2-day drive home and we are ready to be there.

As we drove on, leaving Utah’s mountains and entering Colorado, there was a very stark contrast in the landscape. The browns and grays of Utah gave way to the red and greens of Colorado where we spent two days with our friends and previous neighbors at their summer home in Colorado Springs.

After a home cooked meal and full night sleep, we headed out to Red Rock Canyon where four 70+ year olds tried to convince ourselves we were still young.

The next day, since we were now sure we were not still young, we drove to Cripple Creek spending much of the day riding in the car.

The highlight of the day was seeing Rita the Rock Planter. Rita was constructed from reclaimed wood from the area by a local artist. You may not be able to see it in the pictures but she is pushing rocks into a whole so they will grow up to be mountains. She even has fingernails.

From here we stopped in San Angelo, Texas to see our grandson Kyle and then to Spring, Texas to see his parents. A short four-hour drive from Spring is Fort Worth where we planned to visit the John Wayne Museum and the stockyards. It was wonderful to see that the man had many of the values of the characters he played on the screen including honesty, integrity, and family. He made 169 movies in his 50-year career never had a single scandal attracted to his name.

The Stockyards started in the late 1800s and grew to receive over 5,000,000 head of livestock each year until the mid 1950s. Even during WWI, these stockyards were supplying our country and allies horses and mules used for the military back then. Now it’s mostly shops and restaurants, but they run a small herd of longhorns down the main street twice a day at 11:30 in the morning and 4:00 pm.

Only two more stops before we head home.

We stopped at Hearst Castle on way to San Francisco where we started our cruise. Here are some pictures from castle.

The next day we boarded the ship and spent the next 11 days watching James enjoy his first cruise and the adventure of seeing Alaska.

After having all the fun we could stand, we made our way back to Ventura to celebrate James’ and Grammie’s joint birthday.