2017 Road Trip To Lackland Air Force Base
We had originally planned to visit the Northeast United States this year but our son Robby joined the Air Force and got shipped off to Basic Training on March 6, 2017. His Basic Training was in San Antonio, Texas at Lackland AFB and he graduated in the last week of April. So of course we attended his graduation ceremony, thus we are postponing our Northeast trip until 2018.Day 1 of this trip was a long one, all the way to Fort Worth, Texas from Bibb County, Alabama. Cynthia drove first all the way to somwhere in Louisiana while Jerry slept. Jerry drove the rest of the way as Cynthia refused to drive in the Dallas / Fort Worth area. It was hectic but we made it. Thankfully, it was a Saturday and traffic was not too horribly bad. We arrived at Jerry's daughter's house and we spent 2 days with them. It was great to see her whole family. The grandkids loved having us there but they spent way more time with Papa Jerry.
Day 4: After that, we all headed south to Waco, Texas to see the store for Chip and Joanna Gaines from the HGTV show Fixer Upper. No, they weren't there. The place is fairly small, much smaller than the advertisments make it out to be. They have a small bakery that is really good but pricey. The store where they sell their branded stuff was nice but again, everything was very expensive for what it was. Chip and Joanna, we like your show and all but we aren't willing to pay $26 for simple t-shirt. We bought a $3 magnet then left. From there we took a tour of some of the houses they have remodeled on the show. The only one we really wanted to see was the shotgun house and it was pretty cool. We took the grandkids to the river park and let them play at the playground. Jerry played with them as best he could. Be sure to check out at the pictures below. We stayed at the La Quinta near the college for the night.
Day 5 was the drive down to San Antonio. We checked in at the Rodeway Inn right outside the base. It was OK for the price but certainly no Hilton. They had no record our our reservation but thankfully they did have an available room. Jerry's daughter and her 3 kids had their own room. We love them dearly but we also like peace and quiet. We stayed in San Antonio for 5 nights and each day was a trip to the AFB to see our son in various ceremonies, marches, etc. A couple of those days he had either a base pass or town pass. On the town pass we went to the Riverwalk and rode the boats. Parking was $25 per car because the Fiesta Parade was going on. Ouch!
Day 10 was the 12 hour drive back home. We stopped in Baton Rouge to eat at the Frostop Restaurant downtown. It is a dive but the burgers are good. They have changed the recipe of the burgers from what it was back in the 90s. Oh well, it was still a decent lunch. We made it home safely and our son is off to Presidio of Monterey in California for the next 16 or so months. Where are not sure where his first duty assignment will be. He told us it could be Korea, Hawaii or Maryland. He doesn't want Maryland, says it is too boring. We agree.
We are very proud of our son and his desire to serve the United States of America. We are a proud military family with Jerry's dad serving in the Army, Cynthia's dad served in the Navy, Jerry served in the Army, our other son served in the Marines and now this son is serving in the Air Force. All we need now is someone to join the Coast Guard.
We visited here in April 2017.
