Slept in this morning, wiped the sleep from our eyes and parked it with a cup of coffee in the zero-gravity lounger and absorbed the morning warmth and beautiful nature around us. Best part of the Day!!! Oliver Lee Memorial State Park will always be special because it is so much a shared part of the living desert that coexists with it. The Spring flower and cacti blooms are everywhere and the resilience everything has to survive in this tough environment is inspirational. I will forever be a different and better person because of it!
It's high noon and we are off to a slightly different environment for the next few days: Holloman Air Force Base. There will be wifi, laundry, Commissary, Exchange, Popeye's Chicken and most importantly the ever-present (at least on military bases) Filipino food truck!!!!
I will be on a Lumpia and Pancit diet for the next two days!!! Life is definitely Good!
My entry onto the base was greeted by the recent rise to ThreatCon Bravo and my RV had to go through what the Air Force calls the "X-ray Gate". Being a retired Dentist I can only envision a huge intra-oral x-ray machine irradiating everything and everyone in the area. At least I won"t be having any "mold" issues in my rig for a while!! I will never know what transpired during this inspection because the Air Force locks you into a windowless closet until finished. The door to my reinforced bunker opens and the young, 18 year old Airman is standing there with my military ID, perplexed and speechless for a few minutes. I attempt to help him out because I know he is struggling with pronouncing my last name correctly but it is actually the fact I am a Navy O-6 and he hasn't a clue what rank to address me!!!! I think it is those innocent interactions with the young military folks that I miss the most with retirement. He was excited with my US Travel map posted on my RV storage door and the stickers of all the states I have visited. Youthful innocence!! A sharp salute and we were on our way again!
I am not quite sure what it is with the Air Force's fascination with airplanes but they are everywhere!!!
I am not quite sure what it is with the Air Force's fascination with airplanes but they are everywhere!!!
Checked in with Larry from Montana, the park "host" and moved into a non-descript lot with no charm, views or shade. Larry assures me the wifi is good and points out the tower on top of the toilet building which is just 3 sites from my RV. Yahoo, I will have access to the world, maybe even an episode of "Game of Thrones" or two. Well let me tell you what disappointment feels like; if a wifi range of 10 feet is acceptable for Air Force retirees that is disappointment!! I used my signal booster I bought for my Canadian Maritimes trip last year and was at least able to pull e-mail. Sorry but no GOT this stop!! After the endeavor to get my vehicle on base and having been told a repeat was in store every time I came through the gate, we decided to hunker down and park it at the bench in front of the restrooms and work my Travel Blog!! Folks, that is what accounts for the "shitty" quality of a few entries!!!! Sleep would come easy tonite knowing I was being protected by the Air Force from whatever "vile forces" seek out old, retired RV'ers!!!
"Aim High ... Fly-Fight-Win"