My nephew graduated Air Force Basic Military Training! We drove through the Great State of Texas, taking the lesser traveled routes and avoiding the Interstates to San Antonio for this milestone occasion. No road trip through Texas is complete unless we stop at Cadillac Ranch, we have been there before on a previous trip to Indiana and got the same shots this time. We wanted to add Combine City to the photo journey but could not get not on the right County Road, we were driving all over the place. Give it up and press on to Lubbock. We can’t keep messing around in Amarillo when we have a graduation in two days! Made to Lubbock and ate steak at the Double Nickel Steak House - most delicious!
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| Cadillac Ranch - Amarillo ,TX |
Our hotel was on the edge River Walk ,a.k.a. the Paseo del Rio, about 2.5 miles from the action of the below the streets river. Mexican food, that is what we were after and we found several to choose from. Erich had a beer, lemonade for me and tacos, enchiladas, rice and beans!! We stuffed ourselves.
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| San Antonio River Walk |
Getting to Lackland Air Force Base we were re-routed from our original plan to another gate, that was the gate where all the traffic was, we thought we were smarter than everyone else - not. First event was the Airmen’s Run. We were not prepared, they all had squadron T-shirts on, we didn’t know which squadron Travis was in? Ok, we didn’t see him anyway. We took lots of pictures of each squadron in hopes we may capture him.
We found a spot in the bleachers, sat for a while, then went to get something to eat. We came back and decided to sit on the other side - good thing too, we had a better view from here. All the Airmen started marching onto the blacktop for the coin ceremony. Erich and I are searching the lines of Airmen for ours. After the ceremony we were released to the field to relieve our Airman. We could not find him! We asked a guy in his squadron if he knew where Travis was? He was back at the housing unit, something about staying with a guy on medical? Ok, I was freaking out. How do we find him? Great idea, let’s go to the barracks and look for him. We walked forever to the barracks, we had Travis’ address so we knew which building he was in. We actually went into the building, startling the Airmen inside and asking for Travis. They told us we can’t be in here and didn’t know where he was. We left, and were walking on the sidewalk when an Airman came running at full speed towards Erich...what the? It was Travis!! Sure didn’t look like him that was for sure, shaved head and wearing pressed battle fatigues. He looked so different and we were so proud!! We spent the rest of the afternoon hearing about Basic Training and how glad he was he joined up.
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| The Coin Ceremony - Lackland AFB, TX |
Next day was the graduation, and yes, Travis was there and we were late. Different part of the base this time, we thought we were supposed to be over by the bowling alley. All the Airmen marched out in their dress blues, all looking the same. This time we knew which squadron to look for and got some shots of him marching. When we were released to he field this time we found our Airman standing at attention. We took more photos.
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| Travis after graduation |
After graduation we spent the day in San Antonio, first time Travis’ had been off the base in eight weeks. We went to the River Walk, ate some burgers, saw the Alamo and El Mercado and then ate some BBQ. It was a great trip! Travis is now in Mississippi attending tech school. He will be coming back to Denver in August before he ships off to his permanent party. Where will he go next and we can visit?
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| El Mercado - San Antonio, TX |
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| The Alamo - San Antonio, TX |
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