The Recruit in Wichita Falls

The original plan for our return trip was to drive from Missouri to Oklahoma City for our first night, but Tamera had another suggestion. As it happened, she was already planning to take Jessica and Natalie to visit DJ at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas, for this weekend. Would we like to join them?

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Although it added 2 extra hours to our drive home, we happily agreed. Jacob and DJ have been best friends since elementary school, but they haven't seen each other in years.

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Above, DJ with his wife Jessica, their baby girl, and his mom, Tamera. You can hardly tell how thrilled Tamera is to see her baby boy, can you?

At first we planned to travel together, but when Tamera mentioned she wanted to leave at 5am today, I suggested it might be better if we travel separately! I'd have to get up at 3am in order to leave at 5am, and then I'd be too exhausted to make the 3-day trip home.

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Jacob was anxious to see DJ, so he elected to ride with Aunt Tamera. They were on the road by 5:30. I got out of bed long enough to say goodbye, but then I went back and slept in until 7:15.
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We finished loading the car and said our final farewells to Darryl before we left Aurora at 9:30. We reached Tulsa, OK, at 11:30 and Dylan filled the tank (above photo). It felt funny to be traveling without Jacob.

We got back on the freeway at noon and reached Okahoma City at 1:30 before turning southwest. It was 3:00 when we crossed the border into Texas.

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We were only 15 miles from Wichita Falls by now, but we were running on fumes and stopped at the first Texas gas station we saw. It was my own fault, but I was fed up with Oklahoma by that time. Oklahoma is in love with their turnpikes (toll roads). We were stopped 5 times to pay tolls totaling $11 for the privilege of using their badly maintained roads. I wasn't about to spend any more money in their state!

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Since we were already stopped for gas, we decided to have a late lunch at the Braums next door. (Above, Dylan and Sarah after lunch).

Meanwhile, Tamera's group had arrived at the air force base at 1:00. DJ knew Jacob was vacationing in Missouri and soon to head home, but they hadn't told him that Jacob was coming along to see him today.

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When they arrived, Jacob hid in the car until DJ was close, then he popped out and gave his old buddy a big shock! They had a great, long visit all afternoon.

It was 4:o0 when we finally checked into our room at Holiday Inn. Dylan and Sarah had to unload the car and wheel everything up to our room on the 3rd floor without Jacob's help.
We're every happy with our accommodations this time around. For $48 on Priceline, we got 2 beds, a pool, free wireless Internet, and a free hot breakfast in the morning. The room is very nice.
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I hope we're as lucky in tomorrow's hotel!

When we called to let Tamera know we'd arrived and settled in, she said everyone had fallen asleep. So we took the opportunity for an hour-long nap before Tamera's crew came to join us in our hotel room.
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Above, Jessica, Natalie, and DJ. They are expecting another baby in just 2 months.
Our hotel room was pretty crowded once we were all together again!

We had a buffet dinner at Golden Corral at 8:00, and we all ate way too much! It was so good to see DJ and spend a little extra time with Tamera. After the meal we said our goodbyes and went to our different hotels. Jacob came with us this time.
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In the morning we will be on our way to our next hotel in Albuquerque, a seven-and-a-half-hour drive from here. (Groan...) That will put us just four and a half hours away from home for our last leg of this very long adventure.

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Yesterday when I woke up, I passed Dylan eating his breakfast cereal. Suddenly he reached out and gave me a big hug, declaring, "I was just thinking about all the things I miss at home." We have a had a terrific time, but we are very ready to be back in our Arizona home!