Get Away Day

"The best laid plans of mice and men often go askew", as the poet Robert Burns said. One of my young whippersnappers contracted strep throat from his child and is in bed with a high fever. I feel for him and hope he gets well soon. Clay and I will persevere and continue on our odyssey to the badlands of Southwest Texas.

Everything is packed and ready to go. All to be done now is load the gear in the truck, do a little repair work on the radiator and then head to Baton Rouge to pick up Wes in the morning. We will leave Baton Rouge around 6 am on Saturday morning to travel to Ft. Stockton, Texas and spend the night. I would have preferred to go to Marathon, Texas but all the rooms are booked in the reasonable hotels. The Gage Hotel is very nice but I am in a camping mode and that is luxury.

All the families have received agendas and emergency phone numbers to contact us on the trip. I hope that no one will need to do so.

I told Karen a couple of nights ago that when I get back from one of these trips that I become intolerable for wanting to relate the details of my trip. Big Bend in the back-country is a religious experience and re-focuses your attention to the smaller things in life. I have been known to look at plans for cabins after one of my trips. It is always about getting back to the basics.

Here is to a great trip and I hope the young whippersnappers enjoy themselves and look after the old geezer.