8 to go; 1st trip planned

Well, one week down, nine to go. The countdown is on and our 1st extended trip is planned after Cynthia retires. Tentatively.

Depending on the recession and current state of things like gas prices, costs, etc., we plan to take off near the end of September and take about a month or so. Our plans are to leave Tyler and stay a couple days at Daingerfield State Park (only about 50 miles or so from here) en route to Cedar Lake/Heavener so we can visit Aunt Mable for a few days. From there, it’s up to Sallisaw to sit with my cousin Marilyn and her husband then to Tulsa to visit Cynthia’s cousin James Harvey Brewer and possibly some other friends along the way. Next stop, Miami , to see Cynthia’s brother, Jim Wisdom and his wife Sanny (Alice Ann Hall), as well as my friend Monty, former SID at Northeastern A&M and currently a sports writer at the Miami News. Cynthia’s never been to his home, so we’re looking forward to it.

Then we head northward to Cassville , MO and stay at Roaring River . I haven’t been there since the mid-60s, when I went with dad, Jim Patterson and Jerry Jack Stewart, and we went on to Kansas City to see the A’s and Yankees play ball. After camping at Roaring River , we’re heading to Pittsburgh , KS . It’s not so far from Roaring River and it’s on our way to Topeka to visit with John Marvin Wright. John Marvin’s wife passed away last year and we want to see how he’s getting along. John was a classmate of mine at Heavener High School and a very good friend of both Cynthia and I, since his grandmother, Mrs. Kirby was instrumental is us getting together. (another story for later)

From there, we start heading back south to Wichita , KS for a stopover on the way to Oklahoma City to see our friends, Elliot and Judy Johnson. Elliot coached baseball at LeTourneau University when I worked as SID there. He’s now the coach at Southern Nazarene, and while we’re there I’ll get to see David Twidwell, who lived across from me, back in my days on 2nd Street . David runs a sporting goods business, Twid’s, started by his dad, Carl Twidwell , the former Heavener football coach in the late 50’s. Elliot is also a customer of Twid’s. I’ve already checked with David and he told me about Elliot. So, it’ll be good to see Carl and David again, too, after some 50 years or so. Wonder if they’ve changed? I certainly haven’t. Then it’s on to Ardmore to visit with Cynthia’s cousin Ann , before going to Lake Texoma , the last stop on our journey.

We’ll stay at Lake Texoma for a while. We’ve stayed there a couple times before, so we’re familiar with the surroundings in a Thousand Trails campground. That will put us close to end of October or early November and from there it’s back to Tyler. I haven’t figured the total mileage yet, but as trip coordinator I’m sure I will, to give us an idea of how far we plan to travel. Tentatively.