The Smiths

The Smiths

Hmmmmm, yeah--believe it or not, the world's most technologically advanced air force doesn't have internet access in its temporary living facilities. Could have something to do with 100-year old buildings, I guess, but I don't know.

Anyway, so the trip to WY was adventurous, to say the least. Pulling a 6 x 12 trailer was an interesting experience, especially with a little minivan like ours. It was so great that our engine conked out on us in the wonderful metropolis of Alma, AR. Let me tell you about Alma, AR. It's just outside of Ft. Smith, AR (about 18 miles from the OK border). There's a great cafe' there called the Red Rooster Cafe'. The food there is wonderful. Try the homemade "Rooster Bread." It's great, as are the homemade pies (80+/day!). Alma also has a wonderful little antique store. In fact, it's one of the best I've been in--lots and lots of really neat stuff, not just the junk I usually associate with such enterprises. Other than that, there ain't much in Alma. After 2.5 days, I can greatly attest to that fact! $2000 and 2.5 days later, we pulled out of Alma and headed West! Unfortunately, we were unable to visit Mom, which quite possible pulled me out of the Christmas gift list! Sorry, Mom!

Coming out of Goodland, KS, I noticed that we were a little low on gas, but not bad. Surely, I thought, we could make it to Burlington, CO, which was only about 20 miles away. Apparently, I did not realize two things--1) there are NO gas stations between the two towns; 2) my car was getting only about 9 mpg! We sweated and prayed our way at 50 mph into Burlington, where I filled up our 19 gallon gas tank with 18.5 gallons!!!!! What a great experience.

Finally, we pulled into my sister Melanie's place, where I noticed a huge chunk of tire missing on one of the trailer tires. Oh, great! Truly, God was good to us. It did not blow while we were traveling. We stayed one full day at Mel's enjoying the wonderful weather and views of Colorado. NOT! It rained and was cold the whole blessed day. However, the next day was much better for traveling, and we headed off to our final destination of F.E. Warren AFB, Cheyenne, WY.

It turns out that our drive from Melanie's (Falcon, CO) to F.E. Warren only took three hours, and that with pulling a trailer. (By the way, if you tell U-Haul you'll be returning their equipment one place, it's $200 extra to return it out of region, just in case you need to know that!). The cheer coming from the van as we pulled into the AFB was loud enough to startle the geese.

Warren AFB is a beautiful base. The majority of the building date from the 1800's when Warren was a cavalry post. It is, by far, the most beautiful AFB I've seen yet (okay, so I've only seen three--give me a break). There are LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of antelope running around. In fact, we almost met one personally while driving down the road. Only Jen's quick reflexes saved us! Go, Jenny! We will be renting a 4 bedroom, 2 bath house on the north side of town. There's plenty of room for visitors (hint, hint, hint), and we hope people will take us up on the offer. The house belongs to the governor of Wy--Dave Freudenthal. Talk about making contacts!!!

The girls are finally in school (which is another story in itself), and enjoying themselves tremendously. They were greatly nervous going in, but, as usual adapted quite quickly. I think they discovered that people in WY are a lot like people in MD. I'll post a picture of them at school later.

Feel free to call us (same cell numbers), e-mail us (we're a little slow on replying due to lack of access), or write us (General Delivery, c/o 1st Lt Kraig Smith, 6111 Randall, F. E. Warren AFB, 82005), or just reply to this blog.