Texas Trip

This past week, I had the opportunity to visit Robert in Texas before he heads over to the sandbox. Having never visited Texas before or traveled that distance alone, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. My parents dropped me off at the airport Tuesday morning with luggage and boarding pass in hand and waved goodbye. I made it to the gate with tons of time to spare and ended up running into another military family from Robert’s unit. I recognized them right away and we ended up chatting for quite awhile. It was wonderful to find out that we shared the same flights, which made the trip a lot easier to navigate and allowed for lots of fun conversations along the way. After a brief lay over, we arrived at the Texas airport and Robert was waiting there (wearing sandals) to greet me with roses in hand! It was such a treat and was absolutely wonderful to see him out of uniform and back in shorts. From the airport, we made our way onto the army base where we had made arrangements to spend the night. Having never really spent much time on a “fully functioning” base before, I was in awe at how much a base can take on the appearance of a city… from grocery stores and malls to fast food restaurants and banks they have it all. Unfortunately, by the time we got settled that night, it was pretty late and any attempts of ordering delivery were a no go.
Wednesday morning we rose early and began the 9 hour journey to Flagstaff, AZ. On the way we made a few stops at some roadside tourist shops and got to see the scenic landscapes. There were a few hours that went by when all we saw were dry and barren fields with a random cactus here and there. It makes one wonder how anything could ever survive under such conditions. Before arriving in Flagstaff, Robert and I decided to check out a place called Montezuma’s Castle, which was located on an Indian reservation. The castle was actually a primitive housing unit that was built into the mountains hundreds of years ago by an Indian tribe. It was a fascinating site and one which Robert seemed to really enjoy. While there, he also made friends with a French family and was excited to break out his French speaking skills.
After spending the night in Flagstaff, we woke up nice and early and headed on to the Grand Canyon. This had been something both of us had looked forward to and proved to be well worth the long journey. I must say that when I first stepped out onto the look out deck of the Canyon’s South Rim, I thought I was going to pass out. I don’t consider myself to be one who’s scared of heights, but it took my breath away and took me quite awhile to feel comfortable with stepping to the edge. The view is truly like nothing I’ve ever experienced before and made for some wonderful pictures too! Unfortunately, we didn’t get to see much wildlife while there besides the native squirrels and tiny lizards that creep around.
While in Arizona, we decided to also visit a place called Sedona. A friend had recommended it to us so we thought, “When in Arizona do like the Arizonians” and took the advice. Sedona is one of those places you don’t ever see coming. You’re just driving along a hillside and all of a sudden you come to a cliff and look out to see an enormous valley that drops thousands of feet below you. As we followed the long road to the bottom, I was so thankful that I wasn’t the one driving around all the sharp curves. Once we reached the bottom of the mountain range, we realized we had driven right into the middle of a tourist town lined with cute shops and little cafes. It was also filled with tons of mountain trails to climb. It truly is a city hidden by mountains. As the week progressed, we made our trek back towards Texas and decided to make one last stop in Tucson, Arizona. I can’t say we found much to do while there, but we did find an amazing family-owned Mexican restaurant. It seemed to be a hot spot for all the locals and the food was out of this world.
The trip seemed to fly bye so fast and before I knew it, I was dropping Robert off again with the rest of his unit, finding myself having to say my goodbyes once again. Goodbyes don’t get easier the more you do them and it’s hard to think that this time it will be months till I see him again when he returns for his R&R. Holidays will have passed, our nephew will have been born, friends will have gotten married. Military life is not easy, but it is rewarding and it continues to remind me that freedom isn’t free. Before Robert left, I had asked him what he would be looking forward to the most while on deployment and his answer didn’t surprise me. He replied without hesitation, “Hanging out with the dudes.” I seemed to know exactly what he meant by that.
I wish I could say my trip back to PA was easy, but it was a lesson in patience. My flight out of Texas ended up getting delayed due to weather conditions and my layover went from an hour to an entire day. It did however allow for time to visit the USO, which is basically a rest stop for members of the armed forces and their families. As I spent my time there I looked around at the soldiers dressed in uniform and their children running around and realized that “I’m not alone.”