My Uncle Richard and Aunt Liane

I heard from my Uncle Richard today. It caused me to remember when I got to visit him and his wife my Aunt Liane. It was an interesting visit. I was in the Air Force at the time and had just finished a one year tour in Bahrain. When you're enroute to your next duty station, you can take leave (time off) as long as you have some leave saved up. I did and I had some things I wanted or needed to do before I reported to my next duty station. I first flew down to see my friend May Jackson in San Angelo, Texas. After that, I needed to pick up my car. Before going to Bahrain, I'd placed my Toyota Camry in storage. It didn't make any sense taking it to Bahrain as I would've only gotten to drive it 6 months. It would've take 3 months to get out there and 3 months to get to wherever my next duty station was going to be. So, I flew down to Fort Walton Beach, Florida, saw my friend Jeanne Haun and her husband Rick, and then used a rental car to drive to Pensacola to pick up my car.

After I picked up my car, I drove to Jacksonville to see my Uncle Richard and Aunt Liane. I couldn't remember when I'd last seen them. It turned out it was back in 1967! I realized I had no idea what either of them looked like so it was with nervous trepidation when I knocked on their door. Uncle Richard looks like my Grandfather McCarthy as I recognized the resemblance at once. My Aunt Liane turned out to be a real sweetheart. We visited an alligator farm, Fort Augustine, and the site where a French settlement had been. He also showed me downtown Jacksonville. At the end of my visit, we visited a Hooters restaurant where we enjoyed some of their famous chicken wings.

After that, it was time for me to drive down to Sanford, Florida where I boarded the Autotrain. The Autotrain is a train that Amtrak runs from Lorton, Virginia to Sanford, Florida. It's an easy way to take you and your car to Orlando, Florida (Sanford is just outside Orlando) if you live the Baltimore/Washington D.C. area. I boarded the train while they put my car on one of the special train cars for carrying cars. I arrived the next morning in Lorton and had an easy drive to my next base.

I had a great time visiting my Uncle Richard and Aunt Liane. I make it a point to keep in touch with them. I hope to fly down sometime in the future to see them. It all depends on the job situation. Hopefully, I'll get that sorted out soon and be able to make it down to see them. They're awesome people.