Hello Texas and a little walk thru memory lane

Traveling west on I-10 are the two major cities of Houston and San Antonio. San Antonio is the 7^th largest city in the US and the 2^nd largest in Texas. Of course Houston is the largest and 4^th in the US. I had been to Houston four times and one of those was with Pam when we visited Meredith while she worked for Shell Oil Company. For that reason we decided not to do any sightseeing in Houston and instead visit the Alamo and Riverwalk in San Antonio. The only previous time I have been to San Antonio was December 1966 for basic training at Lackland Air Force Base. We were never allowed off the base and the only free time we had was on Christmas day. Not a pleasant experience. When we arrived at the induction center they took every possession we had including our underwear. The Air Force issued us what they considered we needed, including underwear and a razor. The issued underwear turned out to be boxer shorts that would walk up your leg when you marched. I cherished the day we left basic training and I got my own underwear back. Another thing that sticks in my mind until this day is the march to the rifle range one morning to train with a firearm. Being an ignorant young man I did not realize how cold it can get in San Antonio and that December morning we almost froze. When we got to the range we were told that all the M-16 rifles had been shipped to Vietnam and we would have to qualify with a World War II M-1 Carbine. The M-1 Carbine throws the shells out vertically and if you did not turn your hat bill around the hot shells would hit your neck. I did manage to qualify as an expert marksman with the old carbine and was issued a ribbon as a result.