Many ask why we like to travel around the country in our fifth wheel. Of course we like to see the sights, discover cool things to see and places to go; sample the beer, the wine, the bourbon and the food. But one of the main things we love is reconnecting with friends, family and military comrades. I have military connections in virtually every state. Since we have been traveling we have reconnected with long "lost" relatives we have not seen since 1968. Today we reconnected with a classmate from DeWitt Iowa which I call "home". Tomorrow I will connect with a relative I've never met! And so goes the journey, and we love it!
Today I reconnected with Kent Behr. a neighbor in DeWitt Iowa. I moved to DeWitt from Denison Iowa in 1960 when my dad Lefty was promoted to Lieutenant with the Iowa State Patrol and was put in charge of District 12. Then, we move from DeWitt to Cedar Falls in May 1970, the last day of my freshman year of high school when my dad was promoted to Captain and put in charge of the northeast quarter of the state. When I say the last day, we literally hopped in the car after my last final test of my last day of my Freshman year, and we drove to Cedar Falls. So Kindergarten through Freshman year - that is why I call DeWitt "home". I grew up in DeWitt. I played baseball in DeWitt... all... the... time! I mowed yards in DeWitt for $2.00. There were a lot of firsts in DeWitt for me, but it was "home".
In our neighborhood in DeWitt we made friends, and we played outside. The boys in the neighborhood played "Army" and we played baseball, and we were in the Boy Scouts.
We were always outside, unless the street lights came on then we had to report home. So anyway, one of those friends was Kent Behr. Kent and I were both baseball pitchers and we lived within a block of each other. Somehow with social media we reconnected online a few years ago, and our 2023 RV travels brought us here in Sioux City and allowed Kent and I to get together again, today!
Kent drove to our campground and we sat inside and talked for several hours. We reminisced about DeWitt and our other neighbors and friends. We both described our lives and where we had been and of course we bragged about our kids and grandkids!
Kent has been keeping me informed about another one of our friends and DeWitt neighbors, Bill Weber, who was recently put under hospice care near Iowa City with throat cancer. Our prayers are with Bill and his family.
This afternoon we reconnected with the 185th Air Refueling Wing Fire Chief Mike Albrecht. I have known Mike for many years and always tried to visit his fire station when I traveled up here during my Command Chief visits. Mike and Nancy own a beautiful property on McCook Lake which is located just into South Dakota in North Sioux City. They live there while they are building their home in the same location. It is a beautiful home with large windows facing the water!
After the tour we headed down to his boat and we cruised the lake. I failed to take any boat pictures! There might have been an adult beverage or two involved, but it was slow and scenic. They pointed out several of the prominent houses along the shore.
Tonight after we returned back to the RV we grilled some more of the meat that our kids bought us for Christmas along with some other meat we had. We typically grill "ahead" and as we travel we can microwave some previously grilled for sandwiches, so we included some turkey burgers and brats.
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