Well, here's the update on our trip out to Texas. Not sure how far I'll get in this blog, but I'll get you updated by and by.

We made it into Las Vegas with just under the maximum number of checked bags and the full maximum of carry ons. We had to submit to a search of our bags by two mulletinas who, frankly, scared me more than a little...lol, but we got on the bus without incident and made it through to Kingman, Arizona, where we had to wait two hours and transfer busses.

When the bus driver for our bus arrived, he arranged seats so that we would all be seated together, but he had to put one set of seats in adjustable tracks and, well, he didn't quite secure it properly, so my seat moved a bit, but it wasn't too bad, as it only took up the legroom of the seat behind us, where our four year old was seated and slept through the night. They were a bit idiotic in how they scheduled things, as we had to deboard the bus in Flagstaff at 10:00 at night, when the children had been sound asleep (refueling and cleaning stop). We waited an hour to get back on, and the kids soon settled back to sleep, but would have to reawaken at 6:00 AM to deboard in Albuquerque, again for cleaning and refueling.

In Albuquerque, as we pulled in, the driver announced that federal agents would be boarding the bus and that all passengers needed their ID. Apparently, the border patrol had been tipped as to some illegals travelling on the bus, as they barely glanced at my ID and those of many others on the bus, but detained a Hispanic gentleman who had boarded the bus in a small town in the middle of the night, and a family who had been aboard since Kingman.

When we reboarded the bus, they did a full airport style search, and unfortunately, my Leatherman was confiscated (I could have had it shipped, but would have had to ship it twice, as all I had to mail it to was my forwarding address). I was a little bummed at that; had I known they were going to do such a search and even thought about the Leatherman, I would have left it aboard the bus before we deboarded. So, it was on from there to Amarillo, for another hour stop for refueling and cleaning before going on another hour to Pampa (It was a little disheartening to be held up an hour so close to our destination). An hour after reboarding, we were in Pampa.

We asked about transportation, and found out that the owner of one of the motels ran a shuttle to the motel for customers, so we settled into the motel for two nights, as I had to find a car to get into Lefors. I was fortunate enough to find one within about an hour of getting to the motel, but was grateful for the extra night in the motel, as our furniture would be sparse once reaching our destination.

Well, there's the rundown on the trip. I will tell you a little more about Lefors in a couple of blogs to come (and will detail the trip further in later blogs), but wanted to give general updates. I'll try to get on as often as I can to catch up, but am not sure how often that will be.

Sincerely,

Gideon MacLeish