I am north of Meridian, Mississippi, driving back to Houston. It is all just a warm fuzzy memory now.
All I can do is reminisce and ponder about what I could have done differently to make the road-trip more pleasant. There were at least 34 Texas cavers at the 2014 NSS Howdy Party, and a few former Texas Cavers. I will attempt to name "some" of them, in alphabetical order: Don Auburn, Bill Bentley, Gil Ediger, Galen Falgout, Ernie Garza, Mark Gee, Keith & Lisa Goggin, Charles Goldsmith, Steve Gutting & wife, Jay Jorden, Mallory Mayuex, Dave "Papito" McClung, Bill Mixon, Terry Raines with Mercy Raines, Ron Rutherford, Justin Shaw, Peter Sprouse, Bill Steele, Bill Stone, Peter Strickland, Evan Strickland, Ellie Thoen, Jacque LaRue Thomas & husband, Heather Tucek, Mike Walsh, Matthew & Saj Zapitelo and Walt ? with wife, and Roy ?, and Chris ?, and a Bexar Grotto caver whose name I should remember. Former Texas Cavers: Mark Minton, Josh Rubenstein, Sarah Gayle (?), Dr. George Veni. I probably left off quite a few, as I was not taking notes, I left off some spouses & partners. Can someone please repost list with correct names, etc. ? Anyways, the Howdy Party venue was great, the food was satisfactory, the live band was good. The beverages were sufficient. The weather was warm and humid, but the AC almost was satisfactory. The attendance was very good. I think they ran out of food in the end. I got to see a few people that I knew from out of state. Sidenotes: Sprint Wireless is worthless in rural Alabama. The navigation app on my HTC M8 smartphone, was accurate and very helpful. However, the music in my car radio needs to go silent when navigation voice orders me to exit the road. A road-trip without a good sidekick/navigator is unpleasant, and not the safest way to go. Plan "A" should never rely on casino winnings to finance the expedition. Plan "B" should be better planned. To be continued.... David Locklear NSS # 27639
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