Travel to the Rose Parade

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Trip to the Rose Parade 2012 - Beginning the trip

Departing Central Florida we spent the first night in Milton, FL and then on to a Passport America Park (Frog City) in Duson, LA, near Lafayette. Along the way we happended upon the headquarters of the Wildlife Service in Louisiana and captured 9 indici stamps for our NWS Passport book. Our hosts there were wonderful representativives of the federal governmment and proud of the great job they're doing – telling the story of wildlife preservation. There was a rally in Rayne (where we've rally'd before) as we passed by but we kept going on to Shiner, Texas. Known for its Shiner Beer, that Texas city has great city RV services (lacking only sewer hookups) and we enjoyed a quiet scenic stay for $20, parking next to the flags at half staff saluting Pearl Harbor Day at the Veteran's Memorial. We salute the city for amazingly well kept and large parks. Of course, a visit to the Spoetzl Brewery gave us several beer samples. The next day a short drive to Ft Sam Houston's RV park in San Antonio set the stage for watching the Army-Navy Game on Dec 8^th. Stocking up at the base's commissary and exchange provided a chance to see how much the base facilities have improved to house the military's premier joint field medicine training program. In the process, the new socialization of our military has eliminated all officer and enlisted clubs which have been reduced to a Starbucks outlet community serivces building hosting large all-hand dinner functions. Alcoholically based ssocialization is now relegated to quarters and off-base – shades of a century ago. So it's off to a local English Pub/Sports Bar for the Big Game.

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