In 1966 we went on a big family vacation to Texas. Our first stop was Houston where we stayed with my Great Uncle Mac and his family. It was a different and interesting experience visiting them. Uncle Mac lived in a subdivision in a brick house with carpet and air conditioning, two things I'd never experienced before. They probably weren't any better off than us but I thought they were rich. One thing I recall quite vividly was something that could only be experienced in the 60s. Had they truly been rich, they would have had something that only rich people in the early 60s owned, a color TV. Alas, they had a black and white TV. However, in an effort to "upgrade" his plain old black and white TV, Uncle Mac had a color filter for his TV. This filter was a piece of heavy plastic that had horizontal bars of green, red, and blue. The filter was draped over the TV to add color to whatever you were watching. I tell you, I've never seen such vivid color.

Our first sight to see was the brand new Houston Astrodome. It was there that I first learned that honesty isn't always the best policy. I was lying on my mom's lap with my eyes closed when we drove up to the ticket booth. Like many things the cost for the guided tour of the Astrodome was based upon age, in this case admission for kids six and under was free. Thinking I was asleep, my mom said I was five. Being the bright boy I perked up and said, "No I'm not. I'm seven." Mom tried to press the issue by insisting that I was six. However, as someone who doesn't like to be wrong, I stated emphatically, "Remember Momma, I already had my birthday." The issue was settled; I was definitely seven.

Our next vacation stop was Six Flags Over Texas. I believe this was the first time anyone in our family had ever been to an amusement park and it was great. We visited all the areas of the park and, of course, bought all kinds of junk, like Mexican Jumping Beans, Confederate hats, and sombreros. I think I have the only remaining souvenir from that trip, some maracas that Jill bought. I don't remember all the rides we rode but I do remember riding the Log Flume and the Runaway Train rides at least twice.

All in all it was a great trip. Unfortunately, we wouldn't take another family vacation until 1973, and by then Chuck and I were the only kids in the house.

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