It's All About Connection!
Although I was graciously offered a night's stay in the officer's quarters at Ft. Concho 
(another day, another fort) I had to respectfully decline due to my internet needs. One thing I never anticipated about this journey was how challenging the logistics of documenting the experience in real time would be. Without a good internet connection it's even harder.
You may notice a lag time in the blog posts, especially the videos. Well, writing after a long day of traveling and visiting is hard enough — but then to have to download video and photographs from the day, edit them, get them uploaded so they can be reached by folks in the home office far, far away to be published, and to make time to sleep is really more difficult than I ever imagined. Without a good internet connection it's nearly impossible. I've become very envious of the folks at the big news stations with their traveling buses, complete with satellite hook ups, etc.
So, good intentions aside, we really are doing our best to keep these posts up to date. Please bear with us.
But I digress...
The morning began at KOA/San Angelo — or as the folks around here say, S'nangelo. Our first stop of the day was lunch with Wells Fargo's District Manager, Katrina Dorris, and Bob Bluthardt, Executive Director of Ft. Concho. (Bob was the nice gentleman who invited me to stay the night in Ft. Concho. What a missed opportunity it was to have to decline the offer. The place is beautiful, and under different circumstances I would have loved it.)
We all had lunch at Miss Hattie's Café and Saloon in downtown San Angelo. The lunch was great, and the town is a great little shopping haven. I scored a Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook , circa 1952 (I collect cookbooks and Better Homes and Gardens are my favorites). I also got a few Indian arrowheads. After a little shopping, I was off to the Wells Fargo downtown San Angelo store for a "meet and greet."
I dressed in my Museum costume, and set up a little display in the lobby. I talked with team members and customers about the Butterfield and my cross-country adventure. There was a lot of interest, and the hour we allotted flew by.
After saying my goodbyes to the team members I headed back to the KOA for something I loathe and had been putting off since I left San Diego — laundry. Ugh, but it had to be done. At least I don't have to wash my clothes in a creek, right?
After that dastardly chore I was once again in the company of Katrina Dorris for dinner. This time we were joined by Sylvia Garcia, the store manager of the downtown San Angelo store. Dinner was at The Wharf Restaurant and Tavern . Our server, Ashley Harridge, was a delight and the food was excellent. I bet you can't guess what I had. (One hint, it wasn't BBQ.) No doubt about it — all the fried catfish I can get on this trip the better!
In case you haven't figured it out, I love fried catfish, and you just can't get it in San Diego. So I'm going to have all I can while it's available. Katrina and Sylvia were great company — I wish I'd had a little more time to spend with them. San Angelo and Wells Fargo are lucky to have them. Heck, Katrina was nice enough to take me supply shopping after dinner, and it was getting late in the evening. I really appreciated it.
Thank you Katrina for everything. I really enjoyed my time with you in San Angelo!
PS. To Ms. Decker's 4th Grade Class in St. Louis and the classes at Lowell Elementary: The Mail is STILL safe and dry and on its way to California!
Comments
It's so interesting to follow along on your trip. Love the picture of you in the big chair!
Posted by: Anonymous | September 29, 2008 08:04 PM
Just think, the guys that originally rode the trail didn't even have dial-up!
Posted by: TBS | September 30, 2008 04:29 AM
I know how exhausting your trip has been, my week off has rested me well and I'm ready to finish the trip. Wow, 24 days, +2800 miles...You are the man!
See you thursday.
Posted by: Juan | September 30, 2008 09:19 AM
Casey, the blogs are great and, given all you have to deal with - and the miles you're logging, it is MOST impressive that you're getting so much done.
I hope that when the dust (and miles) settle, this will be a good memory for you.
Hello to Connie.
Artemis
Posted by: Artemis | September 30, 2008 12:40 PM
I like the image of Casey in the traditional garb and his Dell laptop.
Posted by: Matt | September 30, 2008 02:51 PM
Thanks for the comments! While it's true the guys on the first trip didn't have dial up, they also weren't being asked to video and write with a two day turn over time. If they had they would be in worse shape than me! All joking aside this has truly been an amazing experience and I'm so greatful to have done it. With whatever I've had to deal with (mostly this lemon of an RV)the memories are already good Artemis. I'm actually kinda sad it's almost over. I could just go on traveling and documenting for another month or two or three....any suggestions? Matt - the juxtaposition between the old garb and the new computer is striking, huh? Thanks again for taking the time to comment. Keep reading and watching. See you on the road!
Posted by: casey a.k.a. Ormsby II | October 6, 2008 11:01 PM
Casey, you are so AWESOME with all that you are doing to maintain that smiling face & great attitude during this exhaustive adventure. BIG KUDOS to you for giving everyone a "front row seat" to your daily life on the road.
As for continuing life on the road??? Just imagine if you can collect all the Catfish Recipes and have a contest among all the cities!
Posted by: joycee | October 8, 2008 03:47 PM