An excellent day. It was dumping rain in the Bay Area when we left but the further south we went, the lass rain we got. By the time we got to Monterey, partly cloudy skies.
When we got to Ord, James was the guide as I drove. I was only there for basic training, and we were confined to the company area when not training. Had no memory of the layout. James did basic and AIT there. The only paratrooper I ever met that did Infantry AIT at Ord. Hell, I didn't even know they had Infantry AIT there until I met James.
James found his AIT company area almost immediately. It was easy to find the "New Buildings" basic training company areas, but had to drive around a couple of times before I recognized mine. The proximity of the PT field lit the bulb for me; it was at the top of our company street. Made many trips in the middle of the night to it for some harrassment PT.
We left there and went into Monterey, a town I've always liked. We went down to the small Fisherman's Wharf by Old Town for a seafood lunch. Then walked around Old Town a bit. Monterey dates back to the 1700s and was the capitol of Spanish California. Alot of history there. This is also Stienbeck Country, the setting for some of his most famous books; TORTILLA FLATS and CANNERY ROW being but a couple.
After lunch, we went to a huge antique mall in downtown Monterey and spent an hour or more there. Then it was head home to end a truly enjoyable day. Good weather, beautiful scenery, good food, some good nostalgia, and the company of a good friend. What a day.
Ron: Paid $2.35 for regular yesterday.
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Tom
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