Hi Everyone,

My name is Gary Smith 981st 71-72. I have been asked to write a little bit about our upcoming reunion in San Antonio, TX. It starts March 16 thru March 19, 2017. That is only 91 days from now. Ray Rogers, 981st 71-72 who is one of the coordinators for the reunion told me they have only 31 rooms left from what they reserved. If you are planning to attend please do so soon. The hotel is going to want to use the unused rooms for other reservations soon.
What does Ray and the gang have planned for us? The usual things a welcome breakfast by the local VFW. This VFW is located in a very historic building. It is the oldest VFW in Texas. They have a giant hospitality room reserved allowing us to eat, drink to our fill and reminisce with all the other dog handlers. I think the reminiscing is the best part of the reunion. Of course there will be the traditional end of reunion dinner Saturday night and the goodbye breakfast Sunday morning. We also have the opportunity to watch the St. Patrick’s Day Parade on The River Walk. In between all that is a trip to The National War Dog Memorial at Lackland AFB and kennels. Lunch that day will be either at the Lackland NCO Club or the BX Food Court. Time permitting we maybe able to look around at the BX concessions and BX. Ray needs numbers to lay on the right amount and sizes of buses to take us there, so please get your reunion registration in ASAP.
Okay what else is there to do to keep you and your better half occupied? Right off the bat, The Alamo, SeaWorld, The River Walk and the Towers of Americas. At the last reunion in San Antonio I walked The River Walk to the locks. The River Walk is a miniature canal. You can walk along or ride one of cruise boats to see the locks and the rest of The River Walk.
Not real far from San Antonio (an hour and 15 minutes) is a old German settlement, Fredericksburg. There is a lot of historic sites to see in Fredericksburg. Outside Fredericksburg is Luckenbach. Do you remember the song Going Back to Luckenbach, TX with Waylon and Willie? Fredericksburg and Luckenbach are located in the Hill Country of Texas. I have to say it is probably the prettiest part of Texas. Driving through Texas you will find numerous sites of interest, some of them are not that far from San Antonio and or the interstates such San Marcos, and New Braunfels. If you do not mind driving you could go to the John Wayne’s Alamo movie set. It is a couple hours west of San Antonio.
While writing about driving through Texas I would be remiss if I did not remind everyone about Texas Toll Roads. They are well marked. Here is the official verbiage from the Texas Department of Transportation: “Drivers should be aware that many toll roads are now using a cashless system. On these roads, if the vehicle does not contain a valid toll tag, a photo is taken of the vehicles’ license plate and a bill is mailed. This bill may contain an administrative or statement fee, plus the toll. For more information, visit www.txtag.org.” If you do not have a computer you can call 800-452-9292 and speak with a professional travel counselor during the hours of 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM Central Time.