Tag: Junction

Getting ready

On my way home from picking up my boy on Friday night, I decided to stop by Brookstone at the Irvine Spectrum and bought a hard-shelled carry-on suitcase that just fits in airline overhead compartments. I’m not taking any chances of getting my luggage lost again for the duration of my trip. It also has a nice set of wheels on it, as well as a retractible handle so I should also be able to easily carry my CPAP machine too. Of course, I’m also going to take my cellphone with all of my powercords (I had to buy a power cord last year – which was almost impossible to do in Junction).  BTW, according the last U.S. Census (2000), Junction had a population of just over 2,600 people! Talk about SMALL! Even so, it was a great place to visit and I’m looking forward to it again this year. I’m hoping that, once I arrive, we’ll get some weather (last year, after my flight from Hell, I drove through an incredible rainstorm just to get there). I have no desire to do that again but, once I’m there, I really don’t care what happens – it would be GREAT to get a good thunderstorm or two, as well as some wind (which was in short supply last year). Of course, I’m going to carry my camera onboard with me this year – last year, I didn’t get many because it was lost with my luggage.

I’m also hoping to go down to the LLano River (which is located on the grounds) – last year, due to the huge storm that welcomed the retreat, we were told not to go down to the River due to flood water conditions.  One of my goals is to get a few photos of an armadillo or two (I’ve only seen dead stuffed ones which are so common in Mexico). Only time will tell.

Junction, here I come!

Obviously, it’s been awhile since I last posted on this blog. Life has been far too stressful, for such an incredibly long period of time, that I’ve been too preoccupied to even do something as wonderful as flying or making kites. It’s been five months since I last posted here. Anyway, as the title of this entry reveals, I’m going to the Junction, Texas Kite Making Retreat again this year. While I certainly can’t afford it, things have been so awful that everyone who knows what I’ve gone through have all said “go for it” and they did so in no uncertain terms. I hope I remember how to use a sewing machine! (I’m sure I will.)

I made the decision to go just this evening (and it was, to be honest, almost an impulsive decision – although I generally don’t do that) after coming home from a couple of groups at church. I’m hoping (and praying very hard) that things will take a turn for the better this month but I’m not going to count my chickens before they hatch. Just the same, if you’re reading this and you pray, PLEASE pray for things to take a turn for the better.

As I noted last year on this blog, good ‘ole American Airlines LOST my luggage for FOUR LONG DAYS. They essentially put a HUGE dent in my experience of last year’s retreat (although I still had a great time, even if I did smell bad) and they sent me a voucher for a future trip. I made the decision to book a flight around 11 PM (it’s 2 AM now – yes, I have severe sleep problems, on top of everything else) and sent in my “reservation” to the retreat organizer. She’s about the only one I know that stays up as late as I do and I’ve already recieved a response! Apparently, there will be a couple of Asian kite builders flying in for some of the classes – is that cool or what?!

Obviously, it’s very late now and I had better try and get some sleep (again, I don’t know how successful I will be but I’ll try to think about how fun it’ll be to go back to Junction this year). In addition to all of the kite fun we had last year (even if we really didn’t have any real wind to speak of), I’m going to make it a point to try and catch a glimpse of an armadillo this time (in addition to all of the deer that populate the grounds). Can’t wait!