Jan. 26, 2013 We stayed at the twenty site RV park on Laughlin Air Force Base. This base is like a little town. It has a small grocery store, a BX, a bowling alley, a cinema, and a fast food restaurant located on the air field. If you want to know the busiest runway in the USA, it is here as Laughlin trains pilots. After reveille in the morning, the planes would start flying and landing, flying and landing, flying and landing, etc., etc., etc.
The best thing about the base (and it was a very nice, small base) was the new gym which we got to use for free. So every morning, I dragged the OM to the fitness center where I used all the new cardio and muscle building equipment while he ran outside. Go figure? We decided to visit Brackettville which is east of Del Rio. It was home to Fort Clark from 1852 to 1944 and the famed Seminole Negro Indian scouts from 1870 to 1914.
They tracked Indian raiding parties that would come across the border stealing horses and cattle. It is no longer an active post today and, in fact, was sold to a real estate developer in the 1960’s. He in turn sold the officer and enlisted barracks and houses to private individuals and developed subdivisions on the rest of the land. These subdivisions include ranch style houses, houses with very tall garages for RV’s, and an RV park. Both G and I were impressed with how well this post has been kept up even though it is privately owned.
All the buildings are in use with the headquarters building being a bread and breakfast inn. I think I am envious of those families who were able to purchase officer houses and now can live in the present but also in the past.
