By the time Maw-Maw Nonie got to retirement age, she had traveled very little. I’m trying to remember, but a trip to California in 1955 and another trip with our family in the mid 60’s to Arkansas for a vacation was probably the only time she left Texas up to that point in her life.

She did go up to visit Kenny and Karen when he was stationed at Ft. Campbell, Ky. in the early 70’s. I think that was her first plane ride.

When she retired and had plenty of free time on her hands, Madeline and I started including her on a lot of our trips. We traveled a lot back in the 80’s.

I remember taking her to Mt. Washington, NH and then made a big swing back through the Northeast.

She was a great traveler. There were several other trips as well.

We were set to take a cruise out of Miami one summer. It was our whole family, Matt and Carrie were already married. Mike and Katherine were dating and would marry before long, so she was included too. We all were so pumped up. Nonie was really excited to take her first cruise.

We flew to Houston that morning, on our way to Miami. After a long layover in Houston we were told that our cruise was cancelled and we’d be returned to Austin. The ship we were suppose to sail on had been sent to rescue another cruise liner that was stranded in the Caribbean somewhere due to a fire onboard.

We were all upset, but what could we do? Carnival Cruise Lines gave us deeply discounted and upgraded rooms on a cruise later, maybe the next week. Whenever it was, it was the only time we all could go. Nonie had her High Grove Reunion going on at the same time. She went there every year and it was important to her to go. It seemed to her that all attendees were dying off much to quickly.

The rest of us went on the cruise. The next summer rolled around and the same exact group were going to Vegas. I reluctantly asked her, figuring her Church of Christ roots may not allow her to enjoy everything that Las Vegas was.

She went and I couldn’t have been more wrong. She enjoyed every second of that adventure. The walking was going to be too much for her so we arranged for her a wheel chair. We could roll her up to a slot machine with a bucket full of quarters and she would sit there for hours.

She always spoke fondly of that trip. Of course she was always grateful for every opportunity she had to go places. Like I said earlier, she was a great traveler.

This is a picture of Nonie and all of our Boys (I don’t know how we would have managed if not for her coming to stay with us at the arrival of the new babies as they kept on coming)

MawMaw Nonie and Our Five Sons down at the lake in Smithwick

Mike, Jason, Ron Jr, Nonie, Justin, Matt