Back in the late spring or early summer of 1990, Rodney called our house in Austin and asked if Larissa would like to accompany their family on a camping vacation, driving west from Texas to Arizona and then Nevada. We told him that Claire, an exchange student from France, was going to be visiting us for that time. (Larissa had spent a summer with Claire and her family in 1988, but Claire’s return visit had been postponed because of Marilyn’s operation in 1989.) Rodney said that both girls would be welcome to come.
This would be a real adventure. Rodney, Takako and Aki would be going with their friends Bristol and Elizabeth and their children, who lived near them in Richardson, Texas. They had rented a van, and they were planning to camp in National Parks as much as possible. Larissa and Claire could help with the kids.
So when Claire arrived from France, we gave her a few days to get used to the time change, and then we took her and Larissa to Richardson to join Rodney and Takako on their camping trip. It was a good adventure. Two years later, Larissa used that camping trip as the basis of one of her essays on a college application.
After Claire’s return to Austin, Marilyn and I took her and Larissa to see the Alamo in San Antonio and the NASA Visitors’ Center in Houston, which we considered two top Texas tourist spots. Back in those days, NASA in Houston was a working Space Center. We wished Claire could stay longer, as she was a delightful guest, but the end of summer vacation came for both girls, and we had to say good-bye.
Adventures in Texas
Setting out from Richardson
The Southwestern Desert
The Grand Canyon
On the Colorado River
The Cast of Characters
