Dear Yuichi:
You have certainly planned an extensive trip as you have indicated in your
letter 2/7. I do understand and appreciate your desire to accomplish as
much as possible on what may be your last trip to this part of the world.
I also try to go as many places as possible when I had the opportunity and
was able to do so. Unfortunately, when I do try to cover as much ground
as possible ( see more of the country ) it did make the trip more exhausting
and less enjoyable.
Some of the concerns which you have mentioned in your letter were answered
in my letter of 2/3, but I will repeat them in case my letter did not reach
you.
My personal feelings about your making this trip are that it should be based
upon your physical condition in being able to make such a long and strenuous
journey. The importance to you in attending the Fulbright reunion should
be a deciding factor in your decision to make the trip. It should not be
only coming to Texas to see me because I can meet you in Washington,D.D.,
if it would make it easier and more convenient for you. I have been wanting
to go to that area for a number of reasons. As you know, you will have to
make the final decision based upon the time available, your ability to get
around ( walk ), your priorities ( most important things to see or do )
and weigh or judge them against the cost of the trip. These are the criteria
that I have used in making and decisions about a trip. Now at my age, I
am having to be more concerned about traveling at a slower pace ( not so
fast ) than trying to do too much in the allotted travel time.
Now I will give you some of my thoughts about the Texas part of your trip
which may help you in your decisions making. A stop over in Fayetteville
may add considerable expense to the trip from D.C. to Texas because it is
out-of-the-way ( not a diredt route ) nad you will need to make a change
of planes at some location enroute to Arkansas and also from there to Austin
( at Dallas ). American and Delta airlines are the main carriers through
Fayetteville. I understand American has the most frequent flights in and
out of there. Your decision-"Is the stop-over there worth ( importance
) the added cost? " You will need to have your travel agent compare
the flight cost of a stop-over against a direct flight to Texas.
Incidentally, these thoughts and comments are made to you because they are
the ones that I would be concerned about and which would influence me if
I had to make the decisions.
There are several options in regards to coming to Texas and based upon a
three day stay.
1. Arrive and leave from Austin.
a. This would allow you to get some rest.
b. One day would be used to go to Fredericksburg which is only 80
miled from Austin. (1 1/2 hour drive )
c. There would not be adequate time to go to San Antonio ( 1 hour
and 20 minute drive; 70 miles ) on a separate day unless you are willing
to spend more time in traveling. Then I would suggest in going to
Fredericksburg for the day and then to S.A. for the night. Would return
to Austin the next afternoon. Your plane would leave the next day
for the West Coast.
2. Arrive in San Antonio and leave from Austin for the West Coast.
a. My son and I would meet you at the airport and we would spend the
night there. You would be able to see some of the city; Alamo, The
River Walk and Joe Alexander ( if you would like to see him ). The
next morning we would drive ( about 80 miles ) to Fredericksburg and
spend 4-5 hours there before coming to Austin. This would give you
a full day of rest before your plane left Austin.
b. This plan, if you can arrange the flight into S.A. and out of Austin,
would make the best use of your time and would allow you to see the
most of the area. |
Please feel free to make any questions or plans which you prefer. We can
adjust our time to suit your wishes. Also,do not feel that you may be
imposing or interesting upon us. My son and I enjoy taking over-night
trips in this area. We liket toexplore the "hill country " just
to the west of San Antonio and Austin. We just got back from a trip to
Junction and spent the night in Kerrville. My four-door Buick "Century"
is a comfortable car for such trips. My son is looking forward to driving
us around the area. I do drive in the city every day and I would not have
any problems or difficulty in driving long trips now. Incidentally, my
son is not married and has an apartment in the same apartment complex
where I live.
You are very welcome to stay in my apartment while in Austin. However,
you may prefer staying at the Sheraton's "Four-Points Motel"
( $70 including breakfast ) which is next to my apartment complex. There
are other motels which are nice and less expensive, but with no restaurant
or bar, plus some more expensive hotels within ten blocks from here.
There are some things that I think you would want to know about before
you make a decision to stay in my apartment. If pipe smoking irritates
or bothers you then you may want to stay somewhere else. I am a pipe smoker,
but I do try to be considerate or other people. My youngest daughter who
lives in North Carolina does not like to stay here for that reason. She
will stay at the Sheraton motel or somewhere else if her husband and daughter
is with her. I appreciate her feelings and I do not feel offended.
I have only one room that is used as a bedroom. The other one is used
as an upstairs room. That is where I spend most of my time reading or
watching television. There is a couch (sofa) which I use as my bed whenever
my older daughter from San Antonio, or anyone else stays here. I frequently
sleep on it whenever I cannot get to sleep in my bed. It is comfortable
for me. That will be the situation if you stay here.
We will be eating nearly all of our meals out because I do not do any
cooking, except to heat-up a frozen TV dinner occasionally. We can have
breakfast here ( Continental style -coffee, tea and pastries ).
Now, as to my health. I am feeling very good considering everything that
I have been through and I am becoming more active with each passing week.
I will see the surgeon on 3/5. I appreciated and understand your concern
about my health and if it could effect your decision about coming to Texas.
Please do not let that worry you. Although I cannot predict what my situation
will be at that time ( I am looking forward to constant improvement )
If something does happen that would effect my getting out and about, my
son said he would be glad to meet you and drive you to Fredericksburg
and in San Antonio. He is a safe driver and he would be a good tour guide
for you.
I have been delayed in getting this letter finished and mailed because
I was not satisfied with the previous part and I rewrote it. Also, my
son and I decided to make the weekend trip to Kerrville. That was the
second trip we have made this month. I had thought about going to San
Francisco last week in order to get some exercise by walking the hills
( low ones ) and to see the Chinese New York celebration but decided to
wait for a little longer before going there because I have too much to
do here right now. It will be tomorrow ( Tuesday ) before I can get it
in the mail. I have tried to be as frank and honest as possible in providing
you with the information which you wanted and also the information which
I thought you needed to know before making any decisions.
Since you are thinking about making a number of different stops in the
U.S.A., you may want to ask your travel agent about the advisability of
getting an airline pass which would allow you to fly anywhere in this
country within a certain number of days; such as, one month, fifteen days,
and etc. I believe one is called an "America Pass" and it can
only be bought overseas; not in the States. I have always bought a "Brit-rail"
four day Flexi-pass for railroad travel in the United Kingdom. This allowed
me to travel any four days within a month. It saved me money and made
rail traveling easier. The airlines have similar type of passes. Be sure
to ask if they have a "Senior Citizen" discount fare.
I always fly on Southwest Airlines whenever possible because it has the
cheapest "Senior Citizen "fares and it does not require reservations
and purchase at least two weeks in advance like the major airlines require.
It has a numberof different route and frequent flights to the West
Coast. It no longer goes into San Francisco because of the frequent weather
delays. Now I have to go to Oakland and transfer to "Bart" (
Bay Area Rapid Transit ), which is the light rail system to San Francisco.
This can be difficult, especially, if you have trouble walking or carrying
a lot of luggage. It does save me a lot of money ( about $5 instead of
$30-$60 for a taxi or van ). Southwest does have routes from Baltimore=Washington,D.C.
to Texas. The disadvantage of traveling on Southwest is that it has "open-seating"
( no reserved seats ) and some routes make more stops which may take more
time on the plane than on the larger airlines. It does not serve any meals.
I am enclosing a copy of a map of Texas in order to show you the route
we would take to drive to and from Fredericksburg. A travel agent has
provided a tentative schedule on American Airlines. The schedule from
Dallas to Austin would be about the same as to San Antonio.
I have tried to answer all of your concerns and to provide you with information
which I would want to know if I was making the decisions about this trip.
Hopefully , it will be of help to you.
It will be very nice to see you again. I must end this letter now.
Sincerely
Bob
Robert R. Martindale
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HISTORICAL CENTER
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Phone: (512)454-3721
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SOUTHWEST JANUARY 13,2002 FLIGHT SCHEDULE
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