Evacuated from Wichita Falls - or so the story goes

The remainder of Lubbock and onward journey.

During WW2 Lubbock was also a base for training glider pilots.  Thus we had no option but to visit the Silent Wings Museum at the Lubbock 'International' Airport.(though when quizzed no one could tell us from whence any international flights originated, or were destined...and did not see the irony in the title). The museum was really packed including a full glider.  These were the ones that were mostly involved in the D Day landings, but also had major operations in PNG, and Burma.    They were pretty flimsy, and there was a 30% chance of getting oneself killed.

They even had a flight simulator from the 1930s

Not very sturdy looking....the plane that is.

Post Tx.

Choosing not to take the direct route (rout) to Wichita Falls, we headed a bit south and turned left at a place called Post.  What a charming little possum of a place that was.  All but dead as an agricultural centre, an young man Jackie Cruse  http://jcrusegallery.com/history.html. affiliated with one of the gazillions of churches in these parts had a great deal of success with his first talent, baking ( making a cake fir Bill Clinton's inauguration ) and ecclectic and quirky, sculpture  art, specialising in Christmas carvings...the big dept stores wanted his craft, and he managed to earn a few dollars, but what he did then was get together some extra money, and developed a 'tourist trade, craft centre' in this town.  it was named the Silent night Village . We got to chat with Jackie and he was a charming character.  The village   consisted of about a dozen tiny shops each with a quirky trade; a wood turner, a craft and arts (very eclectic) store, ice creamery and a 'bakery' to name a few....and it was very unusual.

Inside the village.

So you know what it looks like from the outside.

Jackie's shop in Post.Tx.

Then a two hour drive north(ish) to Wichita Falls, and arrived at the hotel we had booked the night previous to be met by the lovely Mark..(many of the male  reception staff seem to be 'charming' and 'lovely') who tells us we have a choice....thinking it would be a choice between first or second floor, but in fact it was a choice to check in with a 90% chance of being woken by the police at 2 a.m. to be evacuated by order of a Judge, due to the flood waters, and loose our booking fee, or....we could cancel our booking at no cost to us and book elsewhere.

The cause of the elsewhere decision 

Elsewhere was described as not being within one mile of the Wichita river not being between Dallas and WF (South)... So we went north, thinking we had booked a suite at Lawton, 45 miles north.

The weather was appalling and we arrived after dark to find that there was no room at the Inn...not even a stable....this is when things got a bit stressed......in torrential rain storm, flooded roads and working against time ( as every other Mary and Joseph was looking for a dry place to sleep), we tumbled upon a lovely hotel with a lovely (woman) receptionist who perceived a little bit of angst.  A very comfortable room was found in the Comfort Inn, Lawton, at a great price.$89.00 ish.

After a few stiff coffees, made in our room, things started to realign.   And we now hear about tornados touching down in Oklahoma...a bit north of here, and evacuations.