On the way to Big Springs I saw a few mesquite trees , DANG IT ! I was getting close to home ! I grew up in brush country , pert near all mesquite and you can always see the sky . I wanted to be home .
On the way to Big Springs I saw a few mesquite trees , DANG IT ! I was getting close to home ! I grew up in brush country , pert near all mesquite and you can always see the sky . I wanted to be home .
No turning back , No turning back !
Hitch hiking I met some really nice people , Many of them stand out in my mind . I never gave a hard story but some offered me money when I got out . I tried hard to turn them down and try to make them feel good for their honest intentions . There were good people . No way could I take money . My raising I guess .
No turning back , No turning back !
Had about 250 miles left to get home . Dang I made it to Abilene by midafternoon ...was doing good ! Had to walk through town to get to the farm to market road headed north so that took a while .
Got started thumbing north , this was cotton farming country . Lot of short hops hitch hiking , most were local folks just going a mile or two . Nearly made it to Seymour TX ..bout 60 miles home . Bedded down near a tank battery ...dry camp no water . Got up before daylight and warmed up my last can of beans . Still had bout a buck fifty in my pocket , Ought to get home today .
No turning back , No turning back !
Got on the road at daybreak , caught a ride into Seymour quick . Was walking through town to get on the east side and start thumbing again but stopped at a little café and got a cup of coffee . Just farmers and oilfield in there , it was nice to just sit and drink a cup of coffee with regular people around ..Heck it was 'normal' .
I was determined to drink all the coffee I wanted , the lady waiting tables asked me were I was headed . I was carrying a bedroll so was easy to see I was 'traveling' . Told her I was trying to get to Wichita Falls , She was holding a coffee pot and just hollered out ..Anyone headed to Wichita ! This man needs a ride .
A guy eating in the back wearing overalls said ..I'm going to Holliday . HECK ! Holliday was 10 miles from the house !
I was glad I decided to stop and have that coffee !
Last edited by Boaz; 01-07-2018 at 10:10 AM.
No turning back , No turning back !
and then?
The guy was a contract pumper , took care of some leases couple of miles west of Holliday . We talked , told him I doubled a lot on rigs , was coming from Arizona and such ..just talk . He went on and took me to Holliday , wasn't but a couple of miles past his leases . He shook hands wished me well and said we would probably see one another in the patch . He was a nice guy .
I walked east out of Holliday and got a ride soon as I stuck my thumb out to Wichita . Got out on the north side of town , Walked 3 blocks to a high school friend's house . He had an old 52 Chevy pick up and he gave me a ride home , let me off in the street in front of the house .
No turning back , No turning back !
Got my bedroll out of the back of the pick up and was walking across the yard to the front door ..it was a surreal experience . I has been gone about four and a half months , it was mid October. Trying to put my experience into prospective with coming home was hard . Here at home everything was normal ..it was just like I left it . It was hard to understand but I was glad to see it .
No turning back , No turning back !
Great story, God was with you the whole time.
Great story, Boaz. After you walked back into your house did you have to eat a little crow, or was it like you never left?
What a "life experience" you had. And you learned the Micah method of curing smoking as well!
Walked up to the porch and dropped my bedroll . The weather was nice , opened the screen door and stepped into the living room . Mom was cleaning up from lunch , she saw me and her hands flew over her mouth . She just stood there and looking at me , I walked on in the kitchen and she started crying . Then she started calling my dad , he was in the bedroom . He came in the kitchen and was smiling bigger than I had ever seen him smile . I remember that .
No turning back , No turning back !
In 1974 I contacted a company in Chehalis Washington looking for oilfield workers . They said they would hire me if I moved there . Said they were in the offshore rig moving business and provided support to rigs in several different ways . Plus they were trying to get into land rigs because there was some exploratory drilling starting up .
I always wanted to work offshore so loaded up and drove to Washington state . They told me the work would be based out of Tacoma Washington so I drove to Tacoma and rented an apartment (I hate apartment living ) .
To make a long story short they were just lying to me , they were 'trying' to get their business started but had no work . So tried to find a job doing something else but if you didn't belong to some kind of union you were just out of luck .
I don't begrudge going , did one heck of a lot of fishing , rented a boat and spent 2 days fishing on Puget Sound , went up in the Space Needle , the salmon were running and fished the Nisqually River . It was kind of a vacation and saw a lot of country . I left Texas and went through New Mexico , turned left in Colorado got to Oregon and drove up the coast to Washington .
Coming back I drove back down the Oregon coast and went through California , Turned left and was going through Arizona and New Mexico to get back to Texas . I had to drive right through Apache Junction . It wouldn't take any time to drive a few miles and see if Andrew and Micah's camp was still operating .
No turning back , No turning back !
was it?
I had reservations about going to the camp , I wasn't afraid for any reason ...no need to be . But I didn't really want to have anything to do with them ...they were a bad memory . I had come to hate that place in the two months I was there , it was filthy , the people were indescribable , each in their own situation were lost . Matthew and Micah were false teachers using name of GOD to fulfil their psychotic dreams .
But I was curious , I thought about it a lot before I got to the turnoff and in took till the last few min to make a decision . When I got to the Apache Trail highway I turned north , the camp was just 6-7 miles up the road .
No turning back , No turning back !
I got to the turn into the desert , was easy it hadn't been that long . Drove up the trace but the camp was not there . You could see still the cleared space but there was nothing . It had been picked and cleaned up .
I got back on the highway and thought about the black guy that drilled the holes at the 'mine' . He lived just off the highway almost to Apache Junction . It was a long shot but I was already nearly to his house . Again I hesitated ..did I even want to know what happened to the camp ?
No turning back , No turning back !
I looked from the road a danged if his old pick up with the air compressor and drill outfit was wasn't parked beside the house still . I turned in and before I got out of the truck he came out on the porch . I walked up and asked if he recognize me . I thought a min , he looked at me hard and said ..no . I refreshed his memory and he was surprised ..he did remember . keep in mind it had been a few years and we only saw each other 5-6 times .
He did not ask me in the house but asked his wife to get us some tea . We sat on the porch and talked .. I asked him about the camp and told my story . He told me Micah was charged with raping two little girls in the camp about a year after I left , that Matthew disappeared and the camp was cleaned out by the Feds . Said it was big news at the time , the law even questioned him .
It was a terrible thing but Micah got a pert near life sentence over it .
No turning back , No turning back !
There are many stories from people sharing their experience as to how they let God lead their life and actions. I have a few of my own as do we all. The thing I tried to raise my girls was to listen and you will hear when you are called upon to reach out to someone in need. At other times, your needs will be met and you need to remember from where this help has come.
Thank you for a wonderful affirmation of the virtue of obedience to your parents and their lesson to you regarding obedience to your faith. This afternoon, I read from beginning to end. Thank you for sharing your witness.
Common sense Gun Safety . . .
Is taught at the Range!
Thank you sir . This story is just a story and we all have ...stories . GOD has led us all down a different path but our destination is the same should we allow our savior Jesus Christ in our life to guide us . My story is a testimonial and admission of failure ...we all fall short . But our Lord guides even in our weakness . Our works are as filthy rags but our faith carries us through . Thank you .
No turning back , No turning back !
Thanks for the story Boaz, I really enjoyed reading the whole thing and getting caught up when I discovered this thread a week or so ago, and spent the rest of the time waiting on tenterhooks for each new post.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |