A Quick Visit to Colorado
I believe it was in the late summer of 1961, I went on a religious retreat to Estes Park, Colorado. It was a TDY (temporary duty) sponsored by the Air Force. The retreat was for three days plus two travel days. Uniforms were not required. We flew from Big Spring to Albuquerque. I believe it was a C-47 but I am not sure. We sat sideways on uncomfortable seats. I was miserably sick on the flight as we were taxing to the hanger after arrival I vomited onto the floor. I stayed and cleaned up my mess. I was badly embarrassed.
We got to our rooms about 4 in the afternoon. I walked into town. At this time the population of Albuquerque was about 30,000. It was the largest city in New Mexico but it was still really just a small town. I really liked the desert. We didn’t do much other than walk around. When we got back to the base we tried to get midnight breakfast at the dining hall. The mess sergeant wouldn’t serve us because we were out of uniform. We showed him our orders. He didn’t care he had his orders too. We called the Officer of the Day who ruled in our favor. The cook was still livid. We walked off base and had food at a nearby diner.
Next day we flew to Denver, about 400 miles and took a bus to Estes Park. It was one of the most gorgeous places I had ever seen. Estes is at about 7500 feet elevation and surrounded by peaks at 14,000 feet. It was most glorious. We attended discussions in small groups. This was nondenominational but generally protestant. There was also a great deal of singing. The coral director of the Air Force academy took a group of us (about 16) and within a few minutes had us singing quite well. The theme of the conference was How Great Thou Art and we often sang the song of the same title. I still find it quite uplifting. I had my own small room in a cabin which was quite good place to sleep. The next morning I had to take a shower in cold water. Wow. The training I had had in Denver to minimize the use of hot water was equally good to minimize freezing in the cold. A hearty breakfast and another day of good fellowship, rousing speeches and playing games. I played volleyball, baseball, basketball and touch football. We would hike and explore. It was a fantastic three days. I didn’t want to leave but it did set me thinking about religion vs. spirituality. I still think about it more than 50 years later. And, How Great Thou Art is still a favorite song:
Verse 1:
O Lord my God! When I in awesome wonder
Consider all the works Thy hands have made.
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.
Refrain:
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to Thee;
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Then sings my soul, My Savior God, to Thee:
How great Thou art, how great Thou art!
Verse 2:
When through the woods and forest glades I wander
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur
And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze:
(Repeat Refrain.)
Verse 3:
And when I think that God, His Son not sparing,
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin:
(Repeat Refrain.)
Verse 4:
When Christ shall come with shouts of acclamation
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart!
Then I shall bow in humble adoration,
And there proclaim, my God, how great Thou art!
(Repeat Refrain.)
I dreaded the idea of flying back and was trying to get a ride with some of the people who had driven. Since that would take three days, I reluctantly agreed to fly. The flight back was direct but we may have stopped briefly somewhere—I can no longer remember that part of the trip so it must not be as bad as I feared.
I did go on leave to Michigan. That ramble is somewhere else in this maze of stories.
I don’t remember how I spent Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year’s in Texas. I probably spent some time at the Cook’s because I was there almost every weekend anyway. February of 1962 saw a cold snap that lasted quite a few days. Making it worse the heat went out in my barracks (probably the other one’s too). About the same time, I got sick enough not to go to work. I went to the hospital, actually referred to as being on sick call. Many GIs did that to get help with hangovers and to get out of work they didn’t like. I was one of the few people that was actually sick. So they kept me in the hospital. After three days, I was going insane, and they decided I could help clean up there. I told them if I was well enough to work in the hospital I was well enough to go back to my real job, so I left. I have no idea what was wrong with me then, some respiratory problem no doubt.