After a very successful ball where my wife at the time was admired greatly by the Destroyer School’s commanding officer, Earl dropped off both hatch covers and our mini-station wagon, which now would be labeled a hatchback. He got his Porsche 911 back unharmed.

To be honest, i was relieved.

i got both hatchbacks because both Earl and i had orders to Long Beach, CA, and it was easier to include them in our household goods rather than Earl putting one in his minimal personal goods shipment. Earl was reporting as Weapons Officer to the USS Fox (DLG 33), homeported in San Diego but undergoing a major overhaul in the Long Beach Naval Shipyard. i had orders to relieve the chief engineer aboard the USS Hollister (DD 788), homeported at the Long Beach Naval Station adjacent to the shipyard. We were going to be co-located and our friendship would remain close for the rest of Earl’s life.

The last four weeks of destroyer school was a four-week stay in Norfolk where we would train on ships of the same class as the ones to which we had orders. Consequently, my parents flew to Providence, loaded up my wife, Blythe, the cat BK, and the Old English Sheepdog Snooks in that Corona station wagon and drove to Tennessee. My family then went to Paris, Texas and my in-laws home. Earl and i, after completing the school back in Newport, then drove to Lebanon in his Porsche.

In was in November 1974. We planned to stop in New York City and stay at the home of one of Earl’s friends, but late that night at a gas stopped and called his friend. The friend was out of town so we decided to drive straight through. By then, it was almost midnight and Earl had driven up until then. i took my turn at the wheel. i had barely pulled back on the road before Earl was sound asleep.

i’m no longer sure of the route we took, but i was driving through mountains on what i believe was I-81. It was in Pennsylvania. It was 1:00 am in the morning. Earl was sound asleep. There was nothing on the road except us and semis. It began to rain in the mountains. i found myself unwittingly racing semi after semi. 95 miles an hour in the mountains on curves in the rain. The Porsche was performing better than i. It was hair raising but i didn’t want to wake Earl and scare the hell out of him. It was one hell of a ride for about an hour. My knuckles were white. But i think i took a step up in my driving. As first light came about, we stopped for gas and Earl took over the driving duties and i slept.

i never told him, but it was certainly one of the most thrilling night rides of my life.

Thank you, Porsche. And thank you, Earl.

My recent travels and an article in the newspaper about a court trial generated some memories about a special friend and his pride and joy. i have told at least one, if not all of these stories before, but they have been lost with the great website provider crash a couple of years ago. Regardless, i love them and will tell them again and again. Earl Major was a special person in my life.

John Sweatt, Earl Major, and i are the only career Naval officers i know who were in our generation from Lebanon, Tennessee.

John was my mentor/protector/coach at Castle Heights and later gave me perspective in my grind of Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island. He remains a hero to me.

Earl was six months and one school year ahead of me at McClain Elementary and Castle Heights. We played ball together, baseball and football. We shared counselor roles at Tennessee Boy’s State. He and i were best friends until he went to Auburn on an NROTC scholarship and i went to Vanderbilt on the same scholarship. Earl carried it through to graduation. i found a different route, therefore welcoming John’s time and support at OCS.

But after Earl left for Auburn in 1961, he and i didn’t even communicate until 1973. When i reported to Destroyer School for department head training in Newport, Rhode Island. Earl was also there for the same course. We reconnected big time. He and my wife at the time and i became a trio of fast friends. This led to the first Porsche story.

Earl was a single lieutenant commander. Now having experience of that position, i know it is one of the best in the world. Bachelor Earl arrived in Newport in a 1967 Porsche 911. It was a dull orange and one incredible car:

Near the end of the six months of Destroyer School, the command put on a graduation ball. It was a big thing. The event was held in the “Marble House,” the other Vanderbilt mansion besides the famous Breakers. My wife purchased an evening gown and i checked out my dinner dress whites. Then Earl and i talked.

“I don’t have a date for the ball,” he said.

i marveled. Newport was famous for meeting women. i had met one of the most wonderful women in my life when i met Kathy McMahon, now Klosterman. The Tavern, Hurley’s, and a couple of other places were great meeting places. But i sensed Earl wasn’t too keen on the ball, so i just mumbled something about being sorry.

“Oh, no,” he said, “I’m fine with that. In fact, the reason I was calling is I am going to New London. They have a scrap yard there with old liberty ship hatch covers. I’m going to get one and refinish it for a coffee table.”

“Wow,” i responded, “What a great idea.”

Then Earl admitted “I’m calling because a hatch cover won’t fit in my Porsche. I was wondering if we could swap cars for the weekend. You could have the Porsche to go to the ball and I could take your wagon to New London. I’ll get you a hatch cover for $25 and we’ll call it even.”

Hmm, let’s see. i loan Earl my 1970 Toyota Corona station wagon and get a liberty ship hatch cover, and get to take my wife to a formal dance in Porsche 911.

“Okay,” i agreed.

Being very fond of his Porsche, Earl offers to drive to our Navy housing at Fort Adams on Saturday morning and proposes we trade cars there and drive across town to the Navy base to be sure we are okay with my driving the Porsche and Earl driving the station wagon. Good idea, especially if you are the owner of the Porsche.

Saturday morning, Earl arrived at our housing unit as promised. We swapped keys and agreed to meet at the base exchange. As we walked to each other’s cars, Earl advised, “Remember, you should always keep the RPM over 3000.” He forgot to clarify that requirement as for being on the highway.

Earl jumped into the Corona and took off. i got into the Porsche feeling like a Le Mans racer, opened up the roof panel, and started after Earl.

Now the route from Fort Adams to the Naval Base takes you through the heart of Newport, the centuries old town with narrow streets. i dutifully tried to keep the RPM over 3000, shifting continuously and scaring the hell out of at least two dozen New England drivers. i nearly wrecked the Porsche and killed myself on at least a half dozen occasions through the narrow streets for about five miles, vroom, vroom all the way. i finally gave up figuring the Porsche was not worth my life.

When i reached the exchange, Earl asked me if the car drove all right. i told him of my experience. He apologized, telling me about the 3000 RPM limit being for highway driving.

All else was a success. The liberty ship hatch cover has undergone a bunch of transitions and is now Maureen’s work table in our front room, holding a sewing machine and serving as a platform for Maureen’s textile art projects. i think about Earl every time i pass that room.

The Porsche 911 was  beautiful car.  And Earl was a beautiful human being.

It all began when our younger, Sarah, decided to come out to San Diego in her car with her dog Billie.

Sarah’s car is Maureen’s 2001 Acura with over 250,000 miles. The trip is 1300 miles through some of the least friendly summer country in this country.

After considering the trek she faced, i decided Daddy would not be sane if she traveled that route by herself. So Monday, Maureen took me to the airport at dark thirty. i caught a ride to Austin, arriving before noon. That evening, we had burgers with Blythe, Jason, and my hero Sam, which was a highpoint of the very short trip.

Sarah and i took the car in for repairs and a final check to see if it was fit for such a trip. Good thing it was scheduled. The air conditioner went out about an hour or so before i arrived. Now about the only thing i can think of less attractive than the already scheduled trek across West Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California is to try it without air conditioning. So we got it fixed also.

The repairs were a little bit more than expected and the whole thing delayed our getaway until 2:30pm Austin time. i took the wheel for the day.

So there are no photos in this post from Austin through to Deming, New Mexico. It is pleasant although Hill Country hot and humid through Fredericksburg and the ranch territory to the west is…well, it’s Texas summer ranch land to Junction where it’s remote enough and hot enough for Bear Bryant to use Junction as the site for early football practice when he was coach of the Aggies. After that, not much. Just West Texas. The entire trip was much greener than i had seen in my gazillion traverses, surprising. But West Texas is still a pretty desolate territory until you get to El Paso.

El Paso is worse. It is my least favorite place of the entire journey between East Texas and the Southwest Corner. It decided to reinforce my dislike on this journey. When we were about 100 miles out, i thought i saw a lightning streak in the dark high clouds over the western horizon. Soon there was another. The frequency increased turning into a verifiable and no BS thunder and lightning show lasting until we reached Deming, New Mexico, almost perfectly halfway in the trek. But El Paso added some fun with a couple of detours, a couple of miles of one-lane traffic, and more than a couple of severe rain squalls, several of which came close to me pulling over and stopping.

But we made it and i pulled into a Deming motel around 12:30 mountain time morning.

The next day, Sarah did nearly all of the driving except for my midday substitution for a several hours. We arrived home almost exactly at five.

Since there are probably a bunch of folks who have not made this trek, i thought i would show a couple of landscape shots to give them an idea of what such a journey is like. If you would like to get some idea of the route between Austin and Deming, you’ll have to check out Sarah’s post about the trip.

And that my friends is what’s like to travel between the Southwest corner and Austin. There are many interesting places to stop along the way. i don’t think i ever have seen them. i would recommend the trip to anyone…as long as they can figure out how to bypass El Paso, and going through Lubbock is not a good alternative.