July 17, 1967: I wanna be a cowboy, baby!

Here is the first entry in Mom's diary, dated Monday, July 17, 1967. Note that I am referred to as "David Wayne" or "DW" in these diary entries.

We left Carrollton at 10:00 am. David Wayne got up and immediately put on cowboy hat, boots, belt and guns. He wanted everyone to know where he came from. We drove 12 hours and stayed at El Paso - La Posta Motel. Ate supper. Billie Sol Estes hometown.

DW adopted a mangy cat with a hole in its side at the motel. Lovely weather except heavy rain outside of El Paso. DW was very good the first day. He learned about plateaus which he renamed "flat toes."

Apparently I was really into cowboys at that age. Here's a picture of me from Christmas 1966:

That picture was taken at my grandmother's house in Denton, TX. Behind me on the couch is my mother's older brother, his wife, and I believe his wife's sister. I don't know who that is seated next to my uncle with only his legs in the picture. I suppose it could be my dad, but there are some clues that indicate otherwise. Google "Billie Sol Estes" if you want to find out about a real character from the 1960s with a possible link to the Kennedy assassination. I guess I have always liked animals. What's not to love about a mangy cat with a hole in its side? So I was good the first day. Don't expect that to continue for eight months. "Flat toes." (Some of you may consider that foreshadowing.) Another word I remember mispronouncing at that age was "bathroom," which I pronounced "brathbroom." So we didn't even make it out of Texas on the first day. Let's see how far we get on Day 2.