“My New Year’s resolution in 2024 was to fill more pages in my passport,” wrote Spur resident David Pafford on his website. “No longer was I preaching every Sunday. No longer was I teaching history at colleges, or even looking for further work in that area. Instead of managing two farms, I was down to one... With that freedom, I could begin to fill more passport pages; to see more of the world ... not just to pass through the countries, but to meaningfully visit at least 10 countries outside the U.S. during the year.”
With wife, Stephanie, daughter Kimberly and son Caleb, Pafford set off May 21 for parts domestic and foreign. Only Caleb plans to accompany his father the entire way; other family members may catch up with them at various points around the globe. We’ll follow them weekly in the pages of The Texas Spur.
“If you would like to see more photos and hear the ‘long version’ of our story,” wrote Pafford, “please visit the website www.fartherbeyond. com/circumnavigation. I hope you will join us each week to hear the latest report.”
on a roundthe- world trip. Stephanie and Kimberly came along for the early parts of the journey through some of the more popular tourist destinations. We visited Niagara Falls, then flew from Toronto to Edinburgh, Scotland. We toured castles and cathedrals around Stirling, including major battlefields in the Scottish Wars of Independence popularized in the largely fictionalized movie “Braveheart.”
We took a high-speed train to London, where we visited the Buckingham Palace, Westminster Abbey, and the Tower of London. We saw a 900-yearold chess set, the oldest known complete New Testament, the Rosetta Stone, a bust of Ramses II, handwritten Beatles lyrics, music written by Mozart, and the British crown jewels.
We went to France, where we eventually saw many highlights from Paris. We toured the opulent Versailles palace, so luxurious that when you see it you understand why people wanted to chop the heads off the inhabitants. We saw the Arc de Triomphe, walked the Champs-Elysées, summited the Eiffel Tower, and visited the Louvre. We saw the Mona Lisa, Winged Victory, the Wedding Feast at Cana, and numerous other DaVincis and Raphaels. We saw a 950-year-old tapestry created to explain the reasoning and importance of William the Conqueror’s conquest of England, culminating in the Battle of Hastings in the year A.D. 1066.
The Normandy coast was the most moving location we have yet visited. It seems important to emphasize this stop, given that last week marked the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in which young men from the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and Canada executed the largest amphibious landing in military history. This ambitious operation led directly to the ultimate defeat of the Nazis.
On Monday, June 2, we paid our respects to the young men who gave their lives in this massive effort. Much of this area was already blocked off due to the Biden visit scheduled for the 6th. We were able to make our way back to the flag overlooking the more than nine thousand white burial markers. As we walked toward the flagpole, I was deeply moved by the multitude of crosses. Most represented the life of a child about the age of one of my older sons, Preston and Andrew, cut down before even really reaching adulthood. The kids buried here had no dog in this fight. Some were conscripts, but many volunteered. When people learn that I am a veteran, they often thank me for my service to our country. I try not to downplay the respect they are offering, but I never went through anything like the veterans who walked this field. Tears streamed down my face as I felt the sacrifices of so many young men who gave the last full measure of devotion to liberate a foreign land from an aggressive regime. I often wonder if today’s Americans would be up to a test of this magnitude, and pray that we never have to find out.
Our next stop will be the Dutch province of Friesland, where we will visit former Spur Bulldog foreign exchange student Max VanKooten and his family.
