I have driven those roads many times, I retired 4 years ago after 32 years with the state of Texas. I worked in the Aviation Division of what became TXDOT. I inspected all of the open to public airports in the state of Texas for compliance with FAA safety standards. Probably drove almost every back road in the state of Texas. Sounds like you might have been the Airforce, both towns had an active base then, now just Abilene.