Railroads, Rivers, Route 66 and Running: Old Friends, New Places & New Memories

At the end of 2013 I signed up for a half marathon in Eugene, Oregon, a true running mecca. After signing up I mentioned in my Christmas card to my friend Smitty that I was planning a trip to Eugene for the race in July. Soon after I received an email from him telling me that he was going to train for and run the race with me and not long after that I heard that another Navy friend who lives in Florida was going to be spending a month in Oregon this summer and would be there when I arrived. My plan was to drive up the Wednesday before the Sunday race and stay with Smitty.

The week before I received emails from both Smitty and Joe telling me that Joe and his wife Judy would be leaving to Mississippi for a family reunion on the evening that I would arrive. They asked if I could come up a day earlier so that we could spend some time together because they wouldn't be back in Oregon until after I departed. I checked with my niece Brandy to see if I could take her dog, Ivy, a day earlier and confirmed with Smitty and Joe that I would be there Tuesday.

IVY - My travel companion. She went on to win her first show in Oregon!

I'm really glad that I changed my schedule and got to spend time catching up with Joe, Judy, Smitty and Denise as a group. We crammed a whole lot of fun and friendship in just over 24 hours. After dinner, and wine, the first night the wives went into the house and the three of us guys caught up on our time spent together in the Navy, first at NATTC in Memphis where we met and then at NAS LeMoore where we went after school and were assigned to VA 23. We made our first WestPac cruise together on the USS Oriskany and when we returned our squadron was scheduled for decommissioning. We rented a house in Hanford, California and lived together until our orders came. I was assigned to VA 147 and stayed in LeMoore while Smitty and Joe were transferred to a squadron at Whidbey Island, Washington. (The Oriskany has also been decommissioned and eventually sunk to create a manmade reef off of Pensacola, Florida.) So the three of us and our friendship have outlasted our first squadron as well as our first ship.

"These people are healthy eaters"! Swordfish!

The first night there was filled with laughter as we reminisced about our friendship through the years and the laughter actually started with a conversation about dinner. First let me say upfront that I like and eat very little seafood. For some reason while driving to Oregon I was thinking about how I could politely let them know that if they were seafood eaters or asked me what I did or didn't like for meals. The first dinner planned? Yep, Salmon! I just started laughing and because we are such good friends I was very upfront about my feelings about salmon and seafood in general. They offered to cook a piece of fish for me and I accepted. We went to the store for the fish and Smitty bought swordfish instead, I agreed to try it and I enjoyed it. Would I order it on my own? Probably not but I know that I can eat it and enjoy it. People often say that you should eat what you are served. I disagree. If you really do not like something then you should have the option of saying so and either eat something else or simply go without.

Good friends! Good Food! Good Laughs!

"WE'VE BEEN SAWYERED"

Smitty and Denise have two rental homes and one of them was between renters and was in the process of being rehabbed while I was there. Joe and Judy had been helping do the work before I arrived and I joined in the day after I got there. After we had worked for a while Smitty had to go to the hardware store for some more materials and Joe and I continued working. Joe was painting and I was was working on a new kitchen floor. After a while when Smitty had not returned I called Joe out with a question on the floor and after answering my question, he said, "I think we've been Sawyered". When Smitty returned I shared the story with him and it provided us with laughs every time we worked on the rental the rest of the week. It was fun sharing the experience with them.

By the way, "Sawyered", is in reference to the story where Tom Sawyer tricked his friends into whitewashing a fence for him by pretending that it was fun.