Yesterday I met up with Chili. But that isn’t the last reunion of this trip.
From November 1999 to February 2001, I was the Executive Officer in USS PRINCETON (CG 59). It was a great ship, and I had the honor of serving two of the best CO’s a guy could ever be XO for. All my tours before PRINCETON had been on the East Coast (Norfolk for sea duty, Washington for shore duty), but that tour was in San Diego. While driving cross country to start that tour, I had the misfortune of (over the telephone) having my heart torn from my body, grilled to a crisp, and then blown into the wind by a woman who would have fit in well as a character in Dante’s Inferno. But I digress. I joined the ship and found myself surrounded by a group of unbelievably strong officers, guys who liked to work hard, who took pride in being good at what we did, and who knew how to have fun. A group of men who I needed a lot more than they needed me. Over the next 15 months, they are what helped me get over whatshername.
It’s been twenty years since I left that ship, but I’m still in touch with probably twenty or thirty people I served with. One of them is Stefan—Stefan was the “Signals Warfare Officer” in PRINCETON, and he was a Chief Warrant Officer, sort of a cross between a Chief Petty Officer and a regular officer. He was in charge of the sophisticated electronic warfare and cryptologic capabilities we had onboard, and he was devastatingly good at what he did. The thing is though, he wasn’t only good at his job—he was also the funniest guy I ever served with.
Any time I am with a PRINCETON guy, some story about something Stefan did will come up. He was a practical joker without equal, and he was a master of getting hilarious conversations going at mealtimes. Here’s an example. During this time, the very first season of “Survivor” was a thing. One of our officers was sort of addicted to it (and was quite good at talking about it), so I tasked him with providing the wardroom with a summary of the previous night at lunch the day after each show would air (this guy is now a two-star admiral—the best of the best). After one of these summaries, Stefan piped up and asked the Captain a question. “Hey Captain—if the wardroom was shipwrecked and we had to turn to cannibalism, which one of us would you eat first?” I’m laughing as I type this, just thinking about it. Without missing a beat, the Captain said, “Ben. I’d eat Ben first.” Ben was an young, first tour ensign, very self-effacing and a great person to boot. Stefan pushed the Captain “Why Ben?” The Captain said, “Well, I think he’d taste like veal.” My sides hurt, I laughed so hard that day.
Well, Stefan read one of these posts and wrote me a note suggesting we get together. And so we did. He’s out of the Navy now, he’s got a great wife and two daughters he loves like air and ice cream, and he digs living in Colorado Springs. It was wonderful to see him.
The other day I got a text message from my nephew Kevin who lives in Denver. I think Kevin follows me on twitter, and since I tweet out links to these pieces, he was also aware of my trip. Not knowing what my route was going to be, he asked if I’d be heading near Denver and yes, yes I was (Colorado Springs to Rawlins, Wyoming being the drive for today). I suggested that we have lunch, so after leaving my coffee reunion with Stefan, I drove north to Denver to have lunch with Kevin.
Kevin’s a bright guy, very artistic and musically talented. He just got his Masters Degree in Audio Engineering (I believe) which I didn’t know until today. He started out on kind of a traditional 21st century go to college and see what they know track, but then called an audible of his own, set out for Colorado and worked his ass off going to school full time and working as one of the guys who sets up and tears down staging and the like for musical acts. Presumably this skill has a name, I simply don’t know it. But he did it, and now he’s got the credentials and skills he needs to make his own way in the music biz. If that’s what he decides to do.
You know the cliché, right? It’s the journey, not the destination? Yeah. Seems about right.
Speaking of destinations, dinner tonight was diner style at Peggy’s. French Dip and fries (I’m a creature of habit).
My Saturday drive is a short one, 290 miles from Rawlins to Salt Lake City. Dinner recommendations in Salt Lake would be much appreciated!
I woke this morning to a crisp 42 degrees here in Rawlins, and it seems a shower must have passed overhead during the night. I create each night a near perfect sensory deprivation environment with a sleep mask and the wonderful dark hotel shades shut. Last night I topped it off with ear plugs, not because there was any noise to block out, but because I was pretty tired and didn’t feel like fumbling with the tablet to bring up a wonderful Calm.Com sleep story. By the time I figured out it was time to wake up for good (shorter drive, no real reason to be on the road early) I felt like I was emerging from a tomb.
The rest of the trip goes like this: Rawlins WY to Salt Lake City UT today. Then a long (500+ miles) trip from Salt Lake to Lake Tahoe, where I’ll take a little “me” time and spend two nights. Then on the 25th, I’ll drive to Sacramento (2 hrs or so), check in and await the arrival of Kitten #1 whose vehicle it is I’m delivering. She’s flying in that day, we’ll meet up for dinner and transfer the car at our hotel. Next morning at the crack of early (0520 hrs) my flight east takes off and the Great Spring Drive will be over.