My current trip has taken me to the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul in Minnesota. At the start of the trip I realized that I might be close to one of my Navy buddies that lives just across the river in Wisconsin.

Jake and I were really good friends during our time in VFA-94. We pretty much spent the entire 4 years together, got our Plane Captain Quals together and left the Navy pretty much at the same time. He and I both came in the Navy under the apprenticeship program that had us active duty without an MOS (job). While I went to the Corrosion shop, Jake moved to the Maintenance office. We spent a couple long cruises together and have lots of memories.

So I emailed Jake from the Salt Lake airport and told him where I would be and asked if he was close. He called right back and and said he was only 20 minuets away. We arranged to meet up. After a hug and lumps in the throat....it was as if the 11 years since we had seen each other never existed. I me his wife, his 6 year old daughter and his entire family actually. I will take some pictures and post them here in a couple of days.