Last month Rich and I drove to San Antonio for an overnighter.  We met our friends Tammy and Dan, from Illinois, now Kentucky at the KOA.  Their son Travis, graduated from High School and entered the Air Force.  He was graduating from Lackland Airforce Basic Training.  Tammy messaged me about a month before asking if I would come up.  She thought that we wouldn’t want to drive the 4 hours to see them.  Now I said “Tammy, 4 hours in Texas is nothing.  Of course well come up.”  So plans were made.
Tammy and I met when I worked at Plano Molding in Mendota Illinois.  I started in Feb 1991.  It was a newly built plastic injection molding plant that made Caboodles and Tackle Boxes.  I’m sure most fishermen know the name and have certainly owned a Plano Molding tackle box.  When school graduated, in June Tammy got a job at Plano.  She was fresh out of High School.  We worked on what they called a Pod.  Their was 3 different injection press’s shooting out parts placed in a U shape.  The tables were arranged so that 5-8 workers had work stations to assemble the pieces and a finished product was made in minutes, if not faster.  We had 4 different pods.  We were all teams that worked together all the time.  We would rotate the different pods, but our teams would stay together.  So we all worked 12 hour shifts and became friends.  We often said we were more like family, cause we seen each other more that our kids.  We worked 12 hour nites.   We had so much fun during those years.  It was very long nites assembling all those tackleboxes and caboodles.  So it wasn’t long before we made our own fun.  We did a lot of really not so nice things…..lol….We should have been fired so many times, but our supervisor didn’t really care as long as we got the job done.  We even brought in Super Shooter squirt guns and would shoot each other as well as shooting the stream of water up and over into the next pod.  That was dangerous, but we didn’t care.  …….We  were “”BAD””…….During that time Tammy became engaged to her boyfriend Dan, that she had dated in High School.  Finally they married. 

She said she would never have kids….lol….  Now many of us say that don’t we.  But of course once pregnancy occurs, their only 1 way out.  You have 9 months to think about it and then you can’t wait.  You just want it over.  Before you know it you have a little bundle of joy.  Tammy and Dan had Travis and then about 6 years later, they had Racheal.

About 10 years ago Dan’s job caused them to move to Kentucky.  I had already left Plano and moved on.  We still kept in contact.  It seems that no matter where you work, you usually have a coworker that will be a special friend for life.  You share a bond that is hard to explain.  Well that was Tammy.  Even after she moved to Kentucky, we visited her several times.  When we first got our Beaver motorhome, that was the first trip we took.  To Kentucky for the weekend.

She just loves when friends from home come and visit.  Our first year out in the MH we stopped again on the way back to Illinois from Texas.  Again she was so excited.   She is the kind of friend that you know your always welcome.  Even if you haven’t talked for a long time, you just pick up where you left off.

So now its so hard to believe that Travis graduated High School in May, joined the Air Force and now graduated Basic Training.  This has been very hard on Tammy.  Dan also.  They have been such great parents.  It is now time to let go of that first born, and it has been very hard.  Especially since he couldn’t even contact them for weeks.  

So that morning we drove up to San Antonio to meet them.  They had already been at KOA for a week.  Many family members came.  The was able to see Travis Graduate, and spend time with him.  Every nite he had to be back early to the base.  He was still under strict orders.  

They had such a great time visiting with him.  They are all so Proud, even Racheal.  Finally the day came he was back at base under orders again.  He would be leaving for Tech School soon.

So that was when we came.  They had several days to wind down before heading home.  We rented a cabin at KOA.  They said it was a rustic cabin.  Yes it was.  We brought our bedding, and pillows.  We had A/C thank goodness, but no sink, or bathroom…..grrrrrrr…..for over $70.  Nice profit…..but we had a great time.  We stayed up that night to almost 1am.   We talked about old times.  All the kids, her friends and just everything under the sun.  We always talk about our years at Plano.  We recite all the story’s about our……. BAD DEEDS…..lol…..Dan and Rich always laugh !!!!  Gees I wonder if they get sick of hearing them all the time.   lol.   This is our attempt at a selfie….Not Good….

This was our selfie about 4 years ago…..

The next afternoon we took off and headed back south.  I was a wonderful visit with a Special Friend.  Friends who are Awesome parents, and are so so Proud of their son.

…….Thank You Travis For Your Service…..

You may be young, but your growing into a

FINE YOUNG MAN