There's a lot to be said for planning an event well in advance. You have the chance to clear your calendar, and if it's a cruise or other trip that requires reaching deeper into your pockets, planning early might seem to be necessary.
But some of the best reunions come together quickly. Last week, my old (and as Ron pointed out, that word "old" is starting to have new meaning for us) friend Ron Sadler e-mailed me to say he was coming to our old home town of Westminster to attend a surprise party for Mike Chandler that Mike's wife Laura was planning. He said Laura asked him to round up some other old friends, which he interpreted to be Michael Dean Rood, Gary Masteller and me.
I started this article writing a whole lot of details of no relevance to anyone but my friends and I, basically recounting some of the stories we told when we got together, but I realized the Beach Boys really summed up how I remember high school quite succinctly, capturing the feel pretty well.
Gary, who I assume received a direct invitation from Laura, and Ron had been tightest with Chandler in high school, but suffice it to say that we all shared some memorable experiences in different combinations. Most of the time, it involved either girls, motorized vehicles or beaches, and pretty frequently all of the above, like when Ron and I encountered lots of girls while driving my chartreuse Fiat 850 Spyder convertible to the beach. Squirt guns were part of that story, and as improbable as it seems, for some reason the girls seemed to like it.
I look back at my time growing up very fondly, and many of us who shared that experience in Westminster believe it was the best of all possible environments, every bit as good as Mark Twain's or Richie Cunningham's.
Having a chance to relive those experiences with others who fully understand is priceless.
We had a great time, including some Bocce Ball, a game Rood and I had never tried previously and yet managed to snag the World Championship of Bocce for our beloved Boos Elementary School Boozers over our arch nemesis...what the hell was that other elementary school's name again?....Webber Woodpeckers.
Doing it at Mike's house meant a lot of preparation for the Chandlers, fixing a ton of food including delicious shredded roast beef with chilis from an old family recipe, assembling tables, going to Harbor Freight to get a tarp to hang for shade, almost losing a diving belt, and lots of clean-up afterwards and, I assume with two teen-agers in the house, before. I definitely appreciate the effort.
How does this relate to travel?
Hey, I'm getting there. It occurs to me that I always emphasize planning a group cruise several months ahead, but why not take a last minute cruise with your old friends? Take advantage of some last minute deals and nobody has to do any housework. They even have Bocce Ball on the lawn aboard Celebrity Solstice Class ships.
Whether you take a short cruise close to home or fly to the trip of a lifetime, you can enjoy a truly remarkable reunion while building lots of new memories. Rood and I have even managed to marry women who get on well with each other, which makes these kinds of trips even better, leading to a lot of fun adventures in far off places. There is something really cool about traveling with old friends.
Where do you want to go, and who would you like to share that experience with?
I'd be happy to help you get there!
