Has it been 37 Years?

A few weeks back I got a friend request from a person I had gone to school with in England. Our school has a Facebook page "Bradwell American School". I'm so glad Jazz created the page, it gives us a way to reconnect.  This was an American school on the coast of England; put in by oilfield companies, so their employees would not have to ship their children off to boarding school. They could get an education that would transfer when the students returned to the United States. There was also an American school in London, somewhere in Scotland and in Saudia. I'm sure there were other ones, I just know students that had attended these.  My graduating class,  the Class of 1979, was the last year the school was open. After that everyone went their own way. I had friends from Texas, Louisiana, and Canada. So when Facebook came into being, it was great.

Anyway, back to the ride. When I got a  friend request from Adrian Otwell, I immediately accepted it. It wasn't long before I got a message from him. It seems as if he and his sweetheart also ride bikes and are planning a trip to Brady, Texas to look at the bluebonnets, and then to Fort Sill. I told him I live 30 minutes from Fort Sill, so we can ride over and go to dinner.

We exchange phone numbers so we can make plans as the time gets closer.


I get this picture with the text "loaded up and ready to go"

On the Sunday before we are to meet them on Monday, it starts raining. We need the rain so badly, but I really feel bad that they are having to ride in the rain. His Sweetheart is a trooper. She told me they had rain gear, but it started raining so quickly they didn't have time to stop and put it on before they got soaked. So they got wet. We make plans to meet Monday evening for dinner. I am very excited, but a little nervous. We ride up to the hotel they are staying in. Adrian comes out of the room and walks up to our bike. He puts out his hand for a handshake and I just give him a big hug.Then I introduce myself and give Denise a hug as well. (I'm a hugger) I know they had been riding most of the day, but we decide to head up our mountain 'Mount Scott' and then eat dinner in Medicine Park.
I am a terrible blogger, I was so excited to see AD (Adrian), that I forgot to take pictures while we were on top of Mount Scott.  While we were up there Keith showed Adrian points of interest that you can see. AD and Denise make plans for riding to some of the places tomorrow.
We head to Medicine Park to eat at The Plantation. I think we could have visited all night. We talked about Great Yarmouth, Bradwell American School, what we had done with our lives in the past 37 years, and about motorcycling. It was a great time.


I found some pictures of us 37 years ago.

There is a typo in the year book. (I'm listed as Lunn Gowen)













That was then...
This is now!

We haven't changed much at all! 

All too soon it was time to call it a night. We lead the way back to their motel, and gave the motorcycle wave  goodbye. We are planning on going to Brady, Texas next spring for their annual Blue Bonnet Ride. It won't be 37 years until we see each other again. 

View from the Back