In June of 1979, nearly fifty randomly-grouped college students from across the USA (with a couple of additions from Canada and Argentina) left home and gathered in London, England, for a grand tour of Europe led by a company called the American European Student Union (AESU). My group was to begin its experience together on 16 June, and so the tour company tagged us as AESU 616.

We bonded during that magical summer, and over the years, a core group of AESU 616ers, en route through “17 countries in 53 days,” have remained close and in touch, meeting periodically—perhaps every four to seven years—to continue growing up together. Most people have at least one friend (family member or not) with whom time apart makes no difference. No matter the length of separation, they meet and pick up right where they were, as if no time intervened. That’s us.

So, thirty-eight years later, twelve or so of us—some with spouses who are now considered part of the group, as Leesa is—are gathering in San Diego, California, meeting for the first time since 2013, when we gathered in Nashville, Tennessee, on the occasion of another reunion—that of the band Cody.

Once upon a time . . .

30 June (Saturday): Day 14

Copenhagen, Denmark

JOURNAL: This morning brisk like an October day at home, very windy. Left hotel for city tour (guide Lona), Church of Our Savior, gardens of parliament Library, Churchill Court [?], the Little Mermaid in the Harbor, Grundtvigskirche (bought mermaid), found our Hotel is named for the founder of Køpenhaven. . . . Later on to Hamlet’s Castle in Helsingborg, got a nice look out over the “Eastern sea” to the coast of Sweden. Now to lunch. . . . had beef sandwich, ice cream, and some strawberry Danish . . . on to Fredricksborg Castle, which was great . . . wrote postcards home . . . beard coming along but I look kind of scraggly; no one here I have to impress . . . back in Copenhagen, I went to get some groceries for the trip to W. Berlin tomorrow; then back to the hotel to rest awhile before 9:00 “dinner”; afterwards to a porn shop to get cultured, then to a store for a real Danish Tuborg beer. Then to sleep. . . .

30 June (Friday): Day 1 of Reunion Celebration of 38th Year

Johnson City, Tennessee, to San Diego, California

BLOG: Leesa and I rolled out of bed at 5:45, but while serious about getting the first leg of our Summer 2017 travels underway, we didn’t hurry with focus as we should have. WAZE told me that we needed to leave by 8:18 AM to reach the Atlanta airport by 12:45, which seemed plenty of time to make our 2:30 domestic flight to San Diego. We left around 7:50, putting us ahead of schedule.

Or so we thought.

Here I cannot but pause for a word about the value of the human over the app. On Thursday evening, in preparation for the second leg of our travels, I dropped off my guitar with friend Sharon Barnett. She asked if we were packed; I said we weren’t but we were close. She asked what time we were leaving; I said around 7:30. She said we should leave earlier; I said we were leaving 7:30 at the latest but would try get out around 7:00. Then WAZE told me what it did, and I relaxed my 7:30 plan.

What Sharon was able to do—and WAZE wasn’t—was to consider the Atlanta factors of humanity . . . lots of humanity . . . in cars . . . lots of cars. . . and rain . . . lots of rain from Greeneville, South Carolina, to Atlanta, Georgia, . . . and lots of humanity in lots of cars, humanity who cannot drive their cars well in lots of rain.

Suffice to say, we confidently left at 7:50 and missed our flight in Atlanta.

After some rather aimless wandering around in the Atlanta airport, trying to figure what to do, we finally encountered the Delta Angel, whose name I wish I could remember and whom I wish every lost Delta customer in Atlanta could meet to set them on the correct path toward their destinations.

We had standby status for the 5:03 flight and got on it easily. All the tension of the five hours since noon was gone. Leesa even got Delta Preferred seating.

About forty-five minutes from San Diego, I saw Russell Welday come along the aisle, making his way to the restroom in the back of the plane. I looked a few rows up and there stood Vallory Welday, one of the AESU 616ers. We joined them when we got off the plane and mooched a ride in their rental car.

After checking in at the Hilton in San Diego’s Gaslamp District, we joined the earlier arrivals at a place called La Puerta for food and drinks, laughs and reminiscences. The La Puerta gathering: Vallory/Russell, Lynne, Judy, Steve/Scott, Valerie, Linda/Tino, and Moose/Leesa. (I am Moose.) After some great street tacos and a couple of Negra Modelas, we headed back to the Hilton, Russell and I talking science fiction along the way. Then to sleep. . . .