Today was a fun day. Because I got to see my old friend Chris!!

A few years ago, I was in a program called the US Naval Sea Cadet Corps, which is where I met him. It actually took me a while to get used to calling him “Chris” since we would always go by last names.

To this day, if someone yells “Koontz,” I will turn around even faster than if they called me by my first name. One of the many after-effects of Sea Cadets, including my eye twitch. .

Just kidding. It was a lot of fun. And I got to boss Chris around because I was higher rank. (Teehee.)

It was an adventure driving to his house.

There were turtles! Walking along the roads! Happily! The possums, dogs, cat, and foxes not walking, however. . were not so happy. Never seen so many road kills than in Arkansas.

And he lived far. After every forest/farmland turn, we would go “is this it?” And the GPS would read our mind and tell us to “drive one mile,” “drive three miles and turn left,” “no you’re not there yet, stop asking and keep driving.”

I teased Chris afterwards and said he could’ve helped us out a little by telling us to look for the unmistakably GREEN house.

After the initial hugs, Chris gave me a yard tour and introduced us to his thirteen “yappy little dogs,” as he calls them.

It’s like a sea of barking fluff. So cute. Only I couldn’t get them to stay still long enough to get more than two in the picture.

Along with our taste in footwear, Chris and I get along right off the bat. We may have not seen each other for a few years, but it’s like nothing’s changed.

In fact, we started talking more about “nothing” as opposed to “catching up” like we were supposed to.

But who says these things have to have rules?

Our conversations went from music to Beowulf to movies to the weather.

We even worked on our gang signs.

I argue that my happy face is super thug.

The yard was wet and spongy from a recent rain, but the weather was terrific. He showed me a few different places of how they get rid of or burn trash in their back yard. And with nothing around, Californians, lighting a pile of trash in your back yard is possible. And legal.

Like fireworks. Fireworks are also legal in different states.

Oh the things you learn while traveling.

Chris wants to go to school for Kinesiology, the study of body movement in short, like a personal trainer. So I had to take a picture of him with his mini gym set up.

I was a brat and had him pose, holding his weights high in the air for way longer than he needed to, and now that I look at the pictures, they came out dark. Haha. So he’s not going to appreciate that.

He and my little brother also had a very long talk about video games and YouTube. And I’m still laughing over when my mom called my brother away and Chris turned to me with his easy smile and said, “excited little dude.”

Soon enough, it was time to leave though. And everything got sad again. He’ll be missed with his subtle drawl and ability to talk about music for HOURS, and I mean HOURS. He’s really musically talented.

It’ll be back to texting again. But it’s always nice to see old friends, even for a little while.

I was about to get in the car after taking his picture when he whipped out his cell and told me to stand still.

We drove on to Oklahoma, where we are now, and where I had my first McDonald’s Iced Coffee. It tasted like someone poured five splendas in it and I went through a very fun giggly period, and I feel like I’m finishing this post with a new record.

Travel wise, we were going to go more south on our return trip, seeing what there was to see that way, but things have been changed a little and instead we are backtracking the same way. Who knows what we missed the first time?

And for those of you wondering, the hotel we stayed at last night was the Best Western of West Memphis, Arkansas. It was very bad, and that’s saying something. All night there was thudding and at one point, people yelling/talking very loudly around one in the morning. We came to breakfast and it was utterly bare. As in, five slices of bread left and a few packages of cinnamon rolls, bare. My mom attempted to have cereal and threw it away immediately. The milk was warm, so were the orange and apple juice that had been left out. Just don’t go.

I like the hotel we’re in tonight much better.