[DustyMoment]

Not in those days. Homeport was Whidbey Island and the squadron deployed with their FAW aboard whichever carrier was going out. I guess things changed.

[ContraryMary]

We were at Whidbey, too. We figured that after he rotated out of the squadron he'd be assigned to AIMD at Whidbey. Then when his enlistment was up we'd move into Seattle because we love the Northwest. His parents were a day's drive away in Kalispell, MT.

But the Navy had different ideas and sent him to New Jersey to do recruiting duty. That was in 1986. And here we still are in NJ. Go figure.

I still remember Whidbey fondly. We rented a small two-bedroom A-frame in Clinton(?) at the southern end of the island. We used to throw great theme parties for the guys he worked with. Deception Pass was breathtakingly beautiful. And there was this restaurant in Coupeville, Michael's, that I would match against any four-star restaurant in Manhattan.