We Are Family
There are plenty of places we vacation and it’s one-and-done. More and more, though, our travels have not just become about the places we go but the relationships we make. We’ve built a family around the globe.
In recent years we have taken several trips with Uncle Steve Yatomi who runs Adventure Travel Alliance. The extra places and people we meet on his tours create an above and beyond spectacular experience. We learn a lot about each other as the trips we take are small and intimate. If you ever have Steve over for a meal he’ll eat anything…well, almost anything. Just don’t serve monkey brains (too close to home). Uncle Steve has expanded our tastes for things we probably wouldn’t have tried without him.
Even though I’d never heard of it, Pete couldn’t wait to visit Grosse Savanne Lodge in Lake Charles, Louisiana. We were lucky enough to be buddied up with Greg Dawsey as our guide. Greg and Pete have the same sense of “humor” and he picked on me just like my lil’ brother. He’s also low to the water just like me, too. Greg loves his job, is a great guide and treats you like family. Grosse Savanne is a must visit and be sure to request Greg.
My African brother Clement Zomba is a great nature guide and fisherman at the Chiawa Camp on the Lower Zambezi River in Zambia. The hours spent together in the bush made us realize that we had a lot in common. We spoke about family, fishing and music, and Pete and I are still looking for the CD of “Original Family” Zambian music that he recommended. With social media it is easy to stay in touch and he comments on all my catches.
Six degrees of separation plays a role, too. About seven years ago Pete was invited over for dinner at the home of Paul Pagnato by professional angler Kurt Dove. Even though we lived in the same town as the Pagnatos and had many mutual acquaintances, we’d never met. Paul and Kurt’s wives were going to be there so I was invited as well. Angie Pagnato, Rhonda Dove and I hit it off and not too long after that dinner I was asked to join the ladies with another fishing wife, Debbie Morgenthaler, for a meet-up in Savanah, Georgia.
We all hit it off and it just so happens Debbie’s husband, Elite Series pro Chad Morgenthaler, already worked together with Pete a lot. Us girls had a terrific time, it was instant chemistry, like true sisters, and in the years to come the husbands and wives have traveled many places together. Our time together is mostly spent with Chad picking on me to no end. If he isn’t tipping me over while I’m riding my bike then he is “making” me fish with a right handed spinning reel or not letting me fish at all. Brother Chad and I even look like we could be family. We are both red heads…well, he was when he had hair.
And then there was Pete’s 40th birthday, a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Anglers Inn International. Twenty times later we have truly come to consider everyone at the Mexican lodges close family.
Back in 2011 we were lucky enough to meet owner Billy Chapman. From the beginning, he made us feel comfortable and like we were long-time friends. Billy introduced us to his wife Gail, who is not just beautiful but also nice and very smart and keeps Billy in line. Dylan, their son, is Pete’s best buddy, Pete’s been killing him for a thousand years.
The guides at the lodge have turned into brothers and again, thank goodness for social media. We keep up on a weekly basis, not just to find out how the fishing is but to see how things are going in their personal lives as well.
Others we have met, vacationed with on several occasions and email or text on a daily basis that can’t go unmentioned are:
Amber Phillips and Duncan Maccubbin
Mike (Dad) and Sandy Phillips
Chad, Amy and Fisher (our pseudo son) Hallett
Aaron and Kristine Rygas
Bill and Rose Roberts
Dale Steele and Danny Mack
Ray Kawabata
Sisters Michelle and Lisa Skelley
Kevin and Kerry Short
Steve and Barb Bowman
And last but not least one of Pete’s best friends and our little brother Clark Reehm.
Fishing is just the entrée to meeting the people we care about deeply.
