So by this time, we were having to fight the urge to just drive straight through and get home. It wasn't that we didn't want to see the heroes at the last stops, but all three of us were so homesick by this point. And tired, and it was just time to be home in our own beds and back with our loved ones.
It was good to be going in to Lodi though, because there would be a familiar face for all three of us waiting there. Our buddy, and hero, Bill Broderick. 
I met Bill at last year's IAFF Fallen Firefighter Memorial in Colorado Springs. We got to talking about the program and the then upcoming PackOut. Bill said he would love to come up and play with the pipes and drums at our event. Others told us similar things, but Bill actually drove up from Lodi.
He also told us we needed to visit their station, and we are all happy we did. These guys "got it".
They had been out on calls and more fun, and were pretty beat by the time we showed up at sunset. Maybe it was that they could relate to our exhaustion, or that we were all getting a tad slap happy by this point, or just that they really are great guys who kept us laughing.
This was one of those too short visits ... guess we'll have to take them up on the request for a future - longer - visit in the future! Oh dang. lol
Even better, you guys are all invited up for the next PackOut, March 8th. Bill can show you the way to get here! ( ;
Thanks for everything. Start collecting those shirts!
( ;
lj & the road crew
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