We had such a fun day today. Our wonderful friend Kate, had her 45th birthday today (now Brian is the only one left under 45 - a quick side note, Ben and Brian were college roommates and Ben and Kate have been together since college, so we've known them forever and love them ever so much!) and we went up to Issaquah, WA to help her celebrate with lunch at the Issaquah Brew Pub. We left our house at 8:00 this morning and arrived at their house at 11:15. All of us were starving, so we left immediately for Rogue and lunch. Rogue breweries are great at birthday celebrations. They give birthday folks (who are part of their RogueNation.com program) a free double tankard of beer and a free piece of swag (t-shirt or cap). On top of that, the food is really tasty, so it is a great place to celebrate a birthday with friends.
We started with some tater tots and Irish nachos. The nachos were fried spiced potato slices, topped with chopped corned beef, cheese and a horseradish sour cream. As you can imagine, I stuck with the tots and skipped the nachos, although I did have a couple of the potato slices without any of the topping. I had halibut and onion rings as my main dish. The halibut was dipped in a dill-beer batter and had a terrific flavor. The onion rings were crisp and completely not greasy. And, of course, we had to have some beer-cheese soup. Brian and I split a cup, so there was some cheese consumed (very little), but man, it was delicious!
After lunch, we popped across the street to the library where a huge book sale was in progress. We browsed through the books for awhile and each of us bought a few. At a dollar or less per book, it was a great deal. We even bought a bag to carry everything in. All proceeds went to the Issaquah library, which is an excellent cause.
We went back up to Ben, Kate and Lauren's house after the book sale to hang out for a little longer before letting them get on with their day. We got to see their 14 year old German Short-haired Pointer, Scooby, who we've known since the day they got him. He is so old and frail now, it was hard to see, but he seemed to remember us and we were so happy to see him again. We played with their two other dogs as well: Walker, a Treeing Walker Coon Hound, and Viktor, a little hound of a type unknown to me, other than being some kind of a dachshund mix. Walker had been abused before our friends adopted him, and it was wonderful to see how comfortable he is around people now. I think we left the area about a year after Ben, Kate and Lauren adopted him. Viktor was even newer. I had only met him a couple of times before we moved to Columbus. After so many years away, it is so nice to be able to share celebrations again, even if we have to drive 3+ hours each way to do so. Happy Birthday, Kate!
When we left their house, we went over to the other side of Issaquah for a lovely visit with Lovely Margaret and her family. We finally got a chance to see her husband, the Wonderful Glen and their daughter, the Lovely Shannis (along with her two adorable kids), as well as Glen's sister and Margaret's mom. Their family is so loving and warm, it is great to be a part of it once again! Their new place is spectacular and fits them to a T. We only stayed for about an hour or so, but since we thought they were going to be in Portland while we were in Issaquah, it was a very pleasant surprise.
Finally, we spent the rest of the afternoon with my wireless buddy, Toby. She and I both worked for Verizon Wireless for many years together and we've been Facebook buddies since then. Toby, aside from being quite lovely, has a great sense of humor and is extraordinarily kind. I haven't seen her since 2006. We used to cross each others' path at Robinswood park, not far from my house and work in Bellevue. Since I met Toby, I always thought that she lived between my house and work (only 1 and 1/2 miles from each other) because we saw her at that park so frequently. It turns out that she lives, and has lived for lots of years, about 10 miles from there in the next town over. Who knew?? Well, Toby and her husband of 55 years, Ron, did.
Toby greeted us at the door and ushered us in for some much needed tea, coffee and pastries. I had peppermint tea (mmmm) and Brian had coffee. The pastries were from Whole Foods and were kind of like English muffins, only shaped more like pancakes. They were made with wheat flour and had either orange cranberry or cinnamon raison flavors. Toby labored over the ingredient lists in the grocery store until she found something that fit within my challenge requirements. What a sweetheart! All I can say is that 5:30 came much too early and we needed to leave.
We were so rich in friends today. One of the great benefits of getting older is having long term friendships with great memories and great futures. Today was filled with both. Oh, how lucky we are!
Our drive home was pretty easy, with a quick pit stop at Panera Bread for dinner. I had tomato soup and a baguette, while Brian had a bagel. We shared a chocolate chip cookie. The gal who took our order made an error and had to start over, but it caused us no inconvenience. It didn't matter to her - she still gave us our drinks for free. It was completely unnecessary and oh so nice. That kind of service (and the tomato soup) is why I keep going back. That, and because it is fast food that is much healthier than most of the other fast food choices on the road out there.
We got home about 9:30 (past my bedtime, especially since I woke up at 3 am today) and now it is 10:30. I've got to get some sleep.
Be happy and healthy!
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