Up very early, I caught an early morning flight from Sacramento to Seattle. Picking up a rental car, I drove around and up to the Wallen's house in Bremerton. Including a quick stop for lunch, I was there about 12:15 p.m.
As we often do, Wallen and I went out for a run. We covered about 6.25 miles on a very hilly course through Bremerton.
John had planned a surprise birthday party for Jill for her 50th birthday. Jill knew that I was coming. The plan called for Becky, John, Jill and I to meet another couple for dinner. The couple called and suggested that we meet before dinner at The Side Bar just down the street from the restaurant for martini. After we got to the bar, got our drinks and settled down, 40 plus people literally burst out of the backroom shouting happy birthday.
Jill was very surprised. She remarked later that she was particularly throw off because two of the couples at the front of the group were ones that she has not seen in a couple of years.
It was a great evening. Eventually, we had a catered buffet dinner. We never made it to the restaurant where Jill thought that we were having dinner. We finished the evening there with cake and lots of gag over the hill gifts.
When the party finished, Jill, John, Becky and I made another stop for a bar where some of Becky's friends were. By the time we got home, it was after 1:30 a.m. It ended up being almost a 21 hour day for me.
John mentioned at Almanor that he was not sure what he was going to do for Jill's birthday; she had been insisting that she did not want a party. At some point, he committed to the idea of throwing her a surprise party. I thought that it was interesting that not once in the course of the evening did Jill say to John that he should not have done it. She genuinely enjoyed the evening.
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