Tuesday was a really awesome day! I had planned to do a long run this morning, but an invitation to breakfast trumped that. We met Jennifer and Craig early for breakfast. We were planning to go to a new place called the Courtyard Cafe, but it wasn't going to open until 7:30. We ended up at Anecita's Good Food, which I think made Jennifer really happy. It is her favorite breakfast.
We chatted with them for a while, then made our way back to base to meet Darren at the coffee shop. He and Bill were together at VFA-2, and we enjoyed hanging out with him and his wife, Tricia, when we were in Lemoore. It was great to catch up with him. From there, Bill went back to the coach and I went to Public Works to see my co-workers. First stop was to see Truman. Unfortunately everyone was at a training program at the theater. I ran into Fred, and it was so awesome to talk to him. I also saw my old boss, John, and that was fun. People started filtering back in and Belinda and Martha were outside John's office. We went up to find Truman, but Mark told us that he went to the contractor meeting. Belinda thought it was in the conference room, but it was at the site. Mark offered to drive me over. Mark was a Seabee when I started at PW. He left two months later. Now he's back as a civilian. We got along really well. I think he was surprised that I had as much knowledge as I did and that I cared as much as I did. It was great to see him again.
He pulled Truman out of the meeting. I heard him come out saying, "What is so important?" Then he looked over and saw me and it took him a minute to process what he was seeing, but he came down the stairs and gave me a big hug. He said he and Fred were talking about me that morning (which Fred had mentioned too). Truman looks great! He's lost 70 pounds! Unfortunately he started smoking again, after being off the cigarettes for five and a half years.
He, Fred, and Mark all mentioned that they want me to come back, because there are no good engineers there. I'm truly flattered that they noticed the hard work I put in. I really cared about my job there and sometimes I felt stymied by the system. It feels good to be appreciated.
After that visit, I picked up Tawny and went to CAPS (the Churchill Animal Protection Society), where I volunteered for a few years. We adopted Tawny from there and I thought Teresa and Sharon would like to see her again. I asked for Teresa to come out and I said "I'm bringing this dog back ... for a visit!" She was speechless! Then she went in to get Sharon and tell her that she couldn't handle this return and Sharon had to do it. So I told her the same thing. She was only looking at the dog. Then she saw me and was stunned. It was fun to surprise them. I got a tour of the revamped facility and it looks really good. Tawny had a fun time there. She ran around the office and the office cat chased her. He reached for the leash, hooked it around his paw and got dragged around the office. He loved it! It was really sweet!
From there we went back to the coach, hooked up, and headed out. We dropped by Belinda's house and Dave showed us their new Montana fifth-wheel. Nice. Then we headed to Fernley and lunch with Darren's wife, Tricia. We really enjoyed that. We babysat their son while she went to pick up their daughter. I spent a bit of time with those two in Lemoore, but they were too young and didn't remember me. I was a little bummed at that, but such is life. We didn't realize we had spent so much time there. It was after five o'clock when we finally got on the road again!
We made it into Reno, but the office at the RV park had already closed. It took us a while to figure out what to do, but we finally got our site. It was a tight fit and it took us a while to get situated. Then we sat back in our chairs and enjoyed a fine bottle of wine. We made dinner and relaxed. We'll be here tomorrow too, and we're going to have dinner with two of my classmates from my Masters program tomorrow night. I am really looking forward to seeing them again.
I really enjoyed my day in Fallon. I don't know that I would want to move back here, but it was so nice to see people again. What a fantastic, nostalgic, day!
Mileage for the day = 73
Total mileage = 3960
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