Surprise?!?!

Given that this blog was on hiatus for nearly a year, there are tons of things we have waiting in the wings to bring loyal readers up to date and more fun stories to share regarding our little corner of the Northwest. But excuse me for this post as its setting brings us back to the NJ home of our hero. Lisa and I spent Thanksgiving 2008 there and while it's always great seeing the family and catching up with friends in the area, this weekend had a highlight.

Now Thanksgiving fell just close enough to the date that marked two score years since my birth to tempt my wife and my mother to plan a surprise party, but would they go through the effort? I first had an inkling when my mother, far in advance of the Thanksgiving weekend, said that we would be going out to a family dinner the day after Thanksgiving to celebrate my birthday. Silly girls. Did they really think they could pull one over on me. But I needed to be sure, so put my evil plan into action. Now going through the effort of planning a party for someone is a great gesture, but if they were planning something, I would have no choice but to repay this effort on my mom's part by being as difficult as possible.

I started about a week before Thanksgiving, asking my mom if we could move the dinner to Saturday since I wanted to meet up with some friends on Friday. Mom may have gotten a bit flustered, but she was up to the task. "Uh, I don't think that's going to work, your brother has to drive back to Virginia on Saturday." Well played, Mom. Now at this point, I still wasn't positive that they were planning a party, so I also started quizzing my friends as to what they were doing over the weekend. Strangely enough all had plans on Friday night, some better constructed than others. I was growing more certain. So it was time to push Mom some more. Dinner was scheduled for 7PM. Could we push it up to six or even five-thirty so I could meet some friends for drinks afterwards? But this was just another speed bump for Mom who deftly and flawlessly delivered some excuse about my aunt being unable to make it up before seven or something like that. Kudos. I'd have to kick it up a notch.

Time to push another button, so I started to work on Lisa. A few days before we left Seattle, I started griping about being unable to plan dinner with friends due to the family dinner, however, I referred to the dinner as a "party". Lisa's poker face was solid, but not flawless. Was this the tell I was seeking? I was growing more certain.

The day after Thanksgiving arrives and we're getting ready. But something strange is occurring. It's almost seven, we're now running late for our reservation, but Mom is not pushing everyone to finish getting ready and head out the door. Critical break from character, Mom. Now I'm positive that this is a surprise party, so I have the car trip from their house to the restaurant, about 10 minutes to be as big a pain in the ass as I can.

Me: "Where are Kathleen and Lou?"
Mom: "They're meeting us at the restaurant."
Me: "I had kind of a late lunch, can we just stop at McDonald's for a snack instead of dinner?"
Me: "How long do you think this dinner will take, I still want to try to meet up with some friends?"

And so on...

We arrive at the restaurant and I see my friends' cars scattered throughout the parking lot. So now it is the moment of truth. Do I act surprised? No, that would be disingenuous, plus I'm not that good of an actor. I had thought about so many entrances, including going the route of RT's dad, Buz, who actually had a shirt made up that said "Surprise!!", which he wore under a sweater and unveiled upon entering his surprise 60th birthday party just as everyone was screaming same. I instead walked into the room with my phone held up and snapped a picture of the crowd as they cheered and snapped their own photos. I wish I had a better shot of this, but my photography skills were sorely lacking at the moment so I didn't capture the surprised looks on their faces.

A great time was had by all, and I feel bad for testing my mom and not being surprised. I really did appreciate that she and Lisa went through the effort to put together a great evening. And I can't wrap this up without a shout to Battle-sis, who actually fought for hours with fondant to make a great cake. I'm really hoping in ten years, we can just plan it together. It was really too much work on my end.

"Wait...did you say WEST of Seattle?"

Sometimes when telling someone from the other coast about the area here, I'll start with the phrase, "Well, to the west of Seattle is..." At this point I almost always get a strange look and I know exactly what's going through the listener's head:

"Hmmm, he must have misspoken. Seattle is a Pacific port city so it must be as far west as you can go without being waist deep in Pacific Ocean. Yes, he must have misspoken. I'll correct him."

"Are you sure you meant 'west' of Seattle?"

Well, for those of you that know the area or have already looked at a map, you can ignore the next paragraph. Now everyone has seen the waterfront skyline of Seattle on Grey's Anatomy, but this is actually the Puget Sound, more specifically Elliot Bay, that fronts the city. In reality, to the west of Seattle, prior to hitting the Pacific Ocean, there exists, in no particular order: a bay, a sound, a mountain range, a national park, an 8,000-foot peak, an Indian reservation, a rainforest, and the setting for the Twilight movies. What's most amazing to me is that all of this sits within an area of only about 3,000 square miles, roughly the combined size of Rhode Island and Delaware. It's the Olympic Peninsula.

The reason I write about this is because we've been out there, but have so much more to explore that we figured an introduction was necessary for those that are uninitiated. I recently read an article about how two buddies crossed the Olympic Peninsula, 110 miles east to west, on foot and inflatable raft in five days, through Hayden Pass, which is about 5,400 feet. Kudos. We have no inclination to do this. However, between all of the aforementioned things the area has to offer, plus over 100 hikes, we can keep ourselves busy there for a while.

Our first jaunt to the peninsula was last September for a relatively short hike to the top of Mt. Zion. We had to find a hike that was somewhat close, relatively low impact per Lisa's request, and allows dogs. We packed a lunch and headed out. Although the day was sunny when we left Seattle, there was intermittent cloud cover in the mountains, but we forged ahead. The clouds hung around, so the payoff at the top was not what we had hoped, but Fozzie had a blast. He would sprint ahead a hundred yards or so up the trail and then back to us, repeating this all the way to the summit. His payoff at the summit came in the payoff two other dogs that came with the three hikers we met at the top. The dogs spent their time chasing each other around the clearing and into and out of the surrounding trees. After lunch, we made our way back down and headed home. All told, we drove for about three hours and hiked for about three hours.

So now we have a great list of things to do on the peninsula, from hiking, to visiting the rainforest, and even visiting the Pacific Ocean, which amazingly enough, we've not done yet. More on the Olympic Peninsula to come.

The Yearlong Sabbatical Has Done Us Good?

Hi loyal blog viewers. And I know that there are several of you out there that have not given up on "Emerald City Styling" and still check every couple of weeks, clinging to the fleeting hope that this blog had not become extinct. It is you loyal few that will get the greatest charge now that you're here and no longer have to see that photo of the Canada/US international boundary marker at the top of the blog. This is our gift to you since after a year long hibernation, we're back, baby!!

I really have no idea how long I'll keep it up, and as loyal readers know, Lisa is not to be counted on for more than a post per decade. I make no promises, but frankly, we keep this blog more for ourselves than for the masses, so please enjoy while it lasts. On the bright side, we do have a lot to write about since this blog dropped off the face of the earth, so watch this space.