A "Happy Birthday Surprise" For Tosha

I started off June 30th in my usual way--sending Tosha a happy birthday greeting through text---at the very same time I was getting the final things ready to head down to the airport.  It was fun to exchange texts with her even as I was traveling to her.

Traveling by airplane felt fairly safe for me.  Everyone was wearing masks and tried hard to maintain the suggested 6' social distancing.  There was hand sanitizer around everywhere including when you boarded the plane.  And seriously, what is not to like about flying on a plane with less than 60% capacity--if you are traveling by yourself that means a row to yourself and plenty of room to store your carry-on luggage.

My carry-on got flagged going through security.  It turns out that the x-ray machine did not like my can of nuts that I had packed for game nights in Tacoma.  The screener actually required me to show that it was still sealed and then she did a wipe of the can to make sure there was no evidence of explosives or drugs.  Fun times!

My ticket required a layover in Redmond, OR.  I had to look it up on the map to see where it was--actually somewhat in the middle of Oregon near Bend.  It was a small airport and required us to disembark on the runway and walk into the airport terminal.  The pleasant surprise was that from the runway I could see two of the peaks referred to as the Sisters-- three mountain peaks in a row which are the 3rd, 4th, and 5th highest peaks in Oregon.

Photo from the internet

That made me excited, because it was a place that I had visited with my family when I was younger--not that I have a specific memory of but my mother talked about it in our family history and I have vague memories of cousins and playing in the forest nearby that I associate with that trip.

For future reference, Redmond has an odd feature in that you have to complete exit the secure area of the building and go back through security to board your next flight.  I did not have a long layover, so I quickly ran to a nearby window to see if I could get a photo of the mountains but from this angle they were mostly covered by clouds--and I could still only see two peaks.

Here is a shot of one of the peaks--

Now one of the unexpected things about having to reenter security is that it is easy to forget that you filled up your water bottle inside security at the Salt Lake Airport and didn't drink it all before re-entering security in Redmond (or is that just me that had that problem?) So I was informed that my purple metal water bottle still contained a "liquid" that needed to be checked and off he went with my water bottle.  I gathered my stuff and waited.  Finally I could see the TSA person returning to his post, but I didn't see my water bottle.  I waited until I made eye contact but he didn't acknowledge me so I decided that my water bottle had been tossed.  Oh, well.  So I headed off to my gate (there were only four gates in the whole airport.  I ate my lunch I had brought and read a book---so time had passed--and they started boarding the plane.  Then overhead, I heard, "Will the owner of a purple water bottle left at security come and get it?"  So that had to be mine, but we were boarding so I decided I couldn't leave to run and get it.  Then a moment later, I saw the TSA worker walking through the gates with the water bottle looking for me.  So I got it after all.  I am not sure what they were doing with it for 25 minutes or so....I guess waiting for test results from my "liquid."

Moving on from my adventures with security this trip---

This was the book I got from the Little Library which I took on the trip----

...I would not recommend that you read a fiction mystery book that is all about plane crashes WHEN you are actually flying in a plane.  I am not nervous about flying, but learning about how all the things that can go wrong does not enhance the flying experience.

Flying into Seattle was beautiful.  The sky was clear and I could see the Puget Sound as well as the city all the way in.  This was a smaller plane and the landing gear popped down right outside my window.  Our flight into the airport took us right over the Sea-hawks Stadium and the Mariners ball field which was impressive.  (That is when I pulled out my camera, but too late for that photo.)

And I flew in this plane with the "Go Cougs!"  (Disregard the colors--- :( )

Austen with all three kids picked me up at the airport.  Austen reported that Tosha was home taking a "birthday nap," somewhat ticked at him for being the person that "had to go to the airport to pick up an Airman."  The only one available even though it was his (Austen's) day off.  Niki was excited to see me, Cooper was asleep, and Ava had no idea why Niki was so excited.  About half way home, Cooper woke up and when I turned around and said hi, he said hi back like it was not that unusual for Grandma Hall to be sitting in his car--a bit anticlimactic--but that was okay, because the big surprise was still ahead.

Austen wanted me to go in because he said the kids would "spill the beans," so I headed into their quiet house and headed upstairs.  Tosha was taking a nap, so I knocked on her door lightly and called her name a couple of times--when her eyes opened, she screamed and gave me a huge hug--no point of social distancing when you are staying in the same house for five days.  She kept saying, "Am I awake or am I dreaming?"  It was perfect.

And the birthday celebrating and the grandmother time could begin in earnest---

We first spent time on their new trampoline.  Niki and Cooper are learning lots of new tricks which Ava tries to copy without quite as much success.

Then it was time to watch some Micky Mouse Roadsters while Tosha and Austen headed out for a minute alone time and to pick up some Panda Express for Tosha's birthday dinner.

Austen had decorated their living room with "30" signs and banners including this one along the bottom of the TV.

And a great birthday balloon............which was big!

Austen is about 5 weeks younger than Tosha, so he loved pointing out that he was still 29 years old and she was in her thirties (you think Tosha would have avoid that after watching Gary tease me 2 1/2 months out of every year for her entire life!).

Panda Express, reading books with the kids, and then watching a video of pictures that Austen had put together (with my help) of Tosha as she grew up set to music.

Happy Birthday, Tosha---so glad I could help you celebrate the BIG 3-0!

Right as we were heading to bed around 10:58 pm Tacoma time, I got a text from Gary wishing me happy birthday.  In talking about our birthdays, I had reminded Gary about how Tosha prides herself in being the first one to wish me happy birthday each year and I tried to do the same for her.  So he stayed up until almost mid-night in Utah to send me this text.  "Happy #65! birthday emojis kissy face, U R GR8!!!  ZZZ" 

Tosha immediately said that it didn't count because it was too early.

Then another text  "Arrgh!  Sent it two minutes early."

At 12:00, July 1, he resent the same text and adds another emoji of a smiley face.

I responded that he had beat Tosha and then he sent another text with lots of sleeping emojis.  Gary is not much of a late night owl, but he can be competitive and he intended to be the first to wish me happy 65th birthday.

A great way to start off my 65th birthday, although I headed to bed myself.