Nomad Life - Day 115

My alarm woke me this morning at 0430 and I started another telework day.  During a short break, I ate snacks for breakfast.  Meanwhile, the weather outside was cold (low 40s) and dreary (cloudy with mist).  At 1130, I took the elevator from the 9th floor of the Navy Inn on Naval Base Kitsap - Bremerton and walked across the parking lot to the All American Cafe.  For lunch (they called it "brunch"), I was offered eggs, sausage, biscuits & gravy and chicken fried steak.  Even better, I got to load up on fruit (strawberries, blueberries, cantaloupe) from the salad bar.  The food was quite satisfying!  After finishing my meal, I returned to my room and continued teleworking until 1400.  After that, I caught up on blogs (finally have all preceding days of my Nomad Life recorded!) and reading.  The weather outside improved tremendously (reached high 40s and the sun appeared).  Since I'd made plans to meet up with my old Navy friend, Lee, his wife (Kristie) and their daughter (Lilly), I departed the Base and drove through town towards the Silver City Taproom (1530), where we'd coordinated to meet at 1600.  On the way, Lee called to tell me we needed to go to a completely different location (also called Silver City) because the taproom didn't have any food.  As I struggled to avoid red light and speed cameras (seemingly everywhere nearby), he directed me to the town of Silverdale and the area near the Kitsap Mall.  Fortunately, my Google Maps cooperated and helped me to reach WA-3.  From there, I made my way north, passing a horrendous traffic jam (related to the Shipyard) on the way.  Fortunately, I didn't have a lot of traffic of my side of the highway...  When I arrived at the Kitsap Mall, I found the Silver City Restaurant (1600) and went inside.  Lee, Kristie and Lilly were a bit behind schedule so I had time to order a flight of four beers (all house brews).  The server was very and gave me some additional tasters before friends arrived (1620).  It was fun to catch up (we'd last seen each other when I was in Tacoma, with Mollie, in 2018) and I enjoyed meeting Lilly (two years old and in the prime of Pre-Schooler life).  For dinner I ordered another Tillamook concoction, this time with rigatoni with andouille sausage) - it was rich and delicious!  Lee gave me a card from Erin (she'd sent it to his house at my suggestion) and we talked a lot about my plans for visiting the Pacific Northwest during the coming month.  With Lilly needing to get home for some (much needed) sleep, we wrapped up our dinner and said goodbye (1800).  After that, I walked from the restaurant, across the huge parking lot, and entered the Kitsap Mall, where I spent the next 90 minutes walking around (to get my 10K steps).  Along the way, I bought a travel book (for my Scandinavia trip) at Barnes & Noble (1845).  By1930, with my step goal completed, I returned to my car and started my drive back to Naval Base Kitsap - Bremerton.  As usual, Google Maps tried to send me to a place I knew would not work (the many gates close in the evenings).  Fortunately, I recalled enough from my earlier explorations that I was able to locate the Farragut Gate.  Just as I made it inside successfully, it started raining.  It was also colder by then (low 40s).  Needless to say, I was very happy to be back in my room at the Navy Inn again (2000).  I spent the rest of the evening resting, reading, doing puzzles and completing Duolingo exercises.  Feeling tired from the week of driving and early telework start, I struggled to stay awake.  As a result, I turned the lights out at 2130.  I'm very glad I was able to meet up with my friends!