I should have known better than to drink that much coffee. But I couldn’t help it.

Two old friends from our days in Port Angeles were in town today and we met up for breakfast. I was in charge of finding a place to eat  that was convenient for everybody. I Yelped it, Googled it, and found something that looked perfect.

I was the first to arrive and realized that the place was TINY. I think there were six tables, most of which had seating for two. All were full but there was no one else waiting. A friendly woman greeted me and said it would be a few minutes. She pointed out the coffee pots and mugs near the wall. “$1 bottomless coffee,” said the sign.

My friends arrived a few minutes later and we helped ourselves to coffee. A table for two opened up and we squeezed around it after filling our cups. The server said she might reseat us but a large crowd started filtering in and things began to go downhill. There were people coming in for coffee drinks to go, people waiting to be seated, people waiting for their silverware and their food, people at the counter waiting to pay. And the tiny little kitchen was abuzz.

We sat with our menus and filled our coffee cups again. Both of these women have played an important role in our family’s life and it was wonderful to catch up. At one point I looked at my watch and realized that over an hour had passed since we were seated. People who came in behind us were scraping their leftovers into to-go boxes.

One of my friends politely checked in with the server, who admitted that she had forgotten all about us. It was another 30 minutes before we got our food. Thank goodness for that bottomless coffee cup, although my hands still won’t stop shaking.

When the food finally came it was plentiful and tasty. We cleaned our plates, paid our bill and said our fond goodbyes.

I walked back toward my car as the promised “wintry mix” of rain and snow started to fall. A young couple passed by and I heard the woman say, “Maybe Chinatown. Are we near there?” They stopped, looking a bit lost.

“Chinatown’s that way,” I pointed out helpfully. “Is it far?” she asked. “We just want noodles.” We talked for a few minutes about some other options. They said they were visiting from Bellingham, where they are both studying Geology.

Sammi and Travis

“Well,” I said, reaching into my pocket. “Here’s a little something to make your visit extra special.” I held out the hundred I had stashed there earlier. “Oh, no!” they gasped in unison. “You don’t have to do that!”

I explained about my New Year’s resolution to give away a hundred dollars every week as I tucked the bill between the woman’s fingers. “You can pass it along if you like; whatever you want,” I added.

“That’s an awesome resolution!” said the man, and he reached out to give me a hug. “I’m Travis.” The woman hugged me and said her name was Sammi. “It was his birthday yesterday!” she announced.

“This is awesome!” Travis kept saying. They let me take their photo and I said I would put it and a little a story on the blog. “It’ll be pretty simple. ‘They were visiting from Bellingham. They like rocks. They were hungry.'”

“Yeah, that’s our story!” said Sammi, laughing. “One more hug,” said Travis. “This is so awesome! We’ll definitely pass it along!”

After we said goodbye I watched them walk up the street in the direction of lunch. I couldn’t resist snapping one more picture.

Awesome