SF Expo with a new friend!

I finally got to meet Penny from Planet Ynnep Running. We've been trying to get together since April, and today everything came together to make that happen.

Her plan was to come into the San Francisco airport around noon, take BART to her hotel and get checked in. I was going to drive up to SF, pick her up at her hotel and go to the SF Marathon Expo. Well, things went a little differently. This morning I was at Garin with Boomer and Penny called to say her flight was delayed almost 1.5 hours. She was concerned about getting up here in time to go to the Expo. There was an earlier flight coming in to San Jose and she wanted to know how far that was away from me. I told her it was closer (just the opposite direction). If it was easier for her, I had no problem driving there. I ended up picking her up in San Jose, just a couple of hours later, and we drove to San Francisco together and went directly to the Expo. The Expo was PACKED. They ran out of 1/2 marathon shirts! How do you do that?

After the Expo we drove to Union Square and got Penny checked in to her hotel. I enjoyed a cup of coffee and a bag of peanut M&M's from her mini fridge. She ordered a pot of tea and we hung out and chatted for a couple of hours. We had dinner reservations at Enrico's in North Beach at 6:00 with Willie from OK and a group of his friends.

When we came out of dinner, the fog was rolling in and it was C-O-L-D!!! Penny was in heaven, while I on the other hand, was freezing walking back to the parking garage. I wasn't prepared for how cold it had turned.

I had such a great day with Penny. It feels like we have known each other forever. Like maybe we just hadn't seen each other since Christmas or something. Do you understand? At the risk of repeating myself from when I met AKA Alice, it's so strange when I meet a blogger friend in person. It never feels like a first meeting. We have talked on the phone quite a bit and we text each other all the time, but still, I'm so happy with how well we actually get along in person. We laughed a lot and talked a ton. I wish I could run the 1/2 marathon with her tomorrow but it's just not in the cards for me right now. Good luck Penny!

Until later.............