4-13-10 Tuesday (I Hate My Kingdom)

Some news about an upcoming vacation!  Yeah, I know a vacation already?  Get over it.  Don’t hate.  Anyway, Jim and I planned an RVing trip for Washington, DC for June 28th.  June 28th will be our 11th anniversary.  Since DC marries same sex couples, we’ve decided to tie the knot!  We missed out on it while in California because it was repealed shortly before our arrival. 

Once Jim and I committed to the plan, I shared it with Tim who was delighted and also wanted to go.  He in turn asked Laurie & Pearl, and then Mike & Dave.  At this point, Carl & Tim and Laurie & Pearl have booked and will be staying in a hotel within 5 miles of our campground!  Hotel and flights are all done!  Another group vacation.  Funny we are the Vegas crew that vacationed together in May of 2006.   Speaking of our trip to Vegas, for the funniest in dining catastrophes, be sure to click here – a new window will open.  Needless to say, while we don’t want anymore catastrophes, we’re hoping to make new fun memories while in DC.  Who knows, we might even get Carl to smile for a photo.

I do want to mention that no one is “invited” to the wedding.  Carl & Tim and Laurie & Pearl will be there because they want to be there while we’re all in DC.  Jim and I aren’t making a big deal about it so don’t feel slighted that you weren’t invited.  Yeah, an unintentional rhyme.  Yep, no big deal.  Click here to get to our wedding registry.  Well, we want gifts, but we don’t want you actually there.

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Tim wanted to see what our backyard looks like with leaves.

Above: 2-13-10

Above: 3-20-10

 Above: 4-13-10

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The day wouldn’t be complete without some Tire Kingdom drama.  In the morning, I called Tire Kingdom manager, Andrew, and told him we had attempted to pick up the RV only to find 3 out of 8 tires had low tire pressure.  You’re damn right I told him I was disappointed.  I asked him to fill the tires to specs in the morning, and then check again later in the afternoon to assure the tires are leak free.  I warned him I’d be checking the pressures again prior to pick up. 

Around 4 pm, Jim emailed from work.  He had a craving.  Since most of the Bennigan’s restaurants no longer exist, he can’t get a decent Monte Cristo sandwich.  A coworker had a yummy looking Monte Cristo from a restaurant called Cheddar’s.  Jim was hooked.  The plan was to skip the gym, pickup the RV, take it to the alignment place for tomorrow, and then have dinner.  All would make for a long evening. 

To check on Tire Kingdom, I went there at about 4:30.  I checked the tire pressures and again found them to be low.  I located Andrew.  They didn’t have a chance to fill the tires.  Didn’t have the chance?  In most businesses, a “recheck” or “comeback” gets priority treatment.  As typical, the apologies roll off his tongue as easy as “hi”.  He felt that since the pressures are the same now as they were last night that there’s no leak.  Well yes, I would agree, however he didn’t do as I asked.  I called Jim, he wanted me to wait there and watch them adjust the tires.  I did just that, got the keys and paperwork and went home to wait for Jim.  Another time waster compliments of Tire Kingdom.

After all the picking up/dropping off we went to Cheddar’s.  It’s approximately an 80 location chain that we had never heard of.  Jim was impressed with the pricing.  We were told they don’t advertise to keep their prices low.

We arrived at Cheddar’s; we were seated.  Jim went to the restroom.  When he returned, I went next.  No server ever came.  Tons of server’s went back and forth.  The place was pretty empty, after all it was late on a week night.  We were ready to ditch the place but I decided to find a manager.  The manager apologized just as a server showed up to the table.  The manager said he’d be over in a few minutes.  We placed our order, the manager came over apologized some more and comp’d us an appetizer or dessert which we didn’t take them up on.  They took 25% off the check.

The rest of the service was great.  Jim said his Monte Cristo was better than Bennigan’s. Bennigan’s used too thick of a breading.  This place was just right.  Needless to say, Jim was ecstatic. 

I had steak.  I had it cooked to medium and it was TENDER and juicy!  The flavor was wonderful.  Later in gabbing with the manager, turns out they season with Montreal steak seasoning.  That happens to be my favorite seasoning and what I use at home.  I had my steak sans the tater and the onion straws.  I opted for a side salad with vinegar and oil instead. 

We’ll be back; it’s a keeper.

I’ve gotta go do some more DC planning.  So much to do.

 

Last year we arrived in Vegas.  Naturally the first thing we did was to go to a favorite buffet, Flavors.  We spoke with a Harrah’s employee who hooked us up with some 2 for 1 buffet coupons and a time share presentation for free Rita Rudner tickets.  Checkout the cool slideshow too!

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