This is where I met Clint. My new love (sorry honey). Clint is a fluff-ball of a cat. I am so animal starved right now. With Bear and Shadow passing away, Pepper living with Adam and Biff off to his happy new home I have been without daily access to an animal for over a year (well unless you consider Bill… he is quite fuzzy!) I was sitting at the nice table reading my book and breathing in the fresh air, looking out over a lake in the middle of the island away from humans. I hear the pitter patter of little feet. For those of you with children this means something different or so I hear. I look over and coming up the stairs is my new friend. I immediately drop my book and sit on the deck. Clint being a B&B cat knows immediately he has found a new sucker. It’s like when a car salesman sees a woman alone carrying a $2000 purse. Heh
Clint and I spent the rest of the afternoon becoming acquainted. Bill was sweet enough to grab the camera and so I got some lovely pictures of the little beast. After my special time with the kitty Bill and I headed off to dinner. There were a couple of restaurants suggested by the owner of the B&B and so we went off to find something interesting. We ended up at this tiny little place called… (time to google) The Coho Restaurant http://www.cohorestaurant.com/ it is a tiny little 8 table place and we were lucky to get in as someone had cancelled their reservations. It is a little more expensive than we generally prefer but we were being decadent. We ordered Beghrir which is Moroccan Sourdough Crepes served with Roasted Anaheim Peppers & Feta Salad, Hummus, Mixed Olives & Spiced Honey. The spiced honey really gets your attention. It appears their menu changes frequently which would be good since they try to use mostly locally grown foods. Bill had the Beef tenderloin with a chimichurri sauce. I had never had duck before so I ordered a duck that was cooked with some type of apple/cranberry sauce. For dessert we had a Flourless Chocolate Torte for the serious chocolate lover – flourless chocolate cake veiled in a dark chocolate ganache. It was fabulous. After dinner we decided to drive down by the water and get some pictures on our way back to the B&B. Once we arrived back the other guests had already arrived and taken to their rooms so Bill and I decided it was time to splash into our private hot tub. We had been warned of “aggressive deer” by the owner but did not see any that evening. (we had seen one earlier when I was becoming acquainted with Clint.) We enjoyed the tub with a background in the trees and a cloudless sky. Once we were shriveled from water saturation we headed in. I was relaxing on the bed checking email and Bill was reading blogs on his phone when we hear a knock at the door… not the inside door but the door to the deck. Thinking we might discover some aggressive dear I hop out of bed and turn the deck light on. Outside the door looking very persistent that it was time to be loved was Faith, another resident kitty. I am of course not going to turn away a lovely kitty so I opened the door and she prances in and hops on the bed. Faith and I get to know one another but Bill is becoming annoyed because he wants to go to bed. So I put Faith back out the door and we crash.
In the morning the owner (you will notice my pathetic attempt at remembering the owners name but I can tell you all of the animals names… I am sad) tells me that Faith is not usually as forthcoming as Clint with new people and he seemed impressed. After a nice breakfast of waffles, fruit and sausage we sat around talking with the owner for a while. As we are talking there is a new furry face waiting by the door. Obadiah, is the resident dog. He is a rescue dog and is not generally friendly with guests but Obbie takes immediately to me and Bill comes over to say Hi. He can’t help it when it’s a puppy. Heh
We say good bye to the owner and all the animals and head off. Last year a new store opened in the Bellevue Mall called Pelindaba Lavender, they sell all manner of lavender goodies from lavender chocolates, lavender honey, lavender bath salts, lavender hand soap, etc. It is all grown locally at the farm on Friday Harbor so Bill and I drove out to see the farm and gift shop. It was very cool walking through the fields but would have been even better if they had been blooming. We noticed that the lavender looks a lot like rosemary. I have not discovered if they are similar species of plant but they sure do look similar.
We headed back towards the ferry dock at noon hoping to catch the 1pm ferry and thinking that an hour ahead of time should be good since 35 mins would have done it on the way over. We arrive about 10 mins till 12 and we are Stand-by number 5. UGH! I do not like how much waiting there is for ferries. Luckily we could park the jeep and walk over and have lunch while we waited. We went back to the place we had had clams and fish the day before because we needed something fairly fast. It was quite tasty again and then we headed back to the jeep. We played the game again… okay there is another mini cooper (is it the same one we saw on Saturday?) Oh no look at that Fire truck….
The final count came and they were able to not only load 5 but about 35. I guess they must have squeezed them in cracks to get them on. Bill set off with his camera again and this time being genius I brought a jacket. So I picked a nice spot on the north side of the boat which I was told is the best view. I was sitting there enjoying the air when a group came and sat next to me. We started talking and they were from eastern Washington and we struck up a conversation about everything from “Talk like a pirate day” to appliance repair (their line of work). We had a nice chat and all laughed at the Volvos owners being called to shut off their alarms. Both groups had heard the same thing on the way TO the island even though we were on separate ferries. All 3 instances were Silver Volvos. So if you own a silver Volvo remember… Don’t put your alarm on when you are on the ferry. It will just go off every time the boat rocks.
I said good bye to my new friends and Bill and I headed down to the jeep. We drove down I-5 and stopped at the RV Liquidation they were having near one of the casinos. Decided it would be a good place to have dinner and then we headed home. It was really a lovely weekend and a nice “hop in the jeep and go” times. We have been so spontaneous this summer. I do love being spontaneous but I always forget something important. LOL I swear I am going to get a bag and put all necessary items in it and hide it in the jeep so I will have backup for when I forget my toothbrush, tank top, or hair ties.
If you ever make it out to Friday Harbor stop in at the Inn to the Woods. It is absolutely beautiful and of course has lovely kitties that make the stay even better. Friday Harbor is a beautiful area. If you live in or around Seattle and are looking for a nice weekend get away, Go!
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Island Adventure Pt. 1
So Labor Day weekend Bill and I wanted to take a little road trip. We have been getting hitch-itch in spite of the fact we don’t have anything to hitch. Friday afternoon I started to feel ill. Just a little sore throat so I thought maybe my allergies were worse. Saturday morning about 4 am I woke up and felt like I couldn’t breath. I took 2 ibuprofen and sat there in the dark for a bit before I realized I should probably go to the doctor since it felt like someone was sliding a knife down my throat every time I swallowed. I woke Bill up and told him I needed to go to the urgent care. I hate hospitals and so after spending so much time in ERs this year I determined I would much rather go to the Urgent Care then the ER. It would also be cheaper. So we load ourselves in the jeep with Kindles and DS and go prepared to kill a few hours. Bill “knows” where the Urgent Care is and so I didn’t stop and try to get an address. He had taken Adam there years ago for some reason or another, so off we go to Issaquah. We arrive in Issaquah and where Bill now “thinks” the urgent care should be… nope not there it’s an ER. I am still not in that much pain so I am determined to go to the urgent care instead. I grab my phone and look up the address. I put the address in Cher (our jeep’s gps) and off we go a few miles back the way we came. We arrive and Bill drops me off at the door, but hmmmm it looks a little dark and there are no cars in the parking lot. I go inside and walk to the area that has signs that say Urgent Care there is a sign “We have moved” and an address. I walk back outside (did I mention it is raining?) and back to the Jeep which bill has now parked. We get back in and give Cher the new address. She then directs us back a mile in the direction we had just come from the ER. Finally we found it and find out they had moved only a week or 2 before. Luckily there is no one in the waiting room when we arrive. I check in and fill out the pages of paperwork (why don’t they just create a friggin database? SERIOUSLY) and wait for the dr. The ibuprofen has done its job and the swelling has gone down somewhat so I have less fear of suffocation. The nurse calls me back after only 20 mins and I go sit while the nurse takes my vitals and asks why I am there. Nurses really do do all the work don’t they? Shortly after the doctor comes in, looks at my throat and in my ears and gives me 2 prescriptions but I am told not to use them unless I get worse (which I did but then I got better). I am not going to die even though I still feel the imaginary knife slicing my throat open every time I swallow.
We go home and sleep till noon having decided not to bother going out so that I can stay home and rest. So basically Labor Day weekend sucked. It was rainy and blah and I was blah.
The Friday afternoon after Labor Day I was feeling much better. On our way home from work Bill asks what I want to do for the weekend. We him and haw and Bill jokingly says “Let’s go to the beach”. Unlike Labor Day weekend this particular weekend was supposed to be lovely. 70s and sunny you don’t get that much in Washington in September. I say “sure let’s go.” Bill then tries to determine if I am serious, which I am. We get home determined to go somewhere. We are thinking about going to Long Beach, Washington and so I hop on the computer and look to see if there are events there that weekend. There was a old car show and so I check the hotel room prices to see how much it will effect it. The last time we stayed in Long Beach we stayed at a nice little Super 8 only a block from the beach. It was summer time and so we did not bawk when it cost $78. I called and the best room rate was $120. EEK! This is not a ritzy area. It is a small backwoods beach on the west coast or Washington not South Beach, Florida! We decided to go home and look at other options. Once we arrived home I pulled out a few magazines I had picked up this summer about “Staycations” I really love that term and it is something my family was famous for. I can not even tell you all the little mini-vacations we went on. Just get in the car and see where you end up.
The first one I flipped through was the Sunset Magazines Great Northwest Escapes. They had a listing with lots of different islands in San Juan County. We read a little about Friday Harbor and decided that it sounded interesting. I found it fascinating that Bill had never been to the San Juans even though he has lived here over 20 years. We decided to wait and drive up in the morning on Saturday to save money on a hotel. We had planned to catch the 8:15 ferry and then we would have the whole weekend to explore the island. We headed out for dinner because we didn’t want to buy anything that would go bad while we were gone and we were feeling lazy. After dinner Bill kept saying his foot hurt. He had thought maybe he had a bug bite or something and when I had looked at it before we left the house it was a little pink and a tiny bit of swelling so we didn’t worry about it. We arrived home about 9pm and when Bill took off his shoe I gasped. It was red and swollen and looked like he had poured boiling water over it, covered in blisters and just all around ugly. So I sigh, grab my keys and back to the Urgent Care we go. After waiting about 40 mins they took him back. He had gone walking at lunch and somehow had gotten into so poison sumac. I had never heard of it. The doctor gave him a prescription for a steroid to take and one for an antihistamine. I was very glad we had not left for the island that night.
We did not get home until late and so we did not pack. Also Bill wasn’t entirely sure if he wanted to go and so we decided to play it by ear. Going to bed late means getting up late, I woke up and decided to relax until Bill woke up. When he finally came to we discussed whether we wanted to go. Bill said yes and I bound out of bed throwing things into the overnight bag. I hadn’t wanted him to think I would be sorely disappointed if we stayed home but I think I would have. It was almost 8 and if we hurried we should be able to make it to the ferry place 30 minutes before which the website said would be plenty of time. They lie. LOL We arrived about 35 minutes early and I relaxed. With a 2-hour drive through Seattle you never can tell if it will turn into a 5 hour drive. We paid for our ferry ride ($63 which shocked us a little but was fine) and I was happy to discover you only pay on the way off the main land. That way if you run out of money while you are there you can still get home. J. This did make me wonder when I noticed cars for sale on the island. You could walk on for much cheaper than you could drive on so do cars that are sold on the island have to pay a ferry fee? Once we had our ticket we drove up to get in line. The woman says, “Well you are #1 for our Stand-by.” Bill and I were shocked. Will we make it to the island? If not the next ferry doesn’t leave for over 3 hours. This could put a remarkable dent in our Island Adventure. We sat there waiting for the ferry to arrive and to learn our fate. We spoke with one of the ladies that works there while we waited and she said there would be a good chance we would make it on. So we bided our time reading books we had brought with us and watching the clock. The ferry arrived and the cars unloaded. I am continuously amazed at how many cars and trucks, RVs and semis they can fit on those things. Line after line of cars began loading. We sat and played the, “how many small cars vs. big cars are there?” game. Oh Look! A mini-cooper. Oh and a Prius! Uh Oh there goes a 5er (Heavy Duty Truck pulling a 5th wheel RV). It is really not a fun game when the fate of your day lies in how many big SUVs there are in front of us.
Finally the last line starts and we watch as they get the vehicles situated on-board waiting for the call to determine if we would be driving back into Anacortes for those berries at the little Farm Stand I refused to stop at on our way through. The traffic director is standing in front of the jeep rocking the cone back and forth waiting for word. Magic to our ears we hear, “Five”. The woman smiles at us and moves the cone beckoning us forth to our fun in the sun.
Once onboard we vacated the vehicle to go up on the deck. It was a little chill and so I went inside and sat by a window, watching Bill run from bow to the stern and back taking pictures and burning up gig on the camera. The trip is quite lovely. You got a great view of Mount Baker (or apparently as the locals call it “Mount Tammy Faye Baker”) and the islands that make up San Juan County. Finally we arrived at Friday Harbor. Being nearly the last vehicle on we knew we had time. So we sat and patiently waited just happy that we weren’t still on the other side of the water. Once we knew we were moving we figured we had better find lunch. We pulled off the ferry and mad our way up the one street through the “town” and on our left saw a sign for a visitor center. Knowing we had to find somewhere to stay before the last ferry headed back to the main land in case it was sold out we found a parking space and walked over to grab some info. As soon as we had reached land we saw a nice little restaurant that had mostly outdoor seating and claimed to have “Great Seafood” Fried pretty much anything. Clams, scallops, fish, etc. and if you don’t like seafood there were hamburgers and chicken too. The place looked oddly familiar which is funny because I am 100% certain I had never been on this particular island before. So after grabbing some info we headed over. Bill ordered fried clams and I ordered the fish sandwich. It was fabulous. As I was going through the info we had picked up at the town hall area it had a little ad for the restaurant we were sitting in, it said, “As seen on Rachael Ray’s Tasty Travels”. Of course this would be why some strange place looked familiar. Grin.
Bill started going through hotels and B&Bs to find us a place to stay. He called the only chain hotel on the island and they were booked except for a Master suite and we didn’t want to pay as much for a master suite at a name brand then we could at a nice B&B. I have always wanted to stay in a B&B. The only thing that really has put me off is sharing a bathroom. If I need to go in the middle of the night I don’t want to have to find clothes. So Bill looked at the list of B&Bs listed and knowing how funny I am about names he suggested the “Inn to the Woods” I giggled and he decided to give them a call. They had one room left but it was their biggest room that, dreadfully had it’s own private deck and hot tub. How horrible for us. Of course it was not much more expensive than the master suite at the brand hotel so Bill booked it. It did cost more than we had preferred to spend but we were only staying one night instead of the 3 night we would have if we had gone out on Labor Day weekend. The room would not be ready until after 3pm so we decided to go “get lost” we figured being on an island there wouldn’t be much to getting lost. We were surprised at how lost you could actually get though. Grin
We drove around about 1/3 of the island looking at the beaches (well they call them beaches but being from Florida I have to disagree) and drove through one of the County Parks. We drove a big wide circle and ended back at the B&B about 3:30. The man that owns the place showed us our room and I changed out of my shirt that had gotten a little sweaty walking around up and down a few of the hills. We went and sat on the main deck and took our books to kill time before dinner.
This would be where I would meet my new friend, Clint. More soon...
For pictures from the weekend check here: www.twotwistedlimes.smugmug.com
We go home and sleep till noon having decided not to bother going out so that I can stay home and rest. So basically Labor Day weekend sucked. It was rainy and blah and I was blah.
The Friday afternoon after Labor Day I was feeling much better. On our way home from work Bill asks what I want to do for the weekend. We him and haw and Bill jokingly says “Let’s go to the beach”. Unlike Labor Day weekend this particular weekend was supposed to be lovely. 70s and sunny you don’t get that much in Washington in September. I say “sure let’s go.” Bill then tries to determine if I am serious, which I am. We get home determined to go somewhere. We are thinking about going to Long Beach, Washington and so I hop on the computer and look to see if there are events there that weekend. There was a old car show and so I check the hotel room prices to see how much it will effect it. The last time we stayed in Long Beach we stayed at a nice little Super 8 only a block from the beach. It was summer time and so we did not bawk when it cost $78. I called and the best room rate was $120. EEK! This is not a ritzy area. It is a small backwoods beach on the west coast or Washington not South Beach, Florida! We decided to go home and look at other options. Once we arrived home I pulled out a few magazines I had picked up this summer about “Staycations” I really love that term and it is something my family was famous for. I can not even tell you all the little mini-vacations we went on. Just get in the car and see where you end up.
The first one I flipped through was the Sunset Magazines Great Northwest Escapes. They had a listing with lots of different islands in San Juan County. We read a little about Friday Harbor and decided that it sounded interesting. I found it fascinating that Bill had never been to the San Juans even though he has lived here over 20 years. We decided to wait and drive up in the morning on Saturday to save money on a hotel. We had planned to catch the 8:15 ferry and then we would have the whole weekend to explore the island. We headed out for dinner because we didn’t want to buy anything that would go bad while we were gone and we were feeling lazy. After dinner Bill kept saying his foot hurt. He had thought maybe he had a bug bite or something and when I had looked at it before we left the house it was a little pink and a tiny bit of swelling so we didn’t worry about it. We arrived home about 9pm and when Bill took off his shoe I gasped. It was red and swollen and looked like he had poured boiling water over it, covered in blisters and just all around ugly. So I sigh, grab my keys and back to the Urgent Care we go. After waiting about 40 mins they took him back. He had gone walking at lunch and somehow had gotten into so poison sumac. I had never heard of it. The doctor gave him a prescription for a steroid to take and one for an antihistamine. I was very glad we had not left for the island that night.
We did not get home until late and so we did not pack. Also Bill wasn’t entirely sure if he wanted to go and so we decided to play it by ear. Going to bed late means getting up late, I woke up and decided to relax until Bill woke up. When he finally came to we discussed whether we wanted to go. Bill said yes and I bound out of bed throwing things into the overnight bag. I hadn’t wanted him to think I would be sorely disappointed if we stayed home but I think I would have. It was almost 8 and if we hurried we should be able to make it to the ferry place 30 minutes before which the website said would be plenty of time. They lie. LOL We arrived about 35 minutes early and I relaxed. With a 2-hour drive through Seattle you never can tell if it will turn into a 5 hour drive. We paid for our ferry ride ($63 which shocked us a little but was fine) and I was happy to discover you only pay on the way off the main land. That way if you run out of money while you are there you can still get home. J. This did make me wonder when I noticed cars for sale on the island. You could walk on for much cheaper than you could drive on so do cars that are sold on the island have to pay a ferry fee? Once we had our ticket we drove up to get in line. The woman says, “Well you are #1 for our Stand-by.” Bill and I were shocked. Will we make it to the island? If not the next ferry doesn’t leave for over 3 hours. This could put a remarkable dent in our Island Adventure. We sat there waiting for the ferry to arrive and to learn our fate. We spoke with one of the ladies that works there while we waited and she said there would be a good chance we would make it on. So we bided our time reading books we had brought with us and watching the clock. The ferry arrived and the cars unloaded. I am continuously amazed at how many cars and trucks, RVs and semis they can fit on those things. Line after line of cars began loading. We sat and played the, “how many small cars vs. big cars are there?” game. Oh Look! A mini-cooper. Oh and a Prius! Uh Oh there goes a 5er (Heavy Duty Truck pulling a 5th wheel RV). It is really not a fun game when the fate of your day lies in how many big SUVs there are in front of us.
Finally the last line starts and we watch as they get the vehicles situated on-board waiting for the call to determine if we would be driving back into Anacortes for those berries at the little Farm Stand I refused to stop at on our way through. The traffic director is standing in front of the jeep rocking the cone back and forth waiting for word. Magic to our ears we hear, “Five”. The woman smiles at us and moves the cone beckoning us forth to our fun in the sun.
Once onboard we vacated the vehicle to go up on the deck. It was a little chill and so I went inside and sat by a window, watching Bill run from bow to the stern and back taking pictures and burning up gig on the camera. The trip is quite lovely. You got a great view of Mount Baker (or apparently as the locals call it “Mount Tammy Faye Baker”) and the islands that make up San Juan County. Finally we arrived at Friday Harbor. Being nearly the last vehicle on we knew we had time. So we sat and patiently waited just happy that we weren’t still on the other side of the water. Once we knew we were moving we figured we had better find lunch. We pulled off the ferry and mad our way up the one street through the “town” and on our left saw a sign for a visitor center. Knowing we had to find somewhere to stay before the last ferry headed back to the main land in case it was sold out we found a parking space and walked over to grab some info. As soon as we had reached land we saw a nice little restaurant that had mostly outdoor seating and claimed to have “Great Seafood” Fried pretty much anything. Clams, scallops, fish, etc. and if you don’t like seafood there were hamburgers and chicken too. The place looked oddly familiar which is funny because I am 100% certain I had never been on this particular island before. So after grabbing some info we headed over. Bill ordered fried clams and I ordered the fish sandwich. It was fabulous. As I was going through the info we had picked up at the town hall area it had a little ad for the restaurant we were sitting in, it said, “As seen on Rachael Ray’s Tasty Travels”. Of course this would be why some strange place looked familiar. Grin.
Bill started going through hotels and B&Bs to find us a place to stay. He called the only chain hotel on the island and they were booked except for a Master suite and we didn’t want to pay as much for a master suite at a name brand then we could at a nice B&B. I have always wanted to stay in a B&B. The only thing that really has put me off is sharing a bathroom. If I need to go in the middle of the night I don’t want to have to find clothes. So Bill looked at the list of B&Bs listed and knowing how funny I am about names he suggested the “Inn to the Woods” I giggled and he decided to give them a call. They had one room left but it was their biggest room that, dreadfully had it’s own private deck and hot tub. How horrible for us. Of course it was not much more expensive than the master suite at the brand hotel so Bill booked it. It did cost more than we had preferred to spend but we were only staying one night instead of the 3 night we would have if we had gone out on Labor Day weekend. The room would not be ready until after 3pm so we decided to go “get lost” we figured being on an island there wouldn’t be much to getting lost. We were surprised at how lost you could actually get though. Grin
We drove around about 1/3 of the island looking at the beaches (well they call them beaches but being from Florida I have to disagree) and drove through one of the County Parks. We drove a big wide circle and ended back at the B&B about 3:30. The man that owns the place showed us our room and I changed out of my shirt that had gotten a little sweaty walking around up and down a few of the hills. We went and sat on the main deck and took our books to kill time before dinner.
This would be where I would meet my new friend, Clint. More soon...
For pictures from the weekend check here: www.twotwistedlimes.smugmug.com
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Retail Therapy
Last Friday we discovered we had a gift card that had to be used by the end of the month. Lately we have been stimulating the economy (GPS, Kindle, Camera) and we really don’t NEED anything (not that we needed all of that LOL) so whenever we go to Frys Bill get’s this glazed look when he stops by the HDTV that is generally running the latest Pirates movie. The glazed look is not entirely for the buxom beauties on the screen but is also for the HD detail OF the Buxom beauties. Hehe. We had discussed purchasing a Blu-ray player before but since we do not have an HD TV it didn’t make any sense. We were determined (apparently not determined enough) to wait till our current TV set died before purchasing a new HDTV. Well we decided that it couldn’t hurt to use our gift card as part of the payment for the purchase a Blu-ray player. Since the price difference between blu-ray players and a PS3 are not much difference with the current drop in prices and the PS3 is a multi-tasker we went to Frys on Friday evening and picked on up. Now in the past my first movie in each new type of media has been Little Mermaid. It was my first DVD and it was my first Digital purchase. So I was hoping to grab it but low and behold Disney being the hording bastards they are, Little Mermaid is not currently available. So we pick up the next best thing Cars. We didn’t really know if there would be any difference with our current TV and so we also bought a live human movie just in case (Point of No Return). So we go home (it’s now after 10pm) and hook up the new player. We realize as we are reading that the PS3 does not come with a HDMI cable. So Bill goes online looking at things and discovers that the TV we have will make no difference at all with a HD player. He is very disappointed and I have to admit it did take the “cool” out of having a new toy. Grin So we went to bed that night a little disappointed.
Off topic somewhat: Bill and I listen to a morning radio show each day on the way to work and while we get ready. Several mornings each week there is an ad from a store called Video Only. The basic skit is a woman that has looked up the best TVs and now is ready to buy. She talks about how she is going to go from store to store checking prices. The guy says “Well you should go to Video Only they have the lowest prices.” Then the jingle pops on and says “Go to Video Only or You’ll be sorry.” The ad has begun to have a life of it’s own in our house. After the fourth or fifth week of hearing the same ad I groaned and said to Bill, “Why does this woman need to buy a TV again… didn’t she get one last week?” I went on saying this every time I heard the commercial. Finally Bill decides she must be buying them to family members too. Now we have a running joke going on about who the TV might be for this week. Since it runs nearly every week we have now gone on to obscure friends and very far reaching family. Grin
Back on topic: So Bill having been brain washed by the constant deluge of Video Only commercials decides to pop on their website and take a look at their ad. They say they have the best prices around and so I went through and tried matching TVs listing on their sales flier with TVs on Amazon. Unfortunately they are smart and do not post TV models in their ads so it became fairly difficult to match price points. However, We did match up 2 brands where the prices listed on the ad were less then any of the TVs made for that brand listed online so we determined they probably did have decent prices. Now remember we have a TV that works just fine but is not HD. This has not bothered us even though we have access to HD TV stations with our cable. (Apparently Bill didn’t know this or we might have given in sooner, LOL.) So Saturday we decided to go over and see what they had. Being a cost efficient person that I am but with no time to plan we stopped at the library to read up on what Consumer Reports had to say about HDTVs, while Bill looked at NADA Values on a few motorhomes we had looked at on our trip home from Friday Harbor. Then we set off. While we were on the way to the store Bill decided he had a hankering to go to the movies, this was funny to me since we were going to buy a new TV that we could play movies on but I don’t complain when he wants to go to the movies since I missed so many in past years when people I knew didn’t want to go. So we headed to the theater and caught Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (very fun flick) and then after having lunch (if you aren’t hungry going into this movie you will be when you come out) we headed over to get a TV. When I go shopping for anything over $100 I like to go prepared to deal with sales people. I really dislike pushy sales people. So When we left the house I grabbed a notebook. I had written prices and model numbers from a couple websites so I could actually do some price comparisons if they had the same models. When we had stopped at the library I complied even more information. So I went in with my notebook. For those that do not know, if you want to avoid the idiot sales people that just want to push something bigger and better and really don’t know anything about the product they are selling, take a notebook. It is like Sales person Kryptonite. LOL I walk in there geared up. Now usually when I do this I have spent months researching. When I went in looking for a new bike I had a very good idea of what I wanted. This intidates sales people. Going in to get the TV I was armed with just enough knowledge to make me dangerous. Bill and I had discussed that we did not need something 40 inches or bigger. We have nowhere to hang a TV in the family room because of a massive fireplace and more windows then should be allowed in any one room. The TV stand we have would not accommodate anything much bigger then a 36 inch. The current TV we had was a 27 inch. So we went in looking for a 26 inch or a 32 inch. It is funny to me that TVs used to have a much broader range of sizes. Nowadays you can get the 26, the 32, or the 500 (exaggerating but that’s what it looks like). When you walk into the store the first thing you see are the Massively monstrous TVs that you would have to hang on a wall because they just wouldn’t fit anywhere standing up! We looked right and looked left and finally discovered on the far wall hidden were the reasonably sized TVs. I head in that direction and there is a lovely couple being dogged by a salesman the likes of Ted Danson’s character in Made in America. I made up my mind that if THAT one decided to talk to me I would simply tell him, “I don’t like you, can I speak to someone else?”
Luckily he was tied up trying to convince the couple that they really wanted a 58 inch $4000 TV and not the 42 inches that would cost them a quarter that. Bill and I ignored all of the people that tried to talk to us. Meanwhile we were looking at the different options for the size we wanted. Funny how they don’t put the 720i resolutions anywhere near the 1080i resolutions so you can actually tell the difference. It was also funny to me how certain TVs had much brighter color or dimmer for ones that they might not make as much on. Ahh the fun part of advertising. Of course none of the TVs they had matched the ones I had written on my paper since they discounting models at the same frequency that McDonalds sell McNuggets. So we looked at the brands that had had better ratings and picked out a nice 32 inch that was on deep discount due to the fact that the must have updated a button or added an input and the one we were buying was now discontinued. So we spent $399 and I am fairly pleased. We figured once we sell the house if we have a place for something bigger or different in the future we can look at it then. God knows the new electronics don’t have the life spans that old electronics did. Once we made our choice I sought out the least offensive of the sales people. The nice man must have seen my notebook because he did not try to up-sell us. He simply went in the back grabbed the TV and then made sure we had the least expensive HDMI cords in the place. Ahh what a nice buying experience. We went home and plugged in our new toy to our new toy and stuck Cars in the player. We were very happy with the video quality but I think I notice it more on none animated movies and TV. Cars is just so beautiful to begin with it would be hard to make it even better.
And so we now have a 27 inch Sony non-HD TV that needs a home. Know anyone that would want it? Heh
So much for my determination. Although I think I needed a little retail therapy.
Off topic somewhat: Bill and I listen to a morning radio show each day on the way to work and while we get ready. Several mornings each week there is an ad from a store called Video Only. The basic skit is a woman that has looked up the best TVs and now is ready to buy. She talks about how she is going to go from store to store checking prices. The guy says “Well you should go to Video Only they have the lowest prices.” Then the jingle pops on and says “Go to Video Only or You’ll be sorry.” The ad has begun to have a life of it’s own in our house. After the fourth or fifth week of hearing the same ad I groaned and said to Bill, “Why does this woman need to buy a TV again… didn’t she get one last week?” I went on saying this every time I heard the commercial. Finally Bill decides she must be buying them to family members too. Now we have a running joke going on about who the TV might be for this week. Since it runs nearly every week we have now gone on to obscure friends and very far reaching family. Grin
Back on topic: So Bill having been brain washed by the constant deluge of Video Only commercials decides to pop on their website and take a look at their ad. They say they have the best prices around and so I went through and tried matching TVs listing on their sales flier with TVs on Amazon. Unfortunately they are smart and do not post TV models in their ads so it became fairly difficult to match price points. However, We did match up 2 brands where the prices listed on the ad were less then any of the TVs made for that brand listed online so we determined they probably did have decent prices. Now remember we have a TV that works just fine but is not HD. This has not bothered us even though we have access to HD TV stations with our cable. (Apparently Bill didn’t know this or we might have given in sooner, LOL.) So Saturday we decided to go over and see what they had. Being a cost efficient person that I am but with no time to plan we stopped at the library to read up on what Consumer Reports had to say about HDTVs, while Bill looked at NADA Values on a few motorhomes we had looked at on our trip home from Friday Harbor. Then we set off. While we were on the way to the store Bill decided he had a hankering to go to the movies, this was funny to me since we were going to buy a new TV that we could play movies on but I don’t complain when he wants to go to the movies since I missed so many in past years when people I knew didn’t want to go. So we headed to the theater and caught Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (very fun flick) and then after having lunch (if you aren’t hungry going into this movie you will be when you come out) we headed over to get a TV. When I go shopping for anything over $100 I like to go prepared to deal with sales people. I really dislike pushy sales people. So When we left the house I grabbed a notebook. I had written prices and model numbers from a couple websites so I could actually do some price comparisons if they had the same models. When we had stopped at the library I complied even more information. So I went in with my notebook. For those that do not know, if you want to avoid the idiot sales people that just want to push something bigger and better and really don’t know anything about the product they are selling, take a notebook. It is like Sales person Kryptonite. LOL I walk in there geared up. Now usually when I do this I have spent months researching. When I went in looking for a new bike I had a very good idea of what I wanted. This intidates sales people. Going in to get the TV I was armed with just enough knowledge to make me dangerous. Bill and I had discussed that we did not need something 40 inches or bigger. We have nowhere to hang a TV in the family room because of a massive fireplace and more windows then should be allowed in any one room. The TV stand we have would not accommodate anything much bigger then a 36 inch. The current TV we had was a 27 inch. So we went in looking for a 26 inch or a 32 inch. It is funny to me that TVs used to have a much broader range of sizes. Nowadays you can get the 26, the 32, or the 500 (exaggerating but that’s what it looks like). When you walk into the store the first thing you see are the Massively monstrous TVs that you would have to hang on a wall because they just wouldn’t fit anywhere standing up! We looked right and looked left and finally discovered on the far wall hidden were the reasonably sized TVs. I head in that direction and there is a lovely couple being dogged by a salesman the likes of Ted Danson’s character in Made in America. I made up my mind that if THAT one decided to talk to me I would simply tell him, “I don’t like you, can I speak to someone else?”
Luckily he was tied up trying to convince the couple that they really wanted a 58 inch $4000 TV and not the 42 inches that would cost them a quarter that. Bill and I ignored all of the people that tried to talk to us. Meanwhile we were looking at the different options for the size we wanted. Funny how they don’t put the 720i resolutions anywhere near the 1080i resolutions so you can actually tell the difference. It was also funny to me how certain TVs had much brighter color or dimmer for ones that they might not make as much on. Ahh the fun part of advertising. Of course none of the TVs they had matched the ones I had written on my paper since they discounting models at the same frequency that McDonalds sell McNuggets. So we looked at the brands that had had better ratings and picked out a nice 32 inch that was on deep discount due to the fact that the must have updated a button or added an input and the one we were buying was now discontinued. So we spent $399 and I am fairly pleased. We figured once we sell the house if we have a place for something bigger or different in the future we can look at it then. God knows the new electronics don’t have the life spans that old electronics did. Once we made our choice I sought out the least offensive of the sales people. The nice man must have seen my notebook because he did not try to up-sell us. He simply went in the back grabbed the TV and then made sure we had the least expensive HDMI cords in the place. Ahh what a nice buying experience. We went home and plugged in our new toy to our new toy and stuck Cars in the player. We were very happy with the video quality but I think I notice it more on none animated movies and TV. Cars is just so beautiful to begin with it would be hard to make it even better.
And so we now have a 27 inch Sony non-HD TV that needs a home. Know anyone that would want it? Heh
So much for my determination. Although I think I needed a little retail therapy.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
The Rest of the Vegas Story
The rest of the Vegas story. I am not feeling very wordy lately and so I will give ya what I got.
The mornings Bill and I had to ourselves since the kids rolled out of bed between 12 and 3pm. When I would refer to “Morning” it was accepted I meant after people got up. Wednesday we decided Lions and Roller coasters were in order. We grabbed the train/light rail thingy down to the MGM and went over to see the Lions after a fabulous lunch at ‘Wichcraft (sandwiches) then over to the NY NY for Roller Coaster time. Jello shots on a hot afternoon sounded good to everyone so we grabbed those on the way back to change for the evening outing.
That evening we were headed off to Cirque de Soliel. After looking over all the restaurants in the area for dinner I decided the Kahunaville looked interesting. Me being the tour guide for the week I figured I would throw suggestions out and if someone had a better idea we could discuss, if not we didn’t all stand around the lobby going “Gee I don’t know, what do YOU want for dinner?”
Kahunaville was perfect. The drinks were fabulous and the atmosphere was cheesy Hawaiian style. The meals were divine. There was Pina Colada chicken, Stir-fries, and excellent salads.
The nice thing about the restaurant was it was directly across from the show room for Mystere. The show was excellent minus the child and his grandmother in the seats behind us that were talking at full volume through the whole show regardless of the shushing of everyone within 10 rows. Side note: I don’t mind children where they belong. A late evening showing of a Cirque de Soleil in Vegas is NOT where they belong. I don’t begrudge the little buggers yapping at the theater during a Pixar film but if you want to take your kid to the ballet, the theater, or Cirque teach them to keep their trap shut for at least 20 mins at a time. If it had been oohhhs or ahhs it would have been one thing but talking about stuff completely unrelated to the show in $130 per SEAT shows is a bit annoying. Thank you very much.
Back on target. The show was cool and I think everyone enjoyed it. There were a couple parts that made me go “WTF?” but I loved the trampolines and the gymnastics and the drums.
Thursday was “Ladies Day” The ladies and Harvey went to the spa and got massages. Harvey decided to skip the facial since he is fully bearded and he didn’t really feel hip on wear makeup and so while the ladies continued their treatments he wandered. We had massages, facials, and full makeup treatments. This took the majority of the day. That evening was Thunder from Down Under. We had decided to do a package deal and so the Limo picked us up at the hotel at 6. We then went to dinner at PF Changs in the Planet Hollywood hotel and then the limo carted us off to the show at the Excalibur where we had front row seats to the show.
The Boys (minus Harvey who decided it would be interesting to go with the ladies) spent the day playing in Poker tournaments. After the show the Boys met us at Excalibur to discuss plans for Friday. This is where things become funny. I had planned to a T the entertainment for the full week minus Friday. I wanted to leave cushion in case people saw something while we were there that they HAD to do. So remember what I said before about dinner? We had 7 people standing around the casino going “Well I don’t know, What do YOU want to do?” I sat back in a slot machine stool enjoying the chaos. There were a number of options. I finally piped up and said the only thing I wanted to do was go to the M&M store and get a new t-shirt. For those that know me I LOVE the M&M shirt I bought in Vegas 3 years ago. It is now a larger size then I generally wear and so I wanted to get a new one. It seemed several people wanted to go to the Aquarium at Mandalay Bay and so we set a ridiculous time to meet Friday morning of 10am. Grin…
Friday morning 4/6 of the group was ready at 10. We decided we could mosey over to the Mandalay Bay while the other 2 got ready. We took the train thingy down to MGM, wandered through the Excalibur into the Luxor. We all stood in awe of the Luxor and I realized that if I had been in the Luxor on my previous trip I would probably have paid the extra to stay there this time. Then on to Mandalay Bay. By the time we arrived at Mandalay Bay the other 2 parts of the part had taken a cab and arrived as well. We went to the Aquarium which was very nice. Not the best aquarium I have ever been to but superior to the Seattle one. They have an area where you are under water and it is built to look like you are inside a Pirate Ship complete with treasure. It was neat and Adam took lots of pictures. They had the most amazing collection of Lionfish I had ever seen and so on the way out the magnet I selected for the trip was a Lionfish.
After the aquarium our group split off as some of us wanted to go to the M&M store and others decided to go to the Pinball Museum. I wish we had had more time, I would have loved to have seen the Pinball Museum. My group wandered back through to the Luxor and we had lunch at the much anticipated Tacos and Tequilas. Since it was so early in the day they did not, in fact, have any Tequila temptresses. We did all buy different types of Margaritas (Apple, Watermelon, Original, and I forget) I decided very quickly that it is NOT tequila that I do not like it is BAD Tequila. Good Tequila is quite tasty, especially when mixed with the proper juices.
The M&M store was fun and we got to see the new 3D movie which was cute. We grabbed new shirts and the boys got boxers (I will have to get a picture of these) and we wandered through the heat (107 GACK) back to Ballys where we got on the tain thingy and returned to the hotel. The group got together that evening and did our one trip to a buffet. We went to the Gold Nugget because it is on Fremont Street and it was not nearly as good as it was 3 years ago. Bill and I were sad. The kids (including Bill) got to play with their DIY straws. This was a lot of fun and other people at tables near were very jealous.
After dinner we watched the Fremont Experience. It was 70s music in honor of Woodstock. They played American Pie and a Queen one that was several songs. We then headed back to the Bellagio to watch more fountains. We walked through the gardens at the Bellagio and enjoyed the giant frogs and ladybugs made from flowers. Then for a midnight (1am) snack at the BLT in the Mirage (we had seen them on Food Networks, Chef Vs. City).
Saturday we did not have to leave for the airport until 5pm so we wandered over to the Lions and Tigers and Dolphins (oh my!) exhibit at the Mirage. When we were at BLT Burger the night before (having luscious Roasted Marshmallow Milkshakes) we noticed a sign that said “Baby Jaguar” so of course Lex and I knew what we needed to do. We got great pictures and some fun video of the baby and the dolphins. We went back to the hotel and played some Craps. Bill had to teach us since none of us knew what to do. We lost only $40 between the 4 of us that played. Then I played some more electronic Roulette and won back more then the $20 I had lost at craps. Without the $20 I lost playing Craps I would have brought home twice what I gambled. If I was gambling much that would sound really neat but in essence I won $30. Better then losing though. We then headed back to go to the airport and head home.
It was a great trip. I think everyone had fun. I love Vegas and look forward to going back again. I just love the food and the shows and the fun.
The mornings Bill and I had to ourselves since the kids rolled out of bed between 12 and 3pm. When I would refer to “Morning” it was accepted I meant after people got up. Wednesday we decided Lions and Roller coasters were in order. We grabbed the train/light rail thingy down to the MGM and went over to see the Lions after a fabulous lunch at ‘Wichcraft (sandwiches) then over to the NY NY for Roller Coaster time. Jello shots on a hot afternoon sounded good to everyone so we grabbed those on the way back to change for the evening outing.
That evening we were headed off to Cirque de Soliel. After looking over all the restaurants in the area for dinner I decided the Kahunaville looked interesting. Me being the tour guide for the week I figured I would throw suggestions out and if someone had a better idea we could discuss, if not we didn’t all stand around the lobby going “Gee I don’t know, what do YOU want for dinner?”
Kahunaville was perfect. The drinks were fabulous and the atmosphere was cheesy Hawaiian style. The meals were divine. There was Pina Colada chicken, Stir-fries, and excellent salads.
The nice thing about the restaurant was it was directly across from the show room for Mystere. The show was excellent minus the child and his grandmother in the seats behind us that were talking at full volume through the whole show regardless of the shushing of everyone within 10 rows. Side note: I don’t mind children where they belong. A late evening showing of a Cirque de Soleil in Vegas is NOT where they belong. I don’t begrudge the little buggers yapping at the theater during a Pixar film but if you want to take your kid to the ballet, the theater, or Cirque teach them to keep their trap shut for at least 20 mins at a time. If it had been oohhhs or ahhs it would have been one thing but talking about stuff completely unrelated to the show in $130 per SEAT shows is a bit annoying. Thank you very much.
Back on target. The show was cool and I think everyone enjoyed it. There were a couple parts that made me go “WTF?” but I loved the trampolines and the gymnastics and the drums.
Thursday was “Ladies Day” The ladies and Harvey went to the spa and got massages. Harvey decided to skip the facial since he is fully bearded and he didn’t really feel hip on wear makeup and so while the ladies continued their treatments he wandered. We had massages, facials, and full makeup treatments. This took the majority of the day. That evening was Thunder from Down Under. We had decided to do a package deal and so the Limo picked us up at the hotel at 6. We then went to dinner at PF Changs in the Planet Hollywood hotel and then the limo carted us off to the show at the Excalibur where we had front row seats to the show.
The Boys (minus Harvey who decided it would be interesting to go with the ladies) spent the day playing in Poker tournaments. After the show the Boys met us at Excalibur to discuss plans for Friday. This is where things become funny. I had planned to a T the entertainment for the full week minus Friday. I wanted to leave cushion in case people saw something while we were there that they HAD to do. So remember what I said before about dinner? We had 7 people standing around the casino going “Well I don’t know, What do YOU want to do?” I sat back in a slot machine stool enjoying the chaos. There were a number of options. I finally piped up and said the only thing I wanted to do was go to the M&M store and get a new t-shirt. For those that know me I LOVE the M&M shirt I bought in Vegas 3 years ago. It is now a larger size then I generally wear and so I wanted to get a new one. It seemed several people wanted to go to the Aquarium at Mandalay Bay and so we set a ridiculous time to meet Friday morning of 10am. Grin…
Friday morning 4/6 of the group was ready at 10. We decided we could mosey over to the Mandalay Bay while the other 2 got ready. We took the train thingy down to MGM, wandered through the Excalibur into the Luxor. We all stood in awe of the Luxor and I realized that if I had been in the Luxor on my previous trip I would probably have paid the extra to stay there this time. Then on to Mandalay Bay. By the time we arrived at Mandalay Bay the other 2 parts of the part had taken a cab and arrived as well. We went to the Aquarium which was very nice. Not the best aquarium I have ever been to but superior to the Seattle one. They have an area where you are under water and it is built to look like you are inside a Pirate Ship complete with treasure. It was neat and Adam took lots of pictures. They had the most amazing collection of Lionfish I had ever seen and so on the way out the magnet I selected for the trip was a Lionfish.
After the aquarium our group split off as some of us wanted to go to the M&M store and others decided to go to the Pinball Museum. I wish we had had more time, I would have loved to have seen the Pinball Museum. My group wandered back through to the Luxor and we had lunch at the much anticipated Tacos and Tequilas. Since it was so early in the day they did not, in fact, have any Tequila temptresses. We did all buy different types of Margaritas (Apple, Watermelon, Original, and I forget) I decided very quickly that it is NOT tequila that I do not like it is BAD Tequila. Good Tequila is quite tasty, especially when mixed with the proper juices.
The M&M store was fun and we got to see the new 3D movie which was cute. We grabbed new shirts and the boys got boxers (I will have to get a picture of these) and we wandered through the heat (107 GACK) back to Ballys where we got on the tain thingy and returned to the hotel. The group got together that evening and did our one trip to a buffet. We went to the Gold Nugget because it is on Fremont Street and it was not nearly as good as it was 3 years ago. Bill and I were sad. The kids (including Bill) got to play with their DIY straws. This was a lot of fun and other people at tables near were very jealous.
After dinner we watched the Fremont Experience. It was 70s music in honor of Woodstock. They played American Pie and a Queen one that was several songs. We then headed back to the Bellagio to watch more fountains. We walked through the gardens at the Bellagio and enjoyed the giant frogs and ladybugs made from flowers. Then for a midnight (1am) snack at the BLT in the Mirage (we had seen them on Food Networks, Chef Vs. City).
Saturday we did not have to leave for the airport until 5pm so we wandered over to the Lions and Tigers and Dolphins (oh my!) exhibit at the Mirage. When we were at BLT Burger the night before (having luscious Roasted Marshmallow Milkshakes) we noticed a sign that said “Baby Jaguar” so of course Lex and I knew what we needed to do. We got great pictures and some fun video of the baby and the dolphins. We went back to the hotel and played some Craps. Bill had to teach us since none of us knew what to do. We lost only $40 between the 4 of us that played. Then I played some more electronic Roulette and won back more then the $20 I had lost at craps. Without the $20 I lost playing Craps I would have brought home twice what I gambled. If I was gambling much that would sound really neat but in essence I won $30. Better then losing though. We then headed back to go to the airport and head home.
It was a great trip. I think everyone had fun. I love Vegas and look forward to going back again. I just love the food and the shows and the fun.
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