Where did I leave off? Oh yeah:
- January 2nd.
- Cora's here.
- It's freezing wicked cold
We spent the day relaxing. We drove (did I mention it was wickedly cold out?) to the Lincoln Square shopping center area. We looked at wedding rings. I saw a very cool one that was actually 3 rings hinged together so they made a "OOO" kind of thing when you spread them apart. And explained to a 20-Something what a "blog" was. Weird.
Cora and I hit a few more stores, including Quake. And if you're wondering, yes, the guy remembers us.
As the evening dawned (WTF?) we headed for the Drysdale's. Grant Miller was hosting his gala award ceremony at the Hala Kahiki Lounge. Luckily, it was really just down the road about 15 minutes.
Cora and I got there a little before everybody else. I had a Mai Tai. Not it that glass. That's from Bob Chinn's. And I must tell the folks at Hala Kahiki, keep practicing. Cora had a hot chocolate to warm her up. And maybe a smooch or two. That helped us get our blood pumping.
Eventually, the rest of the crowd showed up and we got a table. I, too, forgot to pull out my camera. Epic fail.
Another epic fail? Cora and I didn't realize that the Hala Kahiki Lounge doesn't serve food. Sure, there were pretzels on the table, but seriously? After a few hours, hunger took over, and Cora and I drove off into the tundra in search of food. Unfortunately, every time I tried to turn toward my place, the left turn was denied. Eventually, we ended up all the way down at the Denny's down by Maywood Park Race Track.
And that's when I realized that I left my scarf back at the bar. D'oh!
For being about the only people at the Denny's at 11:30 in the morning off season for the race track, I had to hunt down our waiter to get our bill. Then it was back to the bar, where no one even realized that my scarf was still on the chair.
Sunday was a sad day. But one good thing happened on the way down to state: My car hit "44444". I would try to tell you that I pulled over to take this picture, but as you can see, I was doing 65 mph at the time. But that wasn't the only interesting car bit to happen. As we followed my parents out looking for an antique mall, a cop pulled in between my dad's van and my car. Light's flashing, dad got pulled over. Cora and I pulled into a parking lot up the street while the cop wrote him a ticket.
Moral of the story: If you move, be sure to contact the state to get your plates renewed. They don't forward that stuff.
His plates were 2 years out of date. $75 fine and he had to get a new sticker. Turns out, he came out ahead on the deal.
But then something sad happened. No, not the pink liner of Cora's coat, silly. Dropping her off at the airport. We smooched in the car for about 45 minutes, but then it was time to get her bags checked. The line at the SkyCap was about 300 people shorter than inside, so we braved the cold.
Once again, smooching to stay warm.
Eventually, though, it was time to say, "See you at the end of the month" at the entrance to the security lines, where she disappeared into the throng. She would fade in/out of view, but finally it was fade out.
And she was gone.
But guess what?
Now, this may shock you, but I do hit Taco Bell about once or twice a month. At the one I go to for lunch, the hag who works the counter looks similar to the picture on the left. And she trusts the customers so much that she uses that one special marker to test them.
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