Smile-breaks
Mis-Adventures keeps on tripping
So here I am, standing outside of my locked car in the parking lot of the Best Western Plus hotel, peering through the window. Yep! There they are: The keys I left behind. It's getting kind'a dark. It's not that I haven't been in this situation before. I know exactly what to do.
You know that app on your phone that unlocks your car? Well, I've got one. I opened the app, unlocked the door, grabbed my keys and calmly re-parked the car, nearer to my room. No big deal.
The next day my destination was Sandy, Utah, a few miles south of Salt Lake City. It was about lunch time when I saw the sign inviting travelers to stop at the Crazy Cow Café in Beaver. Wow! How could you NOT go to a Crazy Cow Café? I had to do this.
Figuring it'd be an old, slightly run-down café, but interesting, I took the exit listed on the sign and drove slowly, looking at both sides of the street, but I didn't see any Crazy Cow Café. I kept driving and soon I was in the middle of town. There were several cafes, but none of them were Crazy Cows. I did what everyone does these days—I consulted my GPS. Oh! Back the way I came… the café was right off the freeway. I found it—it was set way back from the road. And it was refreshingly new!
Lunch was delicious. The gift area was tantalizing—I came out with a few gifts and did something I never do. I bought a black V-necked Crazy Cow Café t-shirt, with the full intention of actually wearing it. I never wear t-shirts with writing on them. But Crazy Cow? And it was only in fine print. . . Remember this t-shirt—it plays a starring role in my next Mis-Adventures tale.
After settling in that evening, in Sandy, I went to dinner at The Olive Garden in a mall a few blocks from the Cotton Tree Inn, where I was staying. You could almost see the blue and white hotel sign from the mall. Later, happily stuffed with spaghetti, I got in the car and drove around to the mall entrance, then turned right to head back to the hotel.
It was taking longer than I expected. I couldn't see blue and white sign anywhere. After forever, I realized something was wrong. The hotel hadn't moved. I had. I pulled over into a dark industrial park, under the only security light in sight, and turned on my GPS. Kind'a scary. GPS told me to turn around and go back four miles. I should've turned left out of the mall, not right.
Saved by the GPS! I slept well that night. Didn't even lock my keys in the car. The next morning I headed toward Salt Lake City, where I'd booked a Trolley Tour. At the pickup area, in front of Hotel RL, I shared a bench with a tall, gently-rounded, white-haired fellow with a cane resting by his side. He was waiting for the VA van to take him to the hospital for neurosurgery to hopefully end the pain in his arm from previous neck surgery. He'd come from Sheridan, Wyoming, as he had many times in the past for other surgeries. We became well acquainted in a short fifteen minutes.
As I got on the trolley, I wished him well and offered prayers—as he did me. I will remember him forever. He was the second special person on my trip, the credit card guy being the first. The trolley tour was fine; nothing special, but a good time. Salt Lake City seems an old city. I prob'ly won't be back. See you next week. Remember the T-shirt. . .
