Wifi and RedBox

The other day when we went to McDonalds, we saw a steady stream of people using the Red Box DVD rental machine.  It made me think about how McDonalds has been able to draw people into its stores by offering that service. 

I haven’t used a Red Box yet, but if I were traveling full-time, and couldn’t use Netflix, I would be making use of Red Box, which can be found in a lot of grocery stores and big box stores.  I even saw a sign on the McDonald’s Red Box stating  that used DVDs could be purchased for $5.  I was also happy to see that they appear to offer family-friendly DVDs.

Now McDonald's is offering free wifi at many locations.  This is another timely marketing tool.  People are looking for wifi hotspots and will associate McDonalds with a place where they can use the internet and check email.

And yes, we did see people eating there, too, not just renting and returning DVDs and using their computers!

Amusing Photo

Last evening we celebrated our son, Tim’s, birthday by having dinner with Tim and Kiersten at Pastini Pastaria in Portland.  For those that know Portland, we went to  the Pastini on Broadway near Lloyd Center.  Kiersten and I both ordered the Rigatoni Zuccati which featured roasted butternut squash, wild mushrooms, spinach and rosemary in a light cream sauce. We always enjoy spending time with the two of them. 

I haven’t blogged about Jonathan lately because we were told not to call attention to where he is and what he is doing.  So for those that know, I will just say that he seems to be doing fine.  And for those that don’t know where he is right now (no, he’s not in jail!), he’s still fine.

Our son, Tim, sent us the following amusing picture, which was entitled “Small Aircraft Levels Four Buildings”:

A Few Reflections

First of all, thank you all for the welcome home greetings!  It's been fun to have "followers" along for the journey.  I hope my blog will continue to interest you even when we are not traveling.  For the next few days, I may be writing about some reflections about the trip.

This noon we took our son, Tim, and his wife, Kiersten, out for lunch at a place of their choice.  We had our mail forwarded to their address while we were gone.  They choose Chang's, which turned out to be out of business, so we ended up at BJ's at Jantzen Beach in Portland.  We had a good lunch and a good visit. 

Not raining at the moment, but about to start again.

We hope to see our younger son, Jonathan, one of these days before he starts at the Washington State Patrol Academy in July.  He has one final step left in the hiring process, a physical exam this week.  Since we don't have grandchildren yet, we didn't have to miss anything on that front while we were traveling. 

Some thoughts about our trip:  For being non-gamblers, we spend a fair amount of time at casinos!  We like to check out the casino food, and of course, in Las Vegas, casinos are part of the whole experience.  Many casinos now have RV parks, and the quality of those parks varies as much as the food does.  Usually we are pleased with casino RV parks and they are usually reasonably priced, not counting what we spend eating at the restaurants!

I was always happy to see a Walmart.  I shop at Walmart at home, too, since there is one 1 1/2 miles from our house.  When we are traveling, Walmart is a welcome sight because I know I can usually find familiar brands and items there.  Now that most Walmarts are super-stores, it's truly one-stop shopping without having to hunt all over town for each item I need.  I also look for Safeway stores, but we didn't find many of those this trip.  I don't mind shopping at local grocery stores, but it's frustrating when I can't find the brand or item I'm looking for.  Grocery shopping is a necessary evil when traveling and I don't want to spend all my time tracking down food.  I like to experience local color and local stores, but not at the expensive of other sightseeing.

Chain stores that we are familiar with, like Les Schwab, are nice to find in other areas.  Getting repairs done while on the road is always a hassle, but it's nice when you somewhat trust the store.  Other places, like Kirby's Automotive in Prescott Valley, treated us right even though we weren't repeat customers. 

I always worry that I will run out of books to read on trips.  I loaded the motorhome with paperback books and didn't have time to read most of them!  I spent so much time loading pictures and blogging that I didn't have much time left over to read.  Also, when I'm in a new area, I like to read all about the area so that we don't miss anything.  That doesn't leave much time for escapism-type of reading.  I don't want to escape from the journey, I want to experience everything I can.  Now we need to take a "vegging" type of trip, just to relax!

As we traveled, a few new followers began reading our blog.  We don't know these people, and they don't know us.  But they are fellow travelers, most of them full-time RVers.  We very much enjoyed their comments and their interest in our blogs.  It made us aware that what we wrote about was of interest to others, either because they want to visit those areas someday, or because they already visited or lived in those areas.  I, also, am very interested when people blog about places that I've been or lived.  It makes us feel like we have a lot in common with each other. 

A side note to Ali:  We would love to meet you when you are in Portland--maybe take you out for lunch or dinner?  Click on my profile to get my email address.   If others are going to be in our area, we would love to meet you, too!

St. George's Food (2nd post for today)

It's a good thing that we have been able to get some exercise here in St. George, Utah, because we have been doing a LOT of eating!! 

When we arrived on Thursday, I was a little weary from the several days of traveling to get here from our home in Vancouver, Washington.  When I researched this area before the trip, I noticed that St. George has a Cracker Barrel restaurant.  We don't have those in the Pacific Northwest or in California where we used to live.  We had gone to one in Kansas City, MO in 2000 when we were there for a national chess championship that our son, Jonathan competed in.  We decided that eating at Cracker Barrel would be our reward for arriving safely in St. George.

This picture is for you, Sandy!

On Friday night, we went out to eat with our friends, George and Vickki.  They suggested we go to Gun Barrel, a steak and game restaurant.  It was a great suggestion and the food and service were excellent.  We enjoyed catching up with them.  As Dave mentioned in his blog, George and Vickki took us for a scenic tour after dinner and we saw sunset at Tuacahn and Snow Canyon State Park.  George and Vickki have lived in St. George for 5 years.  We knew them when they lived in Portland and we were all parents of Metropolitan Youth Symphony musicians.

Another setting with red rocks in the background and a beautiful blue sky.

Saturday night, George and Vickki, and our other friends, Terry and Sally, all took us out for dinner at their country club, Bloomington.  The food was excellent and so was the service.  And the view from our table was outstanding.  I'm sorry I didn't get a picture of the view or the country club.

Tonight, Sunday, was our night for dinner with Terry and Sally.  They have lived in St. George for 17 years and lived in our neighborhood when we lived in Grand Terrace, CA before we moved to Riverside.  Many years ago, Dave was a computer consultant for Terry when Terry was a Director of Business Services and Vice-Chancellor at several community colleges.  At their suggestion we went to Texas Roadhouse and had another great meal with great service.  Not all restaurants are open on Sunday night in St. George, but this was an excellent choice and we all enjoyed our dinners. 

One final eating establishment that we just had to visit because it reminded us of California was this one:

This is another chain that we don't have in the Pacific Northwest.

Thus ends our eating adventures in St. George.  Thank you, George, Vickki, Terry, and Sally for your company and hospitality.  We have really enjoyed the nice weather and visits with our friends in St. George, Utah.  We hope to visit this area again!

Tomorrow we leave for the next leg of our trip, Zion and Bryce National Parks.  We will be there for five days.