Desert Adventure — Sunday

Sunday morning we decided to check out the new Sam's Club that had just opened up just over two weeks ago. It's also where Tim's mom and dad recently got part time jobs to keep them occupied in their retirement. It turns out that Tim's dad is pretty popular among the employees there.


It was my first time at a Sam's Club; we're Costco members, however. (11/20/05)

It was actually a very nice store. Nicer than I had expected it to be. I was picturing it to be like Wal-Mart, which I hate. But it was nicer than than. And we were there at the height of free sample time of day, so I got to try a variety of different foods. We ended up walking out with a few things, including a couple of bottles of wine, tissue paper and gravy mix (don't ask).


Tim's dad is seen here threatening to throw out an unruly customer ... who coincidentally happened to be me! :) (11/20/05)

After saying bye to Tim's grandmother we headed back to California. But not before stopping to do something I've always wanted to do, but never had the chance until today: Go to a SONIC drive-in restaurant chain.

Sonic is kind of a rarity in California, although there are 28 branches there according to the Sonic website (compare that to the 838 locations in Texas, however).


On our way back to California, we stopped at Sonic — my very first time eating there. (11/20/05)

I had been wanting to go to a Sonic ever since I learned that Kelly Clarkson used to work at a Sonic in her home state of Texas. Tim, on the other hand, wasn't thrilled with the idea. What convinced him was when I asked if he would rather spend a half-hour at Sonic, or rather spend four hours in a car with me bitching about how he wouldn't let me go to Sonic. Guess who prevailed? :)

It was an interesting experience. I liked the fact that you can get Tater Tots with your meal instead of traditional fries. And the car-hop service was definitely an experience that everyone should do at least once. But to be honest, I don't think it's something I ever need to do again.


The look on Tim's face says it all: "I can't believe James made me go to Sonic." (11/20/05)

I realized that eating in the car creates all sorts of logistic challenges, like where do you put the dipping sauce for your popcorn chicken? I guess I really missed having a table. But I'm definitely glad we did it. And that's one more thing I can cross of my list of things to do in my lifetime.