Through a series of unfortunate events (flat tire) to kick off our camping trip, we ended up eating out a couple unforseen times. We had a repeat visit to
Carino's. On the return trip, we also essentially visited
Taste of Tacoma again by visiting the Bite of Seattle on the way back. I will say the reviews on the lobster ravioli at Carino's and the skewers at Pho Cyclo cafe dropped. Maybe it's because we pretty much just had them and didn't have time to miss them. Whatever the reason, neither was the stand-out it was the first time around. That's always sad. The good news at the Bite was that we were starving and able to get tickets to the Tom Douglas Alley which featured a number of local restaurants none of which I remember because I was SO hungry I didn't even stop to think about the amazing food I was diving into (pastrami sandwich and a meatball were a couple stand-outs. Plus the spaetzle, which was good even with the mushrooms. Yes Mom, I said that).
The other quick trip on the way out though, was Costco! Ahhhh, Costco... the only place I know where you can get a TV, a mocha, Cougar Gold cheese, a billion pencils, your kindergartner's backpack, and a slice of pizza...
Restaurant name: Costco
Food type: Cheap and fast
Category: Don't even need to look at the menu (even though it's huge and right in front of you)
Location: Kirkland, Washington
Reason for dining out: Waiting for a tire patch before camping for the weekend
Bonus features: It's fast, it's cheap, it's pretty good... and I had no idea you could get pepperoni pizza at 10:00 a.m., but apparently you can!
Food ordered: Pepperoni pizza (The Guys also had a churro and The Critic got an ice cream bar to share with them, but I just ate 1/4 of the pizza). I also had a mocha. It was not very good (but come on... $1!!!).
Items of inspiration: When it's this cheap, just get it from them.
Chance of repeat visit: Absolutely! Especially if we blow another tire on a camping trip and have to be *those* people who unload half their worldly belongings on the side of the freeway long enough to get to the full-sized spare.
Have I mentioned how cool it is that The Guys have amazing attitudes about travel... especially changes in plans? We ended up missing the ferry to Orcas Island that we were planning to get. The bonus? Italian sodas at the ferry dock while waiting. And getting a pass on cooking dinner at the campsite on night one. The rest of the camping trip, by the way, was phenomenal. We survived the rainy Saturday morning and all had a good time the rest of the weekend. I even caught a fish! Well, it was more of a "fish". And while it has absolutely nothing to do with dining out, the story is a pretty good "fish" tale. So here goes...
The Critic used to fish with his dad when he was a kid and looks forward to the same activity with The Guys. Never really understanding the draw, I've politely waited in the wings far away from a 3-year-old's access to true lures and hooks. Yikes. On this trip, it seemed necessary to offer an assist so I tried my hand at casting. And I did pretty well! I found I did a better job backhand than forehand or overhead. Kind of hard to practice with so many people in such a little space too. And did I mention these are real hooks? I'm not a big fan of things that can lodge in your skin and need to be surgically removed. And while we're at it, I should also probably mention that while I love *eating* fish, I'm not especially fond of *touching* fish. Or worms. Or anything that's slimy, or wiggly, or floppy, or... okay, you get the idea.
The point is, those few casts were actually FUN! And I began to be as sad as any of us that we hadn't caught anything. Not one little nibble. I suggested we go out after dinner before s'mores and try again. That didn't quite work out but we did go after s'mores. But then The Little Guy was tired and wanted to go to bed, so I put on my mommy hat and put away the fishing pole.
Fast forward a bit to about 5:30 a.m. There was, ahem, some snoring by two unnamed male people in my tent and a bit of sleep shifting which kind of edged me out. Not sure how to pass the time, I began thinking it'd be fun to practice casting without Guy distractions. So I grabbed one of their poles and headed to the spot we tried the night before.
On the way, I had a thought. What if I actually caught something. I nearly turned back, but remembered how we didn't catch a thing the day before and quit worrying. I headed to the spot that was about a 5 min. walk from our site and cast. A good cast, too. Overhead! Yay. I'm not too bad at this. And as I pulled in my line, I saw a very small little fish dart among the rocks. In my head, I suggested he not be so stupid as to attach himself to my line. We'd been getting snags on the seaweed the night before so I was going to try and calm my fears if I got that tug on the line that told me I'd got something. I cast again (so this is my second cast). Again overhead. Again a good cast! I'm feeling great and reel in the line. No tug (thank goodness) and I pull up the line.
You have GOT to be kidding me.
Or, "Craaaaaaaaaaappppp" as the word actually rang through my head.
I don't know if it was the same stupid fish who didn't listen to me mentally tell him to stay off my line or not, but the dumb thing was about 4 or 5 inches long and very much attached to the hook on the end of my line. And it flopped. And I kept wishing it off my line. Finally, I decided I had nothing left to do but get it off, somehow, preferably without touching it or killing it. Or impaling myself with that stupid hook. I reach out my hand....
And the stupid fish gets some smarts, flops up one way, and jumps off the line! Hooray!!!! I didn't have to touch it after all! I began laughing in my head at myself... I have a fish story about "the one that got away" and I could not be more thrilled!!! I promptly headed back to camp with my fishing pole, put it away, and headed back to bed for a bit more sleep.
So sadly, that's the only fish caught on this trip. Hopefully The Critic will be with me next time and I can catch something I'll be proud of and he can do all that icky stuff for me. Better get, I can experience the joy of seeing The Guys reel one in... and we'll hope it's a big one that doesn't get away that time.
