Tuesday. Not much to report for today. Weather is awful, as forecast, so we have a lazy hour or so at the house then head for Costco to stock up on drinks for the fridge. When we get there it is pouring down so I drop the gang at the entrance, go and park then join them in the dry. We spot this little truck, which I believe is now available at home, and Miley-Rose and Kayleigh think it’s great, so we have to stress that it really won’t fit in a suitcase.
Lydia decides to treat herself to a tablet as they have the Samsung range reduced at the moment, but otherwise it’s mainly drinks we have piled in the trolly. When we get to the checkouts though we remember that our debit cards aren’t recognised here as debit cards, and Costco don’t accept credit cards, so we have a pooling of our cash to pay for our stuff and finish up with a solitary dollar bill in my wallet, and not much more in the girls’ purses. The ATM in the store is broken too! Luckily Lydia has enough cash left to treat us to lunch, and if you’re going to be paying for lunch then Costco is the best place to do it. I must mention that an extra item was on the menu that I’ve never seen before – a BBQ Beef Sandwich, and it was AMAZING. Costco UK, start selling these please.
I dodge the raindrops and bring the van round for everyone to hop in, then a short drive up the Orange Blossom Trail and we’re pulling into Toys R Us at the Florida Mall. It’s pouring down with rain so I drop the gang at the entrance, go and park then join them in the dry. Kayleigh has a purse full of dollars that she needs to spend, so the Barbie aisle is her place of choice. After much swapping of stuff in the trolly she finally decides what she’s buying, and most of her dollars are gone, but many thanks to Aunties and Nana for her holiday spends, she really enjoyed her shopping trip. Once again muggings here brings the car to the entrance........., you get the picture.
And then to the JC Penny car park at the Mall. I always park here just so I’m in familiar territory when it comes to finding the car/van whilst in a post-shopping state of shock. It’s pouring down with rain so I drop the gang at the entrance, go and park then join them in the dry. This is beginning to feel like Groundhog Day. We agree to meet at Macy’s in a couple of hours, then split into 3 groups and head our separate ways. I have no interest in anything so I assume my usual role of bag carrier, only once wandering into an electronics shop to be baffled by the extortionate cost of consumer electronics. When approached by a sales guy I decide to tell him that it can’t be right that clothing is so much cheaper in the States, but consumer electronics so much more expensive for us Brits, yet it must all come from the Far East, probably on the same ship. He writes me off as a waste of his time, doesn’t even bother to respond and heads off to try to convince someone else to spend their money on overpriced kit.
In each shop I check for WiFi, just out of boredom really, and whilst Mrs Dad’s Taxi is stocking up on shoes in Sketchers I’m pleased to get online. I’m less pleased when my email goes ping and I receive a message asking me to sign and return the contract for my new job (which I start a week after we get home) before Thursday or I will miss out on the payroll for a month. I rattle out a reply explaining that not only had I posted it back 5 days ago, I had also scanned it and sent it back by email, so they should have received it twice already. Oh dear, it would appear that my new employer’s HR department could be just as dipsy as my previous one. I promise that I will look for the electronic version as soon as we get back to the villa and re-send it.
As mentioned in reports from my last trip, one thing Hollister do well is their in-store music, so I’m not too worried about being dragged in. In this particular Hollister I’m being herded along like a sheep by the crowd winding their way around the narrow aisles when Mrs Dad’s Taxi thrusts an item of pink clothing at me, parks me in a queue, sorry a line, and tells me to pay for it. She’s going somewhere less crowded. I shuffle along and am far less than impressed when I discover she has parked me in the line for the fitting room. I can assure you this pink jumper wouldn’t have fit me. I manage not to explode and find an equally long line for the checkouts, but at least the girl who serves me is absolutely gorgeous, so there’s a small silver lining to this cloud.
Eventually our meandering brings us to Macy’s
where I finally flex my card and treat myself to a new wallet, my logic for this purchase being that for over 30 years I’ve carried a BBC ID card in my various wallets, and if I’m finally going to take it out and replace it with an ITV ID card, it might as well have a nice new wallet to live in.
And so we all reconvene and head back to JC Penny and the van. Amazing, it has stopped raining, so everyone actually walks to the car.
Having been impressed with our Ponderosa breakfast we decide to give it a try for dinner, but we don’t end up at the same one, we stop at one slightly further East along the 192. The food was fine but the place looked like it had recently hosted a Chimps’ Tea Party. There was food all over the floor, all over unoccupied tables, it was a shambles. Our server left our used plates for ages on the table until we barely had any room. Really unimpressive service. I know I’ve seen some pretty scathing reports on Ponderosa on here, but we’ve usually quite enjoyed them. As I say, the food was lovely, but the setting spoilt the meal. I’ll try to work out which branch was which and report back soon.
When we get back to the villa I fire up the laptop and re-send the scan of my signed contract to the HR people, thank goodness for GMail. And that’s another day done. Weather forecast for the next week is excellent so we’re looking forward to some sun.
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