For a long time we had been planning to spend the month of September in Park City, Utah. But then we realized that the Air Force Marathon is smack dab in the middle of September, so we decided we would just spend a week and a half there. But then we learned that, sure, Greg might technically not have classes during that month, but he would be a freaking fool if he didn't use the time to work on his thesis. So we're not going to Utah. We had hoped to visit friends and family, so we were a little sad we wouldn't be going.
Then we learned from my mom that there is now a Cafe Rio in Park City. Now we're really sad we're not going. Is is possible that my real motivation for making the Mormon pilgrimage to Utah is not friends, family, my alma mater, or even Temple Square...but Cafe Rio?
Yes. It's possible.
Hey, I still have my card--it might be 5 years old--but I still have it and I only need three more stamps to earn a free meal! (And, by golly, when I get that third stamp, even if it's twelve years from now, they sure as heck better let me redeem my card, or there's going to be a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth.) And to those of you in Utah who are itching to tell me that Cafe Rio is no longer the it place like back in '01 or that the food has gone to pot now that there are 5,000 locations, keep it to yourself. If you tell me that Cafe Rio is now crap, then what reason would I have for coming to Utah? I'd never see you again! I don't want to hear one complaint about Cafe Rio. For just one of your Cafe Rios, I would trade all the grody Skyline Chiles in the entire Buckeye State...plus my firstborn child...plus my second born child. (A Cafe Rio and no kids! A bargain for me, I'd say.)
So, yes, for years, years, I have been craving a pork barbacoa salad with creamy tomatillo ranch dressing. Do you have any idea how hard it's been? (I went through two pregnancies with that craving.) And, still, no end in sight.
Oh, well...I guess I'll just have to hang on to that card a little longer.
Chili sandwich anyone?
P.S. Okay, so I've never even eaten at a Skyline Chile, so I don't really know if it's grody. It just sounds unappetizing to me--a fast-food joint that serves chili and cheese over spaghetti? And I don't even know if they are an Ohio thing.
P.P.S. For those of you who would suggest that the kids and I fly out to Utah without Greg: Why would I want to spend 2 grand to travel half-way across the country with a loose-canon three-year-old and an actively mobile baby only to play the single mom once I get there? No thanks. Not even the tortilla soup can persuade me on that one. Greg and I aren't enjoying 18 months of full-time-student/no-military-deployment bliss only to spend it apart. I'll have more than my fair share of single-mom-ness come graduation.
P.P.P.S. My one consolation here in Ohio? Graeter's! Gloriously gourmet ice cream...introduced to me at the perfect time, when I was nine months pregnant. (Thank you, Rebekah.) I suppose every state has its perks.
