So, all my dates are gonna be screwed up since I'm so far behind on my blogging, but the days have just been so packed I haven't had the time or energy. In fact, I've been going to sleep earlier and earlier every night except last night. Last night I got to stay up and do the laundry! This hotel had one washer and one dryer for what probably amounts to 300 guests, so it took a while to even get our turn.
We went out to dinner at this awesome restaurant called Carnaval. It's on it's way to being a pretty big national chain, I think, because the concept is so cool and so well-executed. It's basically a Brazillian steakhouse, but you can order seafood or pasta or other regular entrees. However, unless you're vegetarian, I recommend you don't bother with all that. Go for their "Gaucho-Style" dinner. For $25 you get unlimited trips to the hot and cold salad bars (the garlic mashed potatoes knocked my socks off--I had to go back twice for more), and a large, plastic coin that's green on one side, red on the other. Turn your coin over to green and prepare to be bombarded. Waiters with long skewers full of meat--top sirloin, pork chops, prime rib, Parmesan chicken, bacon-wrapped steak of some kind, all out of this world delicious--and warm, cinnamon-dusted pineapple circle the dining room, looking for green coins. If they spy yours, they plop their tray down next to you and proceed to shave off your choice of cut right off the skewer. Every guest gets a pair of tongs to help you take the cut to your plate as the waiter slices it. Plus, they'll bring you plates and plates of coconut-crusted fried bananas. Seriously, if you ever get the chance, you've got to try this place out. Oh, and the bathrooms were GORGEOUS. I felt bad about using them to their intended purpose. The faucets were made to look like old-fashioned water pumps! So cool.
Anyway, we're on the road home, now, and today's going to be an especially long day, so I have plenty of time to catch up on my blogging. We broke camp yesterday morning, partially in the rain, and said goodbye to Lenny and Benny, on their way back to Seattle with Lenny's wife, Lisa. Speaking of Lenny and Benny, I should probably explain the quote in the title of today's entry. Lenny and Benny are friends of Tony and Jap (For those of you who don't know, Jap is, in fact, Japanese, but his initials are actually J. A. P. so it's not a racial slur, I promise.) from Seattle. Lenny is a tall, thin, tow-headed white guy with a wry sense of humor and a really easy-going manner. Benny is shorter than Lenny, but he's a big, sassy black man with quick tongue and slow accent. They are the oddest pair I have ever seen and I love them dearly. One night at the campsite, they were bickering over the day's ride, since Barry had led the group that day, instead of Lenny, who was our fearless leader the first two or three days. Benny was giving Lenny shit about not "respecting his authoritaaay" as leader and Lenny finally just said, "You know what, man, that's it. When I go home I'm gonna find myself a new Black Guy." We all just about fell out of our chairs laughing.
I'm going to try to keep up appearances a little, here, and divide up the posts chronologically, even though the date stamps will be off. Wish me luck. And here's a picture for you: the closest we got to a buffalo all trip!
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