GGGAAARRRIIILLLLLL

We're beginning our vacation in Kansas staying with good friends.  It's a weekday and though my friends have to work they've given us free range of their house.  Bird and I felt it would be nice if we could plan and prepare dinner for them.  So we rounded up the children, kenneled the pets, and headed to the grocery store.  The rest we'd figure out as it came.

The first problem came before we even left the house.  How do we secure the house and still manage to get back in?  None of us considered that we might want to leave.  Rather than leave the front door open I decided to simply disconnect and leave unlocked one of the overhead garage doors.  Security by obscurity so-to-speak. I'd get the garage door code from Richard later.

The local Hy-Vee was easy enough to find so we started grabbing some quick snack items - red licorice, cheese squares, etc...  Now what should we do about dinner?  Well, it's pretty nice out so we could just grill something and grab chips and such.  That'd be nice and easy.  "Oh wait, do they even have a grill?" we wondered.  Bird suggested I call Richard.

I was transferred to his voicemail immediately (he must be in a training class) so I left a message, "Hey Rick.  Two quick questions.  What's your garage door code and do you have a grill?  We're not at the house currently."  We made the assumption they did have a grill and bought a bunch of hot dogs and brats.  After wrapping up the shopping we headed back.  Just as we left the parking lot I got a call back from Richard and we had a brief conversation:

Me: Hello

Rick: Hey, I got your message.  The code is #-#-#-# and I'm not sure I even wanna know why you need my drill...?

Me: Grill - G - Goat

Rick: Huh? 

Me: The letter G as in Goat.  GGGAAARRRIIILLLLLL...

Rick:  Oh!  Good, that makes a lot more sense.  I was wondering what could have possible happened already that you'd need a drill for.

Me: Well, actually I already used your drill, but we were planning to cook some hot dogs for dinner and wanted to make sure you had a grill.

Rick: Sounds good.

Me: Catch you later.

So we got back, hooked the garage door back up to the track, put the groceries away, and realized we forgot the hot dog buns.  Jeesh.  Bird made a 2nd trip to get the buns.  While she was out Richard got home and we got the grill out.  Then I asked, "Do you have any charcoal?"  He reply was, "Good question."  I quickly called Bird who had just checked out at the store, but Richard appeared with a small bag of charcoal and lighter fluid...false alarm.  "Nothing hun, see you soon."

Now the charcoal is good and ready so I go to grab the meat and I find the brats but I'm missing three packages of hot dogs.  The search ranges from the car, through the garage, and the entire path to the kitchen before finishing in the fridge and freezer.  No dogs!  WTF?!  Having no idea what happened to the hot dogs Bird grabbed the receipt and ran back to the store for the 3rd time.  They were nice enough to listen to her story and gave her replacements for free!  Very unexpected but also very nice.  A shining example of Southern hospitality.

Everyone got fed and even though we're from out-of-town we're on a first name basis with several employees at Hy-Vee.  And Richard still hasn't asked what I actually used his drill for...!