If dogs could speak...

Sunday, May 28, 2006

The Pre-Memorial Day Picnic
We had an early Memorial Day picnic yesterday, but not the way we had planned. Let me back up and explain.

For a long time we have been looking forward to a backyard barbeque this coming Monday, which is a combination Memorial Day and symbolic start of the summer. It's been a tough and rainy winter, with more wet days below 60F than we consider acceptable in California. Now the sun is out in full force again, the smell of cut grass is in the air, and generally it is just too nice to be eating inside. If we are going to cook anything, it has to be grilled, and it has to be outdoors. Dogs and people were in complete agreement. Then suddenly it all changed yesterday, and it looks like we won't need that barbeque after all.

We went to Costco to get ready, armed with a long shopping list. Lots of barbeque things on the list, but not only that. Also things for the patio, plants, computer, camera and iPod things for the people, and chew things for the dogs. Dogs by their nature know how to be happy with less. Then we got to the store, and the plan ran into an unexpected glitch. There were food sampling tables at the end of every aisle, tempting the not-so-innocent with tasty morsels and delicious sips of drinks in little paper cups, and the carefully organized shopping project quickly disintegrated into a major food hunt.

There was tri-tip steak, grilled shrimp, tuna salad, artichoke hearts, granola snacks, four kinds of sausage and chicken franks, and three types of chips including my favorite crinkle cut vinegar flavor that burns a hole in the stomach but is indescribably delicious. To wash all that down, they were offering various flavors of ice cream and a cappuccino mix in ice that was better than anything I've had at Starbucks.

We circled the booths like famished vultures, talked with the servers to be polite and keep them distracted while grabbing another piece of the wild salmon with a sneaky underhand motion. For two hours we moved from table to table, sometimes breaking up only to go back for seconds and thirds, but otherwise it was simply time to stuff your face. We recovered just long enough to look at the iPod things, and grab a few dog toys and a rotisserie chicken before it was closing time and we got kicked out. I didn't know until then that an indoor picnic could be as much fun as an outside one, and a lot cheaper.

The consensus this morning is that the dogs are happy with their new toys, and the people still have enough barbeque food left in them until Independence Day. And I feel like there is a wild salmon swimming inside me gobbling down bits of artichoke hearts.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 9:47 PM

Comments:

Oh no, Now what do I do? I had a picnic planned for tomorrow. Should I cancel that and go to Costco instead? Hubby wants to go to Home Depot.

# posted by

Anonymous : 28 May, 2006 16:17

Thanks for the birthday wishes. We had a hot holiday here with temps too hot for any dog-Lab or otherwise. SOunds like you had a great time.

# posted by

HanktheDog : 30 May, 2006 11:14

Mmmm, food is good.

Mmmmm, free food is better.

# posted by

John : 30 May, 2006 21:08

Ah man, I wish we had a Costco here. What a fun day that sounded like!

John - Free food is great. But, as you know, free beer is even better! Does Costco have beer? That would pretty much be the perfect combination. And, may be reason for me to move beside a Costco soon.

# posted by

dogsled_stacie : 30 May, 2006 22:25

We enjoyed that!!thank you
woof~

# posted by

Sam I Am : 02 June, 2006 08:59

Hi WoofWoof,
Would you mind if I added you to our masterlist of 'dog bloggers' over at www.dogswithblogs.com.au ? We would love to have you, and all your friends, there !
Thanks,
LOve Opy

# posted by

Opy - the Original GruffPuppy : 02 June, 2006 18:44

Kristina,
Thank you. You should post more.

Connecticut,
So what did you do? The only way to stop your Hubby from going to Home Depot is to give him a long list of things to do around the house. That will cure him.

Hank,
Thanks. We did have a great time. It's getting hot here too, over 80 deg today. Sorry about the incident at the lake.

John,
Not just free, but this was quality stuff. I used to despise Costco, but feel more neutral toward them now.

Stacie,
Don't move. Costco also means large crowds. You'll go crazy in no time.

Sam,
Thanks for stopping by.

Opy,
You are a great looking Lab. I might have to get a shirt for Dogs Who Blog, or the Cats Suck bumper sticker.

# posted by

Woofwoof : 04 June, 2006 06:35

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