Sunday Adventure

I asked Gary for some help with a project yesterday afternoon. I'm working on an event for a client and it's themed to NASCAR racing. Gary was helping me with NASCAR jargon to use in the marketing materials. He was telling me about "hot pits" and "silly season" and all the different flags, when suddenly he said, "Bring your notepad and let's go." I asked where and he insisted it was a surprise. Those kinds of surprises usually lead us to Home Depot, Sears or Pep Boys, or once in a great while to our son's home to see the grandchild. Not this time. In the truck on the 405 Freeway North, I kept asking for clues, but got none. However, he kept up the dialog about all things NASCAR and I took notes (that are a bit hard to read due to the bouncing truck). When we passed LAX airport I stopped trying to guess where we were going, although I did believe it had something to do with car racing. WRONG. Gary was simply in the mood for a hot dog from Pink's famous hot dog stand on La Cienega. We drove 60 miles to stand in line for over an hour for a chili dog. Hey, it was not dinner at Morton's, but I'm not complaining. It certainly was a surprise and we enjoyed the NASCAR brainstorm session during the ride. If he'd asked me to go with him to Pink's I would have exclaimed, "What are you - crazy? Not in the Sunday traffic. Nuh-Uh." This way, he got his hot dog, I had a good partner for my brainstorm session and we spent the day together. I welcome your suggestions on where to take him for a similar kind of surprise because he knows he owes me one.