Dining Out (side)

So, I’m sitting here listening to the smooth stylings of the Electric Light Orchestra’s “Face the Music” album.

The music reminds me of my high school days. I was a big ELO fan. I bought every album I could find, finally ending up with a pretty complete collection. I could never find their second album, but I did score a couple of import albums and a really nice box set. I still have the vinyl disks.

The late 70’s and early 80’s was a good time to be young and independent. Ronald Reagan took the White House; the Soviet Union was falling apart, and I lived in Hawaii.

I was a Soldier stationed at a Navy base on the island of Oahu, and yes, I was a US Army Soldier on a US Navy base. It made for an interesting dynamic, but that is a story for another time.

Back when I was a young Soldier in Hawaii

The best part of being at Barbers Point Naval Air Station, was the day they sent a young sergeant to fix a rotor blade on my CH-47 Helicopter.  

I asked her to go to lunch and some 37 years later, we are still together.

I was a long-distance runner, a certified scuba diver, incredibly bad surfer, and all round out-door kind of guy.

Together, we enjoyed bowling, shooting sports, hiking and especially dining out.

We would wander into Waikiki as often as we could, we had some favorite hangouts, but we were always willing to give a new place a try.

Times have changed, especially in 2020.

Dining out is something of a challenge here in sunny Southern California. We still can’t dine in at most restaurants, but we can dine in tents in the parking lots of local eateries. The issue is we live in the mighty Mojave Desert, where it’s hotter than hell in the daytime.

We did manage to go to the local Outback Steak House the other day for an early dinner. It was a fairly moderate day, little wind and decent temperatures.

The food was good, the service was ok, but I can’t wait to be able to dine inside again.

The Steak and Lobster Tail at Outback

This week we head out to Zion National Park in Utah. I understand that once we leave the boundaries of the Peoples Republic of Kalifornia we may have a bit more freedom.

I can’t wait to see what happens. Oh yeah, “One Summer Dream” is playing right now. A good sign.