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| My Benvenuto's pizza -- grilled chicken, gorgonzola cheese, peaches topped with an argula salad with a balsamic reduction. OMG... |
The fist night, John was tired from the day's driving. After Benvenuto's, he was asleep in about 20 minutes. A storm started to really blow -- and my smart phone weather alarm went off (I didn't even know it had that feature). The guy on my television channel kept interrupting to show the weather map -- where a tornado could be forming (right over our heads) -- and THEN -- the woman at the front desk called the room to tell me we should take cover in the bathroom.
I thought about the odds. And the fact that I was watching the premiere episode of SCANDAL...and John was sound asleep, snoring away. I decided that as long as the local ABC affiliate was able to keep my show on the air, the least I could do was WATCH it. Besides, how would it look if I went into the bathroom to save myself and left John in his bed to be swept up by a tornado?
The Cheese Tour was a terrific success. We came home with a cooler FULL of cheese treasure...and so far -- everything has been delicious. We got the best tour in the history of cheese tours. (more about that later). We learned so much about cheese...and it is going to be a treat to continue to sample the different varieties for months to come!!
I brought home smoked Gouda for Lillian, and found some Brie for Emily. Ross loves the Muenster and Elliott's favorite is Havarti. So there was cheese for everybody and WE HAD A WONDERFUL TIME.
Although -- the cheese tour was not without it's challenges. After the tornado on Thursday night -- we left early Friday morning. We drove through torrential rain...and the traffic in Madison was at a standstill. We sat in gridlock for 30 minutes...that kind of white knuckle driving is very stressful...
The weather cleared by the time we arrived in Monroe...and we'd been to several places when we heard about the Maple Leaf Cheese -- with award winning Colby/Jack. That was one type of cheese we hadn't yet purchased....so we plugged the address into my Google phone and off we went. 20 minutes of winding back roads brought us to the cheese factory -- where, as it happens -- they do NOT sell cheese or give tours. ugh.
But then -- sitting in their remote parking lot in the middle of nowhere -- this happened....
The car alarm started to go off. And nothing we did would stop it. It was blaring...people were coming out of their homes....the woman inside the factory was getting calls from neighbors, wondering if she called the Sheriff. The rain started up again. Soon it was pouring down. I am sitting in the car on HOLD with the Hyundai Roadside Assistance...and John accidentally figured out that if he hit the LOCK button, the alarm would go off. But then, when he opened his door, it started up again. He pushed Lock and it went off. Then he popped the hood...and the alarm started blaring again. He pushed LOCK and it went off. This process kept repeating itself over and over again. Maybe 30 times....Even John is beginning to lose his cool....There was a bit of swearing....(John almost never curses...)
Meanwhile, I am still on hold....20 minutes with no answer...and I am SO FRUSTRATED...it is MADDENING...I WANT TO PUNCH SOMEBODY...AND THERE IS A WHOLE LOT OF SWEARING INSIDE THE CAR...(because I almost ALWAYS curse). I can't even write the words I was screaming at the cellphone.
A guy from inside the cheese factory offered to get out his jumper cables...but the problem was not a dead battery. Something electrical has gone haywire...and there wasn't even a click when John turned the key...REPEATEDLY...
After sitting there for over an hour...the wind is picking up...the sky is getting dark and the rain is REALLY coming down...
OH MY GOD. I gave up on Hyundai Roadside #800 and instead called the Janesville Hyundai dealership. We'll have the car towed there. They'll charge us several hundred dollars to push a reset button...we'll have to rent a car to drive home. Come back for our car on Monday -- at best. It sucks but at least it's a plan....
As a last ditch effort -- John decided to unplug the battery cables, hoping that would act like a computer reboot...hey -- CAN'T HURT....
He pulled the cables off the battery posts -- and waited for 10 minutes. THEN the car miraculously STARTED. Purred like a kitten as a matter of fact...
THRILL BEYOND BELIEF...we were sooo delighted. Happy, happy, happy....from despair to elation in the blink of an eye...
I cancelled the tow truck and John forced $20 onto the jumper cable man -- who kept insisting he wouldn't take any money -- and we were FINALLY BACK ON THE ROAD.
But the great 2013 John and Rita Wisconsin cheese tour was done. We were afraid to do anything. Afraid to stop for gas. Afraid to turn the car off....Afraid to open a door, Afraid to touch the keypad...at that point -- we just really really wanted to GET HOME...
Two hours after "THE INCIDENT" we pulled into our driveway with a cooler full of cheese, an empty gas tank and a huge sigh of relief.
We were both starved -- and I heated up some crusty bread and we ate three different types of cheese for supper...and we were already laughing about our car alarm incident...
So, all in all, the Cheese Tour was WONDERFUL...
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