Life in Manteca 2

This is a continuation of the previous blog, but is was too tired to finish it last night.

A positive quality of our new life is the park being only a bock away.  The park has a playground structure with slides, a set of swings, and a half court basketball hoop.  It also has a big field which is used for community soccer practices.  We haven't tried our hand at soccer yet, but Caleb and I tok a turn at the basketball hoop, with me winning a game of "22."

Tony likes the playground structure and the swings.  He had a bad experience at the park yesterday however.  I wasn't there as he was with siblings and their friends.  Seems Tony found a good stick to play with.  I guess an older kid said he had just set the stick down and reclaimed it.  Miranda brought Tony home crying.  The good thing is, Tony's tears usually don't last very long. 

I wanted to continue with the restaurant review.  Mostly Manteca has franchised restaurants, but there are some which are unique to Manteca.  Sheri and I tried La Costa, which was recommended to us, but a sign said cash only.  We didn't have enough having given the cash to the kids to go bowling.  While driving around for cash we discovered Las Palmas and ate there instead.

Caleb and I visited the **^ Dairy Queen yesterday.  Dairy Queen is an American staple which seems to be going away.  We had the special, two double cheese burgers for $3.33.  This is more than the double cheese burger at McDonald's.  However it really felt like a double cheeseburger, while at McDonald's it feels like a regular cheeseburger with two patties.  However, my biggest reason for visiting Dairy Queen is the butterscotch dipped cones.  We were informed this Dairy Queen only has chocolate dipped cones.  What a disappointment.  Caleb had a small undipped cone.  I had a medium dipped cone.  The cones were very large.  I would hate to see the large.  It must be hard to carry.

Sheri and I visited ** Taqueria Nayarit while we were this way doing business for buying the house.  It advertised itself as having the best taco in town.  The food was rather tasty, but I give them low marks for the environs.  It seems they were trying to maintain a bar in half of the establishment, and it was hard to keep Tony out of that area.  Also paring was very difficult as it is shared with a hotel.  Sheri did enjoy their food, better than Las Palmas.  For my part I preferred Las Palmas.  I think we are still looking for a favorite Mexican restaurant.

Another lost American restaurant is A&W.  In Lathrop and Tracy there are **** KFC, A&W combinations.  What a fantastic idea.  I love A&W root beer.  I mix it half and half regular and diet for my diabetes.  We visited the store in Tracy so Tony could get some fries the other day.  I went in thinking I wanted chicken, but had a burger instead.  It was very nice.  Funny thing is the cashier thought she recognized me, and when she saw my name on the ATM card asked if I knew Vern Wardle, saying I looked like him.   I took that as a complement.  Vern is a third cousin we know from the Stevens Creek Ward.  We count them as good friends.  She knows Vern from work, not from when he lived in Tracy.  He is in upper management at KFC Harmons.  He enjoyed ouselves, and I took it upon myself to refill everyone's cup when they wanted more root beer.  My only complaint about A&W is their prices are a bit more than other fast-food restaurants.