Free Slurpees Are The Best Slurpees!

7-11  Free slurpee day!  We ran down the road, got our free slurpees and were back home in our backyard slurping away in under 10 minutes today.

7-11-2012 was a much different experience.  

It was an adventure. 

We were in Palmdale, CA.  Daddy was working and the 4 of us kids were hanging out at the hotel, mostly swimming.  Palmdale is a nice enough town, but there really is not much to do to entertain 3 young children in the dead heat of summer.  So I thought a free slurpee would not only be a good treat, but a good errand to run.  

Wellll, no one could tell us exactly where the nearest 7-11 was.  I 'Yelped' it, and it wasn't too far.  In the swag wag went.  Easy enough, right?  We were like the Israelites wandering out in the California desert.  What should have been a quick trip ended up taking an hour or more.  Finally found the 7-11 in a bit of a sketchy neighborhood.  Would have just kept on driving, but since we had been driving entirely too long to get there I was not going to let a few dodgy characters deter me.  No siree.  There were free slurpees to be had, darn it.

Upon entering the quaint little 7-11 we queued into something rivaling a Six Flags line, snaking up, down and around the aisles, everyone just waiting for that sweet free slurpee to touch our lips.  I'm thinking this must be a cruel and unusual joke.  This line must be fast moving.  All these people would not really be standing here in this ridonky-donk long line for a slurpee, would they??  So we stood.  And we stood.  And we stood.  Yes, me and my 18-month old squirming in my arms, along with my 4 and 6 year old.  Waiting for a free slurpee. 

But by now we were at the point of no return.  How could I turn around and go back to the hotel, empty handed?  I could not!  Machines were running out, sticky juices were exploding through the air, and we waited it out.  That's right.  We got a tiny little sample cup full of the one flavor they had left, but we got it.  We walked out of that 7-11 with our little bitty sample cups held high!  Our heads, not so much.

If I remember, all 3 kids fell asleep on the long ride back, albeit a much shorter ride than the one there.  And I passed a 7-11 about 10 minutes from the hotel.  Oh, the memories.

Long live 7-11 free slurpee day!