There's a blizzard in the forecast

Today I'm celebrating the 25th anniversary of the Dairy Queen Blizzard. This week from April 19-25 DQ has a special on the Blizzard -- Buy One Get One for 25 cents. I can predict with great confidence that there will be blizzard in my immediate future.

DQ is a favorite treat in our family. I don't visit DQ often. However, our family takes lots of road trips. We go to the Rio Grande Valley once or twice a year and cross country to the family farm during the summer. Along the way on each trip, it's a tradition to stop at a DQ.

On my last Thanksgiving trip to the Valley we stopped at the DQ in Premont, Texas for a brief break and ice cream treat. However, our trip was delayed when my Murano would not start. We were stuck at the DQ! We soon determined that it would not likely start without some attention from a professional. When arriving, the tow truck driver commented about strange it was that I replied "Great, thanks, how are you?" to his greeting. Both my brother and I discussed on the way the blessings of the day. This minor inconvenience was no big deal at all, things could have been much worse. After all, I have AAA service, and it covered free towing of my car all the way to my Mom's hometown over 80 miles away. I was traveling with my brother and his family, and I simply just piled my stuff into his truck and we continued to my Mom's house. I was able to Google from my Palm Treo the phone number of the dealership in my Mom's hometown, where I had originally purchased the car. They were waiting for it when it arrived. We broke down at a DQ! If you're going to be stuck for an hour and a half with 2 kids and a dog, that's a pretty good place to be. We could have been stranded on I37 or Hwy 281, miles from nowhere. Plus, the tow truck driver arrived earlier than estimated. And, because we traveled on a Tuesday, the dealership was able to fix the car the next day and it did not impact our travel plans back home.

However, after that experience, the kids would say, "Don't stop at the DQ -- we don't want to be stuck at the DQ!" Knowing how much DQ is a part of our family trips, during Christmas in the Valley I decided that I needed to fix the fear of the DQ. After a fun family evening of Mexican Bingo, I energetically yelled after 'winning the pot' at the end, "Blizzards for Everyone!" We then all loaded up in the Murano and headed for the local DQ. The DQ door was locked and the nephews frantically screamed, "Hurry get in the car, the drive thru is still open!" Everyone thought that we had just arrived at closing time and would not get the ice cream treat after all. We later learned that only one of the two doors was locked! Anyway, we made it to the drive thru with our long order of a small dip cone, a medium dip cone, a large chocolate shake, a waffle cone, and three different blizzards. Someone usually tries the newest blizzard offered, but I get the same one every time. For me, throw some M&Ms in some ice cream with chocolate and I'm very happy. We enjoyed the treat, laughing while describing the newest DQ adventure when arriving home.

Hey, don't forget about the special this week. And, if you're wondering what you're going to do with your second blizzard, I'm always up for a trip to the local DQ! If you get this Blizzard special, post me a comment and tell me your favorite flavor! Enjoy!