A Pickville Christmas

(image from iUtah)

The Pickleville Playhouse in Bear Lake is a great summer source for fun and entertainment. During the Christmas season, they bring their unique brand of comedy to Logan for Pickleville Christmas. These North Pole musicals are fun and enjoyable for the entire family. This year, Buster the elf (T.J. Davis, who also wrote the musical) leads an always hilarious cast in Once Upon a Christmas, a memorable musical sure to be filled with laughter, romance, intrigue, and some interesting takes on some of your favorite Christmas songs.

The show will run on select dates from November 27th-December 23rd at the USU's Eccles Conference Center. Tickets can be purchased just for the show itself (Adults=$15.95, Kids [age 11 and under]=$9.95), or you can purchase tickets that include a buffet dinner before the show catered by the Copper Mill restaurant (Adults=$30.95, Kids [age 11 and under]=$17.95).

So come enjoy a new Cache Valley holiday tradition, where you can use the buffet to fill up your belly, then shake while you laugh like a bowlful of jelly.

More information and tickets available HERE.

Cache Valley Gift Basket

Chris recently received a gift basket as a thank you for speaking at a local conference. The basket was filled to the brim with all sorts of goodies from Cache Valley.

With so many gift giving opportunites coming up, maybe it's time to think local for your next hostess gift, care package, or holiday neighbor gifts.This basket contained Pepperidge Farm Chessman, Goldfish crackers, Wheat Crisps, and raspberry Milano cookies; Deverle's All-Purpose Seasoning; a sampler of Cox Honeyland honeys; Bluebird chocolates; Caspers Salad dressing; a mug from The Beehive Grill; and a yummy candle from Scentinal.

With so many food production operations in Cache Valley, it's easy to fill up a basket with local treats. The options significantly increase if your gift giving allows for perishible food items: bread, cheeses, ice cream, and local produce.

Any other Cache Valley foods that top your list? If you moved away, what would you crave the most? Any non-food specialties from Cache Valley that you live for? Let us know!

Paradise Valley Orchard

In picturesque Paradise, you will find the charming Paradise Valley Orchard. They have apples and pumpkins, U-pick. Fresh eggs and apple cider pressed on site are also available.
Experience picking your apples off the tree, as chicken run free through the orchard, and the thrill of finding the perfect pumpkin from the patch.

Price List
Directions
Hours

AWHC

If you haven't visited the American West Heritage Center in Wellsville, tomorrow is your chance! Get your fall on at their Farmtastic Fall Celebration. And if you have been, it is time to go back-for free. In conjunction with Smithsonian Museum Day 2009 you can visit for free! Go here to print out your ticket. Hours are 1-5 pm and the ticket doesn't include the corn maze.

We aren't sure if this will work in addition to the free entrance, but here is a Free Ride Coupon. Hey, it is worth a shot.

Logan River/Golf Course Trail

I just discovered the gem of the Logan River/Golf Course Trail. Winding through the Logan River Golf Course and along the river and under a canopy of trees the 1.5 mile trail is a great place for jogging, biking, or strolling. Dogs are allowed on leash and please pick up after them.
The trail is marked with signs, and as long as you follow them you won't have to share the trail with golf carts. The trail is dotted with plaques of the planets in our solar system. The planets are spaced along the trail relative to their distance in space. Who knew Neptune was so far out there?


You will find the entrance to the trail on Golf Course Rd at about 300 W. The other end of the trail comes out on HWy 91 by the train tracks.

Andy's Resaurant

2095 N. Main St. (North Logan)

Andy's Restaurant is a new burger place in North Logan, located right next to the Black Pearl. The sign out front says "Burgers-Fries-Steaks," but there are no steaks to be found (unless you count the chuck steak in the hamburgers). The napkins say "Burgers-Fries-Shakes," which is more accurate, so it makes me wonder if the sign maker made a rather glaring mistake on the front sign.

The things I like most about Andy's are the reasonable prices and the fact that you can get a high-end burger (like a bacon & swiss) for less than $0.50 more than a regular burger. When my wife and I went, we got two burgers and one combo meal (drink & fries), which is enough food for us. And it came out to just over $10, which I think is a pretty decent deal.

The burgers themselves are pretty good. They remind me of the perfect juicy, backyard barbecue-grilled burger. The fries are always hot and well-seasoned, and they come equipped with some great fry sauce. In addition to burgers, Andy's also offers chicken strips and chicken sandwiches. The onion rings and milkshakes also look delicious, but we haven't taken the opportunity to try them yet.

So if you have the opportunity to give Andy's Restaurant a try, go ahead and give it a shot. Let us know how you like it!

Autoplex

1840 North Main St. (North Logan)

About a year ago, I became a member of the "Raise the Bar (RTB) Car Care Club" at Autoplex Auto Repair in North Logan. Sounds pretty fancy, right? You become a member by purchasing a brochure from a door-to-door salesman. The brochure includes 6 Lube, Oil, and Filter service coupons and 9 other free or reduced rate service coupons. You pay a lump sum for the brochure that equals out to a rate significantly reduced from their regular charge, since you are kind of purchasing in bulk. The name of the program, "Raise the Bar Car Care Club," also implies to me a kind of special, elite treatment for being a loyal customer. However, as I have came to find out, that is quite opposite of the truth.

A few months ago, I called to set up an appointment to have my car serviced, using the instructions given in the coupon brochure:

1. Call for an appointment
2. Identify yourself as an RTB Car Care Member
3. Bring this card with you!

Upon identifying myself as an RTB Car Care Member, I was told that all of their appointments were full for almost two weeks. So I scheduled the first appointment available - two weeks out. And when I arrived for that appointment, I was told that I was not on the schedule. They did take my car and perform the service anyway, but it was annoying that I scheduled an appointment two weeks in advance and then I wasn't even scheduled in their system.

I called again on Friday last week to schedule another service appointment. After telling them that I was an RTB Car Care Member, I was told that, because of the 4th of July and the upcoming 24th of July,* a lot of people had booked appointments and I would not be able to get in for almost two weeks. As I set up the appointment and hung up the phone, I wondered what would happen if I weren't a member of the "elite" RTB Care Care Club. So I decided to find out.

On Monday, I called again to schedule an appointment. The person on the phone asked if I was an RTB Car Club member, and I told him I was not. His response?

"I can get you in tomorrow at 2pm or 3pm, what would work best for you?"

I told him I would check my schedule and get back to him, and then hung up.

You would think that a program like the RTB Car Care Club is designed to create loyal and consistent customers. But after seeing how Autoplex treats their loyal "Car Care" members, I certainly will not return. At least, not after my 6 car servicing coupons are used up!

PS I haven't been too impressed with the quality of the servicing either, or the dirtiness left behind in the car after it is complete.

* Pioneer Day - a Utah holiday