A Saturday away

We spent the strangest day in Pocatello today. The mini-van had to have some recall work done, and there is, of course, no KIA dealership in Twin Falls. So... off to Pocatello we go. We've actually been putting this off for awhile because gas prices have been so high.  A trip to Poky at $4.09/gallon adds up to something like $50. At $1.45 it's more like $18. Quite the difference.

Anyway, we decided we'd take the family and make a day of it. The dealership estimated it would take 3 or 4 hours, so we thought we'd hang out at the mall, get a bite to eat, see a movie, and be done. It turns out that that is exactly what we did, but we didn't count on the temperature being in the teens (and well below that with the wind chill) with drifting snow. With no car (it's in the shop, recall), we're afoot with a two year old and a four year old (in a stroller really), not to mention the 7, 10, and 12 year olds. Who knew a four-wheel drive stroller would actually be a good idea on a day like today. The walk from Wal-Mart to the theaters, which would be a 1-minute drive, literally, took a good 15 minutes and we were walking directly into a biting wind. The babies were howling by the time we got 100 feet. Needless to say, they were fit to be tied by the time we reached the theater. 

On the bright side, however, the movie we saw was pretty good. I didn't have high hopes for Bolt, but it wasn't half bad. The 3D glasses were actually comfortable and the 3D effect was quite good. The movie was clever, funny, and had a reasonably entertaining story. I even forgot, from time to time, that John Travolta was giving the main character his voice. 

Mark Walton, who has done some voice work in a couple of other animated films (Chicken Little and Home on the Range), gave voice to the hamster character. Funny stuff. I hadn't paid attention to him before, but he's a Utah boy, apparently. Born in Salt Lake, schooled at USU, which is a whisker better than being a zoobie. Well done, Mark.