Wednesday, July 17, 2013

The Best Day Ever (for a certain pair of beagles)

  Hi Everyone! It’s Daisy and Baxter filling in with another guest blog for Hank. Hank’s lucky we’re doing any blogs for him since he made us miss our half birthday writing about Okoboji (We wrote about it here). I know, Daisy…no one sent us any beef sticks or any other presents for our half birthday. I was so sad…but then we had such a great Fourth of July that we needed to tell all our readers about it! Fourth of July started at 4:30 in the morning like always when we woke up but instead of Hank walking us a few blocks and Kathy going out for an hour… They both took us to Jiffy for some beef sticks!! YUM!!! I knew we would be getting some when Hank only put on his weekend clothes instead of what he wears when he leaves for the whole day. But what neither of us could know at the time was that July 4th was going to be the day we got four beef sticks each AND we would be doing our 2013 beef stick review of all the stores we go to for beef sticks.

First stop : Jiffy at 5:00 am!!

  Since it was a Thursday, Dot was at the Jiffy and not Vince or Cody. The Jiffy serves the Jack Links brand of beef sticks. When we go to the Jiffy during the day and it’s really hot, Hank gets us a cup of ice with water to help keep us cool. The Jiffy has ice cubes which are hard to eat. I prefer crushed ice myself. Most of the time Hank gets a cup of coffee but since it has been so hot, he got a soda for himself along with our beef sticks. Just like always, the Jack Links from the Jiffy are very solid and sometimes they are a little dried out. But on the day of our taste test, they tasted great!! YUM!! I agree that the Jack Links beef sticks have been excellent lately, but I’ve been very disappointed with the Jiffy Parking lot because there’s hardly any vomit or garbage to scrounge lately. Between that and the ice cubes I’m giving the Jiffy 3 paws. I always thought getting garbage or vomit was a bonus but now that I think about it we really should get a little something extra out of our longest walk and this past Saturday morning the Jiffy didn’t have ANY beef sticks so I’m giving the Jiffy 3 paws also.

Jiffy – 3 paws 

Beef sticks and ice cold water go together perfectly at Kum & Go.

When we got back home, Kathy took a nap and Hank played with his computer while we slept. At 9am, we took our normal walk with Kathy over to the cemetery and back but since Hank came with us, instead he heading back when we got to the cemetery, we kept walking along the cemetery until we got to the Kum & Go. The Kum & Go also has Jack Links beef sticks and they never run out of them. When we got there, Hank got us 2 beef sticks, a 79 cent twenty ounce soda for himself and a big cup of ice water for us! When it’s hot out there’s nothing as good as a big cup of ice and water to go along with our beef sticks! YUM!! I love beef sticks and ice water. Kum & Go beef sticks are the Jacks Links brand just like the Jiffy but since they are busier their beef sticks are always fresh and best of all Kum & Go gives us crushed ice!! Crushed ice is easier for me to chew than the ice cubes we get at the Jiffy and that and the ice water really cools me down on a hot day. I’m giving the Kum & Go 4 paws. I like the crushed ice too and since the beef sticks are always so fresh I’m giving the Kum & Go 4 paws too. I’d give them 5 paws if I could!

Kum & Go – 4 paws 

Casey's General Store has a wide selection of cold drinks and Old Wisconsin beef sticks!!


Big dog Spike
We took another nap until around noon while Hank and Kathy watched TV and at noon we took our normal walk that is two square blocks southeast past Spike the big dog, but this time Hank and Matt came with us! When Hank comes with us on our noon time walk that means we’re probably going to slip another block east to…Casey’s General Store! We don’t go to the Casey’s very often. We tried to go to it last year and they didn’t have any beef sticks. I was so sad that day. We didn’t even try to go to the Casey’s for a long time but earlier this year we gave them another chance and they haven’t been out of beef sticks since. Casey’s has a big parking lot so we can stay out of the way of the traffic and they have Old Wisconsin beef sticks. Old Wisconsin beef sticks have more water than Jack Links. That makes them less chewy and greasier tasting than the Jack Links beef sticks, but they are still really good. And when it’s hot, Casey’s has cups of crushed ice just like the Kum & Go. I’m going to give the Casey’s four paws. I like Jack Links beef sticks better than Old Wisconsin so I’m going to give Casey’s three paws, but I do appreciate the crushed ice.

Casey's – 3½ paws 

The Depot's beef sticks are tiny, but as taste testers we were obligated to carry out our duties!!


Our friends Marilyn and Bill.
When we got home from Casey’s we took another nap and at 3pm we got ready for another walk. When Hank isn’t home we just go around the block and when he is home we take the same walk that we go on when Hank works all day. On this day we went to visit our friends down the block: Bill, Marilyn, Becky; their dog Abby; and their neighbor Mary. I sit next to Bill and Marilyn so they can pet me and then I fall asleep. After we got done with our visit, we continued down Center Street but this day we stopped at the Liquor Depot for more beef sticks! We get beef sticks at the Depot occasionally. They only have small greasy Slim Jims and now instead of two small beef sticks for a dollar, they are selling even smaller beef sticks at three for a dollar. The new Slim Jims are even smaller and greasier than before and the Depot doesn’t have any cups of ice for us either. If they weren’t the closest place with beef sticks we would never go there. I don’t want to give them a whole paw but since even a small greasy beef stick is still a beef stick I’ll give them half a paw. I can’t give them a whole paw either. I’ll give them half a paw also. All three Slim Jims combined are smaller than even one of the beef sticks we get from the Jiffy, Casey’s, or Kum & Go.

Liquor Depot – ½ paw 

So even though the last beef stick of July 4th was the worst, it was still the best day ever because we got to go on four beef stick walks for the Fourth of July. We were hoping that we would make five beef stick trips for the fifth of July but Hank had to go to work and we didn’t get any beef sticks at all. It was a great Fourth of July and we should congratulate Kum & Go for being our 2013 Daisy and Baxter convenience store winner. Yes, Baxter I agree. The Fourth of July is my favorite holiday. Kum & Go has done a great job all year long and Jiffy will have to step it up in order to reclaim their crown after a disappointing third place finish.

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