Our First Car Outing

Today we went into Jingmen for lunch and groceries. That's not so unusual but this time Stephen drove us! We've been given top access to the smallest company car. I think some of our co-workers were concerned that we'd disappear and they'd never see us again, but Stephen said he could do it and after 23 years, I believed him. So this morning we loaded up and hit the road.

Stephen ready to tackle the streets of Jingmen in our TINY car

How we actually looked

How I imagined we looked!

The highway going into the city is very wide with little to no traffic. My job was to watch the right hand side for pedestrians, tuk-tuk vehicles, and incoming traffic.

We're in such a rural area

Traffic picked up as we neared the city and arrived at Wanda Plaza (one of the malls). We went mid-morning though so no real issues. One wrong turn but easily corrected.

Getting closer - you can see Jingmen in the distance

Coming into the city - looking for the parking garage

Once we figured out how and where to park we went into the mall and found an awesome place for lunch. Still Chinese food but noodles and some crispy options (everything in the cafeteria is soft). These massage chairs make me laugh since they usually have napping men in them!

We found some groceries and on our way out we spotted a cafe that advertised, in English, pastries and coffee. We walked in and picked out two yummy desserts. When Stephen asked if he could get a cappuccino (Google translate), the three young ladies behind the counter just giggled. Oh well. We brought our pastries home and made our own coffee. The pastries however were delicious and very affordable (about $2 each and they're big!)