It was moving day for our oldest son and his wife and daughter. They were leaving the warm climate of San Diego, California for a cooler one in Salt Lake City, Utah. Everything was ready for the big event. Boxes had been filled, a U-Haul truck had been procured and was on the premises, friends and family were available to carry items and load the truck, and to top things off, it was a perfect sunny day.

The moving of items from the apartment to the truck was labor intensive, yet the task was swiftly accomplished. Early in the afternoon everything was finalized and we said goody-bye to San Diego. The drive to Utah seemed long and everyone was tired from the physical work that had just taken place. There was no way we would reach our final destination that day. Spending the night midway into our trip seemed like the logical choice.

After obtaining a room for the night, our son suggested the name of a restaurant and persuaded us by saying, “They have good pies”. Having traveled this route on several occasions, we assumed that he had first-hand knowledge in regard to the pies they served.

Salads, meatloaf, and spaghetti were the entrées we chose along with their accompanying sides and condiments. Each of us strove not to overeat in order to have a piece of pie. After all, that was the enticement which had brought us to this particular restaurant.

“Apple or Cherry,” the waitress said, in answer to our inquiry of pie choices. “We’ll take both,” was our reply. Upon their arrival, we discovered that while they were home baked, neither had been made from scratch. The visual presentation should have been our first clue that these pies were not what we had expected. The filling, both apple and cherry, had definitely come from a can and the crust did not taste like any homemade crust I had ever eaten. We were hoping for a slice of pie like our Aunt Ellen used to make, but instead received a bland imitation that tasted like a frozen pie from the grocery store.

We quizzed our son on the quality of the pies only to hear him say that he had never eaten at this restaurant before. So why did he want to eat at this establishment so badly? He had noticed a billboard advertising ‘good pies’ and the picture of the cherry pie looked delicious!!