Beach trip and expenses

So for a few weeks now Valerie and I have been trying to plan a day beach trip. YES all in ONE day!! Life on Valerie's side has been less than terrific recently. Her Mother in Law passed in July and then just a few weeks later, her Father in law was diagnosed with cancer and its not looking good at all. (I mean really not good) So with things being so uncertain as to when her or Josh would be going to visit, it has been difficult to settle on a day to get to the beach. So on Thursday we decided we were going to go Friday. I know... last minute for sure! Less than 24 hours to go and we were planning and packing. I took care of most... I mean All the packing. Valerie has too much on her mind. I told her to bring her suit and a chair if she wanted one. I packed snacks including honeydew (didn't know she didn't like that), nectarines (apparently she doesnt like those either!) apples (she does like those) chocolate skinny cow stuff, granola bars, drinks, and apparently the best trail mix ever. I also had a slew of magazines. What beach trip isnt complete without some good gossip magazine? I picked her up at 630 and we got on the road. We ended up stopping twice on the way down. Once to get breakfast and then another time because I desperately needed coffee. We got down at the beach and suited up at 11. (we made a pitstop in ht for deli meat and a prescription)
We spent the next 4 hours at the beach and they were fantastic. We both took naps, I read, and she people watched. This was the first time in over 2 years since she had been to the beach. (I feel spoiled) Last year when I went with Alex, she showed me that there was a public restroom close to the beach so I parked where I parked with her last year so we could access it. Come 3pm, we went up and sort of rinsed off a bit and changed to go and get to costco for a prescription. Then we went to see Amy (Evan's gfriend) She got a job as a vet in Wilmington and loves it!! After that, it was almost 5 and we had to get on the road. The whole way down to the beach I talked about Smithfields bbq. Valerie had never had it and also never had brunswick stew! SO I introduced her to that on our way back and she loved it. :) We ended up getting home at 845ish and were a little toasted and tired.
Ok... so now onto the expenses... I was prescribed some meds. I had the doc call it in to ht because Alex had told me that they were doing a 20 gift card if you filled a new scrip there. I was super stoked. UNTIL I went to get it and the price was close to 150 bucks!! I was so upset, they didn't have it in stock so they would have to order it so I wasted 30 minutes of my time and it was costly. I walked out of ht practically in tears. How was I not warned that it was going to be so much! I called Daniel and he didn't pick up, then I texted him and he called me within 5 minutes. He tried his best to calm me down and said it was going to be alright, there were worse things in the world, etc. He did help but it was nice to have a good flat out cry over the cost. I just couldn't see taking these drugs for more than just this month for that cost.
Since the pharmacy didnt have the drug, I had them check to see if the ht in wilmington had it. The one that i wanted to go to didnt have a pharmacy but they transferred it to another one. So Valerie and I went there to get the meds and the pharmacist said to me... I hate to tell you but the cost is very expensive... do you still want it. UGGGG AGAIN!? I knew it was pricy! He then said, you might want to try costco or sams club. They can be cheaper there. Just my luck, Valerie knew where Costco was! I called and the price difference was 133 bucks.... CHEAPER!!! I asked them to transfer everything to Costco and I would gladly pick it up! Forget the 20 gift card! I was so relieved. I felt like I caught a break. I felt like I won the lottery! Thank goodness for nice people!