. "2013-08-22T00:00:00"^^ . . . "1"^^ . "4"^^ . "7"^^ . "5"^^ . "Allow me to set the scene...\n\nDriving up to Lake Pleasant on a lovely Sunday morning; 5 excited friends chugging along on the 17. The driver of our vehicle mentions his hunger and we all quickly agree that we too are hungry, because, you know, it's rare for people to be hungry at the same time, let alone on a Sunday morning. He then goes on to suggest or demand (depending on hunger level) that he wants donuts. \n\nBeing the tech savvy group that we are, we all bust out our phones like Quick Draw McGraw to search for the nearest donut place, hoping that we haven't passed something up already. Opening up the Yelp app and furiously typing in \"donuts\" in the search box, the first result I get is Lamar's Donuts & Coffee. I quickly clicked on the map and wouldn't you know it, we are barreling towards it at 65 miles an hour & we'd be needing to exit within the next minute. Shouting out \"I found one! Exit on Bell!\" our dear driver exits and proceeds to turn onto Bell road. \n\nWe are all so excited that we found a donut place that quickly and that close to us that we might as well have just skipped on into the building holding hands and whistling a light-hearted showbiz tune. As soon as we set foot in this donut aroma-filled heaven, do our jaws do a figurative drop and the drooling commences. Setting our eyes upon the rows of amazing looking donuts, we started randomly saying \"I want that!\" \"oooh, I want that one too.\" etc. \n\nKristi was there to greet us and asked how our morning was. Without hesitation we all agreed that we wanted a dozen of these delectable donuts. Kristi goes on to tell us about the Manager's special and which donuts apply to that. One in our group asks for a clarification on the word \"donut\" as it pertains to the Manager's special. Awesome Kristi, quickly said sarcastically \"The ones with the holes in the middle are donuts.\" We all had a laugh and ribbed the obviously stupid question, but all in good fun. \n\nKristi offers us samples of donut holes and, my goodness...what amazing little treats those were. After we made our selections; a couple long johns, several butter reams, glazed etc., we then realized we needed beverages to help us wash down these dreamy donuts. They have a great selection of coffee and lattes alike. I noticed chai is on the board and, Kristi, being fantabulous, told us that she can make any Starbucks drink there and that she was quite the superstar. Without a second thought I asked if she could make a iced chai and she said she could! Within minutes she had dished out our drinks.\n\nNow comes to the payment....\n\nWe all saddle up to the checkout and Kristi rings up our order and it came to about $27 total.. I only had a $10 on me and everyone in our group just awkwardly looked at each other, seemingly thinking \"I hope he/she pays this.\" Two proceed to pull out cash and then, verrrry slowly, a third pulls out his wallet. Lamar's sure knows how to hire them; Kristy picked on the third member of our group with a quip that he pulled out his wallet way too slow and that he did that on purpose so as not to have to help pay.\n\nAll of us gave one of those ,\"ooooooooh!!! Dude she burned you!!\" and the like. She didn't let up either, the jokes kept coming from all angles and needless to say it gave us that extra kick in our step to continue to start the day off on the right foot.\n\nWe all said our tearful goodbyes to Lamar's and promised that we'd be back soon. Parting is such sweet sorrow.\n\nHopping in the car to start our journey to Lake Pleasant again, the donuts immediately filled the entire car with their scent and again, our drooling began. It was like reliving the first time we walked into Lamar's, that happened a whopping 15 minutes ago; but it felt like a lifetime instead. Whipping open the box, we were all given our donuts of choice and then silence fell upon the car. No one spoke a word, but instead we let out occasional \"mmmmm\"'s as we all enjoyed and savored these fabulous treats. \n\nSo rich, so creamy, so perfect.\n\nThank you Lamar's and Yelp for bringing us to this temple for donuts. If you haven't gone before, you must go immediately!!! Kristi was fabulous and I wish more people were like her; it made our morning that much more enjoyable and we will definitely be back! You rock!\n\nEnd."^^ .