Road Food (Those are good burgers, Walter)

April 22nd, 2009

No, my head is not on fire!

I started this blog last summer as a place to practice writing. I chose food as a starting point because I love to cook and eat. Since then I have drifted afar and really had a good time but I usually wind up coming back to where I began.

I guess this is the third day of the road trip my wife and I are taking. To tell you the truth I am pretty worn out this evening as I sit here in our hotel room in Barstow, California. We have traveled somewhere around 1200 miles in about two and a half days and while we are not setting any distance records, we feel as though we are making progress. At the same time we are trying to have a little bit of fun and enjoy each other’s company. I must admit that I have been kind of grouchy this evening and so far, my wife is putting up with it pretty well.

We started the day just a few miles north of Sacramento and went about 300 miles before stopping for lunch in Bakersfield.

Most of food we have eaten on this trip has been not particularly noteworthy.

We brought breakfast food to eat in the mornings as we prepare for the road. I am eating my standard peanut butter sandwich, banana and soy milk. I find that by beginning almost every day in this manner I feel much better overall. I did eat that large breakfast yesterday, but that was for lunch. Mary Pat usually has a bowl of the good Uncle Sam cereal that I wrote about some months back. Both of these breakfasts are proceeded by our morning coffee which I make one cup at a time from the beans I brought along with us. She has decaf with soy milk and I have regular black.

The first night in the motel we ordered a pizza for dinner and that was pretty good. Last night we ordered some club sandwiches and they were quite tasty as well. Tonight we drove out to a local restaurant called Carrows. I think that it is probably a chain and I was completely unimpressed. I got a rib eye steak that tasted like the ones you get in those “all you can eat” places like Golden Corral. I think you know what I mean. They were chewy and tough and pretty bland. Yum. MP got an Oriental Chicken Salad and I’ll let her talk about it if she feels so inclined.

For lunch today we stopped and ate at a place I have heard about a lot and it felt as though we were making a pilgrimage to a shrine of sorts. Today we dined at an IN-N-OUT Burger.

When I was younger I could tell you my favorite book or my favorite song or movie. Now that I am older it feels kind of stupid to think in those terms. Now I tend to think of the things I really enjoy as just that. They are books, movies or songs that I really like. Which one is the best one? I don’t know. I guess it depends on my mood.

One movie that I really love is The Big Lebowski. In fact, our whole family loves it and there are a great many quotes from that movie that we use in casual family conversations all of the time. It has become almost a secret family language for us.

In the movie they mention the IN-N-OUT Burger and that is where we first heard of it. Since they are only located on the west coast and not in Oregon or Washington, where we lived the last few years, we have never had the opportunity to eat there. I know what you are thinking?

Gee Bob, that sounds really boring and/or stupid. Well perhaps, but know this, we are entertaining ourselves and that is all that is really required to get through life happily.

I have to tell you, however, that they were rather boring and not much of a big deal. Surprise, surprise.

I had not realized that they were just basically a very simple fast food place. There are only four things, outside of the drinks and shakes, on the menu. Hamburger, Cheeseburger, Double Cheeseburger and Fries.  That’s it. The menu is very simple and inexpensive. The burgers were alright, but just not special and the fries were sponge-like and dull. Oh well.

If I was to compare them with some equivalent burgers in Seattle I would have to say that they fall somewhere above Dick’s Burgers (very greasy but cheap) and way below Red Mill Burgers, which I think are among the best burgers I have ever had. Notice that I did not call Red Mill the best. I like to think I am more mature than that.

But the good news is that my pilgrimage is complete and I have the pictures to prove it.

Go watch The Big Lebowski if you have not seen it. It is one of the very best by those crazy Coen Brothers and if you are in Seattle, go get a Red Mill Burger.

One small warning; if you are troubled by strong language, you should probably pass on the Lebowski movie. I am not offended by so called “bad” words but I know that some folks are.

FAIR WARNING

P.S For those of you who are wondering what we listened to in the car today it went as follows. We started out the morning with one of the great albums by Randy Newman. Bad Love. If you have not heard it, go pay ten bucks on iTunes and get it. During the late morning and early afternoon we were entertained by the greatest rock and roll band in the world for about three hours. I am referring to the Rolling Stones. As if you didn’t know. And as we pulled out of Bakersfield we fired up the legendary Buck Owens. Pretty good day.

Once again I feel compelled, in the interest of full disclosure to point you in the direction of my dear wife’s account of our journey. She tends to speak truly, most of the time, so it could be of interest to anyone who cares about what we are really up to. http://www.managemypractice.com/road-trip/

The IN-N-OUT Burger

Thanks for reading.

Entry Filed under: Cruising With Bob, General, What's Bob Listening To?, Whats Bob Watching