We took that drive on I5, again yesterday, from our home in South Pasadena to Sacramento, this time to actually spend a week up here with the baby, his parents and our son and almost DIL, who live just a few blocks away. On our last drive, we were in a great hurry to meet our new grandson, but yesterday was definitely more leisurely.
We stopped for lunch at In 'N Out, the infamous burger place whose menu is pretty simply - burgers and fries, drinks and shakes. I know that it's a place that out-of-staters head to almost as soon as they get into their rental cars. Back at Slow Bowl I had had this conversation with Jerry, and told him that there was actually a "secret" menu for In 'N Out, that allowed you to customize the small burger menu, but you would not find it in any restaurant, you had to find it on the internet (I keep a printed one handy, even though we are hardly habitues of INO). Jerry found it and posted about it on his blog.
Yesterday I was not in the burger mood, so I ordered the fries, animal style - you get cheese, grilled onion and the secret sauce on top, It was goopy, crunch and totally delicious.
While we were driving, we noticed that the miles and miles of nut orchards along the interstate were in full bloom and while yes, indeed it is March in California, we are not sure if we have ever seen the trees quite like that. The orchards, which are both almonds and pistachios, mostly almonds, are also way more numerous than we remember, but then we have been driving this road since it opened in the mid-70's, and remember when gas stations were scarce. Miles and miles of bursts of white:
Welcome to March in California.
Comments (8)
Those trees are beautiful. Enjoy your week!
Posted by sheri | March 2, 2009 11:22 AM
Posted on March 2, 2009 11:22
Beautiful tress, and your fries look delicious!
Posted by candi | March 2, 2009 11:58 AM
Posted on March 2, 2009 11:58
Those trees are gorgeous! And the fries look delicious. I remember reading about that place on Jerry's blog.
Have a great week with the baby!
Posted by Annie | March 2, 2009 3:51 PM
Posted on March 2, 2009 15:51
Oh wow - those look so good. I'm am getting some when I am next in CA!
Have fun visiting with your grandson.
Posted by Jerry | March 2, 2009 6:08 PM
Posted on March 2, 2009 18:08
The flowering trees are so beautiful! Thanks for posting a photo of them. I can only dream of spring, as it's still a couple of months away for us.
Posted by Cindy Ruth | March 2, 2009 6:30 PM
Posted on March 2, 2009 18:30
Oh, yum, those fries look wonderful! I could eat them right now!
Have a wonderful time up there!
Posted by nancyhol | March 2, 2009 10:41 PM
Posted on March 2, 2009 22:41
Hi Marcia, your photos are great. My sister and her family always wants to eat and In and Out when they visit me and it's funny that they knew about ordering animal style before I even knew it.
I love the photo of the trees. Safe travels and enjoy your visit!
Posted by Kathy (Trekcapri) | March 3, 2009 6:11 AM
Posted on March 3, 2009 06:11
Marcia, I love those trees, so beautiful. They remind me of an old preschool song about pop corn popping on a tree. Also the fries...OMG, I have ordered those before, killer!
Posted by Barb Cabot | March 3, 2009 9:48 AM
Posted on March 3, 2009 09:48