Venturing Into The Great Unknown

Tex Wasabi Cowboy

What an awesome day. We started the day off fairly early and before even leaving the parking lot I was able to add a new bird to my bird list. It was an Anna’s Hummingbird (Calypte anna). I tried getting a photo, but was unable as he didn’t stay around long enough for me to put all the luggage down that I was carrying and grab my camera. Then, while we were getting gas 20 minutes later, we spotted some Yellow-billed Magpies (Pica nuttalli). I was able to get a couple pictures that gave me enough information for bird identification, but were not “post-worthy”.

We had breakfast at Putah Creek Café in Winters, finding a parking spot right outside the restaurant. Not only was the food awesome, but the restaurant had some of the best customer service I have seen. One of the waitresses even went outside and helped a customer with a walker, cross the street from the parking lot to the café. The food was also awesome and was worth the detour. After breakfast we spent a few minutes walking around Winters while we let our food settle and then headed off to Petaluma.

After we left Winters, my GPS was being a bit of a pain and routed me back down to I-80 so I was unable to take the leisurely route I had planned through the bottom of Wine Country, and had to cut up from Fairfield on CA SR-12. We were still able to enjoy some of the back roads though as we headed to Petaluma. When we arrived in Petaluma, we fluked out again and found a parking spot less than a block from the Seed Bank. Both my mum and I had a list of seeds that we wanted, and although I was unable to find my most sought after seed (Trinidad Scorpion Butch T Pepper) and wasn’t even able to find Bhut Jolokia (Ghost Pepper) and had to settle for some milder peppers such as habaneros and Thai chilies. My mum, however, found her number one pick – lima beans (yuck) – and also found a few gifts for my dad. After leaving the Seed Bank, my mum discovered an oriental gift shop across the street. For those of you that know me, you KNOW that I can’t resist…and I of course gave in to temptation. Although I did buy a couple things for me, I was able to find small gifts to give to several people.

After Petaluma we headed to Santa Rosa and had lunch at Willie Bird’s. We had originally planned on going there for dinner, but we both decided that it was not only more convenient for lunch, but that we both had a hankering for a turkey sandwich. One thing that I had forgotten, since we visited last year, was just how good the potato salad was. (On an aside, we sat in the same booth that we sat in on both visits to Willies last year). I was also able to get a picture of obelisk across the street that is made out of used bicycle parts and a picture of the stained glass turkey in Willie Bird’s window. By the time we were done eating, it was perfect timing to head to the hotel.

We relaxed at the hotel for a while and did out Google and Wiki research of the day before heading out to dinner. Since we had gone to Willie’s for lunch, I suggested Tex Wasabi’s for a light dinner. After driving around the block a couple times, we finally found a parking spot a couple doors down from Tex’s. Luckily we didn’t have to wait for a table and were seated in the same table as we were last year – I guess it was meant to be :). My mum and I shared an order of Vegas Fries (fries tossed in hot sauce and served with bleu-sabi) and an order of West Coast wings (which are coated in a jalapeño sauce). It was just the awesomest, and made me wish that I didn’t have to travel 1,100 kilometres to get Guy’s food.

After dinner we headed to pick up a couple of groceries and items that we needed and then returned to the hotel for the night. Now, full and dozy, I leave you all so I can get some shut-eye before we tour Wine Country tomorrow.

Talk to you all soon.

L

P.S. the above photo is a statue of the Tex Wasabi’s mascot that is next to the bar

Mount Shasta from I-5

Today was another long day, but a beautiful day for driving. After grabbing coffee and food for breakfast at Caveman Donuts in Grants Pass, we headed southbound. It didn’t take long before we were in California and after a short stretch of construction, we rounded a corner and saw Mt. Shasta in all her glory. This is the first time that we have actually seen the mountain from this perspective. Last year I was able to get a picture from the south through some trees – this is much better.

We stopped for a picnic lunch of leftovers at a rest stop near Willows at noon. Before we had even left the car we saw a bird that we didn’t recognize. I attempted to identify the bird, but after chasing the bird around for a bit with no avail, I decided to eat first. After lunch I again attempted to identify the bird, and eventually gave up when the bird was uncooperative. I got back into the car and was putting things away when the bird decided to perch on a fence near the car. I quickly grabbed the binoculars and both my mum and I took a look. My mum suggested that it looked like a kingbird, and I agreed. We looked at our Peterson and sure enough, it was a Western Kingbird…my first. I entered the date, time and location on my bird list and off we went again…south down the I-5.

Arriving in Sacramento around 3, we were able to easily navigate to our hotel, and checked in without issue. After getting up to the room, my mum and I decided to forego Dad’s Kitchen and just go to The Golden Bear for dinner. We stayed in the hotel until rush hour settled down, then headed downtown to eat. We found parking on the street with little issue, and walked about a block to the restaurant. We were happy to see several empty tables on the patio and found a table near the entrance. Both my mum and I decided on a beer to drink; I had the boneless hot wings and my mum had the California turkey sandwich. We were not disappointed. After dinner we headed back to the hotel and decided to have a lazy night.

With that, I will leave you all and turn in. Talk to you later.

L

Day 2 – Centralia, WA to Grants Pass, OR

Unfortunately I am a bit late posting our day’s itinerary, but we kept pretty much to plan. After a quick bite to eat at the hotel (last night’s leftovers) and coffees from the gas station, we were heading southbound on the I-5 by 8:30. The drive through the remainder of Washington was quite dreary, but not rainy, though Mt. St. Helens was shrouded in dense clouds (hopefully I will finally get a pick on the return trip this year).

We arrived at Otto’s Sausages (after getting lost several times – stupid GPS) in Portland, just after it opened. Mum grabbed half a veggie on rye and a small bean salad and I grabbed half a “kitchen sink” sandwich. We also talked to a person that had recommended Podnah’s BBQ Pit to us. Both my Mum and I had crossed it off our list on our first trip as neither of us like pulled pork, but we are both reconsidering and will possibly grab brisket instead.

We headed out of the city (with less snafus than the entry had), and soon found ourselves back on the I-5 South. We drove by Salem and Eugene, and ended up stopping for our picnic at Lynx Hollow Park, just south of Eugene. The sandwiches were as good as always (this is my third kitchen sink sandwich), and the sun made it a beautiful stop even though we had a cool breeze.

After about a half hour, we packed up and again headed south. We passed through several places that we had seen on previous trips and recounted some of our memories and mishaps. Just before we reached Grants Pass, we made a stop in Sunny Valley to take some pictures of the Grave Creek Bridge, one of the numerous covered bridges in Oregon.

By this time we were only about 15 minutes away from the hotel and were able to arrive perfectly in time for check-in. After checking in I spent the next 90 or so minutes on live chat with my phone company trying to stop the perpetual text messages that were telling me I was roaming and that I needed to get a roaming package (which I actually did have). In the end I gave up, actually my CSR closed the chat on me, and I decided to deal with it when I return to Canada and can actually call them rather than type my complaints.

By this time my Mum was getting peckish so we headed to Applebee’s for dinner. The food was not too bad, but I have definitely had better (at an Applebee’s), but our waiter left A LOT to be desired. A dinner with one appy (to share) and two entrees (one being a salad) took two hours from walking in the door to walking out. Slow doesn’t quite describe the speed that our waiter was moving at. I am giving him the benefit of the doubt and assuming that he is just new – if he isn’t he does NOT belong in the restaurant business.

We returned to the hotel after dinner and did some internet research. Topics of the day were: Harry Connick Jr., F. Scott FItzgerald, Sebastian Cabot, and the Bonnie and Clyde remake. Like I said before, we have random conversations when we drive.

Below I have included a picture of the Grave Creek Covered Bridge. I have also updated yesterday’s post to include a couple of pictures from dinner.

Grave Creek Covered Bridge

This is our first travel day. After a two hour ferry ride to the mainland, we will have approximately four hours of driving, in order to cover the 374 km to Centralia, Washington. That time does not include the inevitable wait at the border (which shouldn’t be too bad on a Monday) or going around Seattle (which will probably not be nice when we hit Seattle at 3pm – which also doesn’t allow for any delays caused by the construction around Seattle). I am hoping to arrive in Centralia around dinner time. Fingers crossed that it won’t be a late dinner :).

I can’t believe the trip is right around the corner. It seems like only yesterday that I was returning from the second annual trip. Now to give you some background into these annual trips…

In 2010, my mum and I embarked on a cross-country trip from Vancouver Island, BC to Halifax, NS, in order to deliver a car from my dad to my sister. Over that three weeks we spent together, we realized that we had a common interest in food, more specifically Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. We also discovered that we enjoyed travelling together (when I was younger I travelled more with my dad as my mum does NOT fly). Over the course of the next year, my mum and I tossed around the idea of visiting some of the places that Guy had visited on his show. What started out as a few offhand comments, grew into a two-week trip that stretched down the West Coast from Vancouver Island to Carmel, California.

Last year we visited many of the same areas, but added Reno, only went as far south as Sacramento/Santa Rosa, and spent much more time in Portland, OR. Portland, it seems, is our favourite city out of the ones that we have visited so far. Not only does it have a several awesome restaurants from Triple D, but it has tons of food trucks from Eat St., and is also a beautiful city with tons to do, but I will deal more with Portland in a future post.

This year we are adding Idaho to the trip. We have shied away from Eastern Washington on previous trips, but decided this year to “do something different”. This year is going to be more relaxed than prior trips – less “windshield” time and more “poking around” time. We will still be going to some of our old favourites, but I’ve added some new ones that will broaden my horizons (I’ve always been a picky eater that does not do well with new-fangled “weird” foods…and I don’t like seafood or red meat – like I said…I’m a picky eater).

Below is an overview map of the trip, and cities broken down by day…

3rd Annual Food Network Tour Overview

Hopefully as I go along, I will have time to post pictures and running commentary on our journey this year. I try every year to blog or even just record the events of the day, but always find myself either too tired, or too busy looking up different things on the internet that we discovered over the day. It is amazing how seeing a sign for a vaguely familiar-sounding name can lead you off onto a Wikipedia tangent that involves several open tabs on my browser. More often than not, my mum will go to sleep while I am still ‘researching’ or talking to my husband online, but she will still expect a report the following morning on what I had learned. Oh, did I mention that she is a retired high school language teacher…needless to say my research needs to be thorough/in-depth enough to be able to answer any questions that my mum may have as follow-up. If it isn’t, it gets added to the list for the following night’s research. Now don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoy the learning aspect, I just get frustrated when it’s not an ‘easy’ find…and a lot of them are vague clues that I have to go on. If I end up blogging this trip, I will share some of the weird things that come up in our conversations while we are driving.