The Journey...not the Destination

Road Trip! Nothing makes me happier than a Road Trip. When we were kids mom and dad used to pack us up in the car on a Sunday and just take off driving. I don't think they had an actual destination in mind, they really were just driving aimlessly on an adventure. I loved those trips, loved being in the car with all the people I loved best; reading, singing, joking, fighting, crying.

It wasn't the destination. It's not like we knew we were on our way to Disneyland and the fun would commence once we got there, we knew that the fun was the journey and the adventure and what we would see and experience along the way.

That feeling of just taking off and driving has stuck with me and recently my sister Lisa and I took a road trip. We did have an actual destination in mind, but the day we left we had no where to be and no set time to be there so we just winged it and took the road less traveled on our little adventure.

We spent the whole time talking and laughing, complaining and whining and yes...even shedding a few tears.

That first day on October 9th we headed North on Highway 99. We could have taken the I-5. The men in our lives told us to take the I-5, but have you ever been on the I-5? BORING!!! There's nothing to see on the I-5! I so much prefer Highway 99 and all the small towns and farms and dairies you see along the way.

We made our first stop in Fresno where we wanted to do some shopping. We found a nice shopping mall and let me tell you we dropped some money there. We both needed some things for the weekend and got lucky in finding most of what we needed. Lisa is  not a big fan of shopping but even she had fun.

Then back on the road again. We were starving by this time but we had a plan on where we wanted to stop for lunch.

There's this fabulous restaurant in Turlock that we used to visit often when my daughter April used to live there. It's a Mexican restaurant called Mi Casa and they serve a really unique dish that we had been craving since we had last been there in January of 2010. I know because I wrote THIS BLOG POST about it.

So we sucked it up and waited until we got there and it was well worth the wait! We ordered a Chicken Molcajete! I'm hoping you will be able to see the video below, it's really small, just 5 seconds. I don't know why I took such a short video but I didn't realize it until it was too late.

A Molcajete is a traditional Mexican Version of a Mortar and Pestle and looks like this before the food is added. It's not normally used as a serving dish but as a tool to grind things such as corn to make corn meal or different spices and nuts.

This particular restaurant heats up the molcajete, not sure how they do it but they heat it until its a big hot rock and then they put the food in it and serve it to you. It's still bubbling and boiling and hissing and steaming when they place it in front of you and the heat radiating from it makes you back up real quick!

Doesn't that look delicious? Lisa and I shared one and it was way more than enough for us. Alongside they serve a big plate with refried beans, Mexican rice, guacamole and Pico de Gallo, you can see that plate in the background on the bottom pictures. Then a basket filled with flour tortillas and we were in Heaven! My mouth is watering right now just typing this!

Because we were on the road I didn't want to order a drink but Lisa had one since she was just the co-pilot and I took a couple of sips. It was some kind of Halloweenish drink supposed to be Vampire Blood or something, I don't remember the name of it, but it was super yummy and we of course had to take pictures in front of the restaurants sign inside.

We took a little tour around the small town of Turlock, it's a beautiful little town and we reminisced about our times there with April and my mom who always went with us because she missed her granddaughter. It was bittersweet and we marveled at how we leave little pieces of our lives in so many out of the way places.

This is it for Part One of the Road Trip and I'll leave you with a picture of where I woke up the next morning to see if you can figure out where we're headed!

 

We Ate a Lava Flow

Last weekend my mother, my sister and I drove up to visit my daughter April in Turlock, CA where she lives and works. We had so much fun! Even though it's just a weekend trip I always come back feeling so relaxed and happy that it's almost like I took a two week vacation.

April does a great job keeping us all entertained. She knows all she has to provide for me is a thrift store and I'm a happy camper. She took us to two thrift stores. I didn't really find anything this trip, but it was fun to look and I did help April find about eight books which I hope she will be passing on to me to read soon. 

In order to keep my sister Lisa happy, April took us to the Mall in Modesto where they had a chair massager like the one pictured here. No, that is not my sister. I didn't take a picture of her or of my daughter April who also had one as I wouldn't want anyone taking a picture of me in such a vulnerable position. Actually I was too busy trying to find a bathroom and eating a Strawberry Sundae from Dairy Queen because we don't have Dairy Queen in Kern County! I just read that line again and let me clarify that I wasn't finding and going to the bathroom at the same time as I was eating my sundae. I went to the bathroom first, then on the way back I found Dairy Queen!

And in order to make my mom happy April let her cook even though my sister and I had told my mom that she wouldn't have to cook all weekend! But my mom lovingly made "Arroz con Leche" for her granddaughter. It's one of her favorites and it's true comfort food. 

Arroz con leche translated means Rice with Milk. I make it also but not as well as my mom does. Maybe I'll get her to make some this week and I'll jot down the recipe and take photos as she goes. It's basically rice boiled in water with condensed or evaporated milk (don't remember which right now), cinnamon and sugar. It's delicious. 

What would a weekend to visit April be without her taking us to our favorite restaurant to eat our favorite dish. The restaurant is Mi Casa which translated means My House. You've all heard the saying, "Mi Casa es su Casa" which means, My House is your House.

The last time I posted about this restaurant I used pictures that didn't do justice at all to the food and many people said they were glad I enjoyed it even though it didn't look very good. This time I took excellent pictures. I think it's because I took them before I had my margarita's! I'm just saying, that may be part of the reason. Or maybe the lighting was better, but doesn't that look delicious? 

Mi Casa will serve your food in a red-hot molcajete. A molcajete is the traditional Mexican version of the mortar & pestle. In it's natural state, it would look like this picture. The stone inside the bowl is called a Tejolote and is what grinds down the food such as corn for corn meal to make corn tortillas. Or it can be used to mash foods such as tomatoes for Salsa or Soups. Mi Casa restaurant heats up that stone molcajete until it's just a big hot rock and then pours the food into it and they add cheese right before serving so that when the cheese starts to melt right before your eyes at the table and it's bubbling because the stone molcajete is so hot it looks like you're about to eat a lava flow! It's a bit intimidating I have to admit. This was the first time I tried it.

Here's a close up of mine, which was made with Chicken. I believe my sister and my daughter both had the Beef one. The cheese hasn't quite melted yet in mine and you can see the broth underneath that has the chicken in it. I'm not sure how it's made but it's so good it makes you want to slap your momma! I'm glad my momma was on the other side of the table and too far for me to slap!  (Be sure to click on the pictures to enlarge them for a better look, but I must warn you...I and the blog, Titere con Bonete cannot be held responsible for you drooling on your keyboard!)


The onions and the oranges can be eaten, but mostly they are a garnish. They also bring you a plate with Mexican Rice, Re-fried Beans, Pico De Gallo, Sour Cream and Guacamole and some flour or corn tortillas, depending on your preference to eat this with.

Be sure if you go there that you aren't in a hurry because you will be blowing and waiting and blowing and waiting to eat this yummy dish for quite a while. Thank goodness they serve a mean margarita to sooth your burning tongue! 

A Castle or a Haunted House?

Some of you may remember that a few weeks ago I rode the Amtrak for the first time along with my mom to visit my daughter April. April loves to explore anywhere she lives and she finds the best things in each city. For example, the Hilmar Cheese Company and the Yogurt Mill.

She also found this haunted house...creepy isn't it? I thought it would be perfect for the week before Halloween. This is actually not a haunted house at all as you will see in the next few pictures. It's actually a house someone built to resemble a castle! Complete with moat & drawbridge! I had to take a picture. I got this picture by using some of the Scripting Tools in my Paint Shop Pro program. Neat-o huh?

Here's the actual house without the trickery in the one before it. Isn't it just as neat-o?

Just as I was snapping these photos the owner came home and parked their car in the garage. I was hoping she/he wouldn't be mad at me, but when you purposely build a house this beautiful you have to know that people are going to stop and take pictures. I mean everyone travels around with a camera in their purse don't they? I know I do!

Thanks for stopping by, be sure and comment and let me know what you think of my haunted house!

Hilmar Cheese Co. at Hilmar, California

As I mentioned yesterday, last weekend my mother and I rode the Amtrak, to visit my daughter in Turlock. We really enjoyed the train as it was the first time for both of us. We also did quite a few things while we were visiting, one of the best was visiting the Hilmar Cheese Co.

Hilmar Cheese Co., is located in Hilmar, CA a few miles from Turlock. In 1984, 12 dairy families got together to create the Hilmar Cheese Co. You can go here to get more information on the history, I'm not the greatest of historians, I prefer just being a humble visitor and photographer, so let's look at some pictures.

The picture below is of the entrance to the visitor's center. As soon as you walk in you are standing in the gift shop; and it has so many beautiful things, cheeses, jams, jellies, cooking supplies, various dressings and marinades and candy. I saw so many things I wanted I could fill up a year of Iwanna wishes at this place! There is also a Deli where they serve pastries, signature sandwiches, gourmet-style pizza, home-made soups and salads and ice cream. They have a full espresso bar and proudly serve Starbucks Coffees, Yum!

Let's go inside shall we?

I wish I had taken pictures of the gift area, but I was just overwhelmed by all there was to see and completely forgot about taking pictures, sorry :-(

Below is the cafe/deli. There was cheese everywhere and the best part was that you could sample every little type of cheese they made and it was so good. In the glass case there in the front under the chalkboard that says "Tri-tip Tacos" (yep people, this is California and we have Tri-Tip Tacos!), is a glass case filled with different types of salads. Macaroni al fredo salad, pasta salad, potato salad, all kinds. If you could see to the left of the picture and around the corner you would find another glass case filled with pastries which is where I scored my delicious Scone.

I have to admit that I let my daughter buy me a lovely Orange-White Chocolate Scone that I carried in my own two little hands all the way back home on the train to enjoy with my morning coffee at work the next day. It was sheer heaven. I love Scones and need to find that recipe. This one was as big as my hand and about two inches thick.

Here you can see their espresso and coffee bar. We had just had breakfast at the Hot Rod Cafe in Turlock (wish I had thought to get pictures. Next time, as it's a very unique little place as well) so we weren't too hungry. But April, my daughter had slept in and missed breakfast so she had a grilled cheese sandwich that was made with fresh Hilmar Cheese Co., cheese and it was so ooey-gooey wonderful that it was like a little bit of heaven in your mouth!


While I was there I had to visit the ladies room. And check out the tile work, isn't it so cute and so fitting?

A close-up, please feel free to click to enlarge and see more detail.


I just love the little cow tracks!

Once we were done with our shopping I had to go outside and take pictures of the outside of this gorgeous place.

This is the the west side of the Visitors Center. You can take a self-guided tour through this place and go through the whole process of cheese-making, but unfortunately on weekends after 11am the second floor is closed for private parties and there happened to be one when we visited, so we didn't get to take the tour, but you can do a virtual tour here. I took the virtual tour because I'm always interested in how things are made and it was interesting to watch and to see how there is no waste; even the water left after processing the cheese is taken to a water facility to be processed and used to water the crops which are grown to feed the cows!

I was a little confused by the fact that they say in the tour video that a cow must be a mother to produce milk. Ok, that makes sense, but then it goes on to say that the cows are milked three to four times a day? So what do the baby cows drink if all their mothers milk is milked out to make cheese? Anyone?

This is the same spot as the previous photo and I had to have a picture taken in such a beautiful spot. We were sitting in what was a little grotto, it was so pretty here and great photo-ops!

Here's another beautiful photo-op, so of course you know what I had to do right?

Why take photos of course. Here is my daughter April and her grandmother and my mom Tomasa.

And here I am standing by the waterfall.


There were a lot of lovely plants, but I especially loved this one. Anyone know what this is?

Here's a closer look.

And here's a parting shot taken from the car window as we leave the parking lot of the Hilmar Cheese Co. Visitors Center parking lot.

Hope you enjoyed the visit and feel free to go and take the virtual tour. It's a little sappy, but still educational. And if you're ever in the area, be sure and stop by and have a grilled cheese sandwich, mmmmmmm!