Give Tanks

We packed up my wife’s tank and headed south last Tuesday at 6am. It was a merry trip to Grandma’s house in Carlsbad, done in record time, for us, of 8 hours flat. This included a gustatory treat at the Iron Skillet, at the foot of the Grapevine. They have a special section there, “for drivers only”. I wanted to crash it but I wasn’t dressed properly plus I had three pain in the butt kids trailing me. They saw us coming and put us in a special section in the back. I’m sure it’s referred to as the “isolation tank” amongst the staff there. They let in a family with a couple rug rats a short while later but otherwise we had the area to ourselves.

Once we settled in, I ordered an Alka-Seltzer appetizer since son #1 had been handling the driving chores. I mentioned to my wife that I wanted son #2 to have something hearty since all he had earlier was some toaster waffles in the car. The waitress promptly informed me that they didn’t serve waffles. And she was just getting started. When orange juice was mentioned, a diatribe on the failings of their distributor broke loose. There are so many things about the food service industry I didn’t know. Before we left, son #1 made sure there was nothing left on anybody’s plate. I just wish I could have had my favorite breakfast of waffles and OJ.

My wife took over the driving duties through L.A. I’ve never been able to figure out their byzantine road system. She and #1, both So Cal natives, previously discussed various routes and I needed a translator. “You take the 405 to 73 to the 5 blah blah blah” What the hell does that get you to, the 483? Do the math. It was a great deal easier back in my old stomping grounds in the Empire State. Either you took 17, 17A, 17K, or 17M. No confusion there.

So we got to Grandma’s house earlier than expected. It would have been nice if she was there to greet us but we had to wait in the driveway for ten minutes for her and Gramps to come home. I somehow can’t help but think that this was a calculated response. I like to think of myself as a good son-in-law but that is not a widely held opinion in the San Diego area. That’s why I brought my own wine. I wanted to make sure I got the good stuff.

We had a free day Wednesday so my wife and I took son #1 for a tour of UC San Diego. I think it would be ideal for him since they have strong science programs and, according to our student guide, there are many places on campus where you can get excellent chow. That combined with the fact that it’s a good fit for my wallet pretty much nails it.

We had a great meal Thanksgiving Day, thanks to all the women of the household. Gramps and I watched a lot of football and made ourselves available for jar opening, consultation regarding oven temperatures etc. We also had a lively discussion regarding cooking methods. I mentioned that our Thanksgiving last year at TCG’s house featured a couple of #1’s deep fried turkeys. A family friend we visited Wednesday said they are trying a steaming method. We told them about our high heat roasting method we did a few years back. This discussion inspired me and I asked Grandma if I could stir fry the turkey. Unfortunately she didn’t have a wok.

We lazed around Friday eating leftovers and then hit the road Saturday morning. The trip back went pretty well. We couldn’t get a reservation at In-N-Out Burger in beautiful Santa Clarita so had to settle for Wendy’s. The trip back took about an hour longer but that was OK. The picturesque vistas on I5 made the time pass quickly.