So-Cal to soooo NM Long Roof Find
So-Cal it is.
We needed to deliver a 1949 Pontiac Fastback and some signs both to Southern California. We left not having anything to bring back but we needed to sell and knew we could find something on the way home to bring back. A little risky but we had a couple of backup plans.
First stop was to Albuquerque for dinner and sleep. This was the first of our fiery meals throughout our trip. The High Noon Grill and Saloon sounded like a place out of a western so we had to try.
Try was the key would since our baby wasn’t feeling it.
She preferred to stroll Old Town Albuquerque but since everything was closed by 9pm she had to explore our downtown Hyatt room which she didn’t seem to mind at all.
Waking up to Starbucks in the lobby of our hotel wasn’t a bad way to start off the next 8 hours of driving. We made a pit stop at the El Rancho Hotel in Gallup, NM I felt it was totally worth it.
I mean I learned about Native American CLOWNS, yes, this was a thing! I saw these crazy looking jester dolls in the window of the famous Richardson Pawn shop I had to google. Which, to my surprise where made to help fertility and so on.
We made it to Flagstaff, AZ. In the beautiful ski town we ate at one of the thousand breweries they have. I feel we made the right choice since our meals were to die for. My husband wearing his ball cap with a TX flag emblem ordered the Texas burger. As a true Texan he approved. The strangers next to me apparently did approve of my muddy looking drink as they ask me at the end of our meal what it was and that their whole table was wondering. Hey I ordered a cider. It just happened to be unfiltered.
After lunch my husband let me shop! We went to the thrift store were Canada scored a hat and toy to keep her occupied until we stopped for dinner.
Well, we weren’t able to stop before she faced a meltdown from being in to car too long. We had no choice I was driving almost 80 mph in the state of California which by the way if you don’t know you are not allowed to drive faster than 55 mph on their highway pulling a trailer. Being from Texas I just can’t image living this way. The last time we where there we found this out the hard way when my husband was driving. I told the officer that was ridiculous we are just a pickup truck driving an 18ft trailer not a semi truck driving a 48’-53’ trailer but he didn’t understand. Maybe it was my accent. We also came into California earlier as outlaws trying to smuggle a wood block in, whoops. You see in order to get into their state you cross a check point. You can’t freely come in from the other states without being stopped. I saw a sign on the check booth that said, “Burn it where you buy it” which is what the office said, “We can’t bring our Texas termites or weeds into Cali” lol. If you are wondering why we had one it was used as a chock on our back tire of the Streamline. We left with my husband wondering what they do with it after it was confiscated and, we he didn’t even check our giant RTIC cooler because we felt we may have smuggled some illegal cantaloupe in, yikes! Back to the crazy screaming baby in the back we got her to Barstow, CA SAFELY and ordered pizza to the hotel room before passing out.
We woke up feeling good Cali vibes with the perfect weather blowing our hair as we watched dune buggies driving through the dessert. Onto Tehachapi, CA to drop the signs, we got there a tidbit earlier than the people we where meeting so while my husband picked, the baby and I went to a German bakery for some goodies. We finally met the men at K-Mart. Well my husband was able to meet them. Canada and I were in K-Mart the whole time. One, we don’t have K-mart in Texas two; they had a play kitchen she couldn’t step away from.
We made it to our Second drop Glendale, CA to deliver the Pontiac Fastback to our new So-Cal Friends.
They loved the car and we loved their Cali cool hospitality. They recommended Huntington Beach for us to stay at since we had a need to get to the west coast. We stayed at one of the big resorts there since we knew we would be using the pool.
It just so happened that there was a big country concert in town on the beach with Tim McGraw headlining. With our boots packed we wanted to make it down to what our bell boy said was a two blocks walk. It was actually a 20 minute walk one way which we were disappointed to not be able to get to go to with the baby and trailer. The next day waiting for our truck a man leaving the hotel at the same time as us asked us how the concert was. I sadly reported, “We weren’t able to make it” he replied, “Oh, I thought you went because of the boots” to which he pointed to our luggage rack. The new bell boy laughed replying, “No, they actually where those for REAL”. Yes, we are from Texas and we wear boots for real lol!
With our Texas pride on our backs we headed to watch a Jet Ski competition on the pier. It was awesome, so where the breakfast tacos from Sancho’s Tacos.
Sadly I could tell we didn’t fit in. Our family didn’t have on trucker hats and I had never even heard of a charcoal latte or whatever kind of health food they were trying to serve. We did however feel just right cruising the ocean front highway passing Newport, Laguna, and La Jolla Beaches.
Making it to San Diego we stayed in Old Town. We ate at Duke’s and got to see the sea lions or seals which ever they where I didn’t ever figure that out.
After leaving the beautiful city of San Diego we made it to Tucson, AZ. I talked my husband into eating a Sonoran hot dog. It is popular there. It is a hot dog wrapped in bacon with pinto beans, peppers, and some other stuff on a soft bun. We enjoyed them but, unfortunately my husband used it as an excuse to watch the Texas Tech playoff basketball game in the hotel room instead of swimming in the pool with C and I.
Our hotel, The Hotel McCoy, was hipster, artsy, and classic all in one and with the two drink tokens I received I loved it!
My husband used his time to find what we had been looking for. Something to bring home and boy did he! A 1956 Buick Station Wagon that would just barely fit on our trailer.
We left Tucson and headed back up to Albuquerque to pick up our wagon. We made some neat stops along the way. Passing through Hatch, NM we of course had to grab some chilies.
I also finally found a stop to buy some silver jewelry. With a price tag of $20 my husband ok’d it since I had been finding $400-$40,000 pieces, yikes! We stopped to get gas at a station that had a “Thing” which we didn’t see but, are pretty sure we missed out on.
One thing we did not miss out on, popsicles! Yes, in the middle of Nowhere, Somewhere in the desert on a two lane highway; our good friend Dakotah found and stopped us to give us popsicles out of his vintage ice cream truck. How random is that? Running into your friend in the middle of nowhere, that was pretty cool.
In Albuquerque for the second time we picked up the Buick on the north side close to the hot air balloon park. Luckily for us we passed a super famous, which I would call secret, restaurant since we only found it on the way to the station wagon. The car was in a beautiful peacefully equestrian neighborhood. The man with the car was an awesome hot-rodder with loveable puppies and horses my daughter loved to pet and play with. We made yet another friend along our travels.
The night was not over I still had yet to burn my tongue off. The El Pinto Restaurant was the answer to the heat. I mean I should have known considering chili peppers lined the entrance. The walls where however lined with photographs of the owners with famous people. I saw pictures of Snoop Dog, Little Wayne, George W. Bush, Gretchen Wilson, Katy Perry and so many more. I was informed by the hostess that Tom Hanks had just been there as well. My husband ordered the Red Chili ribs and I the stuff sopaipillas. I am not sure if I liked them because my taste buds where lit but, I am sure they had to have been good considering all the celebrities that eat there. We stayed at The Nativo, an older lodge style hotel that did not disappoint on the New Mexico theme.
Finally we were off back to TEXAS. This time we went home through Lubbock. It was windy, very very windy but, in that little farm town we made it to the largest sign park I would say in America. Cook's Garage and restaurant, it was a sight to see. We loved the decor, Texas hospitably, hotrods and, not to mention delicious food.
We met the mother of one of the owner's of Rev Limits Garage that is also attached to the venue. She told us they would be in Austin the following week for Lone Star Round Up which we were also going to. So, of course that Saturday I found the Lubbock boys and gave them a big howdy.
- Peace love and Hot Rods