San Jose or Bust to Pick up 32 Fords
San Jose or bust
San Jose or bust, that was our family motto heading west from Fort Worth, TX with a baby in the back car seat. First stop, Amarillo, TX the lonely city in the panhandle of Texas. Everybody that's ever driven through the great plains of Texas has seen the billboards for The Big Texan Restaurant and Hotel but, do you know it actually serves good food?! Well, they do. I love watching people coral and gnaw a 72oz steak on stage. It's pure greatest. Pro-tip buy a cute little cowboy hat and toy pistol to really set the mood for your table while you listen to music from the cowboy band moseying around and eat.
The next pro-tip is to stay in West Amarillo the fancier hospital district. We did not take that tip and stayed next to the local strip club where we checked into our room with a prostitute checking in next to us. Sure makes you look at your bed a little differently after that.
With the San Jose or bust motto in our heads we headed to New Mexico the next morning. My mind took off in imagination as to where all the Native Americans were hiding. We stopped at the tourist shop to find out. Still not sure we bought the baby some authentic moccasins and an orange Flintstone pushup pop.
It kept her chill until we made it to our Grand Canyon hotel. It was a neat New Mexican themed hotel. It happened to have a bowling alley to keep us entertained for the night before we woke up to hike the canyon. The next morning we did just that. Took some beautiful family photos to remember forever because who goes to the Grand Canyon and doesn't take a picture?
We came, we saw, we may not have conquered much with a toddler, but we were off again.
Next stop Las Vegas to the Red Rock Casino. This hotel is not anywhere near or close to the strip. It does however have a kids club which means mom and dad get a sitter for the night! We loved the pool during the day and Canada loved her pineapple whip!
We could have stayed longer if we were able to. The hotel was so fancy it even had a flat screen TV on the wall to watch when taking a bath. It was perfect for our little bathtub cartoon loving baby. (I think this may have been Canada's favorite part of the trip).
I had pictured San Jose the whole way there, and then we finally arrived. There weren't robots running the town no, in fact, it wasn't futuristic at all it was shabby, sort of country for California I thought and dry. The whole state had been in a drought for quite some time. We winded up the hillside to our destination to a house where a man had passed away. He left his home to his family to keep as their permanent gathering spot. It was loaded with lots of cool things like hotrods, signs, posters, grills, surfboards, you name it. We loaded the 32 on the trailer while the baby played on her new pick, a little tricycle scooter she had gotten for free. What a gift it was. It was autographed by old salt flat drivers and had their quotes.
We had already purchased and shipped a roadster from the same location and were making sure we got everything we could pick up before leaving and heading to Santa Monica for the night.
Beverly Hills that’s where I don’t want to be with a truck and trailer on the street of Rodeo Dr! “Honk, Honk the Cassel’s are here” we shouted as we got chewed up and spit out. At least got spit out at the beach and that is if you enjoy an overcrowded pier.
We did our best to enjoy our time finding the restaurant at the end of the pier. We drank coconut margaritas and listened to the eccentric singer on the boardwalk while people were watching.
Is this what California is all about I asked myself being the newbie to the scene. I most indeed answered with a yes after being pretty woman’d at the outdoor mall. At last, we parked our truck and trailer in a small parking garage at the hotel and went up to our cute but very tiny hotel room. You see when you're from Fort Worth your just used to big. At least I can say it was a big trip for a little one-year-old.
San Jose or bust it’s a must!