SF Road Trip pt. 1 - On The Road

Albina Press

We hit the road early, 6:30 AM. As it turns out, the coffee shop that opens earliest is also the best (and luckily not too far from my house), Albina Press. I run in for coffee while -M- hangs out in the car with Mr. Kitty. I order up a medium double soy latte and a scone for -M- and a large coffee for myself.

Fittingly enough, they are playing Mulatu Astatqé. You know, the music in the road movie Broken Flowers? We just happen to be on a road trip today. It’s also something I discovered from -M- on our first date between dinner at Noble Rot and the Found show at Holocene.


In-n-Out

We planned out trip so that we’d hit Redding, CA around lunchtime. Redding, of course, is the northernmost outpost of In-N-Out Burger. We’re a bit behind schedule and don’t get into Redding until 2:15 or so. We also miss the exit. I assumed there would be signs, or that it’d be clearly visible from I-5. No luck. We drive all the way through Redding without finding our destination. Do we turn around or keep going? My thinking is that we have to eat, and Wendy’s and Pizza Hut just aren’t going to do the trick. -M- called 411 and got the number for In-N-Out customer service. They guide us back into Redding, to the right exit, and through a maze of strip malls to the promised land that is In-N-Oout. My oh my is the line long!

The last time I had In-N-Out was in Los Angeles. I ordered a basic cheese burger. I left a little disappointed. Apparently I completely blew it. The menu behind the counter is so vague and simple: little did I know there was another ‘secret’ menu out there for the ordering…

This time, I went in more prepared (thanks in part to both -M- and the Guilty Carnivore). I order up a double double animal style, fries well, and a vanilla shake. -M- gets a double double protein style with grilled onions and no tomato, fries also well, and a coke. [Click here for a link to Wikipedia’s article on the ‘secret menu’]

Since Mr. Kitty is in the car with us, we decide to get drive through and eat in the car. After we eat, we make a trash dump, rearrange the car and hit the road. 3 more hours to San Fran, and 4.5 hours ‘till our reservations at Chez Panisse!