The first roadtrip

Today is our friend Missy's son Parkers 3rd birthday (although I swore the kid was at least 5 from how well behaved he has been when visiting my place. I subsequently purchased his gifts with that in mind. Oops). 

The Yeasley family (our extended fam) have always invited us to thier events and have attended our events but a lot of the time we have dooshed out at the last minute because something gets in the way like work or sickness.


Now that Jimmye is here I see the importance of making time for these get togethers. Birthday parties are tent poles in a child's memory and a much needed change of the norm for busy parents in need of socialization. Even though JimJam Is only 6 weeks old and will be eating birthday cake vicariously through her mothers breast milk, today gives us the chance to get into the habit of prioritizing and time management. And also get over our fear of leaving the house for more than a few hours.


It took us longer than we imagined to prepare for the ride and by the time we left the party had already started. And of course since we need to hurry, the freeway is bumper to bumper traffic.


Anyways 2 hours later....


Missy's and Parker Live in Beaumont which is somewhere between Riverside and Texas. Despite the traffic I looked forward to the long drive (long for a minimal driver like myself anyways) Before we got to the town we started to see smoke rising on the horizon to the south. The closer we got the more I started to wonder if Missy had decided to have the birthday party directly in the center of a wildfire. It ended up being close but not close enough to cause alarm. 

The Beginning of what would become a 2272 acre wildfire just looks like car trouble at this point.

We arrived Just in time to slip our gifts into the mix. It was quite warm out today and I felt absurd when Parker opened up the gift I got him: a heavy black hoodie.
Jimmye slept for a bit longer then decided it was time to eat. And she did....for most of the time we were there, but Jamie was able to do SOME socializing.


So let's checklist todays accomplishments:

• Get out of the house for more than 2 hours: check
• Mini road trip: check
• Attend Parker's party: check
• Baby content and allowing mommy to enjoy herself: unchecked

I decided to take some pre fathers day liberties and enjoy some "me" time. The weather was warm but the wind made the temperature perfect. I sat under Missy's huge pine with her two blue nosed pitbulls, Blue and Minnie. These animals are solid mass. Blue has muscle on top of his head! What are those muscles even for?! Is he smuggling 2 lbs of cooked chicken breast under there or something?

Blue, Happiest dog you'll ever meet.

 Despite having a look that most people would say is intimidating these are the sweetest dogs you could meet. 

Minnie is smaller than Blue but shes the boss.

Do I think Pitbulls are dangerous? They can be, yes. (like every other animal with sharp canine teeth) 
Do I think every pitbull is dangerous? No. 
Do I think that Pits get a bad wrap? Definitely.


From my shady and safe vantage point I watched with my new pittbull friends as the wind helped the fire spread from 30 acres to 100 acres in under an hour.


I realized that I appriciate these moments much more now than I ever could before. I can clear my head and live in the moment. Which is important considering we live from one moment to the next and at any given time I could be called back to the front lines to throw myself on a grenade...or a dirty diaper or something equally as volitile.

As the day ended and the sun set we stopped by our favorite fast food spot. I grew up in SB county and while there are plenty of things to complain about there is one thing they have that no one else 

does:

                     http://www.bakersdrivethru.com

Baker's is the best in the I.E. Great American and Mexican food at equally great prices. They have a teriyaki chicken sandwich that I would push my brother down a flight of stairs for. They also have interesting meal sizing options that I've yet to see anywhere else: Baby, Mama, Papa and Grampa. And good prices as well. 


Beside great food I appreciate the history of Baker's. In short, Founder Neil Baker was involved in the creation and prosperity of many other well known fast food establishments. Baker helped Richard and Maurice McDonald build their restaurant before the brothers sold McDonalds to Ray Kroc. Baker helped Glen Bell, who was his best friend in high school, build a hamburger stand in 1948 that would evolve into the Taco Bell chain. One of their employees Ed Hackbarth left to establish Deltaco and later a Baker's employee  John Galardi established Der Wienerschnitzel


Recognizing the profit potential of Mexican food, Baker added it to the menu in 1955 and pioneered a "twin-kitchen" concept -- burgers were sold at one window and Mexican food at another. 

 The reason you don't see Baker's anywhere else beside the Inland Empire is because Mr. Baker didnt see the need to expand since the restaurant was widely popular and very successful. before he passed in 2008 when asked why he was content to allow Baker's Drive-Thru to remain only a regional chain  Baker said the claustrophobia that kept him from flying also probably helped keep the franchise locations close to home.

We just wish they would expand to Orange County so their motto "Great food close to home" would apply to us

Maybe one day.