Cactus Kate

Hi, ‘blog fans.  Cactus Kate here, reporting live from sunny southern California.  I am here for quite a while this year, so I should be bothering you several times from my ‘blog.

Yesterday (July 29), I drove from Moab, UT to Santa Clarita, CA.  Chris and I crossed the hot Mojave desert in one day, in about a 12 hour drive.  I dropped him off at his mom’s house, and then drove another hour to Santa Clarita (Saugus), where my friend Barb lives, and where I am staying.

When we drove through Baker, CA, I had fully intended to take a picture of the ‘World’s Tallest Thermometer’ – but it seems this Guinness-certified landmark is BUSTED at the moment.  It was not telling the temperature.  I was disappointed.  I really WAS curious what the temperature was there, too.  It’s ALWAYS hot.

I arrived at Barb’s house at about 6:30pm, after battling one of my favorite traffic interchanges in the world…the westbound 210 freeway joining the northbound 5 freeway.  UGH.  This particular interchange is ugly at 3:00am on Sundays.  I have never driven into this one when it hasn’t been horrible.  Here is a picture I took with my phone, as I sat stopped in the crappy traffic:

After this harrowing experience (really, on a good day, you only spend about 10 minutes on the 5 en route to Barb’s house), I arrived, and we immediately went out for sushi.  Sushi is something that I seldom get, and I look forward to it IMMENSELY.  We went to Shogun sushi, which is less than a mile from Barb’s house.  Honestly, I have to say, I like Shogun sushi better than any others I have had there.  Here is Barb at Shogun:

We ordered the Red Dragon roll (2), which is a favorite.  We also got the Crunch Roll, a Mexican Roll, a Hawaiian Roll, and white tuna sushi.  Below are pictures of these, plus an inside look at the Red Dragon and Crunch Rolls.

After that, we went home, chatted for a while, and went to bed.  I was exhausted.

Today (July 30), I got up late, and went with Barb’s mom to the recycling place just outside of Ralph’s supermarket.  I had brought lots of crushed aluminum cans from Moab, just to see if it was monetarily worthwhile to do it.  It was.  The lady there informed me I had brought 78 lbs of cans in, and I got $114.30 for them.  That is quite a bit more money than I had hoped for, and I have decided it is definitely worthwhile to save cans.  BIG thanks to Todd & Dana, and to my mom and dad for saving cans for me!  I will definitely be doing it again!  Here are some pictures from the recycling effort:

I went to meet Barb for lunch.  We had lunch at Geisha sushi, which is just across the street from where she works.  Their sushi is good, but not as good as Shogun.  However, I do have to give Geisha an A for presentation. Today, we had a Geisha Roll (described in the menu as: Baked baby lobster with baby lobster on top, wrapped in soy paper), a Dynamite Roll (described in the menu as: Deep-fried crab, cucumber, avocado with sauteed vegetable, scallop, special sauce), a Roller Coaster Roll (desc. in the menu as: Spicy tuna with white tuna, avocado), Mushroom Special (Desc. in menu as: Deep-fried spicy tuna rolled on mushroom with Mozzarella cheese, chef’s special sauce), and a spicy shrimp and crab roll.  They were all good.  Also, there is a picture of a lemon garnish from one of the plates.  I took this picture for my mom.  I know she would have liked to see the lemon swan-thing.  Here they are:

That’s about it for today.  We just relaxed the rest of the day. Thanks for reading, and please come back soon!  There will be more SoCal fun, I promise!

P.S.  Only in California do you see GIANT healthy date palms on the backs of semis being transported to new homes.

I know, I know.  I am late posting this.  We returned from our trip to Arizona last Wednesday, and it has taken me this long to sort through all the photos, and choose a reasonable number to share with you all.  Yikes.  What a job!

The purpose of our trip to Arizona was to see the Chihuly exhibit at Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix.  We went on Tuesday (May 31).  The exhibit was amazing.  I loved it!  It was incredibly impressive to see all that glass among the desert plants!  Here are some photos of the glass installations:

We saw more than just the glass – there were lots of wildflowers, birds, and blooming cactus to enjoy!  The Verdin and the Phainopepla were new additions to my ‘life bird list’!

On the way down into Arizona, we stopped at the Sunset Crater Volcano Nat’l Monument, and had lunch.  We had to eat in the car, because it was so incredibly windy.  There were a BUNCH of Steller’s Jays vieing for food people tossed out of cars for them.  I had to get in on the action, and I sat for a while in the wind, and tossed out a few crackers.  I guess that’s like a bribe to get them to hold still for a split second while you take a picture.  Here is the best one I got, cracker still in his little birdie lips:

Part of these trips with my mom is always about food.  We went to Red Lobster in Phoenix, and also Cafe Istanbul.  That place has some GREAT food (this was our second visit)!  This time we tried their babaganoush.  This is a dip made with roasted eggplant, garlic, lemon, and olive oil.  It was fantastic on the pitas!

I guess that about covers everything.  Thanks for reading!

When in southern California, Rich and I always have to gorge ourselves on good, authentic Mexican food. Usually, our favorites are little hole-in-the-wall taco joints, but a few are actual sit-down Mexican restaurants that we love. Rich was only here for a week, so we didn’t have as much time as we would have liked to, but we did alright in the time allotted.

I think before I begin this discussion, I should explain some terms to those not initiated into the world of REAL tacos. The tacos we get are 1) Carne Asada (marinated beef cooked on the grill), 2) Carnitas (pork that’s sort of crispy), 3) Al Pastor (beef in a sauce that is like a light, tangy BBQ sauce), and sometimes 4) Birria (which can be either beef or goat meat…I am the one that eats the Birria tacos). We didn’t actually get any Birria tacos this time. Other important things pertaining to REAL tacos: 1) They don’t have cheese on them!! 2) They MUST have onions and cilantro. 3) They MUST have super-spicy sauce on them. If these three criteria are not met, it’s NOT the right taco (at least for us).

We kicked off our 2008 taco tour on Dec. 22 (which is strange, as we arrived here in the southland on Dec. 20, and two days is a LONG wait!) at La Barca restaurant, in Ontario, CA. It’s not too far from Rich’s brother’s house (where we are staying), and the tacos were good – not great, but definitely good. Rich & Patrick (Rich’s younger brother) had carne asada burritos, and they were not as good as the tacos.

La Barca tacos de carne asada, a view of the inside of the restaurant, and their business card:

Dec. 23, we went to Ruben’s Tacos, which is even closer to Rich’s brother’s house. We have been to Ruben’s before, and we have had varied luck with it. This time, we got carne asada tacos, carnitas tacos, and carne asada burritos. Patrick ate with us again, and he and Rich both judged the burritos not good. I had tacos, and they were okay, but not even as good as the ones from La Barca.

Ruben’s Tacos – outside the place, the menu, and the tacos:

Incidentally, in looking at the Ruben’s menu, this is usually what you are looking for for authentic GOOD Mexican tacos. The photo is bad, but the burrito/taco menu choices are: Grilled Beef Skirts, Head, Guts, Barbecue Pork, Tongue, Fish, Fried Pork, Buche (which is pig esophagus or stomach), Chicken. Tacos from places like this are usually GREAT. Ruben’s failed to shine, though.

December 24 (Christmas Eve), Rich and I went to Fredy’s Tacos. The tacos were GREAT. While we were there, Rich had 2 carnitas tacos, and 2 tacos de carne asada. I went out on a limb, and had 1 cabeza (beef head meat) taco, 1 fish taco, 1 adobada (sort of like al pastor) taco, and 1 carne asada taco. All 4 of mine were good, and Rich liked his. Here are some pictures from Fredy’s: 2 pictures of the menu, Rich’s plate, and my plate.

Rich ordered 2 carne asada burritos to go from Fredy’s while we were there, and we took them home. He ate one later, and said that the burritos were excellent. Fredy’s was definitely the best we found near where we were staying.

December 27, we went to our favorite taco place. We had a really busy day that day, and we squeezed in a quick trip from Pasadena all the way down to Montebello to go to Sergio’s Tacos, which is at the corner of Vail & Olympic. The tacos here are food-gasmic, and so are the burritos. Rich had a carne asada burrito, and I had 4 carne asada tacos. The food is SOOO good, you can’t stop eating it. Those tacos are one of the best things I have ever eaten. I would go there 3 times a week if we lived closer – and consequently weigh 300 lbs, I’m sure. Rich ordered 7 (yes, that’s right, 7) carne asada burritos to go, to take home to Moab with him. We brought an ice chest with us for just this purpose. While we waited for the 7 burritos, we ordered another 2 tacos to eat there. WOW. Here are some photos from Sergios, including my 4 tacos, the logo sign on the inside above the door, the taco menu, and the receipt for Rich’s 7 take-out burritos. I wish I had taken a picture of the bag with the burritos. It must have weighed 12 pounds!

Thanks for reading about our adventures in overindulgence!