Fully vaccinated, Bill wasted no time to get on a plane to see his mom for a long overdue visit. His initial itinerary took him from Evansville’s airport through Dallas to Ontario but weather related flight changes rerouted him. Instead, he flew Nashville to Dallas to Ontario but he still arrived early enough in the afternoon to visit his mom.
He flew with an N95 mask securely and snuggly over his nose and mouth. It might seem unnecessary to identify those facial features but apparently some fellow passengers still have not gotten the memo about how to properly wear a mask almost a full year into the pandemic.
He smoothly navigated through the airport, picked up his rental car and headed out to his mom’s. They settled in for an afternoon chat in the customary location in the kitchen. Right on the table was the Christmas gift Mason had picked out for her because he said it resembled her dog, Barney.
By golly, he was right. The dogs do look remarkably similar!
The iconic Van De Kamp windmill restaurant turned Denny’s was still there! Located at Santa Anita and Huntington Boulevard in Arcadia, it’s the last one in Southern California. I remember growing up when these restaurants were more common and the windmill turned.
Friday night Bill had carnitas for dinner.
Yesterday morning Bill went for a drive down memory lane between where he stayed in Azusa and his mom’s in Highland Park.
The first stop of the day was Alberto’s in Baldwin Park for a chorizo, egg & cheese breakfast burrito. When we lived in California, this was one of Bill’s most favorite meals. We spoke while he enjoyed it and boy, was I glad that the 2021 burrito was as good as the one in his memory. The tortilla was chewy and fresh; the chorizo, egg and cheese were plentiful; and most importantly, the holy last bite of cheese and tortilla was present.
After breakfast, he drove to his mom’s. He shared some sights that caught his eye. The first was the Soaring Teapot, a fountain in Camellia Square at Rosemead Boulevard and Las Tunas Drive in Temple City.
Helping Hand by Daniel Stern was nearby and is part of the Temple City Art in Public Spaces.
It’s uncommon in our area to see a bilingual pharmacy but not in Los Angeles.
We still miss the ubiquitous hand wash car washes. I can only think of one in our area and it’s not even in our state.
Soon he arrived to his mom’s and they spent the afternoon in conversation. He helped her with one very significant accomplishment: writing her will!
When it was time for dinner, he returned to Azusa. He stopped at La Blanquita Tortilleria to buy Los Angeles tortillas. I was salivating over his and whined that I wanted him to bring some home. I didn’t expect he would but I was delighted that he did! The store also had bins and bins of dried chilis like this.
His dinner was Pad See Ewe with Shrimp from Orchid Thai in Baldwin Park. YUM!
Early this morning he drove out to Trejo Tortilla Factory in San Bernardino to buy hand stretched flour tortillas. He got there so early, in fact, that he had to kill time before the tortillas were actually ready. They were hot when they bagged them; you can’t get fresher than that!
Since he needed to kill some time, he drove to Loma Linda and our old stomping grounds. This Washington Avenue Starbucks was one of two convenient locations near our apartment in Colton.
It was right near the Arco Station where we frequently got gas.
Down the hill was the other Starbucks off of Mt Vernon.
After church on Sundays we often stopped at Manna for milk and a donut. We don’t have any mom and pop donut shops like this spot in Loma Linda. We miss them.
Another favorite meal was El Pollo Dorado, a Mexican rotisserie chicken.
Loma Linda University Medical Center has itself expanded quite a bit. These are the original buildings that I recall and now share space with a few new ones.
It looks like construction and expansion are still under way.
The last stop was on the tour was a visit to our old house. Then he went back to the tortilleria and off to visit with Rachel and Jerry in Corona. He spent an hour with them and was off to the airport for the return escapades.
Due to the weather, he again had to reroute and this time fly through Phoenix to Nashville. He realized at some point that somewhere in the airport travels he lost his driver’s license. When he landed in the Nashville area, he faced ice and fog. Fortunately, he was able to stay ahead of the really bad weather that was headed into Nashville and he arrived home by 10 pm.
So glad Bill got to visit his mom. We went to visit my Dad last weekend….2 weeks after his 2nd vaccine!!! Joel hadn’t seen my dad in a year! Ken hadn’t seen him since last Christmas! crazy!