A RETURN TO THE O.C.
THE WARM CALIFORNIA SUN... |
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And of course there was more to see - a return visit to the IN N OUR
burger on La Paz. I don't have any sense of direction while I'm in
the OC other than Laguna Beach is to the north, San Clemente and San
Juan Capistrano is to the south, but I do know the IN N OUT is on La
Paz. And they are tasty burgers. Those are some damn fine burgers.
IN N OUT BURGERS-
FULL ANIMAL STYLE
Acting on a tip from friend and filmmaker Paul
E., I found out you can 'secretly'
order your fries animal style just like you can your burgers, or in my
case, my double double.
So after waiting those painful fifteen minutes while your food is
cooked, it finally arrived - my animal style meal - with sautéed onions
and loads of special sauce.
While gluttonous, and off-putting to many, which are often reasons to
order food in the first place, animal style fries were something I'd
order again, but the fries are fine regular as well. |
click on a picture for a
larger version |
ON POLITICS:
I'm not sure why seeing big American flags on giant SUVs puts
such a spring in my step and a smile on my face, but it does.
I can already hear the groans of how much I hate my country and all
that crap, but that's ridiculous. I guess I'm just drawn to
the extravagant displays of 'Hey, I voted for Bush and support our
stupid war in Iraq.' Maybe its just imagining these peoples'
lifestyles - where culture revolves around TV, no inconvenience is
too small, but really, it all comes down to money. Perhaps I'm
jealous of these people because they do eat three times a day, buy
cars and don't necessarily have to worry about their phone being
disconnected anytime soon. |
I was surprised at how few
'W' bumper stickers dotted the cars of the OC, as the Kerry
supporters were seemingly more vocal asthe minority voice. It's just
more fun to make fun of Republicans than Hippies. Hippies are
soooo over...
click on a picture for a larger version |
But whenever I start thinking that, I hear things like this, from
the Compassionate Christian Majority of the United States of
America, and then my head spins and I stop thinking rationally: (and
these are actual quotes from the OC)
on the US being called 'stingy' for only contributing $15 million
to the tsunami efforts:
"For 364 days a year all these other countries
hate us, then when we do something nice, we get called stingy.
To hell with all of them."
on the loss of 150,000 lives:
"You know, nature has a way of correcting
problems. Like overpopulation, this tsunami was like nature's
way to clear up a problem." |
| Of course, it wasn't
more than a week later that Southern California received its own
'cleansing effort' from Mother Nature - continuous heavy rains
that started during my trip resulted in dams breaking, shoreline
eroding, and the overwhelmingly tragic deaths of about a dozen
people. California's Action Hero Governor flew in
helicopters and declared counties 'Disaster Areas'. Get
out your checkbooks folks, there's some rebuilding to do.
And please, don't be stingy. |
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news-like photos taken by Mom,
whose on the spot reporting pays off once again.
click on a picture to make 'em bigger |
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NEWPORT BEACH
On one of my final days in Orange County, we took a drive north
along the coast and ended up at Newport Beach. We walked along
the sidewalk overlooking the tall cliff and thin beach and pier
below, under the watchful gaze of a row of houses that ten of my
lifetime earnings could never begin to afford.
It was a pretty sensational little town, typically California and
definitely O.C. - rows of palm trees, fancy architecture, money just
dripping from the roof tops. All with an ocean view too.
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Continue your OC journey:
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