Minne'So Sorry!

I did it again! I disappeared! Off I went and got lost into the holiday blur, and my my my what a blur it was! I hope yaw'll had a wonder holiday season filled with something yummy, something glittery and something wonderful! Now let's get the rest of this road trip documented shall we!? A'here we go!

HOLY COW. I've been to passed through Flagstaff once before and all I noticed was the snow and rail road tracks. After a quick Yelp search I found this gem-Tinderbox Kitchen and Annex. I'm talking some delicious pork belly (with blue cheese grits, spiced apple sauce and honey), beautiful seared scallops (with parsnips, turnips and brussels' sprouts), and lovely shrimp and grits (with polenta and some chimichurri sauce). This place was packing big flavor for such a sleepy, small college town. If this was in a big city, it would absolutely be able to hold its own. *drool*

Now you may be asking, why didn't you just go straight across through Wyoming and Utah back to Cali? Well, because that would be too easy, plus my dad had a senior pass to enter state parks (remember?) So I figured we should use it and what better place than the friggen Grand Canyon! 

Look how grand!

Fun Fact: The Grand Canyon is the home to a fleet of rehabilitated California Condors. While we were there we were able to see a dude with an old TV antenna looking thing (whats that?!) searching for the where'abouts of some recently released condors. Each condor has a little band on their wing (I like to think of it as natures equivalent of a Tiffany's Tennis Bracelet) and each bird's band has a special frequency that allows rangers to tell which bird is near! 

Look at that grandness! 

 Fun Fact: California Condors are almost twice the size of a Turkey Vulture. 

Another Fun Fact: Because Turkey Vultures are smaller, they're not big enough to support the weight of a band like the Condors (boo, no Tiffany's bracelet for them!) But thats okay cause unlike the Condor, Vultures have historically be more resilient when it comes to the whole endangered business. 

I convinced the parentals to hang out till sunset so we could catch.......

....this beauty! I have to tell you, golden hour anywhere is my favorite place to be.

This picture ^above^ does a pretty good job at summarizing how I felt about the Grand Canyon. It's so majestic and wonderous and beautiful but the whole time theres a big wire bar in front of you or a big slab of concrete behind you. And ya'de'da I understand the whole safety aspect of it but when I want to be one with nature I really want to be part of nature! I'm still glad we went though, check that off the bucket list! 

Onward to Vegas! Now if you know me, you know that Vegas is not really my scene. But the parentals had a wedding to go to so of course I tagged along and was lucky enough to have my crazy best friend meet me there! 

Woah. Cool. This is Vegas?

People watching + Margs + my Bestie + Making new friends= An afternoon well spent

I am a sucker for dinner and a show, cue the Tournament of Kings!   Bestie is a big fan of horses and I'm a big fan of making a fool of myself, cue front row seats in the basement of Excalibur's horse arena chalked full of fair maidens and wizards!  I have no regrets, thats' Vegas right?

Off the strip we go, to a tiny strip mall near Vegas's "Asian Town." Leave it to my dad (who, mind you is a frequent Vegas'er) to politely demand for some curry lobster. That's it there, in the back, hiding behind some steamed soy sauce fish and my already messy plate.

Oh whats that? Some Yam Sprout Greens co-mingling with some glossy steamed chicken?! Wait one second, whats that lovely thing hiding back there....

....FRIED WHITE BUNS! You guys, Chinese food literally runs through my blood and I have never seen this before. Mantou is usually eaten as a snack or a cozy snuggle buddy for roasted duck and sauce. Our Mantou was made to be...wait for it...dipped in the left over curry from the lobster! I like to think of this Mantou as the more mature older cousin of the Youtiao (basically Chinese donuts that float around in a big bowl of rice porridge). Oh, be still my chow main, lemon chicken eating heart. 

 On ward to L.A! The city of....really good food, to catch up with my cooking twin star cousin (Go check out this smarty pants here, really go! I'll wait...back? Okay, lets resume) Jessica and her new little guy Jams!

Rule 1: as cooking twin star cousins, when visiting one another it is your responsibility to never pass up a french bakery in order to bring freshly made yums to your other cooking twin star (mainly _(fill in the blank)_ croissants). Thank you very much Mr. Thomas Keller and your wonderful bakery! 

This has to be my favorite little bun though. His onesie says "Go Green," I can't with the cuteness!

For girl time, Twin Star Cousin took us to A la minute in Orange. Liquid nitrogen ice cream just has *SCIENCE* written all over it! A perfect model for a food system plus an innovative processing step mixed in with divine flavors and add ins! Every foodists dream. There would be a picture here, naturally, but I couldn't wait. Just imagine: Salted Caramel, Orange Honey and Beets and Goat Cheese in gigantic crunchy waffle cones. I promise, it was real life! 

Of course, Twin Star Cousin whipped up a magical batch of scone for us, because that is what she does. This isn't the exact recipe for the scones in the pic, but I promise they'll be just as equally delicious! (<-- Click it! I promise you wont be disappointed!)

A visit wouldnt be complete with some more yummmies! We made a short drive to the Anaheim Packing House, an awesome spot that is sure to hit any craving you've been having. I'm talking- Indian food, Chinese Hot Pot, Fish and Chips and my all time favorite....

...Cheese Curds! Now mind you, these aren't any Anoka County Fair Fried Cheese Curds, but they were pretty tasty! 

And to top it off....dessert at Popbar! Customizable popsicles! Can you say, green tea pop with chocolate and almonds!? Yay! 

Oh my, what a marathon of so many things! There was even food in this one! Go me! Lets' take a quick break, I promise it'll be shorter than 3 months! Till then...

Stay tuned! Stay hungry!

-Taryn Julia 

MinneSo' I Have No Idea...

....Where I left off...
Somewhere in South Dakota I think. So from South Dakota, it was a long drive through random random Wyoming to Colorado! Golden, Colorado to be exact.

Selfie at the Coors Factory whilst taking a brewski break! Yeah! That Coors, the banquets beer!

This is the adorbs river that just flows down downtown Golden.

Mom, Cheryl and Tom! Our lovely hosts while in Golden! 

Hello Colorado sunset, you're kinda pretty!

Onward! Right outside of Amarillo, Texas is a super adorable cutesie cutesie town called Lake Tanglewood! Mom's high school buddy Greg (Uncle Greg) and his Dad live in Lake Tanglewood and are lucky enough to wake up to this every morning! 

Hey Lake! You're kinda spectacular!

Right outside of Amarillo is one of the best road side attraction...Cadillac Ranch! We bought a few cans of spray paint and got our creative on! 

(p.s if you didn't know, you could have followed my adventure by using the handle #minnesotaryn) 

Just incase you forgot you were in Texas...

TexAss, right outside of The Big Texan because just incase you forgot you were in Texas :)

Uncle Greg making us...Chicken Fried Steak! How appropriate! 

Before heading to New Mexico we made a pit-stop at Ye Olde Pancake Station, a no-nonsense, no-frills breakfast spot where the customers' median age is 65 and the coffee flows freely. Just so you know, I bought two of those cups with Flip their mascot on the front. 

Then after a 4 hour drive....Santa Fe, New Mexico!? You're a silly little place. We stayed at the Sage Inn, a cozy little spot, which was good because later that night we got stuck in a flash flood-thunders storm-lightning storm! But before that happened we had a chance to grab a snack at Shake Foundation, which we heard was relatively new. 

All outdoor seating with big picnic benches, Shake Foundation is dedicated to "the preservation of the original green chile hamburger" by using all natural brisket and sirloin beef. Let me just say, I'm all about the green chile hamburger! Paired with shoestring fries was yum, but then we added a made-to-order pistachio milkshake and took our meal to a whole new level! 

After our snack, we made a stop at the Georgia O'Keefee Museum. Its a wonderful collection of her painting and sketches, a lot which she created in and based on her home in New Mexico. 

Pedestrian friendly, the main square area hosts restaurants, cathedrals, shops, chapels and missions (which if you know me, I love!)

Remember that flash-floody storm I mentioned earlier? Well we were lucky enough that it passed with enough time for us to grab dinner at Elevation Bistro. Warm romaine salad? Half rack of ribs? Local beer for only $3? I'm sold. 

But alas, we must move on. To Sedona we go! Voted the "Most Beautiful Place in the World," Sedona is a funky mix of spiritual, quirky and colorful. Did that make sense? No? Oh well, just look! 

This was from the first night in Sedona, when we tried really hard to find Cathedral Rock before sunset. Well that didn't happen so we found dinner instead. 

 The next day, we went on a driving tour of the rocks surrounding Sedona. We found..Thunder Mountain, Snoop Rocky, Chimney Rock, Cathedral Rock, Coffeepot Rock and Bell Rock

Pretty sure this is Thunder Mountain.

Now let me tell you the tale of Snoopy Rock. We drove to Cathedral Rock (which is really cool btws) and as we were leaving, as I asked the parking attendant Steve if we could see Snoopy Rock from there. First he laughed then said, "No! You need to go to Cold Stones, get some ice cream and then you'll see it!" Now I know that Sedona is all hippie dippy so I thought Steve was just giving me some Shaman-Crystal-Spiritual advice. We drove and drove (like 2 blocks) until we were really hot and decided it was lunch time. So we ended up at Wildflower Bread Company for lunch (basically Panera, in the SouthWest) and then ice cream at Cold Stones (Prickely Pear to be exact) was the only appropriate next step...where we figured out that you can see Snoopy Rock from the balcony outside of the store. Oh Steve, how I will never question you again. 

Weeeewwwhhh. We are almost there! Just three states left? Water break!

Stay tuned! Stay hungry!
-Taryn Julia

MinneSo'Hold That Thought!

I'm here! I'm here, I promise! Let's wrap up my road trip shall we?! (Commence photo dump!)

Now where did we last leave off? Oh! Duluth, Minnesota! Duluth is one of those places where people go, "Man, Duluth is so cool, you should go there!" So then you have to go there and you find foodist treasures like Duluth Grill where they serve...

....North Shore Paella, a Wrenshaw Pasty, Sautéed Kale, Homemade Sweet Potato Chips and Wild Rice Soup. Man, Duluth Grill does local like nobody's business! Everything from the eggs, to the beef to the veggies and lard they use in the pasty is from Minnesota. The fish that goes into their paella is all from Lake Superior. Saying that their food is local doesn't even cut it....

...In their parking lot they have a whole garden! Tomatoes, Corn, Spices...everything you can imagine, growing only a few yards from the kitchen. Now thats local!

Now of course, no meal (of mine) is complete without a frozen dairy dessert after. Now the Portland Malt Shoppe is also one of those places where people tell you to go if you head up to Duluth. So Go we went!

Hello you beautiful Snickers Ice Cream with Caramel Malt! 

Lake Superior! Fun Fact: Lake Superior is not only the largest lake of the Great Lakes but it also contains 10% of the worlds fresh surface water! 

Duluth, Day Two! Obviously wouldn't be complete without a drive up the side of Lake Superior where we had a chance to stop at.....

...Betty's Pies! Situated on the banks of Lake Superior, this little dinner serves up over 12 dozen pie options daily!

I feel like the combo of the bright blue table and this slice of Rhubarb-Strawberry pie just screams 

"I'm ready for my closeup!" #nofilter

Hey Gooseberry Falls! This is one stop everyone tells you to make when you travel to Duluth! These falls are located about 15 miles from Two Harbors in Lake County. The visitor center and grounds at the falls were originally constructed in 1930ish by the Civilian Conservation Corps (a band of young dudes that like the outdoors and nature and stuff). 

Fun Fact: About a billion years ago (and you can still see some evidence now) there was a huge lava flow through where the falls stands today. 

Fun Fact Part Two: Back in Ice Age Days, huge glaciers scraped through Northern Minnesota helping carve out some of the falls and even Lake Superior!

After Duluth, we made a quick pit stop back in Woodbury, for my final hour as 100% MinnesoTaryn and after packing up the last of my things and saying bye to my favorite puppy pal it was off to South Dakota!

This little thing was the best (her being so awesome) and worst (having to leave her!) part of my entire summer! 

Bye Minnesota! Hello South Dakota!  After a quick stop in Brandon, South Dakota (where apparently its the norm to have water slides in your hotel pool!?) we headed west rather quickly until the appeal of about 45 billboards and my mothers curiosity we found ourselves at....

THE CORN PALACE!

Every year the residents of Mitchell, South Dakota vote on different designs for the outside of their Corn Palace. And when I say Corn Palace, I really mean Corn! Each design is filled in, similar to a paint by numbers, with different color corn kernels and corn husks. 

Every year the designs changes on the outside of the building. This year they're renovating the inside for more..umm..streamline and interactive corn activities.

Further up the road, I made the executive decision to go to Badlands National Park! (40% to see what it's about, 10% so dad could use his senior lifetime national park entrance pass and 50% cause it just sounds really cool!)

Look how cool this is! It's like giant sized ant holes! 

Lets be real...the Badlands were cool but the real reason we made our way to South Dakota was for Mount Rushmore!!! We made the choice decision to go near sunset because fun fact: the park doesn't actually close till 11 P.M! **Advice nugget#1: Stay in Keystone, its only like 5 minutes from the park entrance! Advice nugget #2: Drive carefully at night! Deer and stuff like to hangout then!**

So every night, after sunset, the park rangers invite all visitors to sit in their amphitheater to view a 20ish minute video of the history and making of Mt Rushmore, a little history about our homies Washington, Lincoln, Roosevelt, Jefferson and a tribute to this beautiful place we call home. After the video they begin to light Mt Rushmore until all the presidents faces are illuminated.

Once our pillars of freedom are fully lit up, the park ranger invites all armed service members to join him on stage where each is asked their name, branch of service in which they served and in what years. It was a really cool moment, one of those ones that can't be captured in a photo but has to be soaked in. 

#nofilter....really! Its just a filter called, my phone camera accidentally does cool things.

Let's take a break, there are 7 states to go, plenty of nifty monuments and yummy plates to be talked about! So until next time....

Stay tuned! Stay hungry! 

-Taryn Julia