lost in "los banos"...
if you were to google los banos, you'd wonder how in the world i ended up there on a lovely sunday evening. after we parted ways in tahoe with my lil sister and her newphews in tow and just at the most perfect moment when we were all unwound and sitting comfortably after our incomprehensible weekend...we get a text that she blew a tire and is stranded at some random gas station off the Interstate 5. this vehicular vein is what connects la to the bay...and the only reason we'd ever stop along the 5 is to refuel (gee, now i know how Guam feels). so after failed attempts to have the angels of triple a that never came through to come through, off we went from mountain house to the desert.
80 miles and 40 minutes later...the husband comes to the rescue when he easily knocks the tire off the rim that they declared was undoable. indeed it was. where we almost disturbed a certain carlos (for what would've been a fine fee of $60 to reopen his tire shop off-hours) from his superbowl festivities, we ended up at the fine creation of the walton dynasty...walmart. we found jesus!..literally. the dude changed her tire and 1 hour and 10 pieces of chicken mcnuggets later, we were able to drive off from los banos, ca.
this disturbance was all in the name of pea soup. the pit stop was not just for refueling, after all. if you're ever on the 5, you can't miss that windmill beckoning you to have a pea of the pea soup. forget the fact that it was pea soup that was used to simulate vomit in 1973's The Exorcist. i barely remember this movie and don't wish to relive it...but the pea soup will have your head turning, in a good way.
