That's the Thing

The open road is boring repetitiveness after awhile. Like those madly repeating backgrounds from old cartoons. A visual song on infinite loop.

That's why enterprising people set up tourist traps. They catch suckers driving along these lonely highways.


The Thing is a famous stop near Tucson, AZ. It's a mixture of gift shop and mystery museum affixed to a Dairy Queen restaurant. Pure genius. The weary traveler's money pit. A little curiosity in the middle of nowhere.

Signs along both directions of the I-10 warn you to stop and see "The Thing."

I won't spoil the mystery involved. It was a special memory from a trip taken with family several years ago. My recent stop in 2011 was total nostalgia.

Warnings and beckonings persist for hundreds of miles on the freeway. You're primed to stop and see this place.


The thing is... there's nothing else there!

Frozen Custard

This is one of those delectable foods that escaped notice til recently.

Frozen custard - looks and feels like soft serve, but in terms of fat and sugar content is richer than ice cream. It's thicker than frozen yogurt too. Made with egg yolks, so you know you're getting all that sweet cholesterol.

This picture is from my custard initiation, June 2010 at a place in San Jose whose name I can't remember. The chosen flavors where chocolate and vanilla, but the place sold a variety of other flavors as well. I figured it was safest to go with classic tastes.

For whatever reason there don't seem to be many custard houses in Southern California. I've noticed more of them in the Southwest (Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico). Whatever. It's not like this is the kind of thing you eat all the time anyway.

But it would be bomb if the machines at Hometown Buffet pumped out this stuff!