H & H Car Wash and Coffee Shop embodies a such a stark juxtaposition of contraditratory elements; It is a fairly squalid looking Car Wash, one that gives the impression that if you were to have your vehicle washed here, it would emerge dirtier than when it entered, as well as being a noted eatery of repute:

They must do a fine job washing the cars, that or people wash their car as an excuse to eat the food. The register for the Car Wash is inside the cafe, tempting even the strongest of wills to dive into an order of Huevos Rancheros. See, this place, although charming, clearly could care less about aesthetics. Lately I have come to feel that even some of the reputable greasy spoons are one and the same. Rarely do they reach the heights of their more gourmet counter parts.

I was fairly convinced that this James Beard Award Winning eatery may have a more nostalgic appeal than one for the palate, and eyeballing around this might apply fairly to some items like the cheeseburger etc. Through my reading I was told the Huevos Rancheros was the way to go. I am not huge on the Tomatillo sauce generally found on the dish and much to my delight their version is smothered in a delicious con queso sauce:

To be perfectly honest this was the most sublime Huevos Rancheros I have ever had, Period. What I hope this photo conveys is that although they may not care about the aesthetics of the restaurant, those potatoes were cooked to such a crispy perfection that it is almost an art-form. Without skin, these potatoes are cooked in such a way that it embodies both the best quality of a french fry (with a lighter, crispy outside) while having a texture and taste more akin the home style potatoes one is accustomed to at breakfast. The Huevos are served with side of fresh tortillas that are soft and piping hot with exquisitely rendered  black and brown char. 

And don’t get me started on their Salsa Verde. Oh Jesus. Again something I am usually underwhelmed  by, H&H’s Salsa Verde was through the roof good, as spicy as it was tangy, it was a perfect accompaniment to the cacophony of greatness that I was wrapping into that tortilla. Despite it’s location, which by the way is just down the street from Jay J. Armes’ The Investigators office,

H & H Car Wash and Coffee Shop is not only a must stop destination, but their Huevos Rancheros is one of the great road dishes in the United States.

H & H Car Wash and Coffee Shop is located at: 701 E Yandell Dr. El Paso, TX 79902

Check out more photo greatness in the Gallery

We were supposed to be in Cleveland for a film festival, the Indie Gathering to be specific. A film I helped shoot, Mouth of Caddo , was in the festival so myself, along with one of the films producers and the director, decided to blow so money and take the pilgrimage to Cleveland. $1200 dollars and four days later it was very apparent that we caught a pretty bad case of debauchulism (a sickness derived from debauchery) coupled by the fact that we only graced the film festival with our presence for a combined hour and a half during our 4 day stay.

Instead, hungover and borderline unpleasent, we wandered into the colorful neighborhood of Treemont to visit the house featured in the film A Christmas Story.

This is what the majority of the homes looked like and we were also told not to enter the bar across the street despite our lack of misgivings (the intimidating fellows who ended up emerging for their cigarette breaks gave us a bit more pause).

Be that as it may, I was unaware there was an in depth tour, one that was much more interesting than expected.

We stopped by the gift shop where some hip youngsters behind the counter sold us some “A Christmas Story” paraphernalia (later while hanging out downtown they spotted us as “Hey it’s those LA guys.” I think that being the first time any of us were known by that distinction while randomly walking the streets of any city).

Outside it was hard to contain our unbridled pleasure, the kind that is usually only felt when a cat is inside a sack, for cats, a cat sack.

The inside revealed the same sort of excitement, and the story of the place, which I will abstain from delving into as I would hate to take away from your experience, is 10x as interesting as one would suspect.

Yet as I got to up to Ralphie’s room I got pretty sleepy. I took a brief nap but the afternoon light shone in through the window, quite a rude awakening.

We also tried to have a nice turkey dinner but one should always remember to wear an oven mitt when taking a turkey out of an oven.

The A Christmas Story House is located at: 3159 W. 11th Street. Cleveland, OH 44109.

The Hours are as posted:

For more exciting lovely pictures of the A Christmas Story House, proceed to the Gallery.

All right. I was feeling a bit pigeonholed by my material on here. I am a bit to specific on the precise nature of what I want this site to be. So to simplify, diversify, and stupefy I have created an addendum for Wandrlust; The Wandrlustr via tumblr. The link of which is located over in this region.

That being said the web series I am a co-person on, Valley Peaks, has finally launched after an inordinate amount of time. Episodes 1 and 2 are currently viewable on You Tube and our website Valley Peaks, tell your friends and enemies. Episode One can be viewed above but click the video and watch it on High Quality on the You Tube or our site. From now on new episodes of Valley Peaks will be announced and viewable from the The Wandrlustr, not Wandrlust. That is where you will find Episode Two.

I hope you enjoy the new editions to the Wandrlust family, find yourself.

Coming very soonish hopefully maybe.  Check it at the Valley Peaks website.

Some people love donuts. Cops for example are stereotypically associated with the donut. Maybe they do love donuts as much as they are portrayed to, but I have a theory, one that comes down to the donut shop. See, the majority of representations we see of officers of the law come from film and television, most of these shows take place in Los Angeles, even if the setting isn’t LA, generally they are shot here. Of all the places I have ever been to, I have never seen a city so filled with donut shops (that and places that serve pastrami all over shit) as LA. Yelp has around 465 donuts listed in LA County - although I think its much more than that even. My point is, with the hours cops have and the surprising lack of places that are open 24 hours a day, donut shops are sort of the default establishment for cops. Or maybe cops just love donuts.

All this being said, I am not much of a donut man. I did have to make a trip to UPS in Baldwin Park and knowing the Donut Hole was down the street, I made the pilgrimage to neighboring La Puente. A building that looks like the axle of a car from Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, even with my lack of donut enthusiasm, one can’t suppress the giddy excitement derived from driving through two gigantic donuts:

Freud would probably have a field day with the implications of this, one can’t help to see or feel the obvious similarity of passing through the birth canal, a feeling one has over and over again passing through endless tunnels during a visit to Disneyland. The symbolic act of birth and rebirth through these tunnels is probably a well thought out psychological effect to bring even adults back to the feeling of being a child, passing through dark cavernous tunnels only to emerge into a bright, blinding light thrown into the constantly disappointing throws of actually society, of age and decay… or something. So you again, stand in line - to repeat that feeling ad infinitum; to crawl back into the womb, emerge with disappointment and eat a churro.

Driving through the Donut Hole is similar to this although less dramatically so. I got a single glazed donut for the sake of it:

The donut was as fresh and tasty as a donut should be at its best. Would I drive all the way here to get a donut? Well, I guess I did. If anything you should drive all the way here to pass through the tunnel to be re-welcomed into life with a delicious donut, realizing simple pleasure also exists on the other side.

The Donut Hole is located at: 15300 Amar Rd, La Puente, CA 91744

See more penatrating photos of the Donut Hole in the Gallery.