Hope: And so the adventures continue…
I woke up this morning feeling like I was hit by a freight train. I live on a pretty large piece of land with avocado, orange, and pomegranate trees, gardens, 11 pets, and well, an abundance of other trees, plants, etc. I declared yesterday to be tree cutting day, so armed with my chainsaw and an ego the size of Arizona, I made my way into the backyard to get rid of some trees that had grown into (what appeared to be) power lines. Of course, not wanting to be a complete idiot and cut down something that would cause me (or anyone else) serious problems, I called my local SCE office and a representative pointed out the fact that the two wires I was describing were for cable and telephone service, none of which I currently have (or want). I learned these are cables, not live wires and although they were thoroughly embedded in my trees, Time Warner or the local telephone company would not trim the trees to protect their cable.
So, taking matters into my own hands (this could be potentially dangerous for everyone), I decided to rid my backyard of these eyesores. Anyone who has ever been within close proximity of me when I decide to take on a project such as this pretty much anticipates it being one of those situations that will have you laughing so hard you’ll wet yourself. And well, this was no different.
I really like the fact that I am pretty self-sufficient and have lots of tools to do whatever needs doing around my house and yard. But by this time, I was utterly sweaty and exhausted, I decided to call it a day…and the only thing on my list was a nice hot shower! I took it easy the rest of the afternoon and called it a day around , celebrating with 3 Advil.
Fast forward to this morning, at 6:00 a.m., when I realized that every inch of my body hurt. A LOT. And so, the texting began around and we decided on the restaurant to visit today. Of course, I had suggested this place in the past, but he wanted no part of it. Go figure. We agreed to have him be at my house at and I specifically told him NOT to show up early. Of course, he reminded me that that probably wouldn’t be much of a problem for someone who is perpetually late. Oh yea, huh?? It’s a really good thing I was hungry, because truth be told, I would have been just as happy sitting in a nice HOT Jacuzzi for the entire day!!!
Hope: At about 9:20 a.m. , I remembered that I was supposed to tell Gary to expect delays on the 126 for a bike (bicycle) race of some kind, but completely forgot to do so. Oh Well. It’s now 9:37 and coincidentally, Gary just sent me a text informing me he was just leaving. Yea, like I believe that!! He’s probably stuck in Piru watching men and women in bright colored spandex peddling away!! The weather is w-a-y crappy looking…no blue skies to speak of, low 60s and a forecast of only 73 and cloudy . The entire sky was g ray and gloomy. Now, there’s the possibility that the weather is different in Northridge, so I try to let Gary know what it’s like north of the Valley. He assures me the sun will begin to emerge around noon , but I’m doubtful. Nevertheless, I’m all suited up and ready to ride…..and EAT !!
Gary: Sunday morning was a tough one for me since I was out until 2 am on Saturday listening to my kid’s band and then up early for a Union meeting. And it didn’t end there, as I also had to get to help a brother pick up a new bike at Glendale Harley, attended an event at Barger Harley, and then had dinner with a friend that night. By the time Sunday came around, I was totally exhausted but ready to leave on-time Sunday morning. It was Hope’s decision to tell me to take my time, though I don’t think that will happen again.
Hope: It’s now 10:05, so I guess Gary’s text wasn’t a joke. When I said don’t show up before 9:30, I meant it, but an hour later? What the fuck? I think my stomach lining is eating itself…. At about 10:15, Gary pulls up and explains his logic behind not leaving his house until 9:30… yea o.k., whatever… so we pull out of Fillmore and head to civilization…
Gary: When I arrive, she calls me an ‘asshole’ for being late! What??? You told me to take my time, don’t rush, all that and now I am an asshole for being late! Of course, I misunderstood (yea, right) and she meant not to get to her house before 9:30, so I didn’t. LOL. Anyway, we get on the road and head to a place called ‘The Halfway House Cafe’. Hope will tell you about our ride to what she refers to as ‘civilization’.
Hope: I have eaten at the Halfway House Café many times and loved it. It’s a quaint and cozy little place on the side of Sierra Highway with nothing around. In the past, the staff has always been attentive and the food consistently good, with quite a nice selection for another hole-in-the-wall place. Different than most other restaurants we have written about, this one was east of me, meaning a 20-mile ride down the 126 and hopping over to Sierra Highway by way of Bouquet Canyon and Valencia Boulevard, which turns into Soledad Canyon. After a quick left onto Sierra, the Halfway House Café is only a few minutes down the road. Unfortunately, we have to enter civilization to get there which means cars, traffic lights, asshole drivers, lots of concrete, etc. The good part is, once you live through all that, Sierra Highway takes you from ‘civilization’ to the beginning of horse property and large ranches and is quite beautiful.
We arrive about 45 minutes later and apparently became invisible during the ride. After taking our seats at the counter, we observe every waitress walking past us unnoticed several times, so I politely ask for a tea, a coffee, and some menus. Not a good start! It’s a simple breakfast menu…eggs, meat, potatoes (country style or hash browns), pancakes, etc. But they also offer linguica, a slightly-spicy Portuguese sausage, prime rib, T-bone steak, pork chops, etc. We finally order, me deciding on an omelet of linguica, onions, Ortega chile, and avocado with country style potatoes, with an English muffin and a side of country gravy.
Hope: According to their coffee cups, the place has been around since 1931, but there is no historical information offered at the restaurant. Their website indicates that in the 1920’s, the place started out as a trading post and named appropriately so, as it was half way between Los Angeles and Palmdale, and became a restaurant years later. Sadly, the décor doesn’t offer any photos of ‘remember when’ or of the lay of the land back in the day. Instead, it has lots of posted signs saying things like, “I am Woman, I am Invincible, I am Tired,” Beer is part of the Food Group, but Food is not part of the Beer Group,“ and “Getting teenagers to listen to you is like trying to nail jello to a tree” and crap like that. The plates are of the plastic variety, they don’t believe in turning on the heat lamp to keep food warm until picked up by the waitress(es), and if you peek at the right time, you can catch one of the cooks eating while in the kitchen cooking your breakfast.
Gary: I ordered the linquicia sausage with over easy eggs with country potatoes, a side of biscuits and gravy and coffee. First off, Hope tastes her side of gravy and notices it is cold. Cold, not even warm but cold. Not a good beginning. We inform the waitress of this and she got us a new order each. Well, to tell you the truth it was not worth it. The biscuits were like bad pancakes and the gravy, well, was just OK. The one thing that was good though was the sausage. I had never tried this type, it was Hope’s recommendation, and I have to say it is tasty. It was a little spicy but very meaty. I liked it. The eggs were cooked properly but nothing was hot. The food was just warm and then Hope noticed the warmer on the food counter was not on. So it was just sitting there waiting for the waitress to pick it up getting cold. Very odd. The coffee tasted like they hadn’t cleaned the pots in a while. You know the taste that happens when you don’t clean the pots often. It gets a metallic flavor to it. Blahhh…. Although I am such a coffee addict that I still had 3 cups. Yes, I know what you must think, he is not quite right. Soooo, your point??? LOL
Hope: The food arrived after what seemed like an eternity and went downhill from there. My omelet was certainly not the ‘fluffy’ variety offered by the menu, had no avocado and the country gravy was cold; not lukewarm, but COLD. Truth be told, it wasn’t so great to start with and it’s MUCH worse cold. The potatoes were so-so. We finished up and unlike being out in the Ventura area where we have a pattern of walking around downtown and planting ourselves at Palermo’s Coffee House, we’re out of our surroundings and aren’t quite sure where to go. We cruise down Davenport Road for awhile and then back to Newhall Ranch Road and the 126. On the ride home, the sun made a bit of a debut, but it remained rather chilly and if I didn’t know better, would swear it was going to rain. We split off in Fillmore with Gary heading to Simi Valley Harley to hang out with his club brothers and I rode out to catch the tail end of the Strawberry Festival in Oxnard.
Gary: All in all it was just an OK day. The weather never really warmed up, the food was just OK and riding though ‘civilization’ was just like everything else. OK, so we learned our lesson, we were just trying to give you enthusiasts, Sunday riders, a closer place to go without venturing out too far into the wilderness. Don’t get used to it, as I think Hope will agree, we are done with the urban ‘Breakfast for Bikers’ experiment…lol… The service here is just OK. It is another one of those O.K. Café’s. In fact we decided to start a new rating system. ‘Off the charts’, ‘OK Café’, and ‘Don’t bother’.
Halfway House Café 15564 Sierra Highway Canyon Country, CA 661.251.0102
