Published: 18.08.2025
As a base for day trips towards Yosemite National Park and beyond, I chose the small town of Fowler (6,000 residents) near Fresno. I didn't want to go back to a big city like LA. Additionally, the town is almost exactly between LA and our third stop (San Francisco), making both routes manageable. After driving for 3 hours straight on various freeways to Fowler, I must say that the American way of driving on highways is, in my opinion, superior to the German approach. Not necessarily because of the double to quadruple amount of lanes, but because a) the speed limit is 55-70 mph and b) there's 'equality' among all lanes. Both factors contribute to a stress-free and smooth highway experience. It should also be noted that all highway restrooms I encountered (1) were very well maintained and clean. There was no smell of urine in the men's restroom.
Upon arriving in Fowler, we first headed to Denny's. On one hand, as a declared pancake fanatic, I wanted to finally eat 'real' pancakes (hotel pancakes don't count), and on the other hand, we unfortunately found that even in California it’s really hard to find a burger chain that offers vegetarian burgers (and fried zucchini as a patty don’t count, Carl's Jr). At Denny's, you can simply order any burger with a meatless patty. It’s actually a great thing, if it weren’t for the issue with bacon. But since I don't want to embarrass anyone, I won’t mention the child's name. This child thought it would be a good idea to order a Bourbon Bacon Burger with a meatless patty. The hope was that it would be clear that the burger should be delivered without bacon. That hope was not fulfilled. Instead, the burger was served with bacon and the words 'your veggie burger.' Bon appétit dear firstborn. We spent the rest of the day splashing in the pool, doing laundry, chilling in the room, and playing card games.
To be continued...
Cool: Cola in 'regular' cans
Disgusting: Coffee Mate Creamer (one can get instant herpes from that, see photo)
