food truck FAIL

and not just once, but twice.  ugh.

although i suppose the first one wasn't a complete failure.  my friend lilcee told me about a free event at the toyota speedway in nearby irwindale on thursday evening.  i had a meeting to attend at 7:30, but i figured if we went early enough, i could still make it.  i'd seen that the baconmania truck was going to be there, as well as ludobites, so i wasn't going to miss it - besides, this was pretty darn close to home.  it'd be a shame not to at least drop by, right?

oh, and on the way to taking the teen to volleyball practice, we saw this.  awwwww.

 
we pulled up here at 5:30, a half hour into the 'fest.

i was giddy when i saw the truck i was dying to try out, right in front.  not quite ready to serve, but that was okay.  i'm patient when i need to be.

plus, there were lots of other trucks to visit first.

and right at the end, i saw it:

MIL and i decided to share an order of the pepittes - basically fried chicken balls.  but DELICIOUS balls.

plus, the guy at the window was super friendly.  after giving us a sample, we fell in love with and ordered two basil blood orange juices.  SO good.

by then, lilcee & co. had found us and placed an order of their own.

they had one of these, and i had to try it for myself.

the honey glaze was delicious.  the biscuit itself - well, let's just say that i've had better.  but the rest of the grub from the ludotruck was quite lovely.  i'd like to have it again someday soon.

and then we headed back towards the baconmania truck - the main event for most of us - and were shocked to find that it was gone.  nowhere in sight.  and i couldn't find anyone to ask, so i checked my twitterfeed and found these:

gah!  i could not believe it.  so depressed.  i was really looking forward to getting my grub on at that damn truck.  instead, MIL and i hit up the white rabbit truck.

and then capped it off with a cold, frosty treat.

before we left, i took the bean to the restroom and then we peeked at the goings-on at the track.

"i wanna drive that car, mommy," she said loudly, and everyone around us cracked up.

a couple of days later, after the teen's volleyball game, we hopped in the car and headed over to santa anita race track for their food truck festival.  at first, i wasn't a huge fan of going to this as there was a $10 entry fee.  i hate paying to get in to spend more cash on food trucks.  but MIL made a good point:  "i only have so much longer to visit these trucks, and i'd really like to have another one of those yummy lobster rolls from your friend's truck."

well, how was i supposed to argue with that?  i didn't.  heh.  i guess i wasn't that hard to convince.  plus, i hadn't been to the horse races since i was little, and i thought it might be something fun for the girls to see.

but as it turned out, it was indeed a total waste of cash and time.  from the moment we pulled into the parking lot and found ourselves parking the car a country freaking mile away from the entrance, i knew we weren't in for a great time.  and the chick who took our ticket and handed us our wristbands was pretty much the opposite of friendly and helpful.  bitch.

we walked through the tunnel that connects the parking lot to the infield, followed the signs, and my worst fears were confirmed:

there were so many freaking people there, we couldn't even get a good look at what trucks were present. this is the closest we got to the lobsta truck:

can't even tell it's back there, can ya?  blah.  and as we talked to the people standing in various lines that wove around the lawn into unrecognizable snarls, they were increasingly irritated:  "we've been standing here for an hour, the line is moving really slowly, and the trucks are starting to run out of food."  yikes.

so we stayed long enough to watch one race:

and then we were outta there.  on our way back to the tunnel, we saw the starting gate being positioned for the next race.

this poor horse was standing around as people crowded around him to take pictures.

and there was a really long line here for kiddie pony rides.  although here, unlike other crappy petting zoo-type pony rides, the animals aren't tethered to a pole and forced to walk in circles.  there's a small trail that they follow, assisted by a handler to keep them from bolting with a frightened, screaming kid in the saddle.  there were so many people that i couldn't get a clear shot, but i know the bean would've loved it had the line not been a mile long.

back through the tunnel we went.

i managed to make a wrong turn trying to get out of the parking lot and found a great view of the track, right behind what looked like a live-in caretaker's house.

so, yeah - we ended up grabbing lunch here:

moral of the story:  food truck festivals on a weekend?  don't do it.  EVER.