Why am I crying in my burger?

I ate my first In-N-Out burger when I was twelve, in the back of the Wagoner's Suburban, on a young women's outing in San Fernando. My burger expertise was limited, but I new I'd tasted something great, and when I got home home, told my mom we had to go again. My mom, though, saw no need to drive ten minutes out of SCV for a hamburger, so I had to wait until In-N-Out was built in Newhall, sometime when I was in high school. Followed were many happy memories of burgers after piano lessons with mom, after football games with friends, lunches when I worked with my dad, finding every In-N-Out on a road trip, after weddings, after Disneyland, and even after delivering our two daughters (good thing they are open till 1:00am. Mark really had to rush to get that last one!)

Of course, "absence makes makes the heart grow fonder", and we knew moving to Texas would mean we'd have to save our Double Doubles for visits home. But soon after we arrived, rumors started flying that In-N-Out was coming to Texas, and not just Texas, right here in our home town of Allen! Almost like a sign that we really were supposed to move here. (Crazy, I know) We absolutely knew we would be there opening day.
So Wednesday, May 11, 2011, we declared In-N-Out day. We knew it was going to be big. Even though the opening day was not officially published on the website, everyone knew. It was all over the news. People started camping out Monday night! Mark drove by at 8:00am and said there was a line of 40 people. He came home, we put on our homemade In-N-Out t-shirts and we headed over at 9:00am. The line had grown to 200 people with a drive through line heading down the street. Doors opened at 9:00 and the line moved steadily. It was fun chatting with the crowd--almost everyone had lived in California. Some drove in from other states. We got a lot of attention from our shirts--reporters were interviewing us and taking pictures. Too bad we couldn't find any of their articles.

When we stepped up to the counter to order at 9:45, I'm kind of embarrassed to admit that I got choked up. But it was like I was back in California and all the fun memories I had came flooding back. Texans have had a hard time understanding what all the hype is about. Why are people so excited about a burger? It's nostalgia. When you look at the menu, it's exactly the same. They don't jack up the prices because they can, or add veggie burgers to be hip. It symbolizes classic California style and happy times. And the food is mighty tasty!
I so glad my girls can keep a part of their California heritage here in Texas.

And in case you missed it, that is a mini In-N-Out sign on my belly. Good thing it's close to the hospital!