;)
Saturday
Jul122008
Entries in NM08 (9)
Friday
Jul112008
2008 World Tour--Special events
Posted on 
Friday, July 11, 2008 at 11:10AM
Friday, July 11, 2008 at 11:10AM You thought I was joking about that boring you with details thing the other day, didn't you?
Here's more boring details. A few of the more memorable occurrences during our traipse across the Southwestern United States. In no particular order, I think.
Swimming with old friends. Really lovely. Especially when joined by a swimming pug. Who can beat that? (excuse the post-swim hair)
New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Planetarium. Cool Fractal film in the planetarium. The boys were completely convinced that the planetarium floor was moving up and down during the film. (It wasn't) The natural history of the personal computer was a surprising bonus that we wished we'd had more time to explore.
Family barbecue with a city full of fireworks. With a view to die for, we ate dogs, burgers, peach cobbler. From the porch at my folks' house we could see the fireworks in Rio Rancho, the Balloon Fiesta Park, Isotope Stadium, Four Hills, as well as random personal displays all over the city (these unsanctioned explosions risked $10,000 fines in a heightened fire-risk year). Completely worth the trip. And we fell right into bed when it was over.
Road Tarantulas. More than 20 of them, on the highway between Pecos, Texas and Artesia, New Mexico. I think I squished a few of them, but only because, big as they were, I couldn't see them until they were right in front of the van. I have to think they were driven to cross the road by the thunderstorms since, our our rain-free return home I didn't see a single one.
Driving through the Jemez Mountains on a rainy July afternoon, peeing in the woods, collecting Ponderosa Pine cones for souvenir gifts. Sweet fun, especially with three curious kids.
Meeting a "Known Associate." Ok, we didn't so much "meet" him as pass him and smile and say hello in a gas station. The front of his t-shirt declared him a known associate. Of what, I wasn't sure I wanted to know, but the back told me it was the Banditos. There must have been some kind of biker theme on this trip. Perhaps it's the price of gas?
Hand-crocheted Sonar covers. We were surprised by a sneak-attack gift of handmade lap-blankets for the Sonars. I say sneak-attack because they were left quietly, without immediate direct explanation because the maker feared the Sonars wouldn't like them. Little did she know that I have three of the most delicious craft-loving little people in the world. Enthusiastically, they wrapped themselves in their wee love-creations as they watched fireworks under the cooling desert sky.
Kilt-hose. I might get to make some. Maybe.
Partner Sweater. Cast on. Did hood. Started shoulders. Two+ skeins worked so far.
Check Engine Light. We are assured that this is just a problem sensor, and nothing to worry about. Unless it starts flashing, and then it's bad. But seriously. No one wants to have the Check Engine light come on in the middle of a 2000 mile summer trip. Especially when you're as far from home as you can be.
Albuquerque Aquarium and Botanical Gardens. Part of the Rio Grande Biopark. We did the zoo last year. Go to see the mouthful of teeth on the Sand Tiger sharks and the model boats. But seriously, do NOT miss the Children's Fantasy Garden. We were so pleasantly surprised by the dragon, and that would have been enough for us. To turn and find the giant vegetables, well, that was just the best kind of icing on the delight cake. What if we could all have a dragon and some giant carrots in our garden??? We will repeat this one next time for sure.
Desert Sky Wind Farm outside Fort Stockton, Texas. These gigantic wind turbines sort of appear suddenly, in the middle of a vast expanse of rolling desert nothingness. They remind me of starched soldiers, marching across the ridgetops. While unimposing in a way, they do help me understand how Don Quixote could mistake them for giant aggressors in need of conquest.
And there was so much more. We had such a grand and wonderful time and we can't wait to do it all again next time.
Thursday
Jul102008
Culinary Escapades
Posted on Thursday, July 10, 2008 at 12:31PM
Thursday, July 10, 2008 at 12:31PM Besides eating some very good food cooked right in the family homestead (Partner's peach cobbler on the Fourth of July was very memorable and yummy), we also ate at several restaurants on our New Mexico voyage. A note about method: when we travel, we try very hard to avoid places we can eat at home (i.e. chains and franchises), unless we just need to use the bathroom.
I'll alphabetize them--for no good reason other than it suits me just now.
Blake's Lotaburger, Albuquerque. So yes, ok, this is a chain but it's not a chain we get at home. This was pure fast-food nostalgia for us. I had the Itsaburger, their mid-sized burger, with onion rings. Really good stuff. Just the right amount of greasy, raw onion, sharp mustard, crisp rings experience. For those with an absurd appetite, you could get a triple Lotaburger. Sonar X8 surprised us by ordering a chili dog, and eating the WHOLE THING!
Farley's, Roswell, New Mexico. Strikes me as a place that's been around for a while, but recently got a facelift, a boob job, and liposuction. It was shiny, and slick, and I bet they have live music regularly. They had a great green chile cheeseburger. The children's menu disappointed--chicken fingers, burger, mac and cheese, pizza. The food was good, and the children's portions were huge for the chicken and pizza (and Sonar X8 again ate the WHOLE THING), but absurdly small for the mac and cheese (what's up with that). But we all went away happy.
Isaaks, Junction, Texas. This was our attempt to get off the highway on our way home. Not easy with a tiny town very near to the middle of nowhere. But we found this smoky little diner a mile or so off of I-10. A solid place, with a fine selection of typical diner fare. It could have been a little cleaner, and the teen waitress was clearly terrified of the wrinkled woman behind the grill, but the grilled ham and cheese sandwich with chips and the bottomless cup of coffee seemed somehow perfect on our weary trek home. The ambiance was fascinating. A wide array of dead animal heads supervises the dining room, and the front entrance has a display of knife and hunting gear in a glass case. Good stuff.
Little Anita's Grill at Corrales Rd, Albuquerque. Little Anita's in Old Town Albuquerque is an institution. This outlet out on the north side did not disappoint. I had a shredded beef stuffed sopaipilla that was, so, so yummy. The children's menu was much more satisfying and challenging than we get in (too) many restaurants. The children's chicken enchilada was easily the best thing I tasted on the trip. When we go back, we will save room for the cherry empanadas in the case next to the cash register.
Los Ojos Bar, Jemez Springs, New Mexico. I think we were the only people in this great little bar who did not arrive there on a hog. And by that I mean a motorcycle of course. Nestled up in the mountains, this little bar is a great surprise. It was lunchtime and the bar was full. We meandered through to a table in the back, where I was treated to super-good chicken enchiladas. The vegetarian tamale consumed by Partner almost made me like tamales. Almost. The kids' menu left a little to be desired, but the kids did get a little jello shot (alcohol free) with whipped cream at the end of the meal. It rained in the middle of the meal (we were inside), which filled the restaurant with that truly delicious ozoney smell of rain that I associate with rain in the desert in the summer. Awesome. A great complement to the lazy mountain drive in the rain.
La Salitas West, Albuquerque. This place had great salsa. Great service too. Another really good children's menu. Child-sized portions of the good, rich, and interesting food on the adult menu. Gotta love it. And the chili rellenos were very very good. Oh, and great sopaipillas at the end of the meal. With the thickest and tastiest New Mexico honey. In fact, the sopaipillas at all of the restaurants were great. I love sopaipillas. I miss sopaipillas. There are no sopaipillas at the Mexican food restaurants in Texas. I want more of them.
Maybe I can make my own sopaipillas. Maybe.
Wednesday
Jul092008
The beginning and the end of the beginning of our trip
Posted on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 at 10:11PM
Wednesday, July 9, 2008 at 10:11PM 2008 New Mexico Summer Tour Day 1
For the next several posts, I hope to bore you with details.
4:30 a.m. mdt Get up. Seek caffeine. Dress myself. Put perishable food into van fridge.
5:00 mdt Move sonars to van one at a time in the dark, hoping they don't wake or at least go back to sleep in a calm, quiet reverie. (Ha)
5:10 mdt Leave house for the second time. All sonars are awake.
7:00 mdt First sonar goes back to sleep after minor skirmish over pillow touching.
7:15 mdt Last sonar goes back to sleep.
7:30 mdt Commuter traffic in downtown San Antonio. Regretting route as partner drives and I stitch turtle pieces.
7:45 (yes, still a.m.) mdt First sonar wakes again followed closely by second. They are hungry. I toss muffins at them as Partner dodges "drivers" who are texting, eating breakfast, and applying makeup whilst driving 800 miles per hour on the San Antonio highways.
8-ish My first turn to drive and the end of my specific memory about most of the day.
I do recall that at noon we ate pbj in a truckstop parking lot in Fort Stockton, Texas, alongside some bikers who had this bright yellow "Big Bird" bike.
I recall that I finished stitching together Sonar X3's new turtle, except for eyes. It is super-cool.
Here's a shot of it naked.
I probably should have warned you that there would be adult content in today's blog.
I also recall that we ate dinner at Farley's in Roswell, New Mexico. Go there. To Roswell, I mean. (I'll tell you about Farley's in another post.) The alien lampposts are the best.
From Roswell to the old homestead should have taken a smidge over three hours, but instead involved three pee breaks and took a bit longer than that.
All sonars gamely stayed awake and sniped at each other (mostly about pillows again--note to self: no pillows on next driving trip) after what was a pretty bicker-free day.
At arrival minus 25 minutes (San Pedro on I-40) the first sonar fell asleep.
At arrival minus 20 minutes (The big I, aka the intersection of I-25 and I-40) the second sonar fell asleep.
At arrival minus 3 minutes (Alameda and Coors) the last sonar fell asleep.
I thought briefly about trying to keep them awake all the way to the end, but I was so relieved to have a teeny bit of quiet in the car as we soaked up the lights of Albuquerque that I just couldn't do it.
9:30 p.m. mdt We arrived safely at our destination and after many hugs and a little dancing, we fell into bed and slept deep un-car-vibratey sleeps. Hallelujah.
tagged NM08
NM08 Monday
Jul072008
Blogzac 4: Rexodus
Posted on Monday, July 7, 2008 at 12:21AM
Monday, July 7, 2008 at 12:21AM Note: Eglentyne has not yet returned from New Mexico, but right now, she's driving back home across the desert in a van with her Partner and three children under nine years old. Likely she's wishing for caffeine and ready to choke them all, but we hope there will be good pictures when she gets back and gets them developed. And we also hope that the digital camera will be fixed soon.
Breakfast-for-dinner has been common for us recently. For one thing, breakfasty food seems to use up less fresh food and more pantry food (handy in the lead-up to vacation). For another, cooking breakfast food seems to heat up the kitchen less than cooking more conventional dinner food. That's probably just a psychological difference. Maybe.
We made french toast to use up a loaf of bread, and the recipe I usually use calls for Cinnamon and Nutmeg. Browsing through the cupboard, I knew I had Nutmeg stashed in a can. I love Nutmeg, especially off the--hm, is it actually a nut?--nut, grated fresh. Fills the kitchen with great smells. But as I was fiddling my fingers across the spice jars, contemplating, I stopped at the Cardamon (which I am forever, for some inexplicable reason, confusing with Coriander). While this jar of ground Cardamon doesn't offer the same pungent aroma of freshly rasped Nutmeg, it did offer the potential for something different.
I sniffed. Could Cardamon and Cinnamon work together? I couldn't remember the last time I'd used the Cardamon. In the breading for fried chicken maybe? No telling. But I decided to give it a shot, using it in place of the Nutmeg.
It was great. Subtle, almost peppery notes were added to the french toast sticks. So much did I like it that I used it in oatmeal cookies in place of the cloves, and lo, it was good there too.
Next time (hopefully): the return of the feckless blogger.
