Saturday 22 Sep (Sedona to Alb)

We awoke to overcast skies and the threat of rain. By 9 we were eating breakfast at the best place in town . . . at least according to the local paper. http://www.10best.com/Sedona/Restaurants/Breakfast;Brunch/Coffee_Pot_Restaurant_Sedona_AZ_BID_61423/index.html And it WAS good! We shared a 3-egg chili con carne/onion/avocado/cheese omelet which came with a warm, fluffy biscuit (so ono!) and also had a short stack of buckwheat pancakes. We finished the omelet but not the pancakes. Everything was delicious including the coffee (Colombian) which was superb! As we drove north to pick up I-40 to Albuquerque it started to rain and get more and more cloudy – behind us by about 30 miles there was a fast moving thunderstorm but it lost strength and didn’t catch us. Along the way we stopped at Winslow AZ and took some pictures – of course, standing on the corner!
Later we went thru the Petrified Forest National Park.
The different hues of the mineralized logs that became petrified wood were beautiful. The rest of the way to Albuquerque was uneventful – except for all the trucks flying by at 75+ (the speed limit is 75 on most parts of the freeway) and my trying to keep up with them – it was like a race course! We had dinner at the Route 66 Diner. It was a good introduction to New Mexican cuisine. Opal tried their trademark “Pile Up”….a pile of deep fried potatoes, scrambled eggs, bits of ham, diced green chile (in NM spelled chili and/or chile if the former it refers to chili con carne, the latter to red and/or green chile)(you can order either green or/red or your foods, if both it’s called Christmas) … and cheese, all covered with red and green chile sauce. We asked the waitress if the red sauce was hot…she shook her head “no” …but we should have known better than to trust the standards of a New Mexican because it was hot! In fact, both our choices set our tongues on fire. Earl had a green chile stew burger, which was exactly what it sounds like….an open-faced burger covered with green chile stew…it was also hot ===tho good. To cool off, we had the blueberry pie that they are known for, and a “teeny weeny hot fudge sundae.” The pie was yummy with an almost paper thin crust, and the sundae was exactly as described on the menu…served in one of those plastic cups they give you at Costco when you get free samples. It hit the spot! Note: chili is chili con carne, chile is the green and/or red chile's - if you want both, you merely say christmas

Sunday 23 Sep

Off to Old Town and Church’s Café (rated#1) for delicious traditional Mexican food (read == cooked with lots of lard)…..afterwards it is easy to see that Opal is saying “nuff, already, put me in a wheel barrow”. Both the guacamole and salsa were freshly made….the best we’ve ever had. We shared a combo plate of chile relleno (green chile stuffed with meat and cheese), chicken enchilada, and a pulled pork tamale……the “plate” came with beans and squash cooked with corn. On the side, they served “sopaipillas” – Mexican deep fried bread which is eaten with honey. They were warm, puffy and chewy triangles of dough….too good to be healthy for you, but you just gotta try some. Afterwards we walked around the old town as a lightening/thunderstorm lurked overhead, every so often dumping some rain on us. All of the shops and restaurants are one of a kind, no chains and all of them are in old pueblo buildings that once comprised the area around the fort in old Albuquerque….very quaint and lots and lots of original stuff – art, handicrafts, etc, etc. After the first 2 hours we were able to walk upright and not roll around. Before long I started to eyeball the sugar free fudge at one of the shops. THE CANDY LADY not only had a great selection of candy but also had a XXX room only for customers 18 and over with lots of odd shaped pieces of candy that resembled the props for anatomy studies in reproduction.  Our last stop at Old Town was the Rattlesnake Museum –

lots and lots of snakes and spiders, many of them the same as I tried to get Opal to look for when we were driving in the desert at Sedona. The tarantulas were especially neat. We then left for any area where there were supposed to be hundreds and hundreds of prairie dogs – we saw two – seems we got there as they were taking their afternoon siestas. I then tried to convince Opal that it would be fun to visit a regional park where you can walk around the paths and as the sun sets one can hears the howls of the coyotes….but not to worry, they won’t bother you, just keep walking and don’t make eye contact – turns out we had no worries – Opal had us going to the Coronado Mall instead. After two native meals, Opal decided we needed a taste change, so the dutiful and serving spouse, good ol’ Earl, found the Orchid Thai restaurant and we enjoyed some red chicken curry, pad Thai with tofu, and silver noodle (long rice) salad. We didn’t eat everything…had to save room for fresh mango on sweetened sticky rice – absolutely wonderful even if we could barely eat half. Good thing we have a refrigerator in our room.

Monday 24 Sep

We finally got to try the Frontier Cafe (think of the very best local food place in Hawaii) - a legend in Alb. Opal had the breakfast burrito with shredded pork carne avocada (sp?). Earl had a very delicious Huevos Ranchero. The highlight tho, was what made them famous, their huge cinnamon roll, fresh and hot out of the oven - truly superb!!!!

After you park in their multi floor visitor parking, you find a building entrance for visitors, staffed by someone who greets you and responds to questions, etc. There are maps, brochures, info about their week long home coming, etc, etc. We were struck by how friendly they were. The appearance of the campus is "clean, green, with beautiful buildings, all in the pueblo sandstone motif, with lots of large leafy trees". The lawns and walkways were trimmed and immaculate. Such a contrast to UHM and our other campuses.

When we were parking a lady started honking at us as I backed about 1 foot and then forward to make the 'fit'. So I gave her my best evil eye and as she came around in front she asked Opal, why the staring, and i said, why the honking? She said "I almost ran into you" and I said, that would be terrible driving; so she says I should have signaled I represent Oregon so I should be careful....we have OR plates. I said I didn't represent OR. So she said, "I represent higher education, I'm a driver ed teacher; so, I can't resist having fun, so i says, more likely you represent the brooms! I guess she caught on because as she zoomed off she flipped us the bird. It made my day!

We spent the rest of the day at a mall out in Rio Rancho.....I bought 3 shirts and 3 pants, all Polo or similar at 75% off.......

Tomorrow we're off to Santa Fe on the Turquoise Road.....a route in use for over 600+ years by the Indians for trading.