Road Trip-Day One: San Diego, CA- Albuquerque, NM

mmm-yoso is a food blog-a diary of what a bunch of friends eat.  Occasionally we explain why we happen to be eating whatever, wherever.  Cathy is merely blogging what she usually does at this time of the year.

Hi.  Yes, you read the title correctly.  This is a blogging of what The Mister and I do for Thanksgiving every year -except for last year-

because I tripped, fell, was in a cast TO MY SHOULDER for about 7 weeks, and so driving a manual transmissioned car for days at a time was out of the question.

Yes, days at a time.  Because of the ability to transmit from my iBook directly to the internet, when there is a connection, you-all of you reading this- get to share in a drive almost all the way across the Continental United States, and back.  With food and sights.

So, really late Sunday afternoon, The Mister and I left the house, grabbing one cat (he is diabetic and needs insulin twice a day), one dog (her 'sister' died a few weeks ago and so I am trying to pay a little bit more attention to her), my auto reload Starbucks card ( a wonderful thing; once the balance gets below $15, my AmEx credit card automatically reloads this one with another $20), a small suitcase and jumped in the car and started driving...we left 7 cats, 3 dogs and three large birdcages of parakeets, finches and canaries for my Dear Neighbor, Ms. N, to play with for a few days...and we started driving.

We didn't do much in the way of eating, except for In-N-Out in Yuma (sorry, ed) I apologize for the post looking kind of odd; I haven't ever posted using a Mac; only the PC... So, when we stopped for fuel, we saw this, leaving a gas pump: Absolutely the *coolest* dune buggy.. The scenery leaving Campo, with the electric generating windmills was beautiful. We spent the night in Camp Verde, AZ at a Quality Inn and had a simple-do it yourself breakfast I had a hard boiled egg, a toasted bagel with butter and grape jelly, an orange and some oatmeal, as well as orange juice and hot tea (Only buying coffee at Starbucks and have taken photos of each cup we bought...at four different Starbucks as of this posting. When we got to Winslow, AZ, we saw Sonic! and we had to... We each got a Brakfast sandwich- on Texas Toast. Egg, cheese and bacon for me, sausage for The Mister. Also some tots and -oh yes- the fried macaroni and cheese nuggets... Sonic is a Drive in, much like was common in the 1950's. You cannot walk inside and have to order from the menu board voice system next to where you park. Then a live person comes out with your order and takes your money and gives you change. They make great burgers, hot dogs and shakes. You'll see soon enough. Other sites we have seen today includ the Worlds Largest Kokopelli: and just beautiful scenery of the American West. Erosion is really neat. Yes, I am posting this from a Starbucks in Albuquerque. It is Monday, about 12:45 p.m. in San Diego time. We have to get to Amarillo before dark. Hope all of you are having a good short week.

Comments

[Ted]

Cathy,

If you are going to go through Santa Fe you must stop at Mama Flatbread in the historic tourist trap area. The food there is great, especially the dessert flat bread with honey and cinnamon.

[Carol]

Hey Cathy! How exciting! Have a wonderful trip and keep on posting!

[Pat]

If you are driving back through Albuquerque, you must, must MUST stop by Padilla's Mexican Kitchen -- 1510 Girard Blvd NE -- not too far from the I-40 / I-25 interchange and well worth the excursion.

It is strictly a locals place but I know you will absolutely love it -- get the blue corn enchiladas with green chile or the rellenos...and be sure to have sopapillas w/ honey for dessert.

[ed (from Yuma)]

Looking forward to your future posts - wow a road trip!

Oddly, I haven't been to the In-N-Out in Yuma yet. But I tend to avoid chains though I have been to Filiberto's twice and Pollo Loco once.

Be safe. Have fun.

[cathy]

Hi, Ted; we will visit Santa Fe and one of its Art Festivals next year. Thanks for the tip.
Hey, Carol...we are enjoying seeing America. I am glad we have done this before. We kind of know what to avoid...
Pat- welcome- and thanks for the tip. On the way home, we will definitely look for Padillas. Usually we drive through Albuquerque on surface streets when going West. Perfect!
Oh, ed...how have you survived in Yuma without chains?...I know you have blogged the neat local places...but, wow...
We are having a fun vacation. Lots more to come. I think there may be snow for Thanksgiving day...