mmm-yoso!!!

Road Trip - Jean Pierre Bakery & Wine Bar (Durango), Kakawa Chocolate House, and the "Miraculous Staircase" of the Lorreto Chapel (Santa Fe)

We headed out from Mesa Verde fairly early in the morning. It would be almost a five hour drive to our next destination, Santa Fe. The Missus enjoyed the drive on the 160 East thru the greenery. There was hardly any traffic on this, a mellow Sunday morning. I had heard some nice things about the town of Durango and I'd read about a nice bakery-breakfast spot in there, so we decided to stop. 

We found street parking and walked over to Jean Pierre Bakery, which was doing some good business on this day.

The front area holds a bakery, while there's a restaurant area to the side. And on this morning, a piano player was in attendance.

After a quick discussion we decided to relax and dine in as most of the folks were taking pastries to go and the dining area was empty.

The service was friendly and we got our caffeine fix and shared a nice, refreshing Melon Bowl.

 It was a pleasant stop and we'd eat here again if in the area. And we saw Jean Pierre walk to the dining area and engage in a lively conversation with another gentleman......in full on French. The Missus and I loved it!

I'll be sure to try the croissants next time!

Jean Pierre Bakery & Wine Bar
601 Main Ave.
Durango, CO 81301

After breakfast, the Missus and I decided to take a little stroll around town.

There's a definite outdoorsy - "old west" vibe to the town.

Durango is also known as the starting point for the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad. And folks were picking up their package lunches at the depot and boarding the train as we walked pass.

You know me and trains, right? This might be something we'll want to do in the near future.

We headed across the tracks and spent a bit of time exploring the D&S Rail Road Museum.

I'm sure we'll be back this way one day.

From Durango, we headed down the 550, passing thru towns with names like Aztec and Cuba, until we got to Albuquerque, where we swung up Highway 25 into Santa Fe. We were a bit early for check-in, so we made a stop at a place on our "list"; Kakawa Chocolate House.

    Man, this place was quite busy. The lines did move quickly though. The Missus bought some chocolates and a couple of bags of "elixirs" and we headed on out.

The folks did a really nice job of packing things and even marked the box so the Missus would know what She's trying.

Kakawa Chocolate House
1300 Rufina Circle A4
Santa Fe, NM 87507

And while the chocolates were pretty good; we had them after checking in at our hotel. It was the elixirs that we really enjoyed after returning home.

While we had arrived too early to check-in at the Inn of the Governors, the nice staff told us that we could park and explore. One of the reasons I had chosen the hotel was the location and free parking. 

There was one place I wanted to see right away, the Loretto Chapel. The Missus didn't understand why I was so interested in visiting this church until She saw it.

Apparently, She had seen an an Episode of Unsolved Mysteries about the chapel.

   Well, to be more specific; it's about the staircase in the chapel. The construction of the Lorreto Chapel was completed in 1878. Unfortunately, due to some weird "oversight", there was no way to reach the choir loft which was 22 feet above. After many consultations the Sisters of Loretto were told that the only way to access the choir loft would be by ladder as a staircase would interfere with the design of the chapel. At wits end, the Sisters started praying to the Patron Saint of Carpenters, Saint Joseph. On the ninth, and last day of prayer a stranger appeared on a donkey with a toolbox! He started work on the staircase and months later it was finished. The man then promptly disappeared without requesting to be paid, never to be seen again.

The Sisters tried to find the mystery man, even placing an add in the newspaper to no avail. And that is just one of the mysteries of the staircase. To quote Atlas Obscura:

"When the Sisters and others examined the stairs, they were shocked to see it was apparently holding itself up with no supports and was made of a non-native wood which they didn’t know how or where the stranger had acquired. To top it off, the staircase, which was made with no nails, had exactly 33 stairs. (In the bible, 33 was the age at which Jesus was crucified.)"

"The twenty-foot-tall, tightly wound stairs make two full 360-degree revolutions, and indeed have no central support."

The outer railing was added 10 years after the staircase was built. 

We love stories like this! And whatever the case may be, it was fun visiting the Lorreto Chapel.

Thanks for stopping by!

Road Trip - Cliff Palace, Petroglyph Point and Spruce Canyon Trail, and Dinner at Far View Lounge (Mesa Verde)

While I had enjoyed our hikes on the previous day, I was really looking forward to our one full day in Mesa Verde. I remember seeing a photo in an old Encyclopedia Britannica when I was little of these amazing looking cliff dwellings. This was of Cliff Palace, the largest cliff dwelling in the United States. From that day on, I'd always dreamed of visiting and on this morning we had a  reservation with the first tour of Cliff Palace.

I got up early and then headed on down the road a bit to Far View Terrace. At the time of our visit, this was the only place open in the morning and for lunch. It's a total Food Court-ish set-up. Anyway, I got some (really bad) coffee and (even worse) pastries for breakfast. We should have stuck with the buts and beef jerky we packed!

After returning to our room we headed on out. The lack of Wifi was driving the Missus nuts, so I thought it would probably be best to hit the road. We got to the parking lot on Mesa Top Ruins Road; there was still quite a few open parking spaces. This is one of benefits of staying in the park, you can get to things fairly early.

We wandered around a bit, then headed on over to the meeting area for our tour and waited for our assigned ranger.

We then headed down to the staging area, where I got all excited when I saw the view.....

 There it was, Cliff Palace, I was actually here! Our Ranger was just like all the rest, so knowledgeable, first going over the safety protocols, we'd be using ladders to ascend....five in total. There were a couple of folks that struggled a bit, but for us it was pretty easy.

It is said that Cliff Palace was the "social center" of the collective Mesa Verde communities and was occupied, based on tree ring dating from 1190 - 1260CE. We were told that there are 150 rooms in the dwelling and 23 Kivas in total.

The amount of kivas support the theory that Cliff Palace was the social center for the area.

We were told that the structures were made of sandstone, mortar, and wooden beams.

If you look up, you can see where you started from....

We loved visiting here. It was something I had on my "bucket list" since "small kid time".

Once we were done, we headed back up Mesa Top Ruins Road, then took a right and parked near Soda Canyon Overlook Trail. The trail was quite easy with some nice viewpoints.

And an especially great view of Balcony House.

Once back at the car, the Missus was itching to do some "real hiking", so we headed on over to where Spruce Tree Terrace is located and parked. Here we broke out the nuts and beef jerky we packed and had lunch.

We then ambled over to the Spruce Treehouse Trail where there are two other trails; the Petroglyph Point and the Spruce Canyon trails.

  Petroglyph Point was the more interesting of the two and also the more strenuous. There were several tight squeezes, a couple of drops and some variations in terrain as well. The Missus was loving it.

There are some nice views along the way.

    And truth be told, I was actually enjoying this trail. All the changes in terrain and views kept me visually stimulated.

As for the petroglyphs? Well, don't blink or else you'll miss it. It's along one small fenced off area.

From here it was a hike uphill where we ended up back near the Chapin Mesa Archeological Museum.

We took a short breather, then headed back down and took the Spruce Canyon Trail. 

 I thought this trail was easier than Petroglyph Point, but also less interesting. It was quite peaceful as we did not see another soul during our hike.

Again we ventured into a canyon, then did the hike uphill and ended up in a back parking lot? We eventually found our way back to the Spruce Tree Terrace and our vehicle.

At this point, I figured that the Missus's hiking requests for the day had been paid in full. It was time to head on back to the Far View Lodge to relax for a bit. 

When the subject of dinner came up; well, I didn't make reservations for the Metate Room on this evening. Instead, I noticed that the bar on the second floor of the Lodge served the salads we had enjoyed the night before along with simpler items. This sounded like a better alternative to us, so we headed on over. The place was much more casual and the service was much better.

And the salads came out quickly and were even better than the day before! 

I really liked the combination of the Ancient Grain mix with the milky-salty Parmesan and Sun Dried Tomato Vinaigrette ($10.75).

Though they were still out of pistachios for the Strawberry & Pistachio ($14) salad.

While they didn't have any entrees on the menu, there was a collection of sandwiches and burgers available. The Missus and I decided to split the Short Rib Grilled Cheese ($13.50).

 While the SYSCO crinkle cut fries weren't fried very well and quite soggy, the sandwich was not bad. The bread could have been toasted a bit more, but I liked the fact that they used Parmesan Texas Toast, which had a nice salty-buttery-milkiness. The short ribs were tender and beefy, loved the caramelized onions, and the cheese, which was a Boursin was herbaceous and nice and gooey. This was nice to share.

We found that prices in Mesa Verde where a lot cheaper than in other National Parks.

All in all, we enjoyed eating here than in the more fancy Metate Room. 

Far View Lounge (In the Far View Lodge)
Mile Marker 15
Mesa Verde National Park, CO 81330

We had enjoyed visiting Mesa Verde, but I could tell that the Missus was ready to move on. It was time to head on out!

Stay Tuned!

Road Trip - Step House, Far View, and Dinner at the Metate Room (Mesa Verde)

After hiking both the Point Lookout and Knife Edge Trails, we decided to head on down to the Wetherill Mesa area which is only open between certain months of the year. Along the way we stopped at the Park Point Overlook. There's a short paved trail to the highest point in Mesa Verde and the view is wonderful here.

This is where we saw the most people on this day.

The Park Point Fire Lookout stands at the highest point.

And it's still in use today. In fact, there's this interesting photo in the window of the lookout.

   And then we took the long and winding drive down to Wetherill Mesa and easily found parking in the lot.

We decided to do the self-guided tour of the Step House. You basically go down a couple of switchbacks and then take a ladder down to the amazing dwellings! There is a Ranger on duty to answer questions and the area is only open when manned by a Ranger.

This dwelling was populated twice, the first set of inhabitants are called the Modified Basketmakers who settled here around 600 CE. The second set was during the Pueblo III period.

This was an amazing site!

You can tell the difference in the structures of the Basketmakers......

Versus the masonry structures of the Pueblo people.

  You can pretty much linger as long as you want. 

We decided to not do the Long House Tour since we'd be doing Cliff Palace the next day. 

We had lunch in the parking lot. The Missus ate an entire mini-watermelon and we had a couple of terrible tamales from the motel.

We headed then back and then down toward Chapin Mesa. We decided to make a stop at the Far View Sites. This is a rather unique site as it sits at the top of a mesa rather than in an alcove.

Apparently, there were close to 50 villages in this half mile area between 900 and 1300AD.

While the sites, like the Far View House above, which is thought to be the center of the community or the Pipe Shrine House below are quite stunning. I'm guessing folks are expecting those dramatic alcove settlements, which is why we saw no one here, in spite of the easy access.

We then headed further down to Chapin Mesa and made a stop at Spruce Tree Terrace. While both the Chapin Archaeological Museum and Spruce Tree House are were closed the view was.....well, let me say it again, amazing!

We'd stop by again to do a couple of hikes here the following day.

By now, it was getting close to check-in time at our accommodations. We were staying in Mesa Verde at the Far View Lodge, pretty much the only non-camping hotel within Mesa Verde. Of course, after staying at a bunch of these places we knew what to expect; no fridge, definitely no microwave, they wanted to make their money off of you. And while we'd had our own experiences with what we call "National Park cuisine", there were limited options in Mesa Verde. Yet, I'd heard that the offerings at what was described as "Mesa Verde's fine dining restaurant" were pretty good. So I made reservations for this evening.

It's located in the same structure as the hotel check-in and gift shop.

After looking over the menu, we decided to stick with appetizers and salads. And after doing so much hiking, a nice salad sounded good! When we arrived the place was half full and yet the staff seemed to be in the weeds for our entire meal....which took over 2 1/2 hours!

We started off with the "Korean BBQ Chicken Wings". This was the first item out, it took an hour to get to our table.

A basic Cho-jang style sauce, overly sweet, the coating mushy, and worst of all, I think this was refry job since the flesh of the wings, while fully cooked, was cold!

The flavors on the Roasted Mushroom Flatbread wasn't too bad. 

Decent earthy flavors, the arugula a nice foil for the mushrooms and boursin. But that crust was so doughy, like it hadn't been baked long enough.

And while we waited another 45 minutes for our salads, they would be the best items we had.

The Strawberry - Pistachio Salad was quite refreshing.

Though it had no pistachios wince they had run out, so they subbed sunflower seeds, which did just fine. The balsamic dressing added a sweet-acidity, and the greens were very fresh.

I really enjoyed the Ancient Grain Salad.

All the textures and nutty-earthiness of the Ancient Grain mix, cucumbers, sweet carrots, pickled red onions, and salty-savory parmesan cheese did well with the sun dried tomato dressing.

Service was really s-l-o-w, but when it comes down to it; this might be the best "National Park meal" we've had. And the view wasn't too shabby.

Metate Room
Mile Marker 15, 6262 Far View Mesa Verde National Park
Colorado 81330

And here's the sunset from our balcony.....

Which made it all worth while.

Road Trip - Four Corners Monument, Lunch from Zuma Natural Foods (Mancos), and we Arrive at Mesa Verde

**** Not much food in this one. But, if you get enjoyment out of wonderful views, you might like to read on.

Before I get on with this post, I need to thank "FOY" Dereck who provided me with tons of information on Cortez, Mancos, Mesa Verde, and Durango! What would we do without all of our helpful "Friends of Yoso" out there! Thanks Dereck!

We headed out from Flagstaff fairly early. It seemed like the drive to our first stop would be around 4 hours, but it ended up closed to 5 1/2 because of road work. I had always wanted to check out the Four Corners Monument the only place where four states meet in the whole US. We finally made it and paid the entrance fee; $8 per person and parked. We walked to the monument and stood in line to get to the spot where the four states meet.

And then got our 10 minutes at the four corners spot.

Not much else to do here, so we headed out. 

We made reservations at a very comfortable motel/Inn that Dereck recommended named Retro Inn which even let us check in early. We then took a walk around downtown Cortez and went thru possibilities for lunch and dinner. Well, the Missus wasn't too keen on any of them. In the end we drove to nearby Mancos to check out Zuma Natural Foods a health food store.

And got a couple of sandwiches which they kindly toasted on the panini press for us.

And then headed upstairs to the outdoor dining area.

Both sandwiches were nicely toasted and the Hiker's Delight with the marinated mushrooms and roasted red pepper was a definite hit.

The gooey melted provolone and garlic aioli just added to the flavors.

The other sandwich was good; toasted to perfection, but it was weird having whole cashews in the sandwich.

The Missus enjoyed the sandwiches so much that we decided to just buy some salads and a mini watermelon and have that for dinner.

We always enjoy finding little markets during our road trips and thought that this was a nice little gem.

Zuma Natural Foods
299 North Main St.
Mancos, CO 81328

We headed back to the motel and relaxed a bit, then took another walk thru Cortez. Our dinner was those salads from Zuma. Love these type of set-ups; the car is parked right in front the door and there's a small table set-up where we could eat and share a couple of glasses of wine.

The next morning I grabbed a yogurt and some coffee from the free breakfast and we headed off. We had decided to stay the evening in Cortez so we could get an early start for our visit to Mesa Verde National Park. We entered and got to the Visitors Center just after they opened. 

We took a walk along the short trail that goes around the Visitors Center. Man, talk about a view!

I had already planned our hikes for this day. Though when I saw the destination for our first hike....well, I wasn't too sure. The Point Lookout Trail ends on the Mesa in the photo below.

We enjoyed our time in the Visitors Center. We've found National Park Rangers to be very friendly and patient. We got some maps and info on Mesa Verde, then headed off.

Our first stop, the Point Lookout Trail. This trail is close to the entrance to the park near Morefield Campground. We easily found parking. In fact, we were the only car in the parking lot! I guess that visiting mid-September might be a good time? 

There were a bunch of switchbacks and about a 400-500 foot elevation gain.

But the view at the end was wonderful!

And the Missus loved the fact that there was no one else on the trail when we visited.

In fact, in the photo below you can see our car parked as we headed down the trail. There was one other car in the lot at this time.

We then headed down a bit and did the Knife Edge Trail. According to what I read, this trail follows a portion of the Knife Edge Road which was used to access the park.

While this was a pretty easy trail...I wouldn't want to drive it!

And again the payoff were some great views.

And we had yet to see another human on these trails!

From here we decided to drive down to Wetherill Mesa and do a bit more exploring and hiking.

Stay tuned!

Road Trip - Wupatki National Monument, Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument, Dinner at Atria, and Single Speed Coffee Roasters (Flagstaff)

I had read a bit more about the Flagstaff area after our last visit and came across entries for Wupatki National Monument and Sunset Crater Volcano National Monument which caught my attention. I had never heard of these places before and was quite interested. Also, the two National Monuments are basically linked together on the same stretch of road so we could do both on the same trip. The visitors center at Sunset Crater was still closed at the time of our visit, so we headed up Highway 89 and turned off on Forest Road 545. We then headed to the Wupatki National Monument Visitors Center to pay our entrance fee.

As you exit the rear of the visitor's center you come across the paved trail for the Wupatki Pueblo. Wupatki means "long cut house" in Hopi. And the view is quite impressive.

You'll also see what is described as a round "ball court" and what is said to be a "community room or amphitheater".

We headed on down the trail. The main structure is said to have consisted of 104 rooms!

All of this built by Ancestral Puebloans. This place also ties into nearby Sunset Crater. It is said that the population of the area grew after the eruption of Sunset Crater as the ash improved the quality of the soil.

We read that this spot was used for gatherings.

While this one was a ball court.

Right next to the Ball Court is a blowhole.

There are supposedly several of them in the area.

Of course coming from Hawaii, I'm quite familiar with Blowholes, so I found this fascinating. More interesting info here.

The longer you stay, the more you start noticing things.

We spent a bit over an hour here. It was an interesting place to visit.

We then got back on FR-545 and meandered our way over the 19 miles or so, stopping at a few places along the way. The terrain suddenly changed as the road was lined with trees.

We stopped at the Cinder Hills overlook. And here you can see Sunset Crater.

Sunset crater is the youngest of the volcanoes that form the San Francisco Volcanic Field having erupted between 1064 - 1085. 

We drove over to the Lava Flow Trail area. Some of it is paved and we enjoyed the unpaved portion more.

I liked getting up close to see an actual spatter cone!

And being a kid from Hawaii, I was surprised to see an A’a Trail. In case you don't know, A’a is a Hawaiian word for a specific kind of lava! 

I think that having been to Volcanoes National Park at least a half dozen times gave me a really deep appreciation for this place. I know the Hopi had legends about Sunset Crater and will probably get a book one day.....I hope Madame Pele doesn't get jealous!

From here we headed back into Flagstaff and had a light lunch at Whole Foods then headed back to the hotel. After parking we decided to take a stroll and do some lèche-vitrine (window shopping).

We also took a stroll by the very distinctive gothic looking Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Chapel.

Then heading back to rest up before dinner.

For dinner I had selected a place that seemed to have interesting appetizers. As I've mentioned before, we've often found that the most enjoyable dishes in the starters section of the menu. It seems that chefs will often provide more tasty interesting dishes as appetizers as thy don't have to stick to the "big protein" formula of mains. The menu at Atria, a block from our accommodations opened in the winter of 2021 and the menu seemed to be a good fit for our appetite.

Atria claims to serve "Modern American" and farm to table cuisine. Our Server, I wish I could remember his name, was outstanding, efficient, friendly, and a lot of fun.

The place was fairly quiet when we arrived but quickly filled up by the time we left. The Missus thought the wine selection at Brix was better, but still found a couple of glasses She liked.

I had a cocktail called "Beyond the Pines - Notes of Flagstaff in a Glass" which I enjoyed.

Things started off with the Smoked Trout Salad.

This was such an interesting amalgamation of tastes, the anise of the fennel, bitter from the arugula, the salty-briney olives, the cucumbers. We also enjoyed the pistachio "hummus". The Missus didn't enjoy the smoked trout too much, nor did She like the oranges in the salad. I was fine with this.

The Bone Marrow was quite the show stopper. The dish arrived on its own portable grill.

Man, that buttery, smoky bone marrow on tasty toasted bread! The slices of mushroom might have been overkill, but it worked fine here. This was so good. And then our Server arrived with a shot of Bourbon. When I asked what that was for, he smiled and said, "for your luge of course!" Now how did he know? So, I did the luge, it was delici-yoso! And when I noticed the shot wasn't on the bill, I was told "it's on me"!

Now Flagstaff in nowhere near the ocean and we would never think of ordering mussels here, but the Missus was interested in the Steamed Mussels. 

The mussels were cooked perfectly, plump, moist, and tender. We didn't much care for the "banh mi" toast, which had a strangely flavored pate on it. "Mopping duty" would have been perfectly fine with the toasts that accompanied the bone marrow.

We enjoyed the gamey flavor of the lamb in the Malloreddus.

The gnocchetti was perfectly cooked, slightly fluffy, with a mild chew. The green peas were quite sweet and the watercress added a pleasant peppery-bitterness. The Castelmagno cheese was a nice touch, really good in small doses on this dish.

Since there was a beef tartare on the menu; well, I had to order it. I was shocked to see that it came with quite a large portion of rather ordinary crinkle-cut fries.

 I initially thought the beef was cut a bit too large, but it was very tender. The "garlic cloud" added some decent savoriness, but would have loved a bit more briney-citrusy tones to cut thru the richness. Still, this was a pretty good version.

While some of the dishes were a bit over-the-top we enjoyed this meal, the service was wonderful. We had a fun time here and would gladly return.

Atria
103 N Leroux St.
Flagstaff, AZ 86001

The next morning we got up bright and early. It was a four hour drive to our next destination so we weren't in a rush. After grabbing breakfast at the hotel we made one last stop in Flagstaff at a little coffee shop somewhat disguised as a bike shop named Single Speed Coffee Roasters.

This place roasts their own beans and coffee nerds will have fun here.

While waiting for the Missus's Pour Over, I went up the stairs and had a look at the cozy seating area.

We got our coffee to go as we wanted to "hit the road".

The Missus thought Her pour over was ok, but I really liked the cold brew.

Nice place, friendly staff.

Single Speed Coffee Roasters
1000 E Butler Ave.
Flagstaff, AZ 86001

Next stop, Cortez Colorado!

Road Trip - Brix Restaurant and Firecreek Coffee Company (Flagstaff)

Back in September of last year the Missus and I took a wonderful road trip. For our first stop, it was between Phoenix, Sedona, or Flagstaff. While the Missus enjoyed the hiking in Sedona, we didn't care for the restaurant scene that much. And we'd do a bunch of hiking during this road trip and there was one stop I was interested in close to Flagstaff; so FLG it was. The drive was pretty long, it took us over 8 hours. We did stop for a quick lunch in Phoenix at Flower Child and headed back on the road. We got in just after 430pm and checked into the Residence Inn. We liked this location when we were last in Flagstaff and our dining destination for the two evenings here were in walking distance.

We had dinner reservations for 6pm and headed out a bit early just to stroll around the historic downtown area.

Just a couple of blocks from downtown, in a former carriage house that was built in 1909 was our dinner destination; Brix Restaurant and Wine Bar.

While the service was a bit slow, the staff was very friendly and this was far from being a stuffy fine dining destination. The Missus enjoyed the wine list and I started with a nice cocktail.

We started with the Elk Tartare and the Wood Roasted Mushrooms.

The Elk Tartare was nicely chilled, though it was on the mushy side in terms of texture.

 Those yellow dots were an egg yolk emulsion...I would have preferred a drippy egg yolk as the emulsion really didn't add much to the dish, the horseradish was also strangely mild in flavor. The celery leaves did add a nice boost of palate restoring flavor. Perhaps if they chopped it a bit smaller you could get more than three bites.

The Wood Roasted Mushrooms was another dish that suffered from having a bit too much going on.

The local mushrooms were so earthy, with a mild sweetness and had been nicely roasted which created a layer of smokiness. The miso black garlic puree was so salty and just overwhelmed the wonderful mushrooms. 

The bread soon arrived. Like many other places, Brix is now charging for bread and butter. It was $5 at the time of our visit.

I had ordered the Cavatelli.

The pasta, which is similar to shells was pretty thick and overcooked, making it quite mushy. I could have used more basil in the pesto and more pine nut flavor. The preserved lemon was quite strong in flavor and as with the mushrooms, it over powered the dish. The fava beans were wonderful, adding a nice nutty flavor to the dish.

The Market Fish was cooked to perfection.

Crisp skin, moist flesh, and that watercress added a wonderful crisp bitterness. The cannellini beans were undercooked and hard...and you know how the Missus us about Her beans, right? The tomato consomme was salty, but added nothing else to the dish. It was kind of sad since the fish was done so nicely.

In the end, the friendly folks working outshone the food. Yes, service was a bit slow, but the staff were so nice. I just wish the dishes were more to our taste.

Brix Restaurant & Wine Bar
413 N San Francisco St.
Flagstaff, AZ 86001

On the way back to our room I wanted to take a look at the Hotel Monte Vista. 

 

Why you might ask? Well, the Hotel Monte Vista has been named the most haunted spot in Arizona (check out the stories on that website)! There are supposedly several, ahem, "guests" who have never checked out. There's a "phantom bellboy" that knocks on the door to room 210...in fact, John Wayne is said to have reported this ghost to the staff several times. You can even read about some of those "ghosts" on the hotel's website. And also on this website as well. You know me and stuff like this, right?

Why didn't we stay here? Well, having already having spent a couple of nights at one of the most haunted hotels in the US, without any disturbances, I really didn't feel like pushing my luck. Plus, I was pretty tired after all that driving and wanted a good night's sleep, which is what I got.

In the morning we woke and I went downstairs to the breakfast buffet and took some stuffs back to the room. I then headed out to grab us some coffee. I had a place located just two blocks away named Firecreek Coffee Company on my list so I headed on over.

The gentleman working was quite nice and friendly. I got the Missus and Ethiopian Pour Over which She said was ok and I enjoyed my Cold Brew.

I'd gladly return here.

Firecreek Coffee Company
22 Historic Route 66
Flagstaff, AZ 86001

Having had a light breakfast and bolstered by caffeine we were ready to head on out.

Hilo - Poke Market and Hilo Farmer's Market

The Missus and I were so excited about heading to the Big Island. We both love the amazing environmental diversity, the warmth of the people, and just the relaxed vibe on the Big Island. I had good friends who had resided in Hilo for almost a decade and another good friend whose family used to own property in Kamuela that we'd check on, so we had visited many times in the pre-blogging days. So when the Missus asked me when was the last time we were on the Big Island, I gasped; it had been a decade! Even though we had only a couple of nights, we felt comfortable with the Big Island and had seen much of it before, so we'd spend our time focused on a couple of things and just enjoy ourselves.

It was interesting flying First Class on HAL, the Premier Lounge is quite comfortable, but only has coffee, tea, soft drinks, and those little bag of snacks they give you on flights.

Still, things were quite mellow here and it was right next to the gate for our flight to Hilo. The first place the Missus wanted to hit when we landed in Hilo was Suisan. Sadly, this was a Wednesday and I had to break the news to Her that Suisan is closed on Wednesdays. Which led to the question, "where are we going to get poke?" Luckily, I had a back up plan. I'd read about a little shop on Waianuenue Avenue simply called the Poke Market. We lucked out and found parking in the lot on the corner of  Waianuenue and Keawe Street. The place was across the street. Ordering was done at a simple window and your food brought out from the door.

There was one young lady waiting to order at the window when we arrived and one rather disheveled old timer standing with his bike by the door. The young man running the place came out and handed the gentleman a poke bowl and simply told him, "you come back later and pay, okay?" I'm guessing this guy had no money and the owner of this place was really displaying true "Aloha". 

Anyway, two of the six featured poke were sold out by the time we ordered. Because we had a rather substantial breakfast, we decided to just get three 1/4 pound portions of poke. The Hawaiian Style, Ginger Sesame Soy, and one that I would usually never order, the Shiitake Salmon. I'm not a big fan of salmon in poke.

We then walked down Waianuenue and then onto Kamehameha and sat on the stone wall in front of the Tsunami Museum, which looked like it was closed and had our poke.

The Hawaiian was our favorite, though it was on the salty side. The fish was tender and of good quality. Could have used more ogo, but this as much better than what we'd had the day before.

The Ginger Sesame Soy also had good quality fish.

We were surprised at the Shiitake Salmon, the salmon was tender, it had a nice savoriness and umami. I'm still not a fan of mayo on my poke though. I think it detracts form the texture of the fish....but since this was salmon..... 

 This was a nice start to our stay on the Big Island. And the Missus was to even get Her "Suisan fix" over the following days as well.

Poke Market
41 Waianuenue Ave.
Hilo, HI 96720

We decided to head on over to the Hilo Farmers, a place that we both love.

It was good to see that the place hasn't changed much. The Missus got some rambutan which She enjoyed over the next couple of days.

It was comforting to see that things haven't changed much since our last visit.

Hilo Farmer's Market
Corner of Kamehameha Ave. and Mamo St.
Hilo, HI 96720

We dropped by a couple of shops as we wandered back to the car.

As we sauntered over to the vehicle, the Missus and I looked at each other and laughed. It was so good to be back on the Big Island. All the craziness of life on the mainland had been paused and we had settled into "island time" quite quickly. Something that usually takes a couple of days. It was a great feeling.

We smiled and looked forward to our next stop. Volcano Village and Volcanoes National Park!

Oaxaca - Barrio Xochimilco and Chepiche Cafe

We had enjoyed exploring Jalatlaco so much, that we decided the morning of our last full day in Oaxaca checking out the oldest neighborhood Xochimilco, which was founded in 1486. We started at the Templo de Santo Domingo de Guzmán area and headed North.

Passing what had now become some pretty familiar sites like Xochimilco Aqueduct. From here we headed North on Rufino Tamayo.

To say that the street art was amazing is an understatement.

Things were very relaxed and quiet; even more so after we crossed the highway and the street became Calle José López Alavez . But things were no less colorful.

It was non-stop colors and textures...

By now we were getting a bit hungry. I had a place on my list close by called Chepiche Cafe. Tucked away on a side street, with an unassuming street facing storefront, you head thru a gate and then down some stairs and get to the lively, lovely courtyard dining area.

We were seated, the place had a definite modern, almost hipster vibe to it. Service was friendly and professional.

The Missus got some hot chocolate, which was kind of weak and watered down.

Our meals at Boulenc had gotten the Missus to focus in on Avocado Toast, which is what She ordered ($75/MX - $3.90/US). 

This was fine though nowhere as refined and tasty as the version at Boulenc. You can't beat the creamy, almost sweet avocados in Mexico. The toast was a bit on the burnt side and the Missus needed more salt for this, but it did the job.

Still being fixated on Hoya Santa, I ordered the La Santa ($105/MX - $5.50/US). Man, this was much more food than I expected.

 In some ways this really represented the neighborhood, bright colors and varying textures. The poached eggs were cooked to perfection, just wonderfully runny, with no off flavors. I really got to appreciate the peppery-minty-anise tones of hoya santa. The hoya santa rellena was filled with mildly milky and sharp queso menonita and even more tasty beans. Didn't care much for the "salsa" which was watery and weak. The plantains was an interesting addition, though perhaps it made things a bit too sweet for me.

Overall a decent brunch and no complaints about the portions or prices.

Chepiche Cafe
Genaro Vásquez 6 A
Barrio de Xochimilco, 68040 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico

We enjoyed the splashes of color as we headed back to Centro.

For some reason, on the way to the hotel we decided to drop back in at a ceramic shop we'd visited earlier. As I mentioned in an earlier post, they didn't have anything the Missus wanted. All the items She saw was awaiting sale to businesses. When we returned however, the young lady remembered us and took us into a room. Apparently when they create works for various restaurants and such, they make extras, and the Missus found some cups She liked for hot chocolate.

Such thoughtful service!

Tierra Quemada
Labastida 115
Centro, 68000 Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca, Mexico

From here we walked back to the hotel to escape from the afternoon heat.

It seems that even the street dogs are mellow and follow their own "code of conduct" here.

We stopped by the location of Mayordomo to get some chocolate to take home before relaxing back in our room.

There was something special about Oaxaca....the food, the colors, the sounds, and most of all the wonderful people.

Oahu - Fresh Catch (Pearl City)

We were finally visiting "home", the four years away seemed like forty. And it wasn't without some apprehension on my part. I wondered if Covid had changed the Hawaii that I knew. How were things going to be, what had changed, had I changed? 

It was drizzling as we left San Diego.

The remnants of the "atmospheric river" that pounded San Diego for over a week. On the other hand, back home, rain is seen as a blessing.....

We flew Hawaiian Airlines and while the food wasn't stellar, unlike most domestic first class, HAL seats will lay flat, so you can actually take a nap if you want to.

But I shouldn't have worried...once we landed, it felt like "home". And like the Missus says, "once you get here you walk different and talk different". Some things never change.

Of course as soon as we landed poke was on our minds. Unfortunately, due to our schedule, we weren't able to visit two of our favorites as Tanioka's was closed the day we arrived and Ono Seafood was closed on the day we went into "town".

Still, we wanted our poke fix, so I did some searching and found that Fresh Catch had opened a location in Pearl City at the end of 2020. So, we decided to head on over to grab some poke for an afternoon "snack" of sorts.

The young man working was really friendly. While looking at the offerings, the Missus pointed at the Oio Lomi, the scraped bonefish that's really an acquired taste. She wanted to try it....well, the Missus had really enjoyed aged poi, so I thought "why not" and got a quarter pound of it.

Unfortunately, She found it much too gooey and "fishy" for Her taste.

I, on the other hand had eaten my share of this growing up and thought this was a decent version. I enjoyed he tongue coating texture...yes, it does "taste like fish". It was a bit on the salty side as was everything else we got from here.

The "Hawaiian Blend", basically Ahi Limu was really salty and the fish was on the more "chewy" side.

Too much salt, too much shoyu. Some really tough pieces with too much "tsuji" - connective tissue.

The Ahi Wasabi was a bit better.

Though again, we thought the quality of the fish wasn't quite up to what we enjoy. Still a bit overly salty which muddled the heat from wasabi, a bit too overly sauced as well.

Kind of a bummer overall as we'd enjoyed our visits to the Kaimuki location on previous visits.

Fresh Catch
98-371 Kamehameha Hwy.
Pearl City, HI 96782

Of course, we had jiaozi for dinner. We had really missed my MIL's handmade jiaozi! Over the years it's become comfort food for me. I basically ate this whole plate. In fact, when my MIL asked us what we wanted for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, it was jiaozi! We can't get anything close to this in San Diego.

And then we had baozi for breakfast!

With some potstickers!

Before we headed off to the Big Island.

It was so good to be "home"!

Thanks for stopping by!

Where in the world are we?

Greetings! Right before Covid happened we were planning a trip that got derailed. Three years later, we finally made it. It's been four years since we've been "home". We're here to take care of family "stuffs", but of course we're getting our "fixes" in!

Man, how I missed my MIL's jiaozi!

We're mostly sticking to stuff we've been craving....

We managed to squeeze in a three-night stay....which we were planning on visiting earlier as well. Hard to believe that it's been 10 years since we last visited.

It was good to know that our old favorites are still good!

And perhaps it was fate as we were able to have what could be considered be a once in a lifetime experience.

Perhaps this was meant to be, or someone was looking out for us!

And we managed to find a new favorite "spot".

And squeeze in a wonderful meal as well.

I'd forgotten how much I missed the beauty, the warm and friendly people, and even the little things here......

We've got a few more days left and hope to do a bit more catching up!

Thanks for stopping by!