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Road Trip - TX, NM, UT, ID, OR, CA, AZ, TX


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Slappin' on my sunglasses and heading west.  First stop (of any interest anyway) El Paso & Mesilla.  Then on to Silver City to help sip a toast to the Curious Kumquat.  Then up to Gallup in search of even more turquoise to hang from various appendages of my body.  From there to Moab, then Mountain Home, and finally to Portland to hang out for a while.

 

After that, south to California for a few days before heading back to Texas, via the southern route.

 

Seems to me like I heard folks here talking about some kind of really great eatery in Moab, although it's not open all the time.  I've searched but can find no reference that seems familiar.

 

Would love any and all input to help me along my way.

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I don't understand why rappers have to hunch over while they stomp around the stage hollering.  It hurts my back to watch them. On the other hand, I've been thinking that perhaps I should start a rap group here at the Old Folks' Home.  Most of us already walk like that.

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I might have a few recommendations. How far south in California, by what route? and does the Southern Route include Phoenix, or Tucson? 

 

Good that you're getting to The Curious Kumquat again. Sip one for me as well, will you?

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
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Moseying from Portland down to the SFO Bay area.  Not set on route. 

 

And then, if one is heading from California to Houston via the "southern route," damn near impossible to avoid both Phoenix and Tucson. 

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I don't understand why rappers have to hunch over while they stomp around the stage hollering.  It hurts my back to watch them. On the other hand, I've been thinking that perhaps I should start a rap group here at the Old Folks' Home.  Most of us already walk like that.

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Hmm, somehow we always avoid Phoenix altogether.  One disadvantage of that, however, is that we miss out on visiting Haus Murphy's in Glendale, near Phoenix. Great German food (braised pork shanks and sauerkraut is our favorite, but their selection of wursts is also excellent), broad selection of beer, and an oompah band in the biergarten. It's well worth a visit. Arrive hungry.

 

I think @Darienne is the one who wrote about restaurants in Moab.  Maybe she'll chime in.

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Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
HosteG Forumsnsmith@egstaff.org

Follow us on social media! Facebook; instagram.com/egulletx; twitter.com/egullet

"Every day should be filled with something delicious, because life is too short not to spoil yourself. " -- Ling (with permission)
"There comes a time in every project when you have to shoot the engineer and start production." -- author unknown

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14 minutes ago, Smithy said:

Hmm, somehow we always avoid Phoenix altogether.  One disadvantage of that, however, is that we miss out on visiting Haus Murphy's in Glendale, near Phoenix. Great German food (braised pork shanks and sauerkraut is our favorite, but their selection of wursts is also excellent), broad selection of beer, and an oompah band in the biergarten. It's well worth a visit. Arrive hungry.

 

I think @Darienne is the one who wrote about restaurants in Moab.  Maybe she'll chime in.

 

Visited Haus Murphy's website and it looks wonderful.  I lived in Germany when I was a child and that sweet-sour flavor profile is something I really get a hankering for.  Definitely going to try to work that in.  Thanks.

 

 

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I don't understand why rappers have to hunch over while they stomp around the stage hollering.  It hurts my back to watch them. On the other hand, I've been thinking that perhaps I should start a rap group here at the Old Folks' Home.  Most of us already walk like that.

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Just now, robirdstx said:

 

 

If you find yourself on the plaza in Old Mesilla on a market day, look for Don Rogelio and his salsas. Have a great trip!

 

Spending a Thursday night in Mesilla, so will definitely find myself on that plaza on Friday morning. 

 

The menu for Salud looks great so I'll plan on it - along with the stacked green chile enchiladas at La Posta. Know the quality there has suffered as it's gotten more touristy throughout the decades, but I've been eating those enchiladas since I first lived there some 40+ years ago and can't drive through Cruces without getting some.

 

Hey, Ron - maybe you can drive down and join me. You won't be busy, will you?

 

 

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I don't understand why rappers have to hunch over while they stomp around the stage hollering.  It hurts my back to watch them. On the other hand, I've been thinking that perhaps I should start a rap group here at the Old Folks' Home.  Most of us already walk like that.

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1 minute ago, Jaymes said:

Hey, Rob - maybe you can drive down and join me. You won't be busy, will you?

 

 

Bwah! Nah, I have nothing better to do. I mean really just lock the door and shut the lights off. They're killing me these last few weeks. At capacity lunch and dinner every single day! Looking forward to that last toast.

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19 minutes ago, robirdstx said:

image.jpeg

 

If you find yourself on the plaza in Old Mesilla on a market day, look for Don Rogelio and his salsas. He is quite the character! Have a great trip!

 

 

He does look interesting. And he makes great salsa?

 

Is he single?

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I don't understand why rappers have to hunch over while they stomp around the stage hollering.  It hurts my back to watch them. On the other hand, I've been thinking that perhaps I should start a rap group here at the Old Folks' Home.  Most of us already walk like that.

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If he's single, bring him along up to Nova Scotia with you, Jaymes! :)

 

Have a wonderful and very safe road trip. Wish I could join you (except I just don't have southern blood - mine melts above 75 degrees).

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Got a hot tip from a couple of tables from Tucson last night. Both were emphatic that Carriage House in Tucson is the top spot in the city right now. Again, I haven't been, but they were both so excited about it that I'll probably make a trip in my downtime before I move.

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Gotcha Jaymes.  Been offline for a while now and have now read the OP.

 

As for excellent eateries in Moab?  We've spent a total of at least two full years in Moab and I'll be darned if I know what that eatery could be.  Obviously some people like the restaurants which are in Moab...but then some people also like Taco Bell. 

 

Nope.  Moab is a restaurant wasteland as far as we are concerned.  Mostly Sysco  backed judging from the cardboard boxes at the local recycling depot. 

 

Miguel's Baja Grill is the only restaurant we've never tried.  Some speak highly of it and I do think that it might be the one mentioned in your post.  It's not open for lunch which is our normal dinner eating time so we've passed it by.  Mi Vida is often touted as excellent but we found it expensive, pretentious and mediocre.  The view is  nice...

 

Good luck on your trip.  If you pass through Cuba, CO, go to El Bruno's.  Now that's good. 

In Shiprock, we always stop in the fairgrounds and get a couple of Navajo Fry Bread, hold the toppings...  Nothing spectacular, but then we live in the far frozen north.

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Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

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I'm guessing you want to eat at Hell's Backbone Grill in Boulder, Ut. Fantastic food and great scenery. hell's backbone grill 

Not really near Moab, but in the middle of nowhere southern Utah. Worth the visit!! 

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Ruth Kendrick

Chocolot
Artisan Chocolates and Toffees
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8 hours ago, Chocolot said:

I'm guessing you want to eat at Hell's Backbone Grill in Boulder, Ut. Fantastic food and great scenery. hell's backbone grill 

Not really near Moab, but in the middle of nowhere southern Utah. Worth the visit!! 

 

Yep, I think that's the place I've heard about.  Supposedly an eccentric mercurial chef.  Remote location.  Irregular hours.  Totally worth it. 

 

Not sure I have time for the detour on my way out to the coast, but maybe on the return.

 

Thanks for taking the time to post that.  You've solved the mystery for me.

 

And, Darienne....pretty sure you mean Cuba, New Mex.  What a time warp for me.  Many of my relatives - grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. - were all up in the Four Corners/Aztec/Farmington/Shiprock area, and I spent most of my summers up there.  My favorite cousin was the town tramp in high school, and boy was she fun.  My other aunt (the snooty aunt that nobody liked) said that cousin was "incorrigible" which was meant as a warning but which I took as a very strong recommendation.  We'd sneak away from staid boring family activities and go gorge ourselves on fry bread and chocolate dip cones.  I could never even begin to guess how many times I drove NM Hwy 550, with Cuba as the halfway point.  Those were the days when you often saw bumper stickers reading "Pray for me. I drive NM 550" because of all the alcohol-related vehicular fatalities. But that didn't slow down my granny who every year got a brand new car with the biggest engine Ford made so that she could outrun the Navajo cops. My nephew is currently a Sandoval County deputy sheriff working out of Cuba and he says El Bruno's is their "unofficial break room."  So I'd love to go back through there for old time's sake, but I need to get on up to Portland, so I'm not going through Albuquerque and Cuba. Nope, after Silver City, I'm taking "The Devil's Highway" from Gallup up to Shiprock.  Not so bad now since they widened it.  I'll be eating as much green chile as I can all along my New Mexico route.  That's something so wonderful and something you can't really find anywhere else.

 

I'm going to try to blog the whole thing, but I'm pretty 'last millennium' and haven't yet figured out how to post pictures. 

 

Maybe I'll find some kid eating green chile at Earl's "Tuk Sop" in Gallup to lend me a hand.

 

 

 

 

Edited by Jaymes (log)
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I don't understand why rappers have to hunch over while they stomp around the stage hollering.  It hurts my back to watch them. On the other hand, I've been thinking that perhaps I should start a rap group here at the Old Folks' Home.  Most of us already walk like that.

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Jaymes.  Absolutely.  Cuba is in NM.  Just a slight mix-up on my part.  We always go through the corner of CO (and thus Cortez)  from Moab to get to NM and down to Albuquerque and so to home.  We always go to Gallup on our way to Moab to get supplies for the coming year for our artisan business (see avatar photo).  And of course El Bruno's now has a restaurant in A also.  I wonder if the quality is as good in this second outlet.  So often it seems that expanding is the first step towards lessening of quality.   Here I am remembering a wonderful hole in the wall...the ladies' bathroom still had a bathtub in it...Mexican restaurant in A we used to eat at each year which then moved to a much larger venue and down went the quality (and I can't recall its name).

 

The road from Gallup to Shiprock couldn't be straighter or more uninteresting if it tried...but such an improvement.  And nowhere to eat along its length for sure. 

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Darienne

 

learn, learn, learn...

 

We live in hope. 

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Jaymes, it has been a few years since we were there, but had a fabulous dinner at The Painted Pony in St. George, UT. And should you get that far in California and can work it in, I have a feeling you would love Noriega's in Bakersfield, CA for Basque food served family style at long communal tables. We went as often as possible when we lived in CA and haven't been for a while, but are going to try to get up that far in September when we're out there. If you plan to be in Salt Lake City, there are now numerous good places. We discover something new every year when we are there and can give you a list.

 

Oh, and when you are in the SF area, I hear there is some heirloom bean seller that you ought to check out. :biggrin:

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Deb

Liberty, MO

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8 hours ago, Maison Rustique said:

And should you get that far in California and can work it in, I have a feeling you would love Noriega's in Bakersfield, CA for Basque food served family style at long communal tables. We went as often as possible when we lived in CA and haven't been for a while, but are going to try to get up that far in September when we're out there.

 

In fact, I usually do go through Bakersfield on my drive back to Texas from the Bay Area and Noriega's sounds terrific. Thanks. 

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I don't understand why rappers have to hunch over while they stomp around the stage hollering.  It hurts my back to watch them. On the other hand, I've been thinking that perhaps I should start a rap group here at the Old Folks' Home.  Most of us already walk like that.

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I don't understand why rappers have to hunch over while they stomp around the stage hollering.  It hurts my back to watch them. On the other hand, I've been thinking that perhaps I should start a rap group here at the Old Folks' Home.  Most of us already walk like that.

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If you pass thru Elko, NV (I-80) you will find quite few Basque places and all are good. The area was settled by Basque shepherds. The Ruby Mountains (close by) are unique too. 

Have a safe and fun trip.

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On 6/5/2016 at 7:18 PM, Slick said:

If you pass thru Elko, NV (I-80) you will find quite few Basque places and all are good. The area was settled by Basque shepherds. The Ruby Mountains (close by) are unique too. 

Have a safe and fun trip.

 

That's really interesting info. I love Basque food. I've made it to Mountain Home ID, so didn't get through Elko. Not sure yet which route I'll take home but I've driven through Elko before and had no idea what to look for. Next time I'll know. 

 

Thanks!

I don't understand why rappers have to hunch over while they stomp around the stage hollering.  It hurts my back to watch them. On the other hand, I've been thinking that perhaps I should start a rap group here at the Old Folks' Home.  Most of us already walk like that.

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