The More Things Change......

Time to break up the mid-winter doldrums with an update on the little piece of crap (the Fiat 850).
As those of you who follow this blog know, the car's been in the shop for a couple of months now, having a head gasket changed, electrical system sorted out, tires put on, and the usual silly stuff that comes along with owning one of these cars.
So about two weeks ago I get a call from Moe at the shop, the car is done, and it 'runs like a top'. Fortunately, Tommy is off from work for the Christmas break, so he drives over and gives me a lift to the shop. We get there, and Ike, the mechanic, meets us, takes us over to the car and starts it up. Gotta admit, the engine does sound good, running nice and smooth, no coughing or roughness, it's gonna be fun to take it home. So I pay the bill, fold myself up and get in the car, and get ready to go. Push in the clutch, find reverse, and.....damn, the clutch pedal doesn't come back up, it's sitting on the floor. Out of reverse, fiddle with the pedal, back into reverse, and the clutch pedal sits on the floor. Can't possibly drive it this way. Out of the car, over to Moe, and give him the news. He says, "yeah, the clutch has been very slow to come back up since it got cold; just put your toe under the pedal and pull it back up when you shift.". Yeah, right. I'm gonna try and squish my size 13 shoe underneath a tiny clutch pedal, in an area made for people with size 6 shoes every time I go to shift the damn car? Nope, not gonna happen. I happily tell Moe to just keep the car and put in a new clutch. Tommy and I drive away somewhat frustrated, but satisfied knowing that with a new clutch, it's one less thing to worry about later on.
Two weeks go by, and on Friday I get a call from Moe, the car is done, and it 'runs like a top'. I call Billy, who pretty much has some free time on Fridays, and ask him to run me up to the shop. He comes over, we drive up to the shop, and Ike again meets us and cranks up the car. It still sounds good, I pay for the clutch work, squeeze into the car, push the clutch in, find reverse, and.....the pedal stays on the floor, and does not come up. I try again, several times, but it still isn't right. I get Ike over, and he says, "just take your foot off the clutch, give it some gas, and it'll slowly come up." So I try that...and it stalls. Try it again, it stalls again. Several more times, same result. Out of the car I go, and tell Ike, it isn't right, the pedal isn't coming up, you have to fix it, it can't be safely driven like this. He apologizes and says he'll get right on it. Billy and I leave, disappointed, but resigned to the fact that I'm not going to take the car until it works correctly.
Fast forward to yesterday, Saturday. Karen and I are out poking around at Tanger Outlets in Deer Park when my phone rings. It's Moe from the shop. They found the problem with the car, the pedal return spring has snapped. It was working properly when they put the new clutch in, but must have broken between that time and when I came to pick the car up. He assures me that the clutch is fine, and the car 'runs like a top'. Karen and I finish up shopping, and she drives me to pick the car up. We get to the shop, Ike comes out, apologizes for making us come back again. No problem I tell him, so long as the thing is fixed. He assures me it is. We open the car, I get in and start it up, and push the clutch in - and it pops back out just like it should, it's fixed! I thank him, and let Karen know I'm going to go around the block before we start for home, so I can get the feel of actually driving the thing. Remember, I sold my 850 in the fall of 1974, so it's been 42 years since I  drove one of these things on the road. Off we go, around the block, and out onto Main Street in Port Washington. Make the right on to Port Washington Boulevard, and we're on the way home. The car is running well, although it has a lot less pep than I remember my original one having. Going up the hills through Port I have to downshift and really gas it to keep the speed up. Down the road we go, approaching St. Francis hospital, and all is well; or so it seems.
Suddenly, there's a loss of power, the car won't accelerate when I give it gas, it stumbles and seems as if it's going to stall. I pull over to the side, try several times to get it to go, but it's not cooperating. I stop, and slowly gas the engine until it's running happily at around 3,000 rpm. It seems better, so off we go.
Up the hill past Northern Boulevard, and it happens again, only this time I can't smooth it out. The thing is barely moving, and we're on a road where folks speed regularly. I manage to get the car into the parking lot at Christopher Morley Park, where it stalls and cannot be restarted. Fortunately, Karen has been following me, so I'm not 'stuck'.
I call the shop, and get Ike on the phone; he cannot believe the car died on me. I tell him I'm leaving it there, that he should pick it up, take it back, and fix the damn thing, get in Karen's car, and off we go.
My phone rings, it's Ike, he suggests that perhaps the car is simply out of gas (the gauge doesn't work properly) and that it might just need a fill. He offers to bring some gas out if I'll wait for him, so I agree.
15 - 20 minutes later he arrives with his helper and a can of gas. We gas the car, and the engine starts. Let it run a few minutes, it sounds okay, but before we leave, Ike suggests running it around the parking lot just to make sure it's safe to drive.
I hop in, and off I go. Up the parking lot, turn around, back to where we were, up the other side of the lot and.......it stalls. And won't restart. Ike and his helper come over, and now the damn thing won't fire up. They check the wiring; the carb; the fuel filters; not sure what it is, but they think it's a fuel issue. Ike tells me to leave the car, they'll get it taken back to the shop and get to work on it. I get in Karen's car, and we go home.
So....the more things change, the more they stay the same. It's 1972-1974 all over again, and I'm stuck with a dead Fiat someplace along the road. A scene, I must admit, which had been played out way too many times over the course of the 850 and the two 124's I owned  back in the day. But now, at least, I'm not dependent on the car for my daily transport as I was back then. I can relax with the knowledge that I have good, reliable daily drivers to use while this thing is in the shop. And there's no rush to get the car back, as I wouldn't be using it frequently in the winter; it is, after all, a real 'summer' car. Small consolation, I guess, just part of the daily frustration that owners of these 'classic' Fiats face.
As they used to say on the radio and television, "Stay tuned for more"!

Update: They "Fixed It Again Tony"!

Well, actually, his name is Moez, not Tony, and he's still fixing "it". "It", of course, being the little Fiat 850 spider that came home a couple of months ago. Tom and I had been fiddling around with it, trying to get the darn thing to run better than it was - there seemed to be a roughness to the idle, and even when we did get it to smooth out and idle correctly, it had no power when we drove it around the block.
My diagnosis was that at a minimum, something was wonky with the carburetor, most likely a bad float, and that it needed a rebuild. Combine that with some of the other issues (no lights on the driver's side; turn signals didn't work;), I decided to have a real mechanic look at it. Only problem was, where do you find someone who's got the knowledge, time, and experience to fix a 46 year old car? First stop, get a hold of the guy who's President of the local chapter of the Fiat Club of America and see who he might know. Turns out there are two 'recommended' mechanics, one in Woodside, and one in Port Washington.
Decided to check the one in Port out, so I rode up and met Moez and Ike, the owners. Turns out that Moez had lived in Great Britain for about 20 years, and for most of that time, had been working primarily on Fiats - especially 850's! Had a nice chat with them both, and decided to give them the job.
Called my buddy Eddie, who's got a nice Ram pickup truck, and asked him if he'd give me a tow. Rented a Uhaul trailer, and on a nice clear Friday morning, we rolled the little car up on the trailer and dragged it to Port Euro repair shop.
And there it sat. And sat. And sat. No call from them for a couple of weeks, so when I got the thing registered and got the license plates, I decided to take a ride up there. Spoke with Ike, who said they'd had the car running, and there was an issue with the carburetor, as I had guessed, but that they couldn't get it right, and would need to do a little more work. Gave them some contact information for parts, chatted a bit more and left. Ike promised Moez would call me the next day.
And then, the call, featuring the four words you never, ever want to hear from a mechanic: "water in the oil". Arrrrrghhh! NNNOOOOOOO! Water in the oil, never a good thing. Means one of several things is wrong, none of them minor. Could be a blown head gasket; a cracked head; a cracked block. All of them somewhat labor intensive. Moez said he'd need to pull the head to confirm, but he suspected a blown head gasket. He gave me a price to fix the problem, and rebuild the carb, and it was reasonable, so I gave him the go ahead to pull the thing apart. Although he'd given me a good price for replacing the head gasket, I feared that once he pulled the head, he'd find other problems.
That was a few weeks ago, so today I drove up to visit the car, and drop off a new window crank I'd picked up for the passenger door. Had a nice conversation with both Ike and Moez, and to my surprise, I was told the repair was all done - and it was only the head gasket! Of course, this thing being a Fiat, there are other issues. The carb has been rebuilt, but it's still in need of some tweaking, but the engine runs like a top now. The clutch master cylinder had a crack, and was leaking fluid, but Moez repaired it using epoxy (nobody stocks a clutch cylinder for a 46 year old car). He's got the lights fixed, but is waiting for a new turn signal switch to fix the signals. And, as I suspected, the tires are shot and will not pass NY Inspection. They're dry rotted and cracked, which is dangerously unsafe.
Still the good news is that the car should be completely done and ready to be picked up some time next week. The little piece of junk is coming home! And before any snow (I hope)!
So, in the next couple of weeks, be prepared to see a post reviewing what it's really like to go back in time to the early 70's, when I was running all over L.I. in my 850. Should be a trip, however it turns out!

Took a trip to Kansas City; guess what ISN'T there!

You all know from the title of this blog what it's all about; three things I'm passionate about, good food, great music, and classic cars. And those three things all go together pretty well. Sometimes it's all 3, sometimes it's 2 of 3, but whatever, it's a good bet that they combine up more often than not.
Take my trip this week out to Kansas City. Unfortunately, due to time constraints, I had to fly, so the car portion was on hold. But, boy, goin' to Kansas City, there's the food, and, of course, the great song "Kansas City" by Wilbert Harrison.
Now, there's no way I'm going to find, nor meet, any 'crazy little women' there, and I'm certainly not going to 'get me one'. I'm also not likely to have a 'bottle of Kansas City Wine' while I'm there, either. I'm pretty picky about when, and what kind, of wine I might drink; I'm more of a beer guy.
In the song, both of these occurrences are said to happen at the "corner of Twelfth Street and Vine". Now I've heard this song more times than I can count, so when I knew I was going to be in KC for a few days, my sick and twisted mind immediately figured I'd have to get to that corner and get a photo. Got to KC Tuesday, around lunch time, and after a short search, found a favorite destination of mine:

Yeah, Jack In The Box. There's about half a dozen of them in the general KC area, and it was about a 20  minute detour from the airport to reach this one, but I wasn't on any sort of time schedule, all I had to do was find my hotel, check in, and be ready for a 6 pm meeting. So it was a veritable feast, as usual, my two "monster" tacos and onion rings.

Alright, enough of that. Over to the hotel I go, check in, and start poking around "MapQuest" to plan my trip to Twelfth and Vine. Uh-Oh..........this isn't good. Turns out that there is a Twelfth Street; in fact, it's one of the bigger east west arteries, and it runs pretty much right through the center of town. And, hey, out here on the east side of town, look at that, Vine Street! But there's a problem. Vine Street is just a big circle, that's intersected by a couple of smaller streets, but it's a good distance away from Twelfth Street! That's right, the two streets don't come close to intersecting each other. As Charlie Brown might say, 'rats'. Another great idea down the drain, there will be no photo of me "standing on the corner, Twelfth street and Vine". Actually, there'll be no photo of anyone at that corner!
Oh well. On to the next quest. If you're in Kansas City, you're pretty much obligated to get yourself some good KC barbecue. I was in KC about 20 years back, and during that trip I ate at Arthur Bryant's, one of the real legendary names in bbq. This time, we were teaching at the KC Airport Hilton, which is a decent ride away from 'downtown' KC and Arthur Bryant's or Gates barbecue. Fortunately, we had a contact who lives near KC, and they turned us on to a place called The Smokehouse, in a nice upscale shopping district called Zona Rosa, which was only about 5 minutes away from the hotel. The Hilton provides a good shuttle service, and in short order the 7 of us were sitting in The Smokehouse, looking over a pretty large menu.
Kansas City barbecue, whether beef, pork, or chicken, is noted for the sauce. Tomato based, loaded with molasses, it's sweet and thick, with just a little bit of spice to it. Unfortunately, as most of these KC places do, the meat comes already slathered with the sauce. In other areas where bbq is popular, most pitmasters serve up their food dry, with sauce on the side, so as not to cover up the subtle flavors that low, slow smoking over hardwood produces. Still, we ordered and dug in, and the food was pretty darn good.
Starters that were sampled included side house salads which were ridiculously large for a 'side' salad; garlic butter shrimp skewers, which were so large as to be suitable for a main course; and my choice, fried pickles. Unfortunately, these were not good, for several reasons. First, the final quality of a fried pickle begins and ends with the pickle; choose a good pickle, and you get a good result. Choose a poor pickle, and you get a poor result. These were poor pickles. Bland, barely a hint of dill, no garlic, and not the least bit salty, I would have turned my nose up at them had they come as a topping for a burger or a side. Second, the pickles were not sliced into chips, which is the best shape for frying them, but rather, had been sent lengthwise through a french fry cutter, resulting in long thin strips, which were then battered and fried, the end result looking almost exactly like a french fry. Lastly, the batter did not go with the pickles at all. Fluffy and somewhat sweet, it overwhelmed the poorly seasoned pickles. Even a dose of table salt and pepper didn't improve the end product. Oh well. On to the main course.
I chose the half rack of baby back ribs dinner, with two sides, a baked potato, and baked beans.The baked potato was fine, although it was a bit dry, and could have used more butter and sour cream. Still, there's not a lot you can do to really ruin a baked spud, and overall, it was okay. The baked beans were very good, tender, covered in a slightly sweet and spicy sauce, they were a good contrast to the potato.
The ribs were pretty good sized for baby backs, which at some places, can be thin and not very meaty. These had plenty of meat on them, and had been nicely smoked, although, as noted earlier, the sauce which covered them made it a bit difficult to really get that nice smoky flavor. Here's the meal midway through:

The white bread is a KC tradition, though it's not particularly needed when you order ribs; it would be great with their pulled pork however. And, those 'chip pickles' that came with dinner, those are what they should be frying! They were salty and full of dill, just what you need to make a good fried pickle - go figure!
I got to sample their burnt ends of brisket, which were good and meaty, very tender, full of smoke flavor, although a bit fatty; pulled pork, which was moist, tender, and had a great texture to it; and bbq chicken, moist, tender, and just fine.
Overall, pretty good bbq, for Kansas City, and frankly, anyplace. Combine that with a good drink menu, decent draft beer selection, and a friendly staff, and it's a place that I would definitely visit again.
Almost a nice enough visit to make me forget my disappointment in there not being a "Twelfth Street and Vine"!

Remember The Whataburger!

Okay, so I co-opted the old "Remember The Alamo" saying for this blog, what can I say, it's been a long Texas Day!
Got back on the road yesterday morning after spending the week in Scottsdale AZ at the World Aquatic Health Conference. Had a really good time doing a CPO Instructor School, moderating some interesting sessions at the Conference, and spending time with my amazing co-instructors, who are also my friends. Long busy days, followed by evenings spent consuming large amounts of liquids. Well hey, we WERE in a desert after all!
Friday was spent making my way through AZ, New Mexico, and the very west portion of Texas along I-10, which runs right past Los Cruces NM, and through El Paso TX. What a large city El Paso turned out to be! And boy, what a scarcity of places to stay there was after I blew through El Paso! Ended up in some place called Van Horn for the night. Odd little town, six or seven motels, and yet very few places to eat. Settled for a chicken sandwich at one of the "Love's" Travel Plazas that was in town.
Saturday, up and out early, more time on I-10, as I make my way towards Spring TX, to visit my cousin Rick and his family. Really in "Texas Hill Country" today, as the road keeps heading up into the mountains. Early on, lots of morning fog, but the strong sunshine finally wins out and the day turns sunny and warm, with some high clouds giving me a break from the eastern sun hitting my eyes. Oh, yes, talk about making time, well, the speed limit on I-80 in TX is 80 mph! Rolled into San Antonio around 2:30, found a nice clean hotel near the city center, checked in, and realized, gee, I'm hungry. A quick check found a Texas tradition a few blocks away; Whataburger!

Hard to miss them, with that huge orange and white 'A' shaped roof most of them sport. Family owned since the first one opened in 1950, I really think Whataburger is a great example of how a privately held, family run business can not just survive, but thrive. The recipe seems pretty simple, keep the restaurants clean, hire friendly people, keep the menu simple, and COOK TO ORDER! No warmed over, sitting in beef broth patties here, all the burgers are grilled up when you order them. Makes quite a difference. So, here we go, today's meal was a #1 combo, a Whataburger with cheese, and sliced jalapenos (yeah, I know, here goes my stomach again).

Now, that's a single Whataburger, and the thing is easily the size of a 'Whopper', and is even a bit thicker than that. Loads of fries came with the burger, and the young lady who dropped it off at my table offered me the famous two ketchups - regular and spicy.

The spicy is really good on the fries, which are the typical fast food 'shoestring' style. Probably as close as you can get to McDonald's fries without actually going into McD's. Fresh, hot, properly salted, they're quite good, although, as usual, I would prefer if they were cooked just a touch more. Still, they are damn tasty! And the burger?

They don't skimp on the toppings here! Three slices of tomatoes, a good amount of chopped lettuce (but not too much, like you'd find on a Whopper), pickles, chopped onions, and mustard. That's the standard topping that comes on a Whataburger. Like most of the country outside of the NY area, mustard is always found on the burger, and interestingly, ketchup is not. I added sliced jalapenos (.50c), and put a bit of ketchup on top. All in all, a good combination, and the right ratio of beef to toppings and roll, the meat wasn't lost in the salad. The jalapenos were hot, but not over the top, and went well with the cheese. All in all, for a 'fast food' place, a good meal. Cost of the meal was $7 and change, which included a 'medium' soda, which, as you can see, was pretty large.

I've reviewed Whataburger previously, so I apologize to those of you who may feel you're seeing a rerun, but since I don't get here that often, this is one place I try to hit at least once whenever I'm in Texas. Tomorrow, looking forward to a nice visit with Rick and Elizabeth, and sure hope David, Chrystie and the girls will be able to join us. Food? Hmmmm, could be Mexican, BBQ, or who knows? But you know if it's good, I'll be writing about it!

 
 
 

Ridin' The Mother Road

Today was pretty much all new territory for me, when I left Elk City, I ventured into areas that I've not driven through before. The Northern portion of Texas is much different than the southern portion. It's flatter, and parts of it reminded me of driving through Iowa, large fields of corn, mile after mile. Then you cross into New Mexico, and it's similar, at least for a while. You notice the color change, from greens to light tan and brown, spotted with clumpy green trees that stand out from the pale colored grass and hay that covers the ground. Move closer to Albuqurque, and here are the mountains, deep dark brown, striking deep red, rising high, but with flat tops, not the typical peaked mountains you see elsewhere. Past Alburqurque and we're up and down the mountains, the road winding along the side of the inclines. A great ride on a slightly overcast day, with a few quick sprinkles along the way. Finally, here's the destination, Gallup NM. One of the legendary towns that dot The Mother Road, Route 66. Heck, it's even mentioned in the Bobby Troup song "Get Your Kicks On Route 66"! Off the interstate we go, and suddenly, it's 1950 again. The road narrows, and the pavement changes from asphalt to concrete. Horizontal traffic signals stick out over the road, with big "HISTORIC ROUTE 66" signs fastened to them. Make the left onto 66 and here it is, America's original road trip route live and in person. Art deco signs, loaded with neon, many with a southwestern motif and font identify the many small businesses that dot the side of the road. And there's the motel, a real 1950's survivor, the El Capitan.

Clean, comfortable, but definitely old; green and white ceramic tile in the bathroom, stucco ceiling and walls, and the old chrome tissue dispenser over the vanity. Fine for a night's rest, I probably wouldn't stay here long term.
After checking the emails and chatting with Karen for a bit, it's time for an early dinner. There were lots of good local places to choose from, and I have to admit, it was hard to pass up a particular fast food chain. Turns out that in New Mexico, there's a burger chain with 75 or so locations, called Blake's Lotaburgers. Not tonight. Maybe on the return trip I'll find one around lunch time and check it out.
No, tonight it's gotta be a local spot, one in the downtown area, and it's got to have a good version of one of New Mexico's most famous food, the Green Chile Cheesburger. New Mexico is famous for their chiles, and some years back, local chefs began topping their burgers with home made green chiles. It's almost the official state food, and if you check out "Eater.com" or "Yelp", you can find literally hundreds of cafes and restaurants that serve them. My choice was Jerry's Cafe, which is one of the highest rated places on Yelp and Trip Advisor.

The sign is typical of what you see in Gallup, old style, multi colored, and of course, at night, nicely illuminated with the glow of neon. Small place, tiny actually, with a capacity of 60.

Place was pretty busy when I got in, but there were one or two small booths open, so I got seated right away. Hostess hands me a menu, and takes my drink order. In a minute she's back with the soda and a bottle of ketchup and hot sauce; my waitress will be right over. So, even though I know what I want, I check out the menu.

Plenty of choices, including about 10 different burgers, and a similar number of Mexican dishes, burritos, tacos, empanadas, and the like. Waitress asks what I'd like, I order, and she asks, "red or green chile"? Hmmm a quandry. I really want the green, but I've seen a plate of the red at the next booth and it looks amazing. Sensing my indecision, she offers the suggestion of the night: "we can do half and half". Brilliant! Order's in, and I wait, but just for a few minutes - service is quick, they have to be fast with only 60 seats, and by my count, 11 or 12 people working in the place. And then, here it is:

Jerry's serves their version open faced, which sure makes sense, given as how it's really smothered with the chili, and all that melted cheese - shredded cheddar, not sliced 'American'. This is a real knife and fork meal! The burger itself is pretty thin, but large, almost like a Whopper patty, but one that's been cooked correctly and hasn't been laying around in a drawer full of 'beef broth'. Tender, good flavor; the bottom of the roll is still pretty intact, and I can easily get a piece of roll with each piece of meat. The green chile sauce is amazing, with a bit of heat, but not a tongue scorching heat, more of a 'sneaks up from the back of your mouth' heat. Good flavor, almost like roasted green bell peppers, with a little onion, maybe a hint of garlic, just a solid tasty sauce that compliments the cheese and the meat.
On to the red chile sauce. Now, here's the heat - still not over the top, but more than the green, and a deeper flavor, there's some tomato base in here, maybe paste; and onion and garlic. Damn tasty! And it's great for dipping the fries in!

Ahhh yes, the fries. Okay, gotta admit, nothing special here. Frozen crinkle cut (my favorite cut), cooked properly, served hot, but bland - needed salt, and ketchup, or a dip in the red chile sauce!
The finale? Using the top of the bun to soak up the remnants of the chile sauces! I'm pretty sure that's the intended use, as even if you cut the burger carefully, there's no way you could eat this thing with your hands. Overall? Terrific meal, neat location, very friendly and helpful staff, I can highly recommend Jerry's Cafe if you're in Gallup.
After dinner, I took a cruise up and down 66 and soaked in the sights a bit. Ran the car through one of those automatic car wash (didn't do much), and gassed it up for the drive tomorrow.
I've been on portions of Route 66 in the past, in AZ, Oklahoma, and in Alburqurque many years back when I flew in and had a rental car. And I've always had the urge to do the whole Chicago to CA route, on as much of the old road as I can find. I've got the Route 66 maps and travel guide at home, and just from this short trip today, now i REALLY want to do that! Maybe even in an old car; old road, old car, right? Maybe something like this?

Well, we shall see. That might be asking a lot from the old girl, even though it's had a lot of work done on it this past year. All I know for sure is that on the way home from AZ, I'm going to hit 66 for at least a couple of half days, just to soak in a little more of it's flavor. 


 

Oklahoma Mexican - who'da thunk?

Another fun filled day on the road finds me in Elk City, Oklahoma tonight. Nice little spot, more than the usual interstate exit, including a pretty sizeable portion of old Route 66. There's even a Route 66 museum here, which I'll think about checking out on the return trip. In the meantime, a nice easy night, decent, clean motel, and as a bonus, a Mexican restaurant attached to the motel! Now with that sort of temptation, how could I resist? So, I checked in, stretched out my back a bit, then wandered down to Mama Tona's for dinner. Now to be honest, I did check out "Yelp", and the reviews were good, so I wasn't flying as blind as I could have been.

Big place, Mama Tona's. Clean, very clean. Stainless steel half walls separate tables into different sections. Kitchen partially open to diners to view, and it is also very clean. Hey, look, a tortilla press, sort of like at "On The Border"; nice touch, home made flour and corn tortillas! Hostess leads me to a table, asks what I'd like to drink; Dos Equis Amber, and served with a tall, very frosty mug, and also brings a tall glass of ice water. So far so good.
Waitress brings over chips, salsa, AND queso dip, along with a tortilla holder filled with fresh, soft, warm corn tortillas.

Sorry for the somewhat fuzzy photo; apparently the phone camera lens was a little dirty. Didn't discover that until after dinner. Anyway, good chips, good salsa, although a bit too mild. The queso, home made, but not great. Someone didn't cook the roux long enough before they added in the cheese, it had a pretty strong taste like raw flour. Not awful, but not what you'd want to eat a lot of. The beer? Cold, and perfect.
Pretty diverse menu, lots of familiar items, but missing some of the usuals. No Pollo Con Arrozo, and no 'chicken, shrimp, steak' special. Almost got the shredded beef Chimichanga, but last minute went for shrimp rancheros. Put the order in, and sat back. After a few minutes, first up was this:

Big plate of refried beans and Mexican rice. And very good Mexican rice, nicely seasoned, and with corn, peas, and diced carrot in with the rice. Refried beans, nice and creamy, not at all pasty, topped with just a touch of cheese. And both served nice and hot. And then, out came the main.

Served sizzling on a fajita platter, ten nice sized shrimp, sautee'd with green bell peppers, onions, tomatos, and fresh jalapeno slices. On the side, fresh warm flour tortillas. Very generous portion, add in the rice and beans and it was a very filling meal, and quite tasty as well! The shrimp were perfectly cooked, the onions were done well, some were quite soft and carmelized, some still had a bit of crunch; bell peppers were fine, as were the tomato pieces. The fresh jalapeno had quite a kick, it's always hotter than the pickled ones you find in a lot of places. I packed all of the ingredients into flour tortillas and ate them fajita style, and was very happy. Added a touch of salt and pepper, as the only thing missing was a little bit of seasoning, which seems to be missing from most places when they do fajita style food. Sizzling the ingredients and getting a little browning is a good idea, but you HAVE to give them a little help - salt, pepper, garlic powder, like I'd use on my fajitas.
Finished all the shrimp and a good amount of the veggies, and that was it, full.
So I had a really nice meal, in a clean, friendly place, all for a final price of $14.30. Talk about a bargain!
Complaints? Just one. The place was too darn cold! Turn down (or up) the A/C!
And tomorrow night, it'll be something cool in Gallup NM, possibly a popular 'burger joint on old Route 66.
As they used to say, 'stay tuned for more'!

Chasing the warm weather west

Back out on the Interstates, heading from Long Island to Scottsdale Arizona, for a CPO Instructor School, and the World Aquatic Health Conference. Got a nice early start on Wednesday, as I cranked up the Bluecuda and pulled away from the curb right at 5 am. If you're going to make any time in the NY area, you've got to beat the majority of the rush hour traffic. Which, by the way, is a hell of a lot longer than 'an hour'! Especially since it was raining on Wednesday, which always slows things to somewhat less than a crawl.
Over the GW Bridge and onto I-80 I went, nice light traffic, and good tunes on the XM 60's channel. Had spotty rain most of the way until I stopped for the night, which is no fun to drive in, but what can you do?
I wanted to get to Columbus Ohio for the night, that's a decent run of about 575 miles. But I was doing so well, I pushed right on and made it to Springfield, just outside of Dayton. Found a nice clean motel, and settled in for the night. Nothing exciting to report on the food front, I skipped lunch, and had a frozen dinner in my room.
Thursday dawned much nicer, sunny and bright. Got on the road at 7, with a goal of getting to the Rolla/St. Cloud MO region; I had a hotel reservation in St. Cloud, so that was an easy drive.
Stopped for gas in western Illinois, and lo and behold, right next door to the gas station was a Jack In The Box; it must have been fate! Grabbed a couple of tacos and a drink, and back on the road I went. Fought a very strong urge to stop off (again) at Meramec Caverns, one of the great Roadside Attractions that we stopped at 50 years ago on our trip to Dallas. As I'd been there 3 years ago, I passed it up and kept going.
When I got to the hotel, I was done for the day at around 3 pm. Answered a few emails, took a couple of calls, then just relaxed a while. Realized that 3 pm was really 2 pm, as I passed into Central Time at some point late this morning. Nice big room, a suite, this is near Ft. Leonard Wood, and I think a lot of military families stay here when they are relocated to Ft. Wood, at least until they can arrange for more permanent housing.
It's been more than a bit chilly the last two days, and, of course, I didn't take a jacket of any sort with me - I'm going to AZ, and it's always warm there, right? Right. But it isn't always warm in Ohio, or Missouri. So off to the local Wal-Mart I went, to pick up a couple of things, and a light jacket. On the way there, I considered my choices for dinner; Ruby Tuesday; Chili's; McDonald's; Cracker Barrel; the usual suspects. And then, off in the distance, I spotted this:

The "Route 66" Diner. A real chrome and vinyl "Gulfstream" diner, the kind we used to have all over the place on LI until they all started expanding them into huge 'restaurants'. Decided that I had to stop in and eat here. A little closer up:

On the front door, this sign; "We proudly serve those who serve". And there were more than a few military types inside, usually a good sign, sort of like the old line about truck drivers eating at good places.
Good menu, lots of dinner specials, from salads and soups, to comfort food, such as meat loaf, roast chicken, chicken noodle soup - good diner food. I opted for the "Route 66 Burger", which, my waitress explained, was the special of the day. I saved .50c because of that! And here's the meal:

Nice burger, big, juicy, and cooked exactly right, as I ordered it. Topped with lettuce, tomato, pickles, onion and 'garlic mayo', which, of course, I had them hold. Didn't put the tomato on, as it just wasn't ripe looking. Squirt of ketchup, dollop of cheap yellow mustard, and dig in. Good burger! The roll was toasted, but soft, and had a hint of garlic, sort of like the ones that we used to get at Dempsey's in East Meadow (which, sadly, closed).
The fries appear to be hand cut, the skin is still on, and they came out properly hot. But.....they were 'once cooked', and ended up soft and squishy instead of crispy, and the larger ones were not quite cooked through. If you're going to go to the trouble of hand cutting the fries, you need to double cook them. Blanch them at 300 or so, take 'em out, let them rest a few minutes, then finish them off at 350. That way you get fluffy insides and crispy outsides. Still with ketchup on them, they were pretty good.
The Diner was built in 2001, and it's obvious that the owners care about the place. It's spotless inside, and a real reflection of the 50's. Black and white tile floor, red and white vinyl booths, a counter with stools, and chrome everywhere you look. The table tops had that nice formica with the flying triangles on it, and the sound system was playing really good 50's and 60's music. Definitely worth the stop, and recommended to anyone who's passing through this area of Missouri!
And for those who are interested, yes, the old Route 66 does run right through here. I'm on a pretty tight time schedule on the westward trip, as I must be in AZ on Sunday. But on the way back, I just might take a day and wander along the Mother Road for a while.
Back to the hotel, and time to do a little editing on tomorrow's drive. I was aiming for Elk City OK, but if I can get out early, I may hold out and try for Amarillo TX. We'll see how the weather, traffic, and back do.
Stay tuned for more!