Family Time in Taos

Our last full day together in Taos, time to pack in food and fun.

After a huge breakfast at the Taos Diner, we were off to the square to do some major walking and a little shopping. Dale and I needed a new ristra for our front door and a new one for cooking, maybe more fabric for pillows for the couch, and whatever struck our fancy.

We then returned to the square after giving the grandkids a bit of lunch. We’d wanted to take them to Michaels Kitchen, for the best sopapillas in Taos. After walking for 10 min we arrived at Michaels only to find it closed until Dec 16^th.

We decided that we’d just walk straight over to the toy store, Whirl, where there was a Christmas party going on for the kids. Kids ran around, made crafty ornaments and ate cookies.

By the time Clayton and Jen joined us we were ready to stuff in some dinner at La Cueva, yet another favorite gluten free restaurant.

From dinner, we came back to the resort as we had tickets to see Robert Mirabal.

http://www.mirabalnativeflutes.com/

Robert Mirabal is a story teller, whose stories are told thru the music. It was an amazing show. He plays his flutes, tells stories and his daughters accompany him in song. There were not many people in the audience so we have a very intimate and moving evening.

Thanksgiving in Taos

Thanksgiving Day, a time for a celebration for sure. And we showed our thanks by drinking New Mexico champagne with our kids.

We decided prior that we were not interested in a Thanksgiving Day brunch or dinner. I could only eat the meat and kids could only eat the veggies; not worth the money in our case.

Jen and I started our day with a massage at the spa. I just wanted a relaxing massage and got just that, with an arnica lotion on my sore neck.

 We’d wanted to take grandkids to the Taos Pueblo and to the Rio Grande Bridge, so we piled into 2 cars and went off to the Taos Pueblo first. Clayton had vivid memories of our Christmas Eve 

celebration there when he was about 11 years old. The sky was blue over the west Pueblo and stormy over the east. Great for some photos. Grandkids ran around like kids do everywhere. Their Native American was coming out.

http://taospueblo.com/

By the time we got to the Rio Grande Bridge, Fynn was sound asleep. As I’ve been there lots of times I stayed in the car with him while Dale went out with the rest onto the bridge. The bridge is really a great place, there is a walkway on both sides and little places to lookout down to the bottom, 565’ down.

http://highestbridges.com/wiki/index.php?title=Rio_Grande_Gorge_Bridge

Dinner was at the bar at Doc Martins, just nachos and drinks.

Back to New Mexico

Several months ago, our daughter-in-law, Jen suggested that we spend Thanksgiving in Taos. She’d never been to Taos but heard us speak of it plenty. She then found the El Monte Resort and it looked like a nice place to stay and play. We reserved rooms for our 2 families.

After flying most of the day we finally arrived in Taos after 11pm. We got into our room, a small casita, the equivalent of a small cabin but New Mexico style.

We’d brought a bottle of wine and a pumpkin pie dessert from home. Those were perfect for winding down in our living room. We got the fire going and relaxed.

We had to meet Clayton and Jen early as they had to drive to Santa Fe for a cooking class we’d given them for a present. We meet at the restaurant at the resort, but as I suspected it would be, there was nothing I could eat. That was fine, the Taos Diner was only a 15-minute

walk and they have most everything New Mexican gluten free.

We got the grandkids all bundled up and walked to the Taos Diner. It took a little longer with Fynn stopping to have a conversation with himself periodically.

After a good filling breakfast, we walked to the Plaza. Kids were not interested in the history, rather it was more fun to play tag and a sort of hide and seek tag game. Dale and I took turns running around with the kids.

After some pool play back at the resort, we took the kids to Orlando’s for dinner, another Taos favorite of ours. We were able to introduce the kids to real chili sauce, pure from the dried pods. I need to learn how to make sauce like this.

Time To Start Home

We’d originally planned to go from Hovenweep on to Arches, Capital Reef, Monument Valley and then home. We had wanted to visit more parks in Utah then got the idea for these from an article I saw.

https://utah.com/itinerary/grand-circle-tour?utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=utah&utm_term=grandcircle&utm_content=grandcircleitinerary&utm_source=taboola&utm_medium=referral

We have been to several of the parks listed in the article and, although, we’d love to go back, knew that we’d have little time now.

Dale and I sat down during a rest stop break and mapped out what we could actually do considering the time we can spend on our way home. Oops, there went Arches and Capital Reef, chopped. That left Monument for a day, which is west of Hovenweep, .

On the way to Hovenweep I checked the weather. A front was moving in and would bring freezing temps. When we got to Hovenweep, I checked the weather again, this time it said that high winds would accompany the storm. I started checking various cities along our route home and 40+mph wind gusts were forecasted.

In addition to the high winds forecasted, we were also out of water in the RV. Even though the campground was open Hovenweep had no dump or fresh water for RV’s. And, by the way, because it was off season, the campground was free.

We decided that due to the high winds we’d take a safer route home and skip the rest of the parks. As we drove down the hill into Albuquerque that evening, we remembered why we loved that city. But also laughed as we will be flying there in only a few days.

Time to get home, unpack this rig and pack up for our trip next week.

Hovenweep For A Day

Hovenweep is part of the Canyon of the Ancients, located at the end of the canyon. The canyon is very narrow at the bottom and not much elevation gain between the bottom and the top. Nevertheless, the Ancient Ones built structures around the edges and in the bottom.

https://www.nps.gov/hove/index.htm

We really like Hovenweep because it is an easy 8-mile walk down around and back up to the campgrounds. While you can’t enter the structures it is easy to get up and close as the barriers are not set back very far. And like Mesa Verde, the ruins are from the similar people, but here there are not the tourists. We only saw 6 other people during our entire walk.

While we are not religious, it is a place that is very spiritual to us. To be so close to those who came before us, and to experience seeing structures built on sheer rock walls or small outcroppings is a source of amazement.

We were at Hovenweep as part of a grandkids trip about 10 years ago. We’d taken the 4 older kids to Mesa Verde for part of the 100-year anniversary and then heard of Hovenweep. We fell in love with Hovenweep so it was easy to combine this with our road trip.

This time, being alone, we packed up a picnic, very simple sandwich makings, veges and hummus, and white wine. Dale found us a nice flat rock to spread out the lunch and then we found a place in front of the “Twin Towers” to enjoy lunch and the canyon. Having simple food and a simple wine was fitting to the area.

The sky was blue, not a cloud, and the air crisp and cool. We couldn’t ask for a better day.

Another State, Another Restaurant

If someone doesn’t know us, they’d probably wonder how we have so many favorite restaurants and do we do anything besides eat. We were laughing about this over breakfast and realized that we are only in the southern part of the US. We have many more favorites in other states.

And so from New Orleans we drove straight to Houston, TX, to meet a dear friend and co-worker, Jim and of course eat. This time we went to his favorite place, a little French Bistro.

The restaurant isn’t fancy but really nice. We felt mostly fine in our jeans but there were also people in formal wear. Maybe we just felt fine because we didn’t pay attention. But the food was very French and such a treat, as we’ve been eating lots of local, hole in the wall foods. Unfortunately, I couldn’t eat the sauces but I enjoyed my pork chop, and Dale his Canard A la Orange. Jim had wild boar. With mussels for an appetizer and a nice pinot, we were happy campers.

But, the best part was visiting with our friend, we haven’t had much time to visit since we were all in Boston. We’d really gotten to know each other when we worked the Richmond Fire about 3 years ago. We did some nice dinners and wine tasting together in the Sacramento area, so it was great to just sit down and catch up.

After dinner, we drove to the next rest stop intending to make it to San Antonio and Mi Tierra’s for breakfast. Mi Tierra’s has been a favorite for many years.

We knew that my grandfather had worked in the area in the early 1930’s. We have a photo of my grandfather standing by the produce truck he drove with my father and uncles as children. My grandfather worked with the bananas. We believed that the basement of Mi Tierra’s had been the banana distribution center and had learned, on one trip, that there was a basement that had been used for produce.

This trip, I mentioned to the waitress that my grandfather had likely worked in the basement, she went and got her manager. The manager verified that the banana distribution took place in the basement. She said that the owner is the 3^rd generation which would mean that my grandfather would have worked for his grandfather. Small world.

The owner requested that we send a photo of my grandfather with the truck and they will put it on the wall. There is also a chance that at some point we might get to tour the basement.

Chilaquiles recipe has changed, they use to put strips of chilies in but now leave them out because the chilies are too hot. We will go for other dishes next time and of course the pan dolce. 

A Day In New Orleans

We had a long list of to-do’s for today. Eating some gluten free New Orleans food, lunch with a co-worker, shopping, more shopping.

We parked next to the Quarter and 1^st thought we’d stop at Café du Monde for coffee. There is a table off to the side where I’ve sat nearly every evening while working, just having some coffee and writing claims. Well, that was an idea that wasn’t well founded. The lines were down the block.

I’d googled gluten free breakfasts and we found one restaurant that wasn’t open until 11:30 for brunch. I googled again and saw one that I’d seen before but dismissed. “From the Heart” is in the French Market. I’ve been in and out of the French Market before but it isn’t so glamorous as inside the Quarter. But we thought we try it.

Gluten Free Crab Cake PoBoy at "From the Heart"

The French Market consists of stalls selling all sorts of things and then there is a sort of , food court. Little places with counters and about 6 or so bar stools. Then there are tables in the center as well.

We found the most amazing crab cakes, lots of vegan dishes, no pork served, and many gluten free items. But the crab cakes had no filler so they were just crab with spices. I was in crab cake heaven.

We had several items to shop for: olive salad for us, our boys and friends, crab boil oil, Old Bay, coffee with chicory, and Old New Orleans Rum. I looked longingly at masks, but the mask store that I’d bought the really good ones at was gone. Besides I’m changing the décor in the house and don’t need any more masks.

We met my co-worker at a little hole in the wall, The Joint. Way off the beaten path, but amazing BBQ. Later I found several local people who said it was their favorite.

Dale had not been with Justin and I when we went to Old New Orleans Rum, way back when. It was fun to show him a little of the distillery and do some tasting. The ginger rum drink is the best!

Looking across to Jackson Square

My friend always has the most fun haircuts, and mine was beginning to be a mop, after weeks of neglect. She told me that she goes to a barbershop and for $15 they cut her hair. I was a little reluctant to go to a barbershop but decided that it was to be. The barbershop is located in a building, just a little place with 2 guys, 2 barber chairs, 2 chairs for waiting. That’s it. But the haircut works and the guy got rid of 10 lbs of hair.

Examples of the houses

I googled gluten free gumbo and a place came up. There were a few glitches but really the best, steaming hot gumbo ever.

Next Stop NOLA

I’ve worked in New Orleans on several occasions, living here for 4-6 weeks each time. I’ve also stopped here on my way home from various storms. Each time this change but yet it is the same. And so it is with this visit.

I’ve lived in the KOA by the river and that is where we have camped. When I was here last our middle boy and is family joined me. This was after Hurricane Gustav hit. FEMA workers filled the campground and we got to know each other, visiting a little on the warm evenings while we’d all sit outside and work.

Dale would fly in on his week off and we had restaurants near the RV that we really liked. Our mouths were all set on the food awaiting us, until, that is, we realized that the restaurants were closed. Like closed for good.

Dale remembered another restaurant with oyster shells paving the parking lot. I remembered where the restaurant was but with Google, we were able to identify it as The Harbor.

The Harbor was unchanged but I’d changed. Since Celiac there was nothing except a piece of grilled fish available. The fish was great but looks like that restaurant is off of our radar now. Time for changes and new favorites.

Playing Tourist on Miami Beach

Time for a road trip, and while we are at it, drive home.

I finally got released from my work in Florida. The storm didn’t last as long as many but was a good run.

1^st stop was Miami. I have an adjuster friend who lives in Ft Lauderdale and we thought we’d visit with her before heading out. When we arrived my friend was busy with work so we dumped the RV and went down to the Art Deco District in Miami Beach.

I have fond memories of Miami Beach from when I worked Hurricane Andrew. Things have changed a little since then. There are lots of sidewalk restaurants, many with the menus that look the same. Every restaurant has people in the front trying to rope the tourists in.

We wanted Cuban food and found a place that had a Cuban sandwich and a Cuban plate on the menu. I’d remembered great little Cuban places but couldn’t find any so we settled for this place.

We decided what we wanted for food and thought a drink would be good. I saw that people had these huge glasses of drinks in front of them. On the menu was various sizes including a fishbowl for $35.00 each.

We ordered our drinks but stupidly did not specify the size. Sure enough, we were served the fishbowl size. We decided to keep the drinks because it made for some fun, but knew we’d been taken! The trials of a tourist. 

Wind Created Havoc

We had our RV parked at the Melbourne Mobile RV, but were parked on the beach. We had to leave that specific site but more about that in another blog. We decided to move back to the mainland and stay in an RV park that provides internet.

A small storm was forecast to blow through on Sat morning but we decided that we’d take a chance and move during that time.

Sat morning and winds were picking up, sand blowing and clouds blocking any sunrise. We decided to move on our way. Winds were really picking up, we had to hang onto the door when we’d open it.

I opened the door for some reason or another, when the wind blew hard and I couldn’t hang onto it. The door banged against the side of the RV.

Now for you who do not have an RV; the exterior door is a metal frame and quite sturdy. A screen door is separate and inside so that you can open the exterior door and attach it to the RV side, but have the screen door closed. The screen door has a latch that fits into the door jam, keeping the screen door closed, the latch isn’t a lock.

I describe all of the door to describe the following events. When the doors blew open and slammed against the side of the RV the latch on the screen door broke and fell off.

We went on to move to the new RV park but, of course, the screen door just flopped open and shut in the breeze. Dale decided that he’d go pick up a new latch and install it.

After dark, I’d finished up with all of my claims work, everything that could be finished. We had a little wine and tomatoes with mozzarella then went for a walk before dinner. It was a pleasant evening, our neighbor even had his door and windows open. We closed the exterior door but didn’t lock it.

We got back to the RV and went to open the door. Screen door was latched both in the jam and attached to the exterior door. The door wouldn’t open more than an inch.

We remembered that we had our ladders in the back of the truck and saw that the larger emergency window was open in the bedroom. We got our ladder and put it up against the side of the RV. The commotion caused our neighbor to yell out “is everything ok out there”? I told him that we’d gotten locked out of our RV and had to go in thru the window. I suspect he thought someone was breaking in.

Our neighbor then came out of his RV in time to see Dale start up the ladder. He held the ladder for Dale and we had a nice conversation and made new friends. Now Dale must figure out had to make sure we can get into the RV after we close the door.