Today was the longest travel day that we will have on our journey!! WE embarked bright and early and set off on our way to El Paso (705 miles away!)
- song of the day: “oxford comma” by vampire weekend – our thoughts about that… eh?. Don’t really know what that means? Oh well.
- Molly broke out her new toy – the flip video camera – and was able to record some memorable moments: crossing three state borders, sticking her head out the window, the Thing tour and scenery along the side of the road.
- Stop #1: lunch in Phoenix was at a little gem of a stop that we found by chance using Yelp on the iPhone. Rito’s Market and Mexican Takeout was compared to the Seinfeld show’s “soup Nazi” in one review so we decided that we had to give it shot! (plus the green chile burritos enchilada style were apparently mouth watering!). We arrived to the place and it had NO sign on the outside but there were people chowing down on the patio plus a long line out the door. The menu was made up of two items: “burros” and chimichangas. When Molly asked the man behind us in line what a “burro” was, he said “Guuurl, where you from? It’s a burrito!” Amanda went to order a “green chile burrito with chicken” and the woman (slightly annoyed) told her that they did not have chicken – only “meat”. So Amanda inquired as to what kind of “meat” was in the burrito and she replied with “tender”. Haha! Mystery meat aside – the burrito was the bomb, hit the spot and the 4 of us were energized to truck on to El Paso.
- Stop #2 - The Thing: look this up on Wikipedia. This is an attraction that has entertained road travelers since the 1950s!! There are a TON of signs (for 200 miles there are 247 signs!) advertising this road side attraction is “the desert mystery” and that you can stop to see for yourself + get breakfast or a blizzard from the adjoining Dairy Queen. We HAD to see for ourselves. We pulled into the dirt parking lot and walked into a very impressive gift shop with trinkets that you can only hope to find at a thrift store = t-shirts with howling wolves and others with grazing bison, there was also no shortage of dream catchers, ponchos, and cactus shaped salt and pepper shakers.... plus specials on machete knives. After paying the admission fee of $1 – we walked through the attraction and all we can really say about it is that we got “punked”. But of course – I would recommend this stop to any curious traveler on the highway 10. It might be the most happening pit stop on this long stretch of road.
- Gas is getting cheaper as we drive east - $2.45/gallon in New Mexico! Dang!
- There is snow on the ground in Arizona and New Mexcio!
- The speed limit is 75 mph on I-10!
-Stop #3 – we stopped in Las Cruces, New Mexico for dinner looking for “Old Town Restaurant” but when we arrived we realized that it was no longer open. Oops! Yelp did not tell us that! We asked a local guy what he recommended and he replied with “Applebees” or “Cracker Barrel” – 2 chain restaurants, really? So instead we went for yet another authentic Mexican meal at “El Comedor.” I think we’ve had our share of Mexican food for the trip….we’re hoping to move on to some Texas BBQ tomorrow!
-Stop #4 – Buddy’s Beer Barn Drive-Thru (www.buddysbeerbarn.com): “Best Beer selection from Albe to Austin!” Josh bought some whiskey and then the girls went into the wine cellar to find every bottle covered in dust. Sooo Molly sang the song that came to mind to Buddy, the owner “There might be a little dust on the bottle…” Check out the website, it’s for real and this really would never fly in California! We’ll post some photos soon of it
-Final Stop – El Paso country home! Our friends from college rented a home in El Paso this week to go to the Sun Bowl and cheer on Stanford and we’re joining in the festivities for the night. We’re in the middle of nowhere but happy to in pajamas and resting. We’re off to San Antonio tomorrow!
Amanda, Molly, Laura, and Josh
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