Faith, Folklore, and Friends

Many years ago, we experienced our first Mexican food while we were in New Mexico. After eating barrels of refried beans, burritos, and guacamole in the days since, we still love it. When we were planning our vacation this year, we decided we would have Mexican food everyday while we were in the West. The problem wasn't finding a Mexican restaurant, it was deciding which one to go to.  It's all good. The picture above was from  Mariscos Altamar in Albuquerque.  Highly recommended; they had good food, live music, and freebies because we were staying at the Hampton. The one above was from Arriba Mexican Grill in Glendale, Arizona. The food was good and plentiful.  We went during the lunch special and this was $4.99. Here, we were eating at El Encanto, a unique place in Cave Creek, Arizona.  They had a pond with huge fish and turtles swimming just outside the windows from our table.  The entree above was a grilled chicken breast with spin...

William Tecumseh Sherman has never been one of my favorite  people.  After  all, he burned Atlanta to the ground, and they are still     trying to rebuild it after 150 years. Years after the Civil War ended,  Sherman, who intensely disliked  the arid country and the people of  the Southwest, supposedly said  that   “the United States ought to  declare war on Mexico and make it  take back New Mexico.”                                                             I totally disagree. New Mexico has good people, good food, and oil wells.  It has Albuquerque, a turquoise jewel that is one of the best places I have been.  It has a constant breeze, even when the temps soar. It has dazzling sunsets and painted ...

If you take Interstate 25 North out of Albuquerque, then exit onto Highway 550 West, eventually you will come to this sign. Turn south on CR 7900 for 5 miles (paved), then right on CR 7950 (unpaved, ungraded, ungraveled). It can be a real adventure. This is part of the Colorado Plateau, arid high desert, and it is beautiful. The brochures describes the road as unpaved and rough. We saw sporadic windmills, all with a water tank for the cattle. No electric wires on this landscape. It takes more than a rough road to scare us away, although I worried that my teeth might fall out and I was a long way from Dr. John.  I couldn't have called him anyway; no cell towers around here. We were averaging ten miles an hour, so the livestock had nothing to fear from us. The livestock looked sleek and healthy, which surprised us because there were no green pastures.  I guess what they have is nutritious. They got bored with us rather quickly. I've ...