Most of you reading this know that I spent a lot of time as an air traffic controller and one of the fundamentals etched in stone in my memory is when in doubt, trust your instruments. Today I wonder about the soundness of that axiom. This morning my GPS unit that has faithfully brought us across the country several times had a hiccup. Coming out of Santa Fe heading for our morning meal in Albuquerque, she told me to take I-40 East for ten miles, after exiting the instructions were, make two left turns and take ramp to I-4o West for eleven miles. In other words directly back to where we had been. After I finally found the restaurant, I was telling an elderly Mexican gentlemen the story. When I finished my tale of woe he said "I had rather trust a drunk riding a mule backwards than one of those damned things." Folks, some things can't be improved on and his reference to a drunk riding a mule backwards is one.
We ate at Cecilia's Cafe in downtown Albuquerque. This is a small place owned by a Mexican lady who serves as chef. Her daughter is the waitress and her son runs the register. Locals, as well as New Mexico Magazine and the Albuquerque newspaper all agree that she serves the finest and most authentic Mexican food in the area. I know this much, it is damned good. Jeannie had carne adovada, (pork chunks in a tomato sauce) rice, beans and a home made tortilla. I had a chicken enchilada and a pork tamale with green chile sauce. It was all first class. I think Jeannie's dish was particularly good. I know she loved it.
We left and headed west on I-40 for the South rim of the Grand Canyon. Jeannie was driving, I was in a semi food coma and I remember thinking, it don't get a hell of a lot better than this. I am rolling across some of the most beautiful country on the planet, listening to Townes Van Sandt sing "Snowing on Raton" my belly is full and I am a more than reasonably happy man. One great part of the trip is Jeannie and I are so compatible, there is zero tension and neither of us cares if we make a hundred miles or five hundred. A terrific part of the trip has been that things I remember as being wonderful, really are. Sometimes, make that often, my memory fails and I tend to have selective recall in which I remember things as being better than they really were. Not this trip, New Mexico green chile is an elixir of the Gods and maybe better even than that. Great gumbo does make you want to slap your momma and Santa Fe is even more gorgeous than ever. Is this a great trip or what?
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