Day 12 was a rough day.
No pictures in this one, as it was all driving. We drove 941 miles from the Grand Canyon to
Oklahoma City. I never realized New
Mexico was that big. Or that
boring. It’s very, very brown. All I could think about was Breaking Bad and suddenly
sympathizing with the main character in a small way – he does what he does
because that is the only thing to do in this sea of brown.
Three items of note. First, in reverse chronological order, we
went through a hellacious storm in Texas.
We could actually see it coming miles in the distance, but like a train
wreck in slow motion, we couldn’t prevent it.
Winds whipped the car around. Our
already inadequate wipers were no match to this storm. And in the midst of this chaos is Chunk
saying “Come on funnel cloud…come on funnel cloud.” He desperately wanted to see a tornado, and I
am truly sorry he did not get his wish.
Ironically, while Chunk waited all trip to see some tornadic
activity, several touched down in and around our hometown of Brookville, PA.
Second, going through Texas we heard the single greatest
radio program ever. Chuck Bates has a
regionally syndicated radio program covering politics – I think. He tends to stray a
little bit from topic to topic. Being
that we heard it in Texas, you can guess which way his politics lean. I’m here to tell you, it does not matter if
you agree with his views or not, you will
be entertained. His back and forth
with callers is simply fantastic for his seemingly off-the-wall quotes. Here are our favorites:- “What happens if I don’t have a gun and someone attacks my wife...well, I guess she’d probably shoot him…but what if she didn’t?”
- “I’d rather mentor a man before I have to kill him.”
- Editors note: Because those are really the only two options.
- “I want to be able to defend myself. I want to kill people!”
- “Until baby mama and wife become synonymous, we’re gonna have problems!”
Third, we decided that lunch should be something with local
flavor. As we were in New Mexico, we
decided Mexican was the way to go. We used
the GPS to find a Mexican place at a reasonable distance. When we pulled off the interstate and into
where the restaurant was supposed to be, though, we found an empty
storefront. We did, however, pass a food
truck parked near a shopping complex that appeared to be serving Mexican food. I like food trucks, so does Kati, so we
thought this would work out well.
It did, ultimately, and provided us an abundance of local
flavor. As we approached the truck, we
noticed the writing – name, menu, etc. –was all in Spanish. But a quesadilla is a quesadilla in any
language, right? Where we tripped
up, though, was the difference between quesadilla and quesadilla de asada. No problem, right? Kati loves talking to waitstaff anyway, so
this works out well. Here is the
transcript:
Kati (gleefully) – “Hello!
What is in a quesadilla de asada?”Proprietor (confused but resolved) – “Quesadilla de asada. One?”
Kati (slower, and with more focus) – “No…what is in the quesadilla?”
Proprietor (confidently) – “One?”
Kati (with trepidation) – “Yes, one.”
And so Kati, Josh, and I got quesadillas with or without de
asada, I am not sure. Chunk got two
burritos. Becky got subway. I have to say, the food was delicious. Honestly the best quesadilla with or without
asada I have ever had. We were richer
for the cultural exchange, as well, and Josh enjoyed the pretty Latin girls who
also patronized the food truck. Chunk
and I, of course, did not.
We called it quits at Oklahoma City with eager anticipation
of the next day’s drive.
Up Next: Thorncrown Chapel and completing the circle.
Random Stats: So I had been guessing on the hours driven, so this is a course correction…
Hours Driven: 73
Funnel Clouds Witnessed: 0
Chunks Disappointed: 1
Quote of the Day:
“As a matter of fact, I don’t
eat shellfish.”- Radio Talk Show Host, easily winning an argument about same-sex marriage (seriously)
No comments:
Post a Comment