Restaurant review and much, much more...

OK.........I've got my images now....I am posting this from the parking lot of a motel in Albuquerque. I've only got dial-up at home, and it seems to not remember me. I forgot to bring my cable which would allow me to upload my photos, so you'll have to wait for them until I get home. But in the meantime......

This is the beginning of my favorite season in New Mexico. We are in the midst of our monsoon season, and fall is approaching. The skies dominate now, and the aspens in the high mountains will soon be blazing gold. Sunlight drenches the landscape every day, and the sides of the roads are lined with wild sunflowers.

Clouds gather – huge, billowy clouds, reminding me of the Joanie Mitchell line “These are the clouds of Michelangelo…”

You can see storms in the distance – well defined areas of rain, with sunlight on either side of the storm – and if you’re lucky, you can catch some lightening flashes. Sometimes in the evening, when the sky is turning all sorts of colors, the rain turns pink. No, I’m not hallucinating. I saw it this evening on my drive back from Taos. Pink rain, off to the north of the road as I was driving south.

I drove to Taos the back way – through the village of Chimayo north of Santa Fe. I was thinking I’d stop at Rancho de Chimayo for lunch, but to my shock it was closed due to a fire they had had. This is the first time I’ve ever seen that restaurant closed. The building was obviously still standing, so the fire must have done some internal damage.

So I pushed on, figuring that I’d have to wait until Taos to get something to eat. I was hungry, but there are only small villages between Chimayo and Taos. I figured that the most I’d see would be a Dairy Queen. The road snaked upwards through the mountains, past the villages of Truchas (where they filmed “The Millagro Beanfield War”), and Las Trampas and Peňasco. It was in this last town that I spotted a building on the side of the road that made me slam on my brakes. I read the sign: Sugar Nymphs Bistro. I flipped a U and drove up. I wanted more than dessert, but the “Bistro” part gave me hope.

Serendipity is one of the rewards of travel. I walked into a charming old building which had obviously been someone’s home at one point. Now it houses the bistro as well as a theater. Yep. A theater! In Peňasco, of all places! You’ve got to understand – this is a village that time seems to have forgotten. There isn’t a gas station here. I don’t recall seeing a general store. (Forget supermarket. Those are for cities.) In fact, I don’t recall what else might be in this village other than perhaps a tire repair place. All other automotive needs seem to be taken care of in the front yard.

But here was a bistro, whose lunch special today was local vegetable stew served with grilled chicken sausage. All the veggies were locally grown. The salads were all organic, and the foccacia was house made. Salads, soups, sandwiches and burgers – all served in a cheerful atmosphere. There’s even a request printed on the menu “Please step outside to use your cell phone.”

My grilled summer veggie sandwich came with a choice of soup or salad, and some tortilla chips. I chose the salad with sesame ginger vinaigrette, and asked them to add some green chile to the sandwich. Sorry, but I was too hungry to photograph!!! Afterwards, I checked out the theater. It was too dark inside to photograph (even with flash!), but the room outside the theater had enough charm all it’s own.The trip had much, much more to it, including a drive to Acoma pueblo....perched high atop a huge rock...If you look very closely, you'll see the buildings on the right hand side, on top of that outcropping. Now you know why Acoma is called "Sky City".

Perhaps these photos will give you an idea why I tell people that going to New Mexico is going as far outside the United States as I can get without needing a passport. The landscape, the people, the food....all distinctive, and to me, all spectacular. It's no wonder they call it "The Land of Enchantment".