- Thursday 6/2/11: Standard Diner in ABQ: dinner with the theater gang: green chile cheese burger
- Friday 6/3/11: Tomasita's Restaurant in Santa Fe: lunch with the "Dining Divas": chicken quesadilla with green chile
- Friday 6/3/11: Sweet Tomatoes in ABQ: they do not have any New Mexican food on their buffet line, but I did find green chile Ranch dressing
- Saturday 6/4/11: Milly's in ABQ: Saturday brunch with "the usual suspects": breakfast burrito with green chile
- Tuesday 6/7/11: Chili's in ABQ: lunch with folks from the Newcomer's Welcoming Coffee: green chile chicken soup (yes, the two are spelled differently: Chili's and chiles)
- Tuesday 6/7/11: Golden Corral in ABQ: dinner with my parents after the cousins were a no-show at Outback (we rescheduled and they showed the second time): chicken fajitas with green chiles
- Wednesday 6/8/11: Copper Canyon in ABQ: Prime Time Monthly Dinner: combo plate with enchilada, taco, and chile relleno, all covered in green chile and cheese
- Friday 6/10/11: Mother and Daddy's house in ABQ: a "partly party"--potluck hors d'ouevres: tortilla roll-ups with green chile
- Saturday 6/11/11: Milly's in ABQ: Saturday brunch with "the usual suspects": breakfast burrito with green chile (it was so good the first time, I had it again)
- Sunday 6/12/11: Sandiago's in ABQ (at the foot of the tram): dinner with "family"--Stephanie, Terri, Mark, and Mark's girl friend: steak tampequeña--"steak with spicy green chile sauce & cheese, creamy calabacitas, and poblano mashed potatoes
- Monday 6/13/11: Mother and Daddy's house in ABQ: a 5:00am breakfast of leftover tortilla roll-ups with green chile
- Thursday 6/16/11: Chuy's in Austin: fried avocado filled with green chile sauce (and other chiles and peppers as I recall)
Monday, June 20, 2011
6/20/2011 Green Chile Tally
Looking back over my 25 day trip, here's the green chile tally:
6/20/2011 The Marathon is Over
Wowser. I've been gone for 25 days. That's a long time to be away. I basically had 3 separate trips end-to-end, which is the only smart way to travel out of Maine because no matter what trip you're on, it takes two full days to get there and come back, so you might as well make the most of it. I figure I saved 4 travel days by doing the back-to-back thing. And fortunately, I was able to do laundry in all 3 places, so I packed light (one 36-pound roller bag). I did some shopping in Albuquerque, but I shipped a box of stuff home from ABQ, too.
So today's marathon was: up at 0230 CDT to shower and pack, leave KMO's casa at 0400 to arrive at airport at 0430 for an 0600 flight. I flew to BWI (sat next to a delightfully inquisitive and articulate 1st grader), changed planes, flew to Boston, B A R E L Y caught the 12:35 Concord Coach to Portland (Maine), waited 30 minutes, caught another Concord Coach to Augusta, drove my car from Augusta to Farmington arriving 1715 EDT. What a day. I stopped at the grocery store then went home where I opened all the windows (storm windows were still down 'cuz it was still cold when I left) then sat on my veranda and soaked up sunshine and cool breezes . . . very cool breezes, not like the ones in Austin. But I was exhausted. I started to listen to the Red Sox game on the radio while I was unpacking but went to bed when the game was still tied 3-3. I missed the 42-minute half-inning where we scored 10 points and went through the lineup at least twice. Go Sox!
So this marathon trip was more than just today . . . I was gone for 25 days! That's a long time to be gone. But when traveling from Maine, it makes sense to put your trips end-to-end 'cuz any one trip involves two full days of travel just to get to and from your destination. I saved 4 days by putting 3 trips together: a week in Dallas for Hank's ordination to the priesthood and lots of great friend visiting, 11 days in Albuquerque with my parents and all of their/my friends, and the big KMOve.
Thank you, God, for safe travels, fun adventures, and amazing friends and family. Here's to the next adventure!!
So today's marathon was: up at 0230 CDT to shower and pack, leave KMO's casa at 0400 to arrive at airport at 0430 for an 0600 flight. I flew to BWI (sat next to a delightfully inquisitive and articulate 1st grader), changed planes, flew to Boston, B A R E L Y caught the 12:35 Concord Coach to Portland (Maine), waited 30 minutes, caught another Concord Coach to Augusta, drove my car from Augusta to Farmington arriving 1715 EDT. What a day. I stopped at the grocery store then went home where I opened all the windows (storm windows were still down 'cuz it was still cold when I left) then sat on my veranda and soaked up sunshine and cool breezes . . . very cool breezes, not like the ones in Austin. But I was exhausted. I started to listen to the Red Sox game on the radio while I was unpacking but went to bed when the game was still tied 3-3. I missed the 42-minute half-inning where we scored 10 points and went through the lineup at least twice. Go Sox!
So this marathon trip was more than just today . . . I was gone for 25 days! That's a long time to be gone. But when traveling from Maine, it makes sense to put your trips end-to-end 'cuz any one trip involves two full days of travel just to get to and from your destination. I saved 4 days by putting 3 trips together: a week in Dallas for Hank's ordination to the priesthood and lots of great friend visiting, 11 days in Albuquerque with my parents and all of their/my friends, and the big KMOve.
Thank you, God, for safe travels, fun adventures, and amazing friends and family. Here's to the next adventure!!
Sunday, June 19, 2011
6/19/2011 Austin Symphonic Band
I changed my airline ticket 3 times for this trip. First, I was going from Albuquerque directly to Austin to "visit KMO at her new house" because she was going to be moved by mid-May. Then I was flying from Albuquerque straight home and skipping Austin because KMO's plans were so uncertain. Then this arrangement came up where I would fly from Albuquerque to Greenville, SC and help with the move. On plan #1, my return flight was going to be on June 18. Then, KMO found out that the Austin Symphonic Band was giving a concert in the park on June 19 and I knew when Plan #3 came up, that I would have to leave after the concert and not before. Why? Because the director of the Austin Symphonic Band for the past 26 years is none other than the amazing Mr. Richard Floyd, our band director at Pearce High School in Richardson back in the 1970's. So tonight was the icing on my cake--the fabulous treat on top of all the fun.
Apparently, these concerts are usually packed and you have to get to the park extra early to get a seat (though, on their Web site, they request you not come more than 90 minutes early). But with the heat the way it's been, I believe their audience was a bit smaller than usual. We were not, however, going to let a little heat (okay, a lot of heat) deter us. It turned out though, that it was quite breezy and we were up on the hill, so it was pretty bearable. The program included a lot of patriotic songs as well as classics like Gershwyn and songs associated with Bob Hope (my favorite was the Texas medley, Spirit of Texas).
Not very long after we sat down, I went to get paper copies of the program and right after I sat down, someone came up behind me and said, "Hi Theresa!" It was SB, daughter of L O N G time Girl Scout friend, Cathy. Then she pointed up the hill to where her parents were sitting. Months ago when we contacted her when plan #1 was in place she said we would miss getting to see her because she was going to be out of town. But it turns out, she got home a day early (2 hours prior to the concert in fact) and they made the last minute decision to attend the concert. So obviously we had no idea she would be there. How fun is that that we run into one of the only people I know in Austin at a concert in the park? Cathy knows KMO as well. Our Girl Scout memories are much intertwined. We were last all together in Washington DC for the Girl Scout Singalong on the Mall in honor of Girl Scouts' 90th birthday. And we'll all be together again next year for the 100th birthday celebration.
After the concert, we hovered near the podium and finally got our turn to say, "Hello!" to Mr. Floyd. It was great. He was most gracious and even let us take a photo to capture the memory of the noteworthy occasion. He always was a gentleman.
Apparently, these concerts are usually packed and you have to get to the park extra early to get a seat (though, on their Web site, they request you not come more than 90 minutes early). But with the heat the way it's been, I believe their audience was a bit smaller than usual. We were not, however, going to let a little heat (okay, a lot of heat) deter us. It turned out though, that it was quite breezy and we were up on the hill, so it was pretty bearable. The program included a lot of patriotic songs as well as classics like Gershwyn and songs associated with Bob Hope (my favorite was the Texas medley, Spirit of Texas).
Not very long after we sat down, I went to get paper copies of the program and right after I sat down, someone came up behind me and said, "Hi Theresa!" It was SB, daughter of L O N G time Girl Scout friend, Cathy. Then she pointed up the hill to where her parents were sitting. Months ago when we contacted her when plan #1 was in place she said we would miss getting to see her because she was going to be out of town. But it turns out, she got home a day early (2 hours prior to the concert in fact) and they made the last minute decision to attend the concert. So obviously we had no idea she would be there. How fun is that that we run into one of the only people I know in Austin at a concert in the park? Cathy knows KMO as well. Our Girl Scout memories are much intertwined. We were last all together in Washington DC for the Girl Scout Singalong on the Mall in honor of Girl Scouts' 90th birthday. And we'll all be together again next year for the 100th birthday celebration.
After the concert, we hovered near the podium and finally got our turn to say, "Hello!" to Mr. Floyd. It was great. He was most gracious and even let us take a photo to capture the memory of the noteworthy occasion. He always was a gentleman.
6/19/2011 Souvenir Shopping
Part of The Oasis is a gift shop. They had some great tacky Texas souvenirs, but they were a little pricy (very pricy, actually). My tiny bathroom in my apartment in Maine is decorated in red, white, and blue Texas tackiness, so I'm always on the lookout for fun, new, small additions. This shop had a beautiful glass dish that looked like the Texas flag. It turns out it was meant to be a sushi dish, but I thought it would make a fabulous soap dish. Until I saw the $32 price tag, that is.
But that got us started on a quest for Texas souvenirs. We did some Google searches and found the Texas Store in Barton Creek Mall. It was on the way home (at least, not too far out of the way) and the Yelp reviews made it sound perfect. We went to all the trouble to get there and saw this:
It's closed!! Must be fairly recent, but it doesn't matter, we weren't going to be able to shop there. We went ahead and explored the mall a little, even though neither of us are big mall shoppers. Found the Apple Store and the Clarks shoe store, so it was worth the walk around.
We also read about Austin Gift Company but weren't sure it was going to suit our needs. But with the Texas Store being closed, suddenly Austin Gift Company sounded really good. Turns out it was really close to the mall and was open on Sunday (yes, we called ahead this time). It's part souvenir store, part craft/antique mall kind of store where folks sell stuff on a commission basis. I didn't find a soap dish but we both found some fun trinkets. And I took pictures of some of the roadrunner stuff I saw to send to my mom. This one was roadrunner AND Texas.
But that got us started on a quest for Texas souvenirs. We did some Google searches and found the Texas Store in Barton Creek Mall. It was on the way home (at least, not too far out of the way) and the Yelp reviews made it sound perfect. We went to all the trouble to get there and saw this:
We also read about Austin Gift Company but weren't sure it was going to suit our needs. But with the Texas Store being closed, suddenly Austin Gift Company sounded really good. Turns out it was really close to the mall and was open on Sunday (yes, we called ahead this time). It's part souvenir store, part craft/antique mall kind of store where folks sell stuff on a commission basis. I didn't find a soap dish but we both found some fun trinkets. And I took pictures of some of the roadrunner stuff I saw to send to my mom. This one was roadrunner AND Texas.
6/19/2011 View from The Oasis
Part of the new enterprise at The Oasis includes an observation deck that juts out between the restaurants over Lake Austin. All those umbrellas you see are on the patio of The Oasis. The islands in the middle of the water are sand bars that are usually under water. Can you say, "drought"? It's pretty bad here this year. Somehow this "lake" (it's really just dammed up portions of the river that feeds into Lake Travis or something weird like that) is still beautiful, even when it's only half full.
Oh ya! As Karen wrote on Facebook about this sign: "Nuff said."
Oh it's good to be back in Texas. I needed to get a refresher course in Attitude. :-)
Oh ya! As Karen wrote on Facebook about this sign: "Nuff said."
6/19/2011 The Oasis
The Oasis is an Austin classic. I came once before, a bazillion years ago, with a big group of friends from church on a crazy Austin-Road-Trip-Weekend. Since then, it's burned down, rebuilt, and now--just in the last 6 months or so--built itself up into a big commercial complex. It'll be interesting to see if it makes a go in this latest reincarnation. But today was a perfect Oasis kind of day. Hot and sunny and clear blue skies. The Oasis is famous for its patio dining that overlooks Lake Austin.
KMO's friends Katy and Brad were taking relatives on a crash-tour of the Hill Country and to them that included The Oasis. So we joined them for lunch. When we arrived, plans had changed a little--we were going to try out Uncle Billy's--a new restaurant with a Barbecue and Beer focus but affiliated with The Oasis.
We started with a basket of "Red Neck Road Kill" (essentially very spicy nachos made with homemade thick potato chips instead of tortilla chips) that set the tone for a great lunch.
Though I didn't order any beer, I did love this glass:
It was an advertising campaign to help pass a House Bill that would allow people in the beer business to brew it, sell it on site, and distribute it (right now, you can only do any 2 of the 3 but not all 3). Turns out, the bill was already defeated, so these are outdated glasses, but still very fun.
Mmmmmm. My last chance for more barbecue and this didn't fail me. Yummy to the very last drop. That's mac and cheese (quite delicious) and mashed potatoes with it. But the BBQ was the best part of all.
KMO's friends Katy and Brad were taking relatives on a crash-tour of the Hill Country and to them that included The Oasis. So we joined them for lunch. When we arrived, plans had changed a little--we were going to try out Uncle Billy's--a new restaurant with a Barbecue and Beer focus but affiliated with The Oasis.
We started with a basket of "Red Neck Road Kill" (essentially very spicy nachos made with homemade thick potato chips instead of tortilla chips) that set the tone for a great lunch.
Though I didn't order any beer, I did love this glass:
Mmmmmm. My last chance for more barbecue and this didn't fail me. Yummy to the very last drop. That's mac and cheese (quite delicious) and mashed potatoes with it. But the BBQ was the best part of all.
6/19/2011 Fathers Day Church Service
Phillips, Craig, and Dean are a great Christian singing trio. All 3 guys are full-time pastors of churches, but they formed this group 19 years ago and have been singing and "pastoring" ever since. Karen had read a wikipedia article on the group and remembered that Randy Phillips's church was in Austin. So she figured out where it was and that's where we went for church this morning. It was a great service! The church currently worships in Westlake High School's theater. What a place! It's nicer than most university and community theaters that I've been to. Jeff Allen was the guest "presenter" today. He's a comedian. I'd never heard of having a comedian speak at church before. But he was great. He was funny but incredibly inspirational. It was impressive. Great music, moving sermon, . . . all in all, it was a wonderful Sunday worship.
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