Saturday, October 1, 2011

774 miles driven, almost zero walked

We left the Hyatt at 5:21am in the pitch black.  Took 82 East to I-70.  There was very little traffic and no errant deer etc on the road, thank goodness.  We stopped in Fruita CO for breakfast and went to Sullivan’s Café, where we stopped for lunch on another trip.  It is very old school, full of farmers and ranchers and everyone knows everyone.  Bob had HUGE pancakes and sausage that he ate less than half.  I had the half breakfast burrito without the hash browns and cheese but with the green chili.  The waitress was disappointed (“It looks so puny without the hash browns and cheese.”) but it was delicious.  I got a soy (alas) latte across the street at Aspen Street Coffee.  I took over driving.

From I-70 we went up 6 North/191 North to I-15.  The route was really pretty; different than we have seen with more red and oranges than yellows, mountains surrounding us but more distant.   We enjoyed it.   As always, the traffic in and around Salt Lake City was a nightmare.  Tons of construction and silly drivers.  I turned it over to Bob in Bluffdale at the Burger King where I went potty.  It was really hot.  We got onto 80 West and breathed a sigh of relief as hardly any traffic and 75mph.  Stopped at a rest stop for Taco Bell.  I LOVE the Fresco Grilled Chicken tacos.   It is the only junk food I will eat and it always hits the spot.

We continued on to Winnemucca.  There were some really bad wild fires north of the highway, evidently started by lightening strikes.  We saw at least three or four of them.   Otherwise, it was a blessedly uneventful day of driving.

Checked in to the Best Western in Winnemucca (more points!) that had at least a dozen fire trucks in the parking lot.   We found the channels with the football games, caught up on the scores and then took off for the Martin Hotel, a Basque restaurant recommended by the (pink haired) woman at reception.  It was awesome!!!  We were the only people who were not locals.  We sat at the bar (duh) and ordered our usual cocktails.  Angie, the fantastic bartender, suggested that I try an organic vodka made in Las Vegas from grains rather than potatoes.  It was really smooth and just a little bit peppery.  There were two flat panels with football on one and baseball on the other so we decided to eat at the bar.  Angie had just returned from a vacation in the Russian River Valley with her boyfriend.  We had the Bradford Mountain in the car so brought that in.  Corkage was $2.  Yes.  $2.  As Angie put it, we don’t believe in charging people to drink wine.  Couldn’t have said it better ourselves!  We gave her a glass.

Oh My Gosh.  The. Food.    Basque is always family style but they don’t specify that it’s enough for a five-person family.  For our first “course”, we each got three bowls with a green salad, baked beans and a hefty serving of minestrone soup.  It was all really good but I only had a couple of bites of each, except the salad, because there was a lot more to come…..  Next, we each got three more bowls: sautéed carrots, a sort of stew of chicken and peppers and some potatoes.  Bob, who prides himself on all things potato especially his own, almost had a stroke over the potatoes.   Red potatoes, cream cheese, sour cream, scallions and garlic, sort of smashed up but still chunky.  Decadently delicious!! I had a couple of bites but concentrated on the chicken and peppers; I ate all of mine and the peppers out of Bob’s.

And. Then. More.  We had ordered Rib Eye Lites (as opposed to the regular ones…) which were still as a large as the plate (ate half, maybe less).  Oh and a very huge platter of fantastic skin-on fries.  Once again, the Potato Master was speechless.  We decided that they were probably so good because the potatoes (according to Angie) were grown about a mile away.   Needless to say, we passed on the bread pudding dessert.

The People.  What characters.  When we got there around 6:30 there were three guys at one end of the bar and two at the other and no one was in the restaurant.  Within an hour, there were at least a dozen people to our left at the bar and the dining room was almost full.  We (ok, I) eavesdropped on the conversations and monitored the inherent dramas of people who live in a fairly small town with everyone knowing everyone’s business.  Oh it was entertaining!   And it was a delightful evening.