Tres Goes Riding

Editor’s note: featured image is The Alamo

Another usual O’dark thirty roll out from Ruskin to drive the longest day of the trip to New Orleans. It was perfect getaway time. A fairly uneventful push until just outside of the Louisiana border and into NOLA. NO never seems to disappoint.

A great meal at Muriel’s. Tremendous Seafood gumbo with rice, a baby spinach salad with shaved carrot, gorgonzola and slightly sweetened pecans and a small but melt in your mouth hot and delicious oyster and eggplant au gratin cooked to perfection. Pecan Praline for dessert. There you go Gibby!

A long sleep with a quick walk to the Ruby Slipper for a great Southern breakfast. Eggs, piping hot grits, applewood smoked bacon, homemade buttermilk biscuit with cane butter and one medium perfectly fried green tomato. There you go again Gibby!

Goodbye NOLA. Bittersweet. A dark overcast day with a splattering of rain and really strong winds as I drove. I-10 out of NO and after going westbound is the most incredible patchwork of miles and miles of causeway bridges through the cypress laden bayou waters of the Atchafalaya National Wildlife Refuge. It is beautiful. East of Lake Charles the heavens opened along with the wind really blowing. It shut down pretty quickly and away I went. East Texas was bayou like as well. San Antonio at last.

Dinner at Domingo’s Mexican Restaurant right on the Riverwalk. Great spinach salad with skillet cornbread and quinoa with bean, corn vegan chili with avocado, cheese and crema. Gib!

Alamo in the AM and then on to Van Horn. Downtown is amazing with old buildings.

Alamo was cool but no pictures inside.

A little later than expected getaway with the side trip to the Alamo but, a cool, sunny albeit windy day of the shortest drive of this leg I would do. Lunch in Ozona, TX at the local poco taco shop. Crispy beef taco with the best beans and cheese burrito I have ever eaten. Had a second one after those two. Ok Gibby.

On to Van Horn and the El Capitan Hotel.

A great dinner at the hotel dining room of pistachio encrusted sirloin steak country fried w jalapeño gravy on the side for me, mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus. Gib! On to Sierra Vista, AZ via El Paso, TX for the three day weekend ride of Tour de Zona.

A couple of hours got me to El Paso and the home of the AAA team of the San Diego Padres, the El Paso Chihuahuas. Beautiful field and cool mascot.

Down the road again with lunch and quick turn in the Old Mesilla District outside of Las Cruces, NM.

On the road again to Sierra Vista. A stop at Texas Canyon rest stop.

In after 4 continuous days of driving. The number up top is right. 30 miler tomorrow morning with VeloVets. Big peace out. T dog