Eating on the Road

Like many motorcyclists when traveling whether on 4 or 2 wheels, we always tend to visit the out of the way or local place whenever possible. This has led to a couple of interesting situations. There was the restaurant in Grant Ferry that was out of everything we ordered, the hole in the wall restaurant that's "mild" food was so hot we could barely eat it, and the place in Tuba City where we had pasta alfredo soup and a loaf of lasagna.



This past weekend was another one for the books. We spent the weekend in Lake Havasu with other Motor Maids having a great time. We talked motorcycles, trips, friends and family, we talked about women & motorcycling history and all sorts of things. There was a lovely sunset ferry trip across the lake to California for dinner.



Ok, back to the food thing. On our way back from Lake Havasu we stopped in Salome for lunch and to warm up a bit. Little did we realize that the day before had been the some sort of huge chili cook off. So we pull into Christina's Cantina, the parking lot was full so we thought that was a good sign and if not for the afore mentioned chili cook off, I'm sure we would have been correct.



The inside of the cantina was typical southwestern nowhere charm having been added on to an existing tavern. There was a large wooden bar surrounded with bar stools that were bolted to the floor and covered with yellow-gold vinyl. The awning of what must have been at one time the entrance to the tavern was decorated with green pottery. The ceiling was open with large duct work and exposed wiring all painted brown to blend in. The door to the ladies' room only opened halfway before it stuck on the cement floor.



We settled on a table among the Sunday afternoon snowbirds. When the waitress came over we ordered coffee and water, then she told us that the deep fryer was broken so we couldn't have anything fried (i.e. french fries, chimichanga, etc). Deb orders the chili relleno....oops, they are out of that. While she is pondering the menu again, I ordered a grilled ham & cheese. I asked what they put on the ham & cheese (because I didn't want mayo), the waitress said she would check. When she returned, she looked at me and simply said "cheese". I started to say that was great, could they add lettuce and mustard, she cut me off by saying "we're out of ham". By now, Deb has studied the menu and decided that she would have the green chili burrito enchalada style, I ordered the red chili one and we settled down to drink our coffee.



Five minutes or so later, the waitress reappears to inform us that we are 95% there. They have the green chili but...surprise...they are out of green sauce, would she mind red sauce on her green chili burrito? At this point I think we were so hungry they could have put chocolate sauce on it and we wouldn't have noticed. Deb agrees to the red sauce.



While we wait for our food we overhear another waitress telling the patrons recently seated behind us that "the fryer is broken so no fries, burritos or chick strips, we're out of ham so no ham omelettes or sandwiches and there is one shell left for a taco salad". When our food finally arrived, it was quite good, Deb said it was the best green chili with red sauce she had ever had. So, I guess some time soon we will be heading back to Salome and Christina's Cantina on a day when there isn't a festival in town and we might have better luck with the menu.