Destination: Overhead Compartment
The first of the crew departed LAX on Thursday morning. Windy weather led to a half hour delay, but with company so great, waiting at the terminal was more like a party so we didn't mind one bit. Again Bradley didn't disappoint on the plane. Kim planned it perfectly by waiting to feed him as we took off the runway, he quickly fell asleep passed out through much of the flight. I played Sudoku while the others chatted the flight away.
Texas forever
Landing in El Paso was surreal at first. Gone were the massive city grids that only major cities like Los Angeles could visually produce. In its place, vast amount of Texas barren desert with a mountainous backdrop on one side and the congested city of Juarez, Mexico to the other. The city itself a charming one of sorts. A community that runs along the backbone of the 10 Freeway with the city center perfectly utilizing every square inch of the highway with the use of underpasses and of course, Texas Turnarounds.
Party Van driver's view
Our first night consisted of checking into our hotel, resting a bit, and then packing our "private bus" to its 12 passenger (maybe 15) limit and zooming off to the wedding shower dinner. Most of us took advantage of the great night weather and enjoyed a classic Texas BBQ feast in the patio. Afterwards the boys and gals each went their separate ways where the girls went drinking at Whiskey Dicks and the boys
The next morning, most of us licked our wounds and got ready for a fun filled day of sight seeing and of course, our favorite, EATING!
First stop: Rudy's
I want to go back
Any self respecting foodie makes it a point to eat BBQ when coming to Texas. Especially one's first time in Texas. Along the way from El Paso to Las Cruces is a place called Rudy's. A very unsuspecting gas station looking facility on the outside, but when you enter a festive countryside picnic themed restaurant on the inside. Imagine you're outside, then you walk inside, but the inside looks like it's outside, very weird. Chicken, turkey, brisket, ribs, sausage whatever you want they have it and it's all smoked to buttery perfection. When I'm presented with these types of conundrums, my usual solution is just to get everything. And that's what I did. I created a smörgåsbord of meats all to be chased down with the sweet southern nectar that is sweet tea. With it being my birthday, I also treated myself to a mini tres leches cake ... because I can. We all finished our meals, rolled each other into the van, and head to our next destination.
Respect
Next stop: Las Cruces
Have you ever watched a movie where the setting is a tiny pueblo town and the population is roughly 20. Where the local wateringhole's bartender is also the town mayor/gas station proprietor That's Las Cruces! Our first stop was the tourist "bureau". We got there as it was closing for the day. It was 2PM on a Friday. The nice lady gave us a recommendation on where to go, the Town Square. From where we were, we had to "exit the lot and turn left, turn right and go straight". Once we got to our destination I thought to myself it would've been easier if she just told us to "cross the street". We all got the gist of Las Cruces in a 30 minute span. We got our token souvenirs took some great pictures, packed the van, and head back to El Paso. A city that got just that much bigger.
Las Cruces in a nutshell
Last Stop: Lunch Box/Rehearsal Dinner
The last trip of the day ended with ... yup ... more eating! But this one was festive. Val and Freddy's rehearsal dinner. ALL YOU CAN EAT MEXICAN FOOD! Of course the mood was a joyous one, but did I mention ALL YOU CAN EAT?!? Good food and good talk filled the night. New friendships were forged. Maybe even a little bromance was sparked.
Pablo and Bradley getting festive
Saturday: Pre wedding shopping
The big day arrived before we even knew it. Seeing how the festivities didn't start until mid afternoon, we thought we'd squeeze in a little local sightseeing to kill time. The first stop was the El Paso Saddleblanket. An indoor swap meet of everything TexMex. From boots to horns, saddles to rattle snake tail earings, jewelry to cow skin couches. This had it all.
Chicken breast anyone?
A quick trip to the mall, back to the hotel for a shower and we were off to the wedding!
All dressed up, and ready to go
The ceremony itself was your typical Catholic church wedding. The bride and groom held it together very well. The priest didn't allow cameras to be used on the floor, so any pictures during this time were all from high and behind.
The typical photographer's view
Where the the ceremony was traditional and solemn, the reception was not. Out in the middle of seemingly nowhere laid Butterfield Trail Golf. Arid brown desert abruptly stops and gives way to the lush green golf course that surrounds a serene lake. An oasis, if you will. In the middle of all this, a tent covering tables romantically decorated with lanterns protecting the candles that were setting the ambiance from the windy Texas night. A midst all this, alcohol flowing like it was the last night before prohibition. Of course I used my "DD" shield to avoid all this tomfoolery ;)
Can't beat this backdrop
Final Day With a Bang
The last day in Texas saw us dealing the final blow to our diets with a visit to Cattleman's Steakhouse. Home of The Cowboy, a hearty 2 pound steak made for real men with real appetites. I settled for the Wagon Master a humble 1.75 pounder.
A typical Cowboy steak reaction
*Side Note* As a devout meateater I will say this: the one thing that Texas has over California (and probably the only reason I would move here) is that the cost of steak (meal) of this size and quality in Texas can be roughly 3 times cheaper than one comparable in Los Angeles.
Cattleman's isn't just a restaurant, but also zoo and general scenic attraction. We took advantage of these activities to mainly walk off the massive amounts of flesh we inhaled not 10 minutes earlier.
Pablo making a new friend
The Zoo Crew
Wyler Arial Tramway was THE LAST item on our itinerary. With its capacity of 12 people exceeded with people that just feasted on hearty steak dinners, to say our party van had a hard time reaching the venue would be an understatement. At one point as I floored the gas, the van was moving at a brisk 5 mph. Due to time constraints, we never got the chance the actually ride the tram. But we didn't really care. All we had to do was turn around from the ticket booth and the view from there more than satisfied our vista needs ...
Clear eyes, full hearts ...
No comments:
Post a Comment