3 states in 1 day!

Dear, dear followers, I am sorry I have neglected you for so long, but I have been utterly exhausted!  It’s not easy driving across the prairies for 10 to 12 hours a day.  And now I am nursing the beginnings of a sinus infection!  I have not, however, been lacking for food experiences, however, and I promise to catch you up from the last two days. (Pictures will be added as soon as we get some reliable internet!)

On Monday, we spent most of our day finishing our drive across Nebraska, and then through Iowa to Nauvoo, IL.  Nauvoo is the last place that the Latter-day Saints (Mormons) lived before going to the Rocky Mountains and ending up in Utah.  I can’t help but think, as I see Nauvoo, that they had to have been really, really disappointed in seeing the Salt Lake Valley after living in Nauvoo.  But more on that later.  We’re currently on our way to the Second City, Windy City – whatever you call it, it’s a city I love – Chicago!

Sunday night in North Platte left us with few choices for dinner, and I am embarrassed to say we ate at Perkins.  It  was okay, just average.  I had soup and salad.  After all of that traveling, I just wasn’t hungry.  So enough of my confession.  I promise you it gets better.

The next day we stopped for lunch in Lincoln, NE.  Breakfast at the hotel was actually quite decent, as we could make waffles and there was plenty of juice and some really good hot chocolate.  As we cruised O Street (yes, that’s really the name of the main drag), we decided a sub would satisfy us, and we saw a little place called Mr. Goodcents, which featured subs and pastas.  Maybe it was just our appetites, but it really hit the spot.  Yes, it was subs, like Subway but the meat was sliced after you ordered.  You could choose from white, wheat or garlic pepper bread, and from six cheeses.   I was surprised that there were a lot of Italian type choices were offered.  They also had a small sub called a “Satisfier” which is what I had, for only $2.89, and it was just the right size.  You could get any of their subs in this size, and I decided on turkey.  Tara had an Italian with ham, salami and cappicola.  We were extremely pleased with this place.  The prices were reasonable, the food was fresh, the service was extremely friendly.  They also offer a few pasta dishes, including Chicken Parmesan, which I did not try but I think would have been very good. Mr. Goodcents is a chain, with 3 stores in Lincoln and more across Nebraska and Kansas.   Throughout Nebraska there is also a chain called Runza’s – you’ll see them all over.  They specialize in pierogies, which they call runzas in Nebraska.  If you have the choice between Runza’s and Mr. Goodcents, take Mr. Goodcents.  Their website is mrgoodcents.com

For dinner, I finally got to go to a place actually featured on TV.  Yes, I like to stalk places recommended by food shows!  The plan was actually to go to a place in the Amana Colonies called the Ox Yoke, recommended by my friend Shannon Bartholomew, who used to live in nearby Iowa City.  But halfway through Iowa, we were hungry and just plain sick of the rain.  Not just rain – pouring rain.  We had been driving in some sort of precipitation since Sunday, and now it was just unrelenting.  So I suggested we eat at a place called the Iowa Machine Shed, which was in Urbandale, kind of a suburb of Des Moines (translation: some Moines).  I had heard about these giant cinnamon rolls they were famous for, plus I was just itching for some fried chicken.  So we found it, very easily I might add.  It was 4:00, so the place was empty – and we got the last cinnamon roll of the day.  So we actually had it warmed up and ate it as an appetizer.  It actually wasn’t a roll – it was more of a loaf ,  But it was big – we saved the rest for breakfast for the next day.   It was pretty good, it probably would have been better if it had been fresh, but I have to say – I’ve made cinnamon rolls before that were actually better.  I don’t want to brag, and after all, I don’t have to make a humongous amount to feed the masses, but there it is.  Anyway, I had my fried chicken for dinner, and I think the Colonel’s is better, even though the menu description of the chicken told the Colonel to move over.  It was also served with “family style” (translation, two small bowls, which were not refilled, as I thought they would be) of cottage cheese and cole slaw, both very fresh and helpful for my calcium and veggie daily requirements.  Tara had the fried chicken salad, which was just crispy pieces of chicken over a salad with cheese, eggs, etc.  it was big, she couldn’t finish it, but we did manage to put away a big ol’ piece of chocolate cream pie to end our meal, which was very good.  I also had a ginormous sweet potato with my chicken, which our waiter, Randy, was hesitant to give me, for some reason.  He was supposed to ask me which side dish I wanted, but never did, and then he brought out mashed potato.  I asked for a sweet (this girl needs her beta carotene) and he gave me attitude, even though the menu clearly stated I had a choice.  So he took it back and brought back a sweet.  All in all, I thought it was pretty pricey.  The meal came to $27 before the tip, and the food wasn’t really anything special.  But, as you recall, I wanted to see for myself if some of these places were really as good as they say, and I found out for myself that this one wasn’t.

Then on through Ottumwa, Iowa, home of Corporal Radar O’Reilly from M*A*S*H (I’m trying to mix in some pop culture stuff here), about three more hours driving (through more rain) to get to Nauvoo. Cute little motel with a little hospitality suite with hot drinks and cookies anytime you want them.  We rolled in late and a cup of herbal tea (with a Fig Newton) set me up very nicely for the night.

Since this is primarily a blog about food, I won’t bore you with the details about our trip to Nauvoo.  Think of it as kind of a Mecca for Mormons.  Not that we have to go there, but most Mormons do at some point, because there is something indescribably special about the place.  There is a spot where you can stand and look across the Mississippi River, and it is the spot where the exodus to Utah began.  I cannot stand on that spot without thinking about what those people went through as they were being exterminated (literally) from their homes and the beautiful city they had built.  So many of them didn’t even make it to the Salt Lake Valley, they died along the trail.  My eyes kept going back to the beautiful temple on the hill, an exact replica of the one they left to be destroyed by mobs in 1846.

We ate lunch at a cute little bakery in town, called Nauvoo Mill and Bakery, with good fresh sandwiches and soup, with great prices.  Tara was able to see her friend from BYU, Meghan, who is serving a mission in Nauvoo, so that was very exciting for her.  Even more exciting was being able to eat dinner at Bennigan’s.  She loves the Monte Cristo, and we don’t have Bennigan’s in Rochester anymore, so it was a thrill for her.  This Monte Cristo is deep fried – it comes out on the plate looking more like a fish fry than a sandwich.  So we split one sandwich and I couldn’t even eat all of my half.  I think I am completely over the Bennigan’s Monte Cristo, and as good as it is, I think I will never need to eat one again in my lifetime.

Goin' 80 on I-80

Not much to tell about today’s adventures – just driving, driving, driving.  Not the greatest weather in some spots either, particularly through parts of Wyoming and Utah, but we’re about 125 miles into Nebraska right now, and we’re starving.  I may disappoint you and go to Denny’s, because already Tara is complaining about complying with my food choices, and it’s only the first day.  Tomorrow I’m planning on going to a farmhouse type spread in the Amana Colonies of Iowa, and she’s not happy about it, which I really can’t understand, since it’s just like Good and Plenty down in Amish Country in Pennsylvania.  Tough darts, we’re going.

Last night I had the worst food experience of this trip, and possibly one of the worst of my life.  There is this chain out in Utah (and I’ve seen signs for them in Wyoming too) called Wingers.  Their claim is that they’re “An American Diner.”  I went to one out in Provo on one of my previous trips (I passed it, incidentally, and it had been turned into an Indian restaurant, which looked pretty silly since it’s a big old silver diner looking building, but I digress), and I wasn’t really impressed with it, but we decided to give it another try and it was possibly one of the biggest mistakes of my life.  As far as being a “diner,”, well, that was a big fat lie, because it was all about chicken and especially about wings and their “original sauces”  It had nothing to do with diner food.  For another thing, the free popcorn they’re supposed to give you never materialized, because the popcorn machine was broken (this information was never volunteered to us, we had to ask).  The food was extremely overpriced.  Kevin got a chicken fingers dinner which consisted of about 4 fingers with some fries and a teeny tiny pot of coleslaw.  Ten bucks.  Tara got the same thing, only with “sticky fingers”, which was a unique sauce they bragged about.  More about that later, because a big surprise is coming.  Ten bucks.  I had “chicken finger sliders”, which was two sliders with the same sticky sauce, only on little hamburger buns with tomato, lettuce  and red onion.  One big red onion ring that was bigger than the bun, so basically, when you tried to eat it with the teeny chicken finger, you couldn’t, because once you passed the big ring outside, there was no onion in the bun.  And the whole thing just fell apart as you ate.  Small as they were, I gave up trying to hold the whole thing together halfway through the second slider.  Plus, I asked for a different sauce, and my request was ignored.  Seven bucks for that.   And the fries.  I can’ even begin to tell you how completely devoid of flavor they were.  Granted, they were hot and they weren’t greasy, but they were tasteless and the insides were mealy, and not in a good way.   I said something to the waitress about my disappointment in the fries (and in the entire meal) and she said the fries were supposed to have some kind of Buffalo seasoning sprinkled on them.  Well, there wasn’t a speck of Buffalo dust anywhere on any of our fries.  So everything was screwed up.  And did they take anything off the bill?  That would be a big fat NOOOOOOO!!!

 Three bucks for a cherry lemonade.  After tax and tip, this mess cost me $37.00.  There is fortunately, a toll free number to call on the receipt.  If I call within 72 hours I get a free dessert.  Which will be useless to me, since a) I’m moving away from all Winger’s “diners” as fast I can, and b) I’m never stepping foot in another one.   But you bet I’ll be calling that number anyway.

 Here’s the best part.  The “sticky” sauce on my sliders was vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on it until I tasted one of Tara’s fingers (chicken, of course), and I realized – It was Rochester’s own COUNTRY SWEET SAUCE!  I’m absolutely positive of it!  So much for their “unique” sauce – I can have it at home!

 Lunch today was at Sonic.  It was pretty good, but I don’t think it lived up to the expectations those commercials give you.  There was a lot of bun and not much burger, but it was a flavorful piece of meat and I liked the fact that I could get their excellent flavored limeade as part of the combo at no extra price.  If I pass any more in my travels and the time is right, I want to try one of the $1 Candy Shop Sundaes.  However, that’s a lower priority than another shake from good ol’ Steak ‘n Shake.

Last Licks in Provo

So today, in this post, I'm going to write about Friday's misadventures.  I wrote about Thursday last night (Friday night), and they'll both be posted on Saturday.  Follow???

Yesterday was Graduation, Part II, where Tara walked across the stage at the convocation for

 her college to receive her diploma.  Or, rather, her diploma case with the lovely sample diploma inside. We had great seats, and we could actually see her during the event, as opposed to trying to find her in a sea of faces.  We had to be there at 7:15 a.m.  Needless to say, we didn't get any breakfast.  The ceremony only lasted, miraculously, about 1-1/2 hours, so we were out of there by nine and heading to the "Cougareat" 

on campus for a snack to tide us over while we took more pix.  BYU Mint Brownies have always been the inspiration for my world-famous mint brownies that I make at Christmas, so I got one of those and a lovely, coconutty thing they call a Bismarck, which is a raised donut with filling (lemon in mine), frosted with buttercream frosting with a whole lot of coconut imbedded in that.  It has been over 20 years since I had one of those -- I had forgotten all about them.  It was awesome.  The mint brownie was good, the mint flavor a bit more subtle than in the ones I make, and Kevin actually liked that better, so he said maybe this Christmas I should cut back on the mint a little bit.  I don't know if I'll listen to him or not.  I mean, as I said, mine are world-famous (well, Fairport famous, anyway), and if it ain't broken, don't fix it, that is my motto!  Then we actually went to a real breakfast at a great little bakeshop chain called Kneaders.  They had all you can eat French Toast for $4.99, which included strawberries and whipped cream, so we all had that and relaxed a little, though all I could eat was less than one plateful, considering that Bismarck adventure.  Kevin and I went to Kneaders a few years ago and loved it.  It's just good, fresh breakfasty foods and sandwiches, and they have stuff for lunch and dinner too.  Well, we hit the food wall and the sleepiness wall at that point, so we went back to our respective places and took naps!!!  Sorry it wasn't more exciting than that.  

Then it was party time!  

Our nephew Tom and his wife, Laura, live in Spanish Fork a few miles south of Provo and a few miles north of Payson, UT, where the lovely and talented Miss Tara was born, and Laura and Deena (of Adam and Deena fame, see post above -- Tom and Adam are brothers, sons of Kevin's brother Tom) decided to have a big blowout graduation party for Tara at Tom and Laura's house.  We invited family members who are local, such as Kevin's sister Dianne and her family, complete with grandkids, Kevin's cousin Donna who we haven't seen in about 20 years, and some friends from Binghamton and Fairport who moved out here.  We had such a blast.  

One of the girls who came (and she's still a girl as far as I'm concerned, even though she's now a mother of three), Julie Brecht Hadlock (hi Jules!) used to babysit Tara.  Her mom and dad, whom we just adore, moved out here a few years ago, and they came too.  Julie's hubby came, and even though he's only met me a few times, he said I was one of the few people from Binghamton he actually remembered.  I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing.  Anyway, we also had former Fairportians, the Sherwoods, make the drive down from Provo, as well as the Rowes, who are here from Fairport for their son's 

graduation.  So it was a good, good, time, lots of laughter, lots of reminiscing, lots of fun for Tara.  Laura (who, by the way, along with Deena is another person I would give my right arm for) served a gorgeous fruit salad along with something called "Lane Ensalada".  Laura is Hispanic, so this was her own creation based on a local favorite restaurant called Bajio.  Tom grilled homemade flour tortillas, which were pushed into bowls and into which we piled rice (spanish or white), then shredded pork or chicken, black beans, corn, lettuce, tomato, tortilla strips and tomatillo dressing.  So it was kind of like a taco salad, but better.  The tomatillo dressing was cool and not too spicy, absolutely perfect for the dish.  It was just a really nice idea for a crowd, you know, and it was delicious, and everyone could have exactly what they wanted.  And of course, we got a big vanilla cake with cheesecake filling and white buttercream frosting, custom designed (but not baked) by Tara herself. 

I can't thank Laura and Deena enough for hosting this party for our baby girl.  I tried to thank them with Dinosaur BBQ sauce, but I don't think that, delicious as it is, it can make up for their kindness.

Repentance for my neglect

Dear Followers, I know I've been neglecting you, but it has been two whirlwind days o' fun and excitement and absolute exhaustion! The big event for which we came to Provo, the graduation of our baby girl, Miss Tara, took place on Thursday and Friday. Thursday was the big ceremony for the entire university. I'm not sure how many graduates there were, (around 6,300) but BYU has a student population of around 32,000, so you can imagine how many there actually were. I didn't think I would get emotional about it, but when the graduates were asked to stand while their degrees were conferred on them, well, the sight of all of those people made me kind of lose it. It was just so inspiring. I kept trying to find Tara in that sea of faces, but I never could. And you can imagine the fun everyone had trying to find each other after the ceremony!! But of course, with the help of cell phones, we did find each other, and here is a picture of our graduate.

The only food story of the day was our lunch, before the graduation, at this great Brazilian grill called Tucano's. We got together with the Dickens family. They actually live just a couple of streets away from us back home in Fairport, and it's pretty funny how we sometimes have trouble getting together in Fairport, with life getting in the way -- but we can somehow manage it all the way across the country. Besides, Lynne said she wished she were going on this food journey with me -- now she had her chance! We were also anxious to see their daughter, Maren, who is Tara's friend and one of my second daughters, and her husband, Jordan, who live in Utah. The Dickens are some of our favorite people -- they just seem to get us, which is no easy feat! Anyway, on to the food. What a blast. A huge buffet of all kinds of salads, soups, potatoes, pasta -- even beef stroganoff. I had been here once a couple of years ago, so I knew how to work the system, but Jordan made a point of telling the Tucano's virgins to not load up on salad and to wait for the meat to come around! (I made a point of telling everyone not to eat the quail eggs, because they really are disgusting. ) The meat is brought around on huge skewers. The waiters carve off pieces of the meats to the upraised plates of the diners, who then chow down and wait for more. 

There is garlic sirloin (Tara's favorite), chicken, something called Pequena which was more of a filet mignon, barbecued pork and even beef brisket so tender it was falling apart. They also brought around whole pineapple which had been cooked on the skewers and even chicken hearts. Pineapple, yes, chicken hearts, no freakin' way! Everything was, as you can imagine, excellent -- and what a fun dining experience! I mean you're sitting there eating meat and then they just keep bringing you meat and you just don't get tired of it!! You just keep saying "Oh yeah, I gotta have some of that" and that goes on for about an hour and you laugh yourself silly through the whole thing!

But the best part of the meal was watching Maren putting it away. She's just this tiny little thing and I truly believe she has the ability to eat the entire BYU football team under the table. And then, just when we had emptied our plates, Maren decides we have to have chocolate cake! Cake is Maren's favorite food anyway, but I couldn't believe she'd be able to eat more after the meat gorging fest we had all been through, but she said "It's for the whole table!" Well, some of us did, ahem, partake of the biggest slice of chocolate cake I have EVER seen, but I honestly think that she and Jordan could have polished it off with no problem.

And, of course, half an hour later, I was ready for a Dairy Queen sundae. I am truly pathetic. Only it wasn't so good, the strawberries tasted, well, artificial. I should stick to Dilly Bars and cherry dipped cones.

Again, no dinner -- how could we after that? As a matter of fact, after the ceremony and the pictures, the day would have passed in kind of a blur, but for the fact that our dear friends, Debbie and Steve Ledingham, had called earlier to invite us over to their house for the evening. Now, we have known them since before their first child was born -- and he's now married! 

They also have a daughter just about the same age as Tara, and another son, and everyone was there to greet us and really, to make us feel at home, as they always do. We only get to see them every few years, but it always seems like we just saw them yesterday. Debbie said she wanted to make a special graduation treat for Tara, and Debbie likes any excuse to make angel food cake! 

rarely (as in once) make angel food cake, so this was fine with Tara! Debbie cut the cake in three layers and made up some whipped cream with pineapple and coconut to ooze out of the layers. It wasn't until it was almost gone that we remembered that we hadn't taken a picture of this lovely creation. So we decided to take one anyway:

Ah the memories we have made!

Side note: Kevin and I were married on April 23, 1983. In a million years, we never would have dreamed that on that same day, 26 years later, we would be watching our daughter graduate from college. Kind of neat, huh?

It's bedtime. Tomorrow I will write about the second graduation ceremony (the convocation) and our food, fun and family experiences of the day (Friday).

Our first "full" day in Provo -- and I do mean full!

I slept like a baby last night, and awoke to the thundering noise of Jared and Emily, our great-nephew and great-niece, who are the adorable and extremely smart kids, along with red-headed two year old brother Eric, of our nephew Adam and his wife Deena, who volunteered their home to us a couple of years ago when it became apparent that Tara would make it through all four years of BYU. It's a fun group, it really is! Today we were scheduled to take Tara and a bunch of her friends out to lunch. 

When parents of her friends came to town in the past, they would take Tara and some of the gang out to lunch, and I wanted to do the same. Tara chose a place called Zupa's, which is a lot like Panera in concept, but with bigger portions and more choices. Almost everyone had the "Take Two" combo, which meant you could choose two of either a soup, a salad or a sandwich -- for $7.99. And we're talking a whole sandwich and a big bowl of soup. Kevin had the tomato basil soup with orzo, which was excellent, and a Thai(!) Peanut Chicken salad. Of course I tasted his soup and it was excellent. It actually looked and tasted like a squash soup to me, which is a whole lot different than tomato basil, but either way, it was definitely yummy. I had a Turkey Bacon Avocado Panini and a Chipotle Chicken Ranch salad. The salad could have used a little more dressing (they actually toss the salad in the dressing before they serve it), and that's saying a lot for me since I don't use a lot of dressing on salad in the first place. But it was extremely fresh and tasty, and the Panini was absolutely amazing. The most fun was the drinks. The usual soft drinks were offered, but at the soda bar were bottles of flavored syrups you could add to your soda. Mango, raspberry, lime, lemon, orange, cherry -- all kinds of fun things were there. Tara actually put raspberry syrup in her diet Coke. That was really fun. I loved treating Tara's friends and getting to actually meet some of these people she's been through 4 years of school with. She is glad to be graduating, but she's going to miss this gang.

And, of course, to repay Adam and Deena for their kindness, we took their whole family out to dinner. They have three places they like to go to, and we were glad that one of their choices was a Mexican restaurant called Los Hermanos, in downtown Provo, right on the corner of University Avenue and Center Street. We used to go there all of the time when we were a poor married couple living in Provo and finishing school. Since that time, another location was opened in the northern part of the county, and we always ended up going to that one, since it just seemed to be closest to wherever we were in our wanderings. Tonight we went to the old location, and wow, did it bring back memories. Kevin had thrown me a surprise birthday party there when I was pregnant with Tara, and tonight we ate at the very same table! I ordered the same thing I always order -- a cheese enchilada. I can make cheese enchiladas. I've had cheese enchiladas in other places, but Los Hermanos cheese enchilada is just the best I've ever had. The sauce is just smooth and rich and flavorful, the cheese is never grainy -- I don't know, they just really hit the mark. 

Adam also said we should order the Nachos Supreme for all to share. Remember that plate of cheese fries from Lotawata Creek? Well, put that picture back in your minds, only with tortilla chips and refried beans. We did a pretty good job on that, but we didn't take before and after pictures, so you'll just have to trust us on this one. And Los Hermanos makes the best Spanish rice, hands down. It's just a great place with the best Mexican food I've ever had, and they give you lots of it at very reasonable prices. Even the obligatory chips and salsa are the best. And at the end of the meal, glory be, they gave us a mess of Utah Truffles -- some mint, some almond. 

Of course I had to try both flavors. They were, well, everything you would expect of a truffle. I can't really say any more than that. Los Hermanos also offers an "Eternal Coupon" -- buy a T-shirt and you get a free, non-alcoholic specialty drink when you order a meal if you wear the shirt when you come in. I actually have one of those shirts -- but I left it at home! But Deena had three, so we got three free specialties -- one of which was made, amazingly with AVOCADO. It didn't taste much like avocado, which I like, but it did remind me ever so slightly of (gulp) watermelon, which is one food I really, really hate. I know, it's unAmerican to hate watermelon, but there it is. Those frosty drinks really filled us up. It canceled Tara's plans to hit a shake place around the corner where they make milkshakes where they blend in an ENTIRE PIECE OF PIE. Amazingly, this does not appeal to me. I like pie, I love ice cream, heck, I like pie with ice cream, but blended? I don't know if I'm that open minded. But I suppose I will have to find some time to try this, since this is a food blog, and, now that I brought it up, you're all anxious to hear about it, right?

Tomorrow is the big graduation ceremony for the entire university, but beforehand we're going to lunch with the Dickens family (friends from Fairport who we actually never get to see much of when we're actually in Fairport) at Tucano's, which is a Brazilian grill. I was there once a couple of years ago and it is outstanding. It will undoubtedly be the only meal we eat all day, because after eating at the lunch buffet there, dinner will not be an option. I can guarantee that tomorrow night I will not be eating a milkshake, a piece of pie, or any combination of the two in any form!

GoodTimes (literally) on the Road

We are now well out of Colorado Springs, into the Rockies, where the scenery is much better! We also gave Gabby a British accent, just for a little variety in our lives. Now Kevin is fooling around with all of the different languages on the GPS. As you can see, we are desperate for entertainment!

Well, we ended up NOT going to Conway's Red Top! Not because it was closed, but because my friend Lynnel said the food wasn't really all that great. She said the hamburgers, though on a giant bun, were actually paper thin. So instead I spotted a place called "The Elephant Bar" and we decided to try that. After a short, ten minute wait while we studied the menu, I still couldn't decide what to get! Huge menu with lots

 of unique choices. Kevin took no time at all -- he spotted the Thai-high chicken salad and that was it for him, he didn't look any further. Must be nice to be so confident in your food choices, never wondering if you made the right choice, if there's something better on the horizon . . .

Bonus for the Kevster was the fact that sweet potato fries were on the menu. Lynnel decided on salmon, the catch of the day, and I ended up ordering the Crispy Chicken Teriyaki. Kevin also had a bowl of Chicken Noodle Soup. Kevin ate well last night. Everyone was happy with their meal except, admittedly, me. The waitress said the Crispy Chicken Teriyaki was one of the most popular dishes on the menu, but I gotta tell ya, it was way too salty, even for someone like me, who picks up the salt shaker as soon as she sits down to a meal (last night, that was not the case, however). Even Kevin and Lynnel agreed that it was too salty. Oh well, there was lots of it and it was served with rice. The chicken noodle soup was very good, Kevin just wished there were more of it. It was a good, tasty broth with thick noodles -- all tasted like homemade to Kevin. The sweet potato fries were excellent. They were thin and crispy, with a "Sczechwan dipping sauce" that I expected to be spicy, but actually tasted like ketchup with a little chili sauce mixed in, making it rather sweet. I make sweet potato fries often at home, and I think they're pretty good, but these were equally as good. Lynnel's salmon was cooked just right, with just enough of a, believe it or not, macadamia nut sauce on top. She loved it. Kevin loved his salad -- any time Kevin can get anything remotely related to Thai food he's happy.

We refused dessert, claiming to be full, but, of course, as soon as we got in the car I decided I wanted ice cream. Lynnel said there was a new frozen custard place in town, so we headed there. The place was called GoodTimes, and the flavor of the day was Cherry Valentine. I didn't know what the Valentine part was all about, but I was all over cherry flavored custard, so we got three cones only $1 each) and enjoyed every lick! The valentine part turned out to be little dark chocolate hearts filled with cherry cream. Oh my gosh, that was custard worth getting fat for!

Lynnel made us a wonderful breakfast of aebleskivers, which are pancakes shaped like balls, made in a special little pan. They were extremely good, I plan on getting one of those pans and making these in the very near future. Then off through the Rockies, finally, to Utah! No big plans for lunch, so we wound our way uneventfully, through to Grand Junction, where we stopped to eat. Kevin wanted a burger and I just wanted some ice cream (there's a surprise!), so Gabby volunteered some information 

about a place called Soda Jack's which seemed like it would fit the bill. Problem was, Gabby took us to a place that didn't exist -- really! She kept saying "You have reached your destination!" and we kept saying "No we haven't!" so we went a couple of blocks further and lo and behold, a GoodTimes! The sign actually says "Burgers and Frozen Custard".  Could anything be more perfect? Today's flavor was Oregon Blackberry -- try to stop me from getting a waffle cone of that! Kevin was actually disappointed in his burger -- it was dry and tasteless. But actually, we were in the car, on our way, and I opened the bag and not only was Kevin's burger there, but there were two bags of fries and a chicken sandwich! They had given us the wrong order! We tried to call them, but Gabby didn't have the phone number, so we ended up getting free food.

After finally, finally getting to Provo at 6:30 (after going through more desert than any human should ever have to see), we picked up Tara and headed to the place I was looking forward to, Chuck-a-Rama buffet. We actually call it Up-Chuck-a-Rama. Affectionately, of course. I love the scones (which are actually fried dough) and the fried chicken. I have to say, after tonight's experience, I'm pretty much done with Chuck-a-Rama. Which is a good thing, since I don't know when I'll ever come back west. I mean, it was okay, and being with Tara was great, but I just don't think I'll miss Chuck-a-Rama anymore. I guess I'm growing up. In any case, I'm definitely growing out.

Groundhog Day

You know, there are worse places to live than Kansas. We all tend to make fun of "flyover country", but I think I would be okay if I had to live in Kansas, especially Topeka, which seems to be big enough to have lots of stuff, but small enough to be friendly. After breakfast at the hotel (and what a gorgeous room -- I swear I could have lived there for the rest of my life), which wasn 't as grand and glorious as it had been three years ago (no waffles, no eggs), but still better than yesterday's, we left and stopped for our last Steakalicious Shake (Topeka -- the final frontier for Steak'n Shake) (vanilla and banana this time) and hit the road. And let me tell you, this is one long road. It seems like we've been on it forever, that we just keep reliving the same day. We pull over to get gas or use a restroom and get back on the road and pass the same trucks we passed before. We finally made it to Colorado, and the sign says "Welcome to Colorful Colorado!" and you find yourself looking at the exact same landscape you just passed. For some reason I was thinking that once we hit the border, the Rockies were suddenly going to pop up in front of me. I have no idea why I thought that, but I was obviously desperate for a change. But no, not even an extremely large ketchup bottle is to be seen around here. Right now we're 60 miles into Colorado and it still feels like we're in Kansas. But as Dorothy would say (in one of the worst movies ever), "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore!"

Random piece of American trivia: Interstate 70 is the Pearl Harbor Memorial Highway. I discovered this at the Colorado Welcome Center. I can't imagine why this particular stretch of road, which is about as unlike Hawaii as you can get, bears this title, but okay!

Our plan was to stop in Abilene so we could hit the Brookville Hotel for some fried chicken to take on the road with us. Now, this stuff is legendary. When I came through a few years ago, I actually e-mailed Steve Doocy, who is one of the co-hosts of Fox and Friends on the Fox News Channel, to ask him where to eat in Kansas, since he had often said he was from Abilene. I didn't expect to get an answer, but I did, and he told me about the fried chicken at the Brookville Hotel. he also told me about the Mexican restaurant in the Best Western in Abileene, which was run by his dad. So when we went through a few years ago, dork that I am, we went and met his dad at the Best Western (I did mention that I loved brushes with fame in my profile). We didn't eat at the restaurant, because it was only 10:30 in the morning, and I can't eat Mexican food that early. But we had fun! It was also too early to get chicken at the Brookville, so I had to forego it. Since then I've heard of this place from a few other roadfood sources, so I was really anxious to try it. But when we got there -- it was closed!!! Oh, no, not again! So we went over to the Russell Stover candy outlet, which Kevin was in a fever pitch to get to, and they told us the Brookville was closed on Mondays. Darn!! In the meantime, the Russell Stover outlet was a lot of fun. Last time we went (on the same trip as when we met Steve Doocy's father). I wanted to check it out, and Kevin was of the mind that I didn't need any more chocolate, so he reluctanly agreed. Then we went in and he looked around and said "I think we're going to need a cart!" At that time, they were having a ginormous clearance sale, and we got entire cases of candy for $2 or $4. The only problem was, we had to keep it out of the sun until we got to Utah -- which didn't enter our our minds until we hit the road -- and that was in August. So he was anxious to go again this time. We picked up some belated Easter treats for Tara and her roommates, because I hadn't had the chance to send an Easter basket box (yes, she's 22 and I still do Easter baskets for her). The nice ladies at the Russell Stover outlet told us about a place in Salina, about 20 miles further on I-70 and go to Jim's Fried Chicken, since I had my heart set on the stuff.

So we went. And it wasn't that good. The chicken was good, nice and juicy, and fried just right, but there was no seasoning -- no personality! The mashed potatoes were instant potatoes with a really creamy, and I don't mean in a good way, gravy. Too much cream, not enough chicken taste. The coleslaw was okay. The roll was hard. After eating it I realized I would (hopefully, if Tara lets me!) be eating a Chuck-a-Rama in Utah tomorrow night, and that fried chicken is to die for, so I'll get what I want. Tonight we're staying with my old buddy Lynnel in Colorado Springs. We're bummed that her husband, Rick is out of town on business, but I told her since he wasn't around, she shouldn't cook for us, so we're going to another place in my roadfood hit list, called Conway's Red Top. I'll let you know how it is tomorrow.

If it isn't closed.

Note to followers: Hey, I need comments! I look forward them! And when they're not there, it's as disappointing as finding a closed fried chicken restaurant in the middle of Kansas!!