Tio's Tacos

In downtown Riverside, California, there is a Mexican Restaurant like no other.  

The restaurant serves up great food, but the food isn't the restaurant's most distinguishing attribute.  In addition to the menu, the restaurant property, and a couple neighboring parcels, are filled with the product of restaurant owner Martin Sanchez's creativity. Mr. Sanchez rescues discarded items from the trash and transforms them into works of art -- beautiful funky works of art.

Twin Dragon

Don't eat Panda when you can eat Dragon.

The Twin Dragon restaurant in La Habra, California, offers plentiful portions of hot, fast, and tasty Chinese food.

I discovered the Twin Dragon while searching for a place to eat and work after checking out of the motel at which I spent the previous several days. The Twin Dragon provided both of the things I sought: a good meal and a place from which I could work for a few hours.

My $7 2-item Combo Plate came with a whole lot more than 2 items.

Rainbow Inn

The Rainbow Inn in Anaheim, California, provided a clean, comfortable, and cheap place to sleep and work. In addition bed and bath, the Rainbow Inn provided me with a microwave, refrigerator, and a desk from which I could work. I did not try their free WiFi. This motel served as my office for most of this week.

Desert Center

The signs along Interstate 10 telling me the distance to "Desert Center" gave me the impression that there was civilization and facilities for motorists between me and Indio.

I exited the highway at Desert Center, California and found remnants from the past. I found no fuel. I found no food. I didn't even find the cold drink I was hoping to find. The only thing this place may be the center of is desert. Except for a US Post Office and what appears to be a California Department of Transportation equipment lot, the place appeared to be abandoned.

There are no services here -- unless you need to mail some desert sand or a tumbleweed back home.

Desert Highway

El Charro Café

Chi... Chi... Chimichanga!


If you want to taste Tucson, visit the El Charro Café. The restaurant has been serving Mexican food in Tucson, Arizona since 1922, and is credited by some to be the home of the original chimichanga.

According to the legend, El Charro Café's founding owner and chef, Tia Monica Flin, accidentally dropped a burro into a pan of hot oil and when the oil splashed up, she started to respond with "[expletive redacted]" but quickly changed it "Chimichanga" so as to not swear in front of her nieces and nephews.

Regardless of how and where the chimichanga came to be, El Charro serves up awesome chimichangas.

The grilled carne asada chimichanga contains a perfect blend of steak, bacon, avocado, onion, green chile, cheese, and salsa.

Texas Canyon Rest Stop

About 16 miles northeast of Benson, along Interstate 10, is perhaps the busiest highway rest stop in Arizona. 

The rest stop is in the midst of the giant granite boulders of Texas Canyon. Rumor has it that locals name the are Texas Canyon after "a bunch of damned Texans" settled there in the 1880s. Those damned Texans, whose descendants still ranch in the area, aren't the reason travelers stop here. People stop to see and explore the giant granite boulders that litter the area.

If you are passing through Texas Canyon on Interstate 10: stop, walk around, see the rocks, and take a selfie.

 

 

Oh, and don't eat the snakes and insects that inhabit the area. They might be poisonous.

Or maybe the maker of this sign fails to understand the difference between poisonous and venomous. Also, scorpions aren't insects.  Nevertheless, beware of wildlife that might harm you.

Apple Annie's Produce & Pumpkins

Pick a pepper.

Apple Annie's Produce & Pumpkins is a 125-acre farm near Willcox, Arizona. The farm offers pre-picked and you-pick vegetables throughout the harvest season: July through October. Over the years (I first visited this farm nearly 20 years ago) they have become a premiere agritourism destination in southeastern Arizona. Bring the kids. See the farm. Pick some delicious vegetables. Experience Apple Annie's farm.

Horsies

Horses enjoying a beautiful day.

Apple Annie's Orchard

A is for Annie. Annie's is for Apples.


Apple Annie's Orchard has been offering pick-your-own fruit and family fun in the Sulphur Springs Valley of Southeastern Arizona since 1986. Their thousands of trees produce a variety of apples, pears, and peaches. Pick some fruit and fun.

Kneeling Cow