I blogged until 6:00 this morning and then returned to bed and slept until 9:00. Suzette, who has been up since 6:00 weeding the garden, watering the house plants and gathering the food stuffs for our weekend trip to Ruidoso, because today is my birthday so I get to do what I want.
Idled at my desk for a bit until I realized the court’s were closed and I would not be able to determine if my brief had been received and spoke to Billy for a long time.
I reported to him that I am feeling better than at any time in the last two years. I don’t try to explain why my body is no longer racked with pains beyond those from sitting improperly for long hours at my desk or the short lived tiredness and pain from exercise.
In fact I attribute my pain diminishment to exercise. The slow steady churning of leg ellipses on my bike for five to 8 miles seems to be rebuilding my core strength.
I feel better than at any time in the last two years.
Suzette booked a cabin in Ruidoso for two nights as a birthday gift. We agreed to take some good wines and food and rough it in style.
After a breakfast of granola, yogurt, and the last of the tropical fruit salad we were ready to leave at 11:45. Suzette triggered four foggers and turned off the air conditioner and we locked the door and were off.
We drove south to San Antonio where we would turn onto U.S 380. About 6 miles before the turnoff I called the Owl Café and ordered a cheeseburger for m and a green Chile cheeseburger for a Suzette and an order of French fries and an order of onion rings. When we exited I-25 and drove about ½ mile we immediately saw the Owl Café.
We stopped and walked in and fetched our food to go. We would not sit inside because there were people without masks. I asked the proprietress if there was outdoor seating and she said, “Yes, around the corner under the trees.”
When we walked around the corner we saw three well spaced tables shaded by a large tree without any people. We laid our food on one of the tables and a fetched the Highlander and parked it beside the picnic area in the shade of the large tree also. I grabbed the beer cooler and Suzette and I shared a Killian’s Red and then a Negra Modelo as we ate our hot greasy hamburgers, French fries and onion rings. The only person we saw was an employee with a bucket of Clorox water who came to disinfect the tables.
Suzette is the expert on green Chile cheeseburgers. I asked her if she liked the Owl burger better than Monroe’s green chili cheeseburger and she answered, “Monroe’s is better, but the best is our house burger at the newly reopened Greenhouse Bistro, which is a 1/3 lb. angus burger.” I immediately felt the urge to be at Suzette’s Bistro eating an angus burger. The fries were greasy, so I welcomed the relief afforded by the soothing maltiness of the beers.
After lunch I drove down 380 until we came to one of my favorite places of my youth in New Mexico, the moonscape of the lava flow at Carrizozo. It is undulating jagged black volcanic rock stretching for miles. We stopped and looked at it for a few minutes and Suzette then drove on to the cabin in Ruidoso which is perched on the side of a fairly steep hillside with an expansive view of forest and a large meadow about a mile away.
We unloaded and at 5:30 we took a nap until 8:00.
Suzette made my birthday meal, a large salad of hand torn Romaine lettuce garnished with shredded PPI teriyaki salmon and dabs of goat cheese. She toasted and buttered slices of French baguette and I opened the bottle of 2007 Gruet Gilbert Grande Reserve. It is the best wine that Gruet makes. We were not sure how a 12 year old vintage would taste but it was fabulously light without any heavy vanilla Chardonnay flavor and just a slight hint of grapefruit citrus in the aftertaste. It was perfect for the salmon sLad that was very simple but deliciously elegant. For a moment I thought I could be on an exceptionally well provisioned safari or boating trip down the Colorado River in the Grand
Canyon. We ate al fresco on the patio of the cabin with a stunning view of the valley and nearly full
moon.
Th3 2007 Gilbert Grande Reserve
I am looking forward to my 74th year of life.
Tomorrow we go exploring Ruidoso.
Bon Appetit
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