Advertisement
Published: July 24th 2009
Edit Blog Post
Beep Beep!
World's largest roadrunner statue! If you want to get a feel for the immense wide open spaces in this country I suggest a drive through West Texas. I had been through West Texas before in my youth and my impression was colored by the youthful impatience of wanting to get from point A to point B. Driving along at a leisurely pace in an RV and being a tour guide for my friends gave me an entirely different perspective.
This time I really looked and studied the scenery as we drove through it. I noted for Vincenzo how the landscape and vegetation changed as we drove into different altitude and climate zones. I came away with a greater appreciation of getting a chance to take a good look at this part of the country. One can dismiss it all and say that there isn’t much “out there” but did you know that are different ecological zones in this area? There are 268 species of grass and 447 species of woody plants…who knew?
I wanted Sara and particularly Vincenzo to get a feel for the “bigness” in this part of the country. I think that West Texas did that for them.
Our first stop was in
La Rosita
This means "The Little Pink One/Place" Fort Stockton and of course we wanted a photo of the “biggest roadrunner statue in the world.” I am a bit confused here because the state bird of Texas is the mockingbird. So what is up with the roadrunner? It is a mystery to me.
We stopped in Fort Stockton for gas, food, and to visit the old U.S. Cavalry post. Our first order of business was getting some lunch. I stopped and asked a local where he would recommend having lunch. Oddly he had the description of the place and the actual name confused with the location of another restaurant. We went to the place he named but it was closed. I walked into a beauty shop next door and inquired about a place to eat. A customer recommended a place very close by. It turned out that this was the place the first person actually meant.
We had lunch at La Rosita. If you are stopping in Fort Stockton and want to eat Mexican food, then I recommend this place. This by the way was Vincenzo’s first experience eating Mexican food and it was serendipitous that we were directed to La Rosita.
As you can see in the
Very Pink!
Inside and out...I read somewhere that pink is a psychologically soothing color. photos the place is quite pink inside and out. We came in and sat down to some much needed and welcome AC. I immediately noted that the music coming out of the kitchen was my Dad’s favorite duo. I took that as a good sign. I decided that for his first experience, Vincenzo should have a combo plate of a tamale, an enchilada, and a taco with the usual beans and rice. I had the chile verde that was quite good. Beth had the chile relleno dish with beans & rice. Sara thought Vincenzo might not like the rice and beans and so she ordered a taco thinking she would eat what Vincenzo didn’t like. Surprise! Vincenzo ate it all and I shared my rice and beans with her.
After we finished eating I went into the kitchen and visited with the cooks. They were good sports and came out for a photo. Interestingly enough, the lady that was at the beauty salon also came in for lunch. I thanked her for directing us to this place.
Full Disclosure: I really don’t like Mexican food and rarely if ever eat at a Mexican food restaurant. I greatly prefer Mediterranean cuisine
We're starving
Roadtripping is a hungry business. especially southern Italian dishes. I am happy to report that this was one of the rare positive eating experiences at a Mexican restaurant. I highly recommend La Rosita.
Afterwards we visited the old military fort and museum. I should have also snapped some photos of the historic center of Fort Stockton, but I was driving and intent on finding a place to eat that I didn’t think of it.
We gassed up and headed north towards Pecos and New Mexico. If you look on a map you will see that Pecos is a longggg way from anywhere. It really is a spot wayyyy out there in West Texas. It is also the site of the first ever rodeo…betcha you didn’t know that!
Vincenzo was curious about the cattle ranches out in this neck of the woods. He wanted to know how people knew where their property lines were. I pointed out a fence and then an entrance to a ranch. Miles later, I pointed out the next fence and explained that it was the boundary. He was flabbergasted that one person could own so much property. He was also amazed that neighbors were located miles from each other. Coming from
Hmmmmmmm
Vincenzo is a very discriminating diner... a lifetime of living in a small densely populated country, I can understand that.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.081s; Tpl: 0.02s; cc: 13; qc: 29; dbt: 0.044s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb