We thought we LEFT Illinois in December!

  Score one more day for the Wind Gods.  The wind machine was turned on all night long and the temperature vaguely reminded us of waking up in our bedroom in Sandwich, Illinois!! (Of course, views out our window were better here). I had left the window on my side of the bed cracked open just a smidge…I need a little blast of fresh air on occasion in the middle of the night…About 3AM, my hair was blowing across the pillow, and my nose was beginning to freeze, so I reached over and shut the window…Are you kidding me?? We can identify with Bayfield Bunch and their  “we’re outta here"!”… 

Last evening Dennis was getting curmudgeon-like about no campfires, so about 6PM, when he tromped outside and didn’t come in, I knew he was defying the wayward winds and starting a campfire. I looked out our bedroom window and ..yup, he certainly did.

If he thought I was joining him, he was sadly mistaken!! I like a little defiance in my life, but not when it involves wind chill factors…

I decided to make my weekly “camper cleaning” today, since coffee outside was , yet again, NOT HAPPENING! We took our walk about 9:30AM and I reluctantly dug out my stocking cap, gloves and coat. I had just thrown my cap to the back of the closet, thinking I would not need it anymore..THINK AGAIN, DUH!!  The flags on the poles at the top of Coote’s Hill were standing straight out and the wind was mostly out of the North..

…If it looks like my mood was far from good, you are right on!

We had decided we would get some Mexican carry-outs for dinner tonight, or maybe that was me making the decision.  At any rate ,we drove across the road to “downtown” Columbus. (Under different wind conditions, this would have been a nice walk.) We had post cards to mail and thought we may as well get our food and take it back while we were here. There is a choice of 4 restaurants in the town, two of which are brand new.  Nothing against a new eatery, but ,through experience, we have discovered that it usually takes a few months to get the “kinks” out of a new place.  That left us with La Casita and The Patio Cafe. After researching online, I found that the Patio Cafe was known mostly for it’s big burgers, and we had a taste for some good Mexican stuff.  The word is that most all of the eating places in Columbus closed at 3PM, which was another reason we went early.

We pulled up in front of La Casita and went in….

As you may notice, they are open until 8PM…surprise, surprise…There was a young man at the register with an older gentleman. The place was small, but very clean, and I admired the chili peppers hanging in the corners…

  They handed us menus and let us act stupid while we tried to figure out what the ingredients meant.  They did have an extensive dinner menu also, of typical stuff like Chicken Fried Steak, and T-Bone Steak…The luncheon menu was simple Mexican fare of which we had no idea what anything was,…. except tacos.  At the risk of looking like total Gringos, we thought we better ask for some help.  We made the obvious choice of a taco plate, consisting of 4 steak and bean tacos.  And the young man behind the counter suggested the ground beef tostata plate with rice and beans…We’re in!

While we were waiting for our food, we started visiting with the older gentleman who had been at the register when we walked in. As it turns out, his wife owned this place and his son, the younger man who helped us with our food, was his son.  His son owns the convenience store next door.   It took about 15 minutes for our food, but we didn’t mind.  We had a nice visit with Chico (we all introduced ourselves). He worked construction, usually out of town, and their family lived just up the street in Columbus. Chico helped work on the Austin Airport and an airport in Colorado. His wife bought the restaurant in 1999 from the previous owners.

We got our food,(an abundance of it), and said our goodbyes to Chico and his son..what nice people. As we left I took one more photo of the La Casita and the El Cento convenience store next door…all owned by one family.

It is now late afternoon and the wind is still in the form of a hawk (imagine that)….rocking the back end of our camper like it was a tent. Tomorrow we are going into Palomas, Mexico.  Chico made sure to tell us that we should go during the daylight hours….This is a “no brainer” for walking across the border. I am looking forward to it and will try to look like a poor bag lady with her tall, but poor husband…Gringos for sure, but not worth rolling. See you tomorrow!