Tag Archives: road trip

project breakfast burrito.

Posted on by
5

I’ve begun joking that my second project, something that people often ask about on the academic job market, is a coffee table book on burritos. While my road trip involved plenty of dissertation research, I also managed to eat enough green chile (in all its forms) to warrant an academic application for all of this enjoyment of deliciousness. Not all of the pictures that follow are of burritos, but I think you get the idea!

My first real breakfast burrito in years. Amazing.

Site of the above burrito. So good.

Grilled pizza at the home of my wonderful hosts: marinara, kalamata olives and mozzarella, and barbecued chicken with onions and cilantro. Even tastier than I remembered.

Burrito number 2, from the burrito lady. This burrito contains carne adovada, ham, bacon, eggs, potatoes, cheese, and green chile. So good. Not overkill at all. Seriously.

This one I ate for breakfast and lunch. (Standard-issue diner coffee mug for scale.) I brought work, ate half of it, took a break and did some writing, and then went back to the burrito. Yum.

Enchiladas at El Patio with friends. This is before they brought the sopapillas.

Blueberry ginger pies in Pie Town. There was pie for snack, dessert, and breakfast. Perfect.

Pie-baking hands.

Homemade chocolate peanut butter sauce for spooning over ice cream. Amazing.

The cowboy breakfast at the Gold Street Caffe. Scrambled eggs with ham and mascarpone cheese on a green chile scone. And a side of bacon, of course.

And then, of course, no trip to the southwest would be complete for me without a Fat Tire on the patio at O’Neill’s.

I’d say project breakfast burrito is off to a promising start. Happy weekend!

Advertisement

nashville.

Posted on by
4

Boh and I spent the weekend before the last full week of research on my road trip in Nashville with brokeknits. I mostly snapped photos of the food we ate, but I can assure you that both the conversation and the scenery were fantastic.

The Parthenon. Or rather, a scaled replica first made in temporary form for the Tennessee Centennial Exposition, and later re-made in concrete. Of course, we had to see Gilded Athena.

Yup. What’s sort of crazy is that this is not unrelated to my work. I mean, Athena is not in my dissertation, but the ideas surrounding things like Centennial Park and the Exposition are certainly part of it.

We honored our trip to see Athena with tater tots. (Mine are covered by an incredibly tasty scramble of eggs and veggies.) We ate them in a lovely vine-covered patio area.

And then we walked by this meter, flashing FAIL. I could do so much with that, but I’ll hold off, as I’m sipping my coffee before heading to campus for the first meeting of the class I’m teaching.

Oh, right. And then this happened. We went to eat Jeni’s Ice Cream. (I didn’t realize there was one in Nashville.) It was amazing. I think ate something that had berries and lavender, something that had almond brittle in it, and something that was mostly pecans and whiskey. All in a waffle cone. It was amazing.

Cheers! A waffle cone toast to friendships that start on the interwebs and transition to real life!

And now, off to campus. Happy first day of school!

is this thing on?

Posted on by
11

I hope so. Thanks for sticking around through my absence from the blogosphere. I’ve got several posts worth of pictures from the month-long research road trip Boh and I returned from yesterday. Here’s a sampling of the whole thing, minus our weekend adventure with brokeknits — I’ve got enough pictures to turn that into its very own post!

First up? A self-portrait at Forest Park’s Grand Basin in St. Louis. Funny how temperatures rising to 106 degrees meant that I had the place to myself…

Boh loves hotels.

Walking dogs in the bosque.

Boh and I stick our paws/toes in the Rio Grande.

A morning walk in the foothills of the Sandias, on Albuquerque’s eastern side. Boh totally remembered the desert.

A view of the Sandias from the top of one of the volcanos on the west side.

Mount Allegra, the mountain in the backyard of the folks I call my New Mexico family.

Driving west on I-40 into a summer storm. (When all the big rigs pulled over, so did I. About half an hour of rain, hail, thunder, and lightning, and things began to brighten.)

There was a lasso in my room in Camp Verde, Arizona.

More bosque walking with Boh.

Flowers among the cottonwoods.

An awkward self portrait, mid-stroll.

My makeshift office on the back porch of my best friend’s house outside DC.

The Rock Creek Trail offered Boh and I a bit of shade and a nice break from working. It reminded me of home.

Amidst all the driving and outdoor frolicking, I also managed to get quite a bit of research done. (You know what else I did? Eat! I’ve got a whole series of food pictures I promise I’ll share soon.) Boh and I had a wonderful trip, but a month is a long time to be on the road, and I think we’re both very happy to be home.

first tomato of the summer.

Posted on by
6

I broiled half of it on toast with cheese and basil, and I ate the other half with my hands. Hooray for the first tomato of summer!

Also, hooray for whisper! I’m starting to think I might need another. I absolutely love the neckline, and I’d love a longer version…

Here’s another knit in action: my very first wedding pinwheel blanket. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing this particular knit in all kinds of use — as a lap blanket, as a spot for a catnap, as a baby blanket, and last night, as a pillow for my favorite greyhound. The Cascade 220 I knit it out of seems to be holding up quite well, as I knit this during the summer of 2008.

Here’s another sleepy dog. I bet he wishes he had a pinwheel blanket for a pillow. Someday, Boh. Someday.

I’m gearing up for a research road trip, so yesterday I began the process of cleaning out my car. I don’t think I’ve ever actually emptied my car of cds. (I normally stick to clearing out the back, not all of the little compartments.) Anyway, it was fun to see just how many mixes I’ve received from friends since I bought my car six years ago. I spent some time trying out and then labeling all of the unmarked cds, ditching and re-burning the scratched ones, and putting them into books and cases. (I’m super glad that I import mixes I get in the mail to my computer before playing them over and over and over again. That way I don’t worry about breaking the cd!) That is the fun part of research road trip prep.

Lots more to do this week before I hit the road: finalize what I want to look at, confirm travel/housing plans, buy more dog food, pack…and grade the term papers from the summer course! Happy weekend to you!

pecan, peach, and apple-rhubarb.

Posted on by
5

Pies. (13 of them. 12 for the wedding, and one to enjoy for breakfast the day of the wedding. It just so happened that the groom came by and was able to start his very special day with pie.)

Next, pies on the pie stand. (Made by — and borrowed from — a local blacksmith. I’m not sure if you can see this detail in these photos, but the mathematical symbol for pi is etched into each foot of the stand.)

The peaches were local to the wedding, and the apples came directly from the wedding site.

This was a particularly beautiful wedding — perhaps because of its intimate connection to place, and, I think, because of all the extra specialness that comes from offering so many people the opportunity to give meaningful work in celebration of dear friends.

An early morning shot of the view most of the way down the mountain (and about 40 minutes into a 14 hour drive on Sunday). And now I’m home, mostly recovered, and trying to get work done before I head off on yet another research trip next week. Stay tuned for more pictures of Agnes!

a glimpse.

Posted on by
4

Much more to come once I recover from a weekend that involved 1600+ miles of driving, 13 pies, several sips of moonshine, and more love than I know how to describe. For now, a few photos — of Agnes, bound off (but sans pockets). I left her here because she was unfinished, but it was cool in the mountains, and I certainly would’ve worn her.

Also, a glimpse of early morning. A handful of wedding guests stayed in rental houses near the top of the mountain where the festivities occurred. I was the lone early riser, which meant that on Friday and Saturday morning I had a beautiful view, pieces of “test” pie, and my french press all to myself. I even managed to get some solid work done.

Today I have plans to unpack, cuddle with Boh, and recover from yesterday’s very long drive. Stay tuned for photos of all of the pie!

road trip, part 4: old friends, new research.

Posted on by
1

grandbasin amyforscale

birdcage carforscale

Cryptic, yes. But these two images make me very happy.

Boh and I spent 4 days with college friends (and their growing family) in a lovely midwestern city on our way home. It was the perfect balance of work and play: the chance to participate in the excitement of family life — babies, toddlers, new homes — and to dig into the resources of a local archive as part of an ongoing research project. I hope I’ll be able to return soon to enjoy both the materials in this collection and the proximity of dear friends I see nowhere near often enough.

pinkflowers

Boh and I returned home late Friday night, and Saturday morning I headed up to the farm to gather veggies (including cucumbers, zucchini, beets, carrots, kale, herbs, lettuce and an early greenhouse tomato!) and to pick a few flowers. I don’t know what these are, but I love them!

pinkandcalendula

I picked some calendula too.

Thus concludes my road trip series — we’re all caught up now! There’ll be some knitting content around here soon, I promise.

road trip, part 3: desert sunset.

Posted on by
1

sunset1

When I first moved to the desert (long before Boh and I were pals), I used to head up to the foothills to watch the sunset. On my last night in town, I took Boh to my favorite outcrop of rock to enjoy the view.

foothills2

foothills3cholla

I accidentally hit a wierd button while resizing this photo, and got a washed out version that I sort of like:

foothillssunsetenhanced

Here’s a dark version of that shot:

foothillssunsetdark

It was an appropriate way to end a lovely week. The high temps (in the low 90s, even at 8 PM) meant that Boh and I had the foothills to ourselves, and it was nice to have some quiet time to reflect on all that has happened since I first began spending the sunset hour up here.

The next morning, Boh and I began the journey east, fortified with a mug of coffee, a pile of homemade cookies, and an abundance of green chile to bring home.

(To be continued…)

road trip, part 2: breakfast burritos, the bosque, and bacon-infused bourbon.

Posted on by
2

Say that five times fast.

On my last day of this particular leg of the trip, I ate only breakfast burritos (at least one the size of my head) and bacon-infused bourbon (in much smaller quantities).

amyburrito

hookersreallycheap2

Credit for these photos — including the spotting of this hilarious sign — goes to oogaknits (on ravelry) and her husband. This is why I miss the desert. Well, one reason, anyway!

Though it may be slightly out of chronological order ( second-to-last day in town), here’s a picture I absolutely adore, also taken by oogaknits, on our stroll through the bosque.

bosquehike

Wait, did somebody say bacon?

baconfilteringtake1

My hosts are aware of my passion for bacon, and the stars aligned such that they had recently enjoyed a manhattan or two made with bacon-infused bourbon and therefore NEEDED to attempt to recreate the magic. Above, take 1. A blind taste-test of bourbon and bacon-infused bourbon indicated that we needed more bacon.

bourbonbacon

bourbonbaconcloseup

Take 2 was successful. Note the bacon chunks in that bourbon. I am ever-grateful that I had the opportunity to be of use as a taste-tester. This experience has further affirmed for me that bacon goes with everything.

(To be continued…)