Recently, I was was sent to El Paso to visit with a client. This trip had the additional benefit of having family in the area that I rarely get to see. My mom's side of the family is in this part of Texas. My grandmother lived here for a long time and we used to come pretty often for holidays and such. When my dad was out to sea and we were transferred to a new location, we'd come to El Paso and stay for an extended period of time. I went to school here for a couple of years, although they weren't consecutive years.
The mountains across from my hotel.This trip out, I really wanted to take some trips down memory lane but I had a limited amount of free time. I chose to spend it with family.
Most of my family lives in a town right outside of El Paso called Anthony. On the first night there, I called my Godfather to see if he wanted to see if he wanted to hook up for dinner. One of the other benefits of being sent to El Paso is the food. They have the best Mexican food. So my Nino wanted to take me to a place in Anthony that was good. Would you believe it? The three or four places that we tried to go to in Anthony were all closed! It was only 7 pm but it was MLK day. We ended up eating at a place called the Flying J, which is a truck stop. I was a little disappointed but, you gotta go with the flow.
Our party of 5 (his three granddaughters were with us) went in and sat down and we looked at the menu. I was surprised to find that they had carnitas. I love carnitas but at a truck stop, how good could they be? But, again, you gotta go with the flow so what the heck. That's what I ordered. They were REALLY good. I was very surprised. Shocked, even.
Outside of the food, it was great to spend time with family. I haven't spent a lot of time with my cousins girls but they are cute. They all have their different personalities. Destinee is the oldest. She is your typical teenager - talking about teen idols that I'm embarrassed to say I'd never heard of. She's also very mature/maternal. She's the caretaker of the others. Madison is the middle daughter and she seems very shy. I bet she always does what is expected of her without complaint.
Madison.The youngest is Kennedy. That girl is a pistol. She is not shy nor does she beat around the bush. She tells it like it is. She really makes me laugh.
Kennedy.While we were at the J, my other cousin, Angie, came up to sit with us. So basically, my mother, Angie and my nino are all cousins. They were raised together like brother & sisters and consider each other to be so. When we were younger and came to El Paso on our extended stays, Angie used to watch us (me & my sister) when my mother and grandmother had to work. She always took us to our favorite place to eat - Chico's tacos (which is an El Paso institution). She also always took us to cool places like swap-a-rama. This was like a weekend flea market. It was fun to go because they always had all these cool things and amazing food. Looking back, we must have been a pain in the keester but Angie always took us.
Angie.The next night we had previously scheduled as a family dinner. It was originally going to be me, Angie and my nino but my other cousins came out as well. That was awesome. I don't get to see these people often and I was grateful that they all made the trek out to have dinner with me.
Lupe, Angie's daughter, is hysterical. She's younger than me by maybe 5 or 6 years. I found out that she's a biker! I was very surprised. I never would have guessed that. She's also the most educated of all of us. She just got her masters in education and her goal is to be a school principal. She was telling stories and had us all laughing.
Lupe making faces while she was telling us a story.Charmaine, my nino's daughter, came with her husband and four kids. (The three girls that I saw the previous evening and a son).
Charmaine & Kennedy. They had to drive from the other side of El Paso, which was really nice that they took the time. All the girls came out and they brought their son as well. He's just under two and very cute. He's a grandpa's boy. He's always smiling and seems to be happy. He even came and sat with me for a brief second.
Nino, Destinee and LJ (Juan Javier).
Javier, Charmaine's husband.After the previous dinner at the Flying J, Nino promised me that he would take me for some good Mexican food. I don't think I could spell the name of the restaurant but he didn't let me down. One of my favorite things is chile colorado - which is red chile (enchilada sauce) and chunks of beef/pork and sometimes potatoes. Not many of the restaurants in Dallas offer this dish. So, there was no question that I was having this for dinner. It was awesome. I ate so much I couldn't breathe and my plate was still full. They don't skimp on the portions.
We all sat around talking and it was great. It made me realize how much I miss hanging around with these people. It's silly that we don't all visit one another more but time seems to be the issue. There's never enough. It was a great visit and I'm still thinking about it.
As I mentioned, the food in this city is amazing. The client had lunch brought in the three days I was there and I was dreading that we'd be eating Jason's deli. I was very pleasantly surprised. The first day I had green chile potato soup. It was basic potato soup but they added green chiles to it which gave it extra flavor and a little kick. Then I had a spinach salad that was REALLY good. The last day I had green chicken enchiladas. In Dallas, when you order that it comes with some kind of horrible sour cream sauce. So, I was hesitant but the client highly recommended it and promised there would be no sour cream on the plate. She did not lie. They were so good. I should try and get that recipe.
Sunset in El Paso.All in all it was a great trip. I really enjoyed the clients and we had three days of good meetings. I also enjoyed seeing my family. Hopefully, I'll get to go back. Even better would be to go back on my own time...
