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The Rally- Day 4Apr 21, 2009
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Early morning flight
Right over us
Entrance to Old Town
Oh what a beautiful day yesterday was. Wel started out by watching the balloons go up carrying people not as chicken as I am. It is quite spectacular to see. The riders get to the Fiesta Park by 5:30AM and wait their turn. By 7:00 I am usually watching while still in my pj’s from the front door. You would be surprised how many are out in their jammie’s with their coffee cup or cameras in hand.Instead of going back to the Expo for another day of RV shopping, we left for Old Town. Old Town Albuquerque is somewhat like Old Town Santa Fe but you defiantly have a different feeling here than in Santa Fe. It’s not something that I can explain but I can tell you that I bought a lot more affordable things today than I could find in Santa Fe.Old Town has another beautiful church right in the middle of the Square. Most of the buildings were built almost 400 years ago. Quite impressive and a real fun day.We returned to our campground after making another trip to Camping World where we found a RV Park right behind that had propane. We had our empty tank with us and should now be OK for at least a couple of weeks. After a short rest, we got ready to go out for our last dinner with friends Jan and Jeff. It sure will not be the same when they leave and we are by ourselves again. We have enjoyed their company so much. They will be returning to their home in the Phoenix area for a few weeks before they leave for Idaho for the summer. “Here in Albuquerque, if you want a good dinner, hit the liquor store where you’ll find a great steakhouse. But you’ve got to hunt for it. Hint: It’s behind the beer cooler.” Well if you read this in the Food Network, Guy Fieri’s current book wouldn’t you just have to check it out? We did and we sure were not disappointed.Just a bit further down the road from Old Town you come to the old Route 66 part of town. Here is where we found the Monte Carlo Steakhouse. We all ordered something different. My order was for the pork chops and I must say it was delicious. I was served an awesome salad first with their special Greek dressing which I ate all up just as my entrée arrived. It was two huge charbroiled pork chops served with a gigantic baked potato and all the trimmings. I was stuffed after the salad and about ½ of the pork chop so you know what we will be eating for lunch today. There is more than enough for both Bill and I in my leftover box. Jan ordered the Greek Souvlaki that Guy Fieri had when he was here and raved about it. It was made with pork tenderloin that had been marinated in the fridge for about five days with wonderful spices and juices. The place is also a local hangout and we found a lot of the after-work crowd at the bar when we arrived. None of us had the steaks which they say are the best in Albuquerque but we sure enjoyed what we had. Our waitress told us that she has been working for the Katsaro’s for many years. We asked her if she was family, and she said no but she keeps asking them to adopt her. Actually Mike Katsaro and his wife Angelina started this place. When Mike passed away at a young age, Angelina (known by all as Mama) continued on with her two sons, George and Louis. One of the three of them is always on duty except for Sunday when they close the restaurant. It was the only way they could get the family together… As we left the restaurant, we walked up front toward the liquor store and literally bumped into George. We introduced ourselves and told him how much we enjoyed their place. He gave us his card and on the back he wrote a list of restaurants that we must visit on our way home. He did the same to Jeff and Jan but in the area they were traveling. Oh boy. Another challenge; I now have the book “Diners, Drive-ins, Dives” an All-American Road Trip” by Guy Fieri thanks to my friend Jan and we will be seeking out more of these great places to eat… It will be a long time though before we can beat what we experienced on Route 66. We continued along the Mother Road when we left the restaurant and snapped some more pictures. It was great evening with even greater friends.When we returned to our park we drove around to see how many people had already left and got ourselves in trouble with the security police. Remind me to tell you about it some time.We are all suppose to be out of here by 10:00 this morning I’d better start getting ready. Later……….
