BBQ and Gas Station Dogs – April 6

Serious Texas BBQ

Apparently a small chain of BBQ restaurants, this one recommended itself to us by the preponderance of pickup trucks and police cars in the parking lot.  Vats of sweet tea sat next to the soda machines.  Other than servers, we were the only women in the place.  While the smell of smoked meats and the tang of BBQ hung in the air, I was surprised at the modern sound of some of the sauces – cranberry habanero for a smoked turkey sandwich, cherry chipotle salsa, pineapple jalapeno salsa, and orange habanero mustard.
After many days of my own cooking and camping menus, it was a very, very nice treat.  And, they deliver the sauces anywhere in the US (hmm . . . . never too early to start thinking about Christmas).

Gas Station Dogs

Traveling through the Navajo Nation is a weird experience – beautiful scenery with very different roads and towns.  Communities are named ‘Pueblos’ or ‘Chapters’, with mostly community buildings (clinics, shopping, youth centers and such) with not much housing.  What housing you see from the highways seem to be individual ranch houses and hogans, or small, modern, modest developments that seem to have just popped up out of the desert.  No strip malls, Wal-Mart's, fast food etc.  Lots and lots of scenery.
In Crownpoint, I needed to get gas.  I expected to find several gas stations as it looked like a major highway intersection and a good sized town on the map.  Once I got there, I did see a clinic, a grocery, the police department and a school – no gas stations, no fast food and few street signs.  My Gas Buddy application found 2 gas stations about a mile off the main road on an unmarked road.  There were a few trailers and food vans set up in an empty lot selling food.
Another surprising thing about being on reservation land is the number of loose dogs and livestock.  Apparently, the rule of thumb is that you have to fence the animals out – otherwise they’re free to wander.  So, in the campgrounds and public areas, I would often see several dogs wandering around.
At the gas station in Crownpoint, there were 3 or 4 dogs lolling about.  I was very amused to see one older dog very methodically going to each car pumping up, sniffing it’s tires and then carefully lifting his leg on a tire.  He didn’t miss a car!  I thought he’d missed my car – but, alas, after grabbing a soda inside the station, I returned to my car and a suspiciously wet front passenger tire.