Dubbya

Gas here is under $2.00. Granted it's one cent less than $2.00, but still...

On my journeys around Dallas I've noticed that this place has more Mexican restaurants per capita than any other place on earth - including Cedar City. We went to one place yesterday that was a ghetto version of Cafe Rio, so like a Taco Bell trying to be Cafe Rio. It wasn't too bad - they had a salsa bar, but not worth returning.

Tonight we went to a Cajun restaurant called Pappadeaux. They serve Cajun food. We had fried alligator as an appetizer, then i attempted to be healthy with the rest of my dinner. I ordered water and a salad. Little did I realize that they've even contaminated the sacred health food of salad by frying the food in it. There was nothing mentioned in the description about fried anything. It mentioned orange flavored chicken, mushrooms, lettuce, sesame vinaigrette, so I was expecting a delightful array of healthy foods to fill my body and soul with joy. What I got was a plate with fried food and cabbage. The salad really consisted of shredded lettuce and cabbage with an occasional piece of zucchini or asparagus sandwiched in between two deep fried wonton type squares. The dressing was quite oily and the whole design of my healthy night was destroyed. However, my meal was better than what my cohorts ate - fried fish, fried shrimp, fried crap, stuffed fried shrimp, fried oysters, and french fries. Is it any wonder America's overweight? Along with the fried theme of the evening the restaurants of the vicinity could have been a category on $1,000,000 pyramid. There was Pappadeaux, Pappa's BBQ, Pappasitos, and another Pappa restaurant which I am currently unable to recall.

At dinner we witnessed the color of society gathered in one place. An man was eating dinner with a woman quite a bit younger than himself who was lacquered with makeup and was wearing enough support for a soccer team. We weren't sure if it was a permissive father with his daughter, or a businessman who'd had a successful day and was out to celebrate. In another corner the women of a black family was out to celebrate Mardi Gras early. They were complete with multi-colored head-dresses, dancing, and singing. I suppose it was appropriate that they were eating at the deep-fried haven of Dallas. We saw a couple who were part of what our speaker deemed "the lifestyle," there was an old white woman with a walker who we thought was about to whip out her hand-bag and beat the Mardi Gras party into submission.

I've managed to contract a cold while on the road - not so much fun. Sickness is less than delightful when one has one's own bed, remedies, and TV to comfort one. But when one is far from home staying in a hotel and without anything to do but work, even the convenient store where one might buy NyQuil fails to offer even the slightest appeals of home. I suppose the sleep-number bed will have to do for now.