Land of Enchantment means good (and HOT) Mexican food

Tuesday, 30 October.  With mixed feelings of saddness and happiness  (we had such a GREAT time here), we left Verde Valley and the Sedona area this morning around 9:00am, picked up I-17 North, and pointed the Winnebago toward Flagstaff where we planned to join I-40 East and head toward Albuquerque.  As we neared Flagstaff we found ourselves passing thru some beautiful forest landscape, part of the Coconino National Forest.  We also found ourselves climbing steadily as we continued on our track north. Once we reached the outskirts of Flagstaff, we discovered we had climbed from about 3,200-ft in elevation to 7,000-ft.  Quite a climb over the 60-mile journey to catch I-40.  Once on I-40 East, we left the forested area and quickly found ourselves once again in the desert, with scrub brush and little else.  Not much in the way of scenery on our way to Gallup.  We did, however, slowly but steadily dropped in elevation.  By the time we reached Gallup-- the Indian Capital of the Southwest -- at about 2:00pm on this short day, we had dropped several thousand feet in elevation.



Our overnight stop in Gallup was at the USA RV Park on historic Route 66.  This park sits on the far west side of Gallup and offers easy on/off access to/from I-40.  The park is typical of what I'd call an "Interstate RV park," offering good clean amenities with no frills.  We were given a large, pull-thru campsite and were set up in no time at all. 



Since we'd skipped lunch -- an apple on the road doesn't count -- we were hungry -- and hungry for some good Mexican food. We asked the RV staffer for a recommendation and received what I'd term "an insider" suggestion for "traditional Mexican food" at a place called Genaro's Cafe.  Now finding this little Mexican cafe would be nigh to impossible if we hadn't received directions from the RV park staffer.  It's off the main drag (Route 66) thru town, about three blocks into what appeared to be a residental area.  Genaro's looks like a small house (which it might have been at one time) and looked nothing like your typical restaurant.  But there were lots of cars in the parking lot around back, so we ventured inside.  Obviously, this was a place the locals frequent for good, down-to-earth, traditional Mexican food.  We were urged to sit where we pleased, had a waiter come promptly to our table, had drinks inside two minutes (no alcohol, unfortunately; I was looking forward to another frozen margarita...sigh), and our order taken in less than five minutes.  The food was as good as promised, but definitely on the HOT side (guess that's why the locals come here).  I'd forgotten how much difference there is between the green chili and red chili in Mexican food.  The red is SO much hotter!  All in all, Genaro's turned out to be a good bet for tonight's supper:  Great local-feel ambiance and great food.  Oh, and the sopapillas were outstanding.  My Mexican combination plate came with an oversized sopapilla, with honey, of course.  A nice touch to end the meal.