More from the Rally

Saturday morning Clay and I drove the jeep over to the fair grounds to have my auxiliary braking unit serviced. It is a device that senses deceleration of the motorhome when its brakes are applied and in turn activates the Jeep brakes with the appropriate proportional pressure. Roadmaster replaced the control module and because it is an updated part they replaced its matching remote unit for the motorhome, all at no cost to me.

In the afternoon Millie and I, and Clay and Rebecca met up with Rebecca’s cousin Bill and his wife Judy for the Reba McIntire concert. Reba still has what it takes to put on a good show; we enjoyed the concert under a perfect summer sky. Reba sang nonstop thru the entire show, leaving the stage just long enough to change into a red dress for her encore performance.

Millie and I decided to eat at a Mexican restaurant in the mall on Sunday and afterwards we came up with some guide lines for eating Mexican. The Cantina Laredo is a chain eatery that bills itself as serving Gourmet Mexican Food. In their words, “Cantina Laredo serves authentic Mexican dishes in a sophisticated atmosphere”.

My first clue that things were not exactly authentic was when I noticed there were no Mexicans working there. The entire staff was young Americans all smartly dressed in black. The décor was the next big wake up call; it was very sterile contemporary art. If this place was Mexican, it was very Avant-garde new age Mexican.

The coup de grâce to any semblance of authenticity was when our food arrived. Mine looked like one of those artsy food presentations drizzled with sauces and sprinkled with seeds. It was served on a long skinny plate that looked like a boat. My two little fish taco’s couldn’t have been more than 4 inches in diameter and where mostly filled with shredded red cabbage. Millie’s enchilada’s were flat and appeared to me to be unassembled, it was very strange looking.

While there are some very good Mexican chain restaurants, some of our best experiences have been in small independent establishments. Here are some tips for finding good Mexican food.

1. The staff is predominantly comprised of Mexicans

2. Wait staff with limited English is a good thing

3. The owner’s children and grandparents in the restaurant is a good sign

4. The decor should be festive colors, unprofessionally applied

5. Mix-Matched tables and chairs is not a design faux pas.

6. The menu will have Mexican words in it but you should be able to understand the entrees. A Chimichanga doesn’t need to be called a  CHIMICHANGA DE POLLO POBLANO.

7. Obviously Hispanic patrons is a good thing, east of the Mississippi black folks know good Mexican food.

8. Lastly, some type of religious symbolism is mandatory; an ornate crucifix is good, a little shrine to the patron saint of Taco’s is even better!

After dinner we took the shuttle back to the fairgrounds for the final concert of the rally. This one is a tribute act to the 1960’s singing group, The Vogues. One of the original members is in the act and they were quite good at reproducing the harmonies of the original group.

This is our last night at the rally; many folks have pulled out today, including our friends. Tomorrow morning we follow a scenic byway thru the Adirondacks to Lake George.