Rainbow Inn

The Rainbow Inn in Anaheim, California, provided a clean, comfortable, and cheap place to sleep and work. In addition bed and bath, the Rainbow Inn provided me with a microwave, refrigerator, and a desk from which I could work. I did not try their free WiFi. This motel served as my office for most of this week.

Desert Center

The signs along Interstate 10 telling me the distance to "Desert Center" gave me the impression that there was civilization and facilities for motorists between me and Indio.

I exited the highway at Desert Center, California and found remnants from the past. I found no fuel. I found no food. I didn't even find the cold drink I was hoping to find. The only thing this place may be the center of is desert. Except for a US Post Office and what appears to be a California Department of Transportation equipment lot, the place appeared to be abandoned.

There are no services here -- unless you need to mail some desert sand or a tumbleweed back home.

Desert Highway

El Charro Café

Chi... Chi... Chimichanga!


If you want to taste Tucson, visit the El Charro Café. The restaurant has been serving Mexican food in Tucson, Arizona since 1922, and is credited by some to be the home of the original chimichanga.

According to the legend, El Charro Café's founding owner and chef, Tia Monica Flin, accidentally dropped a burro into a pan of hot oil and when the oil splashed up, she started to respond with "[expletive redacted]" but quickly changed it "Chimichanga" so as to not swear in front of her nieces and nephews.

Regardless of how and where the chimichanga came to be, El Charro serves up awesome chimichangas.

The grilled carne asada chimichanga contains a perfect blend of steak, bacon, avocado, onion, green chile, cheese, and salsa.

Texas Canyon Rest Stop

About 16 miles northeast of Benson, along Interstate 10, is perhaps the busiest highway rest stop in Arizona. 

The rest stop is in the midst of the giant granite boulders of Texas Canyon. Rumor has it that locals name the are Texas Canyon after "a bunch of damned Texans" settled there in the 1880s. Those damned Texans, whose descendants still ranch in the area, aren't the reason travelers stop here. People stop to see and explore the giant granite boulders that litter the area.

If you are passing through Texas Canyon on Interstate 10: stop, walk around, see the rocks, and take a selfie.

 

 

Oh, and don't eat the snakes and insects that inhabit the area. They might be poisonous.

Or maybe the maker of this sign fails to understand the difference between poisonous and venomous. Also, scorpions aren't insects.  Nevertheless, beware of wildlife that might harm you.