Sunday Favorites, Navajo Tacos

It's Sunday and time for Sunday Favorites, where Chari, from Happy to Design allows participants to share an old blog post with readers, while still taking Sunday off, by reposting an old post.

Years ago, as an over the road truck driver, I collected a few thoughts and stories from my journeys and travels. In my Sunday Favorites posts, I am sharing some of those stories.

This story originally was written at Thanksgiving time, but it happened about this time of year. I was riding with Danny, another driver, who was giving me a ride to Texas to pick up a truck that a driver had abandoned there.

  

Today is Thanksgiving, and the mind naturally turns to food. I can't help but think of some of the different foods I have tried across the country, from Boudan in Louisiana, to Pasties in Northern Michigan.  From Portabello and Oyster stew in Delaware, to Sourdough bread in San Francisco.  From Chicago Dogs, to Georgia Peaches, to Texas Chili.  Alligator on a stick in Baton Rouge, Pecans in Texas, Chocolate in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

I was traveling through New Mexico one day, with a coworker, and I mentioned how much I like Navajo Tacos.  He gave me a funny look, that told me he had no idea what I was talking about, so I determined that I would find a place for him to try one.

We stopped at a little restaurant on the reservation, and went in and sat down.  Danny looked at the menu, and remarked that he didn't think they sold Navajo Tacos.  I was amazed.  How could a Navajo restaurant not sell Navajo Tacos? 

The Lady waiting on us was also the owner, and I mentioned to her what we had come in hoping to find.  She shook her head... "No, we don't sell those."

I explained that Danny had never tried them, and asked if she knew of a place that made them.

I'll never forget her reaction.  Her eyes lit up, and it was clear to see she was on a mission.  She made it perfectly clear that nobody made them as good as she could, and if that's what we wanted, then that's what we would get. 

She went back into the kitchen, and in less than 15 minutes, she reappeared, with two plates, laden with fry bread, topped with meat, cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and chile sauce. The perfect Navajo Tacos.  I had eaten these before, so I knew what they tasted like, Danny had not, but we both agreed that these were the best Navajo Tacos that we had ever eaten.

When we finished, and told her how much we appreciated her extra effort, and how much we enjoyed our meal, we asked for our check.  She handed us a ticket, charging us for two Cokes and nothing else.  When I questioned her about it, she replied, "We don't sell those.  I wouldn't know what to charge."

We left a really big tip.

~{@ @}~ ~{@ @}~ ~{@ @}~ ~{@ @}~ Be sure and join me each Tuesday for Tuesday Trivia Tie-in, where readers are invited to share trivia and show off their treasures. Read all about it here