Hwy 40 is a straight line from Arkansas to California, or at least is seems that way. You get to go through the desert of Oklahoma (at least it looks like a desert), the desert of Texas, the high deserts of New Mexico and Arizona, and end with the desert of California (ending in Barstow, where my Aunt and cousins live). This may sound boring but I actually like much of the trip – esp. New Mexico.
The other significant thing about this trip is you drive through very few big cities. It’s mostly small town after small town (Hwy 40 sort of bypasses Route 66 so there is lots of connection between the two. One year the kids and I drove from California to Arkansas following much of Route 66 looking for locations and things from the movie “Cars”, which is about Route 66. We actually found the town Radiator Springs was modeled after (we received a tip on where this was), we found “Mater” in Arizona, and the Gas station in Shamrock Texas.)
One of the challenges of a long road trip is finding places to eat. There is fast food all along the route but we try to avoid that on long trips. Our favorite “system” is to eat a nice sit down lunch after about 3 hours of driving, then get back on the road and drive until dark and eat something quick near our hotel, preferable in our hotel room so we can kick back. You would think good food might be scarce in all these deserts but actually there are three places we have found that have become favorites that we actually look forward to!
First there is Del’s in Tucumcari New Mexico. Del’s is actually one of my favorite restaurants in the world! I discovered Del’s many years ago on a solo trip to California. I arrived in town after a long day of driving and checked into my hotel. I asked the clerk who had the best food in Tucumcari and she said locals argue between Del’s and some other place. Del’s was right next door so I went there. It was one of the most memorable meals in my life! I was so tired when I went in, I was rejuvenated when I left! I had a carne asada steak, cooked perfectly, and various toppings including some great hot peppers. I then asked if they had desserts and she said they had one piece of Chocolate pie left over. I got it and was in heaven. My family has stopped at Del’s every trip since, and they haven’t had any Chocolate pie left over on any subsequent visits, but they make a great Lemon Meringue too! Even my brother stopped there a trip out to visit us and he agreed it was good. Del’s makes a great stop. Our second favorite spot is also in New Mexico – Grant’s New Mexico. It’s called Surf Shack Pizza. Grants is a great stopping point for us because it gives a short day’s drive the next day to the Grand Canyon, where we often stop for a day or two for a break. The first time we discovered Surf Shack was after a long day. We arrived at the hotel and crashed. We saw ad in our hotel room for Surf Shack pizza and we thought we’re too tired to go find food so let’s try it. It was such a treat. They make a fine pizza and we’ve eaten there many times since. However, they let us down this year! We were driving home and we were in a hurry. WE actually had hoped to drive further that day but icy conditions was slowing us down. When we decided to go ahead and stop at Grants we were excited because that meant Surf Shack on New Year’s eve! We checked into our room and called right away, only to find out they were closed. What pizza place closes on New Year’s Eve? How can we party in Grants without Surf Shack pizza. Despondent my wife and I went back out into the icy roads (it was minus 7 outside) and drove around looking for something other than fast food. We ended up eating at someplace with golden arches, what a letdown! (however I did order some sort of flatbread meal that was actually decent. I don’t know if that’s just for New Mexico or if it’s everywhere but it was better than eating some grey meat inside a bun). So it’s been over two years since we ate at Surf Shack so I don’t remember WHY I like the pizza, I just remember I do. Hopefully on a future trip we’ll eat there again and remember why it’s so good.
Our last place was the surprise of this year’s trip – and Surf Shack being closed probably led to this discovery. My wife doesn’t love pizza, but as we approached Shamrock Texas, our stop on the way home after Grants, my wife turned to me and said “I want pizza tonight since we didn’t get any last night.” As a pizza lover this is one of the best things my wife can say to me! That’s when we discovered Cicero's Green Frog Pizza in Shamrock Texas. Wow. They actually have Calzone also so my daughter and I ordered Calzones, my son had a pizza, and my wife for some reason got spaghetti and salad, after saying she wanted pizza. The calzones were great. The dough had character and the sauce had just a little spice to it. Everyone else enjoyed their food too. So now we have a great beginning to our almost annual trip: 6 hours to Shamrock Texas and eat at Green Frog Pizza. Next day leave Shamrock at 9 AM and arrive at Del’s in Tucumcari New Mexico for lunch. Drive the rest of the day and stay in Grant’s and have Surf Shack deliver pizza (My son and I will enjoy pizza two nights in a row, but not so sure my wife will, I might have to figure a way to make this work). Someday I need to find a great New Mexico cuisine location other than pizza, and we need to find something great in Arizona, probably in Flagstaff or in Kingman, but at least we have good eats at the beginning of our trip (and on the end of the return trip).
(By the way, we didn’t eat there but my Aunt in Barstow says that the California Mexican Chain “Del Taco” started in Barstow California and that the Barstow locations taste different because they don’t actually belong to the chain of Del Tacos. We didn’t eat there but we hope to in the future and find out why Barstow Del Tacos are the best.)
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