The Slab Spa and Reducing Diet is in full effect. My first full day I had a cup of coffee in the morning and ate absolutely nothing all day until Chili Bob came to fetch me for supper with Rich and Mary. Mary made scalloped potatoes with leftover Christmas ham, and she had saved me a plate. I'd gone to Calipatria to visit my favoritest hardware store in the whole world, Zendejas True Value Hardware. And also to do a garbage and water run at the rest stop. When I got back Mary fired up the generator to heat it up the plate she saved for me in the microwave. It's the oceans of light that does it, I think, or maybe that you are too busy catching up with friends and getting pulled into long, meandering, interesting conversations with all sorts of people who like nothing better than to converse, or else you find yourself stopping on the way back to camp to just look at the stars, brilliant and amazing, filling up the bowl of the desert night, and somehow eating just seems so unimportant.
Breakfast today was coffee and one slice of the excellent cinnamon raisin bread from mia kara amika Biela, toasted on KD's stove using the folding toaster I'd picked up at Wally World on the way in. That was hours ago. I'd gotten up early (another sort of amazing thing, since I usually am not a morning person). But as I said to the person who asked me what had gotten into me, I'm a Slabber. We get up at dawn to dump tanks, haul water, fetch wood, make coffee and play a couple hands of poker, all before ten A.M.. In fact I don't really qualify as a true Slabber, and all I really did was make coffee and sit staring out at the early morning light stealing across the desert. But that's enough.
Eventually I stirred myself to get organized and perform the morning's ablutions and a couple of other chores, and by the time I was on the road to Brawley I realized I was really hungry. Brownie's was calling.
Brownie's is one of those comfy, old-fashioned restaurants that you don't see much of at home. They offer Mexican and classic American food, solid, dependable fare, served in a comfortable, homey dining room with walls covered in sports memorabilia, celebrity photos (many of them signed by the celebrities themselves), class group photos from the local elementary school dating back to the fifties, and assorted other local memorabilia. To me, Brownie's is all about comfort food in a place I come to be on holiday, far away from all reminders of my troubles. I'm very fond of it.
Having a classic BLT with potato salad on the side. KD's cupboards and ice box are stocked with food, but I thought I deserved a treat, and it gives me a chance to put up an update using their outlet (I steered unerringly to the table with a plug, like the well-seasoned travel blogger I am!) I can also recommend their chicken fried steak. They make that sucker with tri tip, and it is a supreme example of the art. If you are passing through Brawley and wanting comfort food, stop at Brownie's. They are located right on Main Street in Brawley, California. Brownie's gets Five Trees On The Mountain.
Jerry Rice's signed jersey from his days with the Raiders and a wall of happy sports memories.
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