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Abbey Roast (Coffee) Beans - Our Lady of Guadalupe Monastery, New Mexico

Hiking up Gomez Peak above Silver City, NM, a middle-aged gentlemen with a golden retriever puppy and Austrian accent started up a lengthy conversation. In there, he told me about a a Benedictine monastery deeper up in the mountains, full of monks in robes roasting incredible coffee and making cheese and beer. I put it on the list of things to do that day. The monastery is not too far north of Silver City, into the Gila Mountains, but the increasing twists and turns, steepening mountainsides, and continually narrowing dirt road gives the impression that you're out there. Really leaning into that monk thing, like trekking into a Nepal with more juniper trees. I didn't really (and still don't) have any clue what a Benedictine is, but I was assured they were friendly by my Austrian-sounding friend and I was further comforted by the Google Maps listing stating they were "open at 10am." Monks that keep hours on Google Maps must be approachable. Pulling through the g...

Ghost Town - Mogollon, New Mexico

It was spring break way back during college. Rather than do the usual South Padre drunken beach nonsense, my petite mechanical engineering girlfriend and I decided to head off and explore the deserts of the American Southwest. This was before the time of Google Maps or any basic planning, and we loaded up her Toyota Camry with only the lightest of camping essentials and minimal outer wear. It was spring break and we were headed to the desert. It would be hot and arid. Obviously. We were on the backside of a blizzard by the time we got to Pie Town, New Mexico. I might have specifically picked this route because it involved going through a town called Pie Town. We pulled off the snowy, unplowed roads and stepped into Pie-O-Neer . It was not a busy day (because the roads were approaching impassable) and we got to chatting with the owner, Kathy Knapp (the Pie Lady of Pie Town ). She told us about this ghost town in the Gila Wilderness named Mogollon where she and her husband, St...

Smoked Turtle Beans and Dill Jasmine Rice - A Broken Angel Food Trailer - Bend, OR

Time slips quickly by as I settle into this lengthy stop in Bend, homeless and middle-class in the town I call home. Regularly cooking beans in the van, more practicality than an expedition, little fanfare or adventure or purpose beyond the standard goodness of beans for breakfast. I decided to branch out and see where I could find some locally crafted beans for lunch, my search tumbling upon a vegan food truck at the hipster-community-center and doomed-to-become-a-parking-lot coffee shop, Spoken Moto . It's rare to find a place that lists beans on the menu beyond a footnote of "beans" under sides. Neat. Smoked? Intriguing. Turtle? Quaint semantics. I was looking forward to it. The woman who popped up in the small trailer window was a surprise to see. I knew her. Six years ago I had been floating home down the river from work, just a normal Tuesday, alone in an innertube with my work clothes floating alongside in a waterproof briefcase. A couple, about my same age, ...

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