North (and east)!

The lady and I hit the road. Two weeks of work was enough for us in the dog days of valley summer. Flagstaff, ginger-beard capital of the country, was our first destination for a couple nights of relaxation in the pines (and rain). Since I'm back off the hot dog wagon, I thought it appropriate to swing on by Primo's Hot Dogs to sample what they had to offer.

The menu at Primo's is a bit convoluted, with sheets of computer paper posted all over the wall and on top of the original printed menu board. The descriptions are all concise and though your eyes must wander to read them all, it isn't that big of a deal. The lady and I decided on four dogs to share. The SauerApple, The Reuben, The Phoenix, and The Flagstaff.

The SauerApple was tasty. Topped with sauerkraut, applesauce, and a dill pickle spear it had a funky fermented sweet pickled taste that worked pretty well, if a bit muddled.

The Reuben Dog was almost my favorite. Sauerkraut, spicy thousand island, and dill pickle. The snap of the dog and pickle made for a great texture. The spicy thousand island had more kick than I was expecting.

The Phoenix Dog left something to be desired. Or maybe it was too much. Topped with melted cheese, pickled jalapeños, sliced tomato, diced onion, bacon bits, Tabasco, and yellow mustard. It was the only jumbo dog of the bunch. It sounds strange, but I couldn't tell where the cheese ended and the mustard began. The jumbo dog was too much for all the toppings. I couldn't get a balanced bite. Every time I tried I looked like this.

Frustrated, overwhelmed, near-breakdown. All because of a hot dog that was too damn big.

Let's move on to the Flagstaff Dog. Hands down, this little puppy was my favorite.  Neon relish, diced onion, pickled jalapeño, celery salt, and ranch dressing. Not over-topped. Musky celery salt, snappy dog, crispy relish, spicy jalapeño, cool ranch. It's a recipe from the blacked-out mind of a drunk hot dog chef. It works. All the flavors work so well together, I left the restaurant craving another. In fact, the whole experience was kind of a blur.

After some ferocious burps, we crossed the street and washed the doggies down with some Oskar Blues G'Knight and Rowan's Creek bourbon at Mia's Lounge. Made for a killer night.

Beer, hot tub, sleep, then a quick blast across the I-40 to the land of enchantment. Do they have hot dogs in the ABQ?

Burritos, green chilies, fireworks, non-AZ beers, teepees, rock music. It's all coming. I've even got a new contributor to introduce. Stay hot dog, y'all.