Father-son duo from Monticello visiting Mexican restaurants in each of Utah's 29 counties

OGDEN — Carson Palma offers a straightforward explanation for his love of Mexican food.

"It just tastes better," said the 12-year-old Monticello boy. Carne asada tacos are his favorite, doused with a lot of lime.

Having grown up eating tacos and other Mexican fare may figure in the equation. "We are Latino. We love Mexican food. We cook a lot of Mexican food at home, share a lot of Mexican food with friends and family. Love to eat it," said his dad, Jake Palma.

Whatever the reason, the two Palmas are currently getting their fill of it. Launching from Monticello on Wednesday, they're driving around Utah, hitting Mexican eateries in each of the state's 29 counties. It's a father-and-son getaway, spurred, in part, by the presence of just one Mexican restaurant in San Juan County, where Monticello is located.

"Not a lot of options down in our neck of the woods. So we thought it would be kind of cool to see what some Mexican food options are like around the state of Utah," the elder Palma said Thursday, the second day of their four-day jaunt. Palma's wife and three other kids stayed home in Monticello.

Beyond that, he said the trip provides a means of connecting with Mexican culture and making sure his son stays connected with his roots. Palma's dad is originally from the Mexican state of Guanajuato but came to the United States and worked in the farm fields of Texas, California and Washington when he was younger.

As time passes, Palma, who manages public lands in San Juan County for the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, lamented that successive generations of those of Mexican ancestry can lose touch with their roots.

"You've got to learn English, you've got to do all these things, and you kind of lose the culture just a little bit," he said. "My generation is a little less Mexican than the last generation. And then my kids are even a little bit less Mexican. My kids don't speak Spanish, and so it's also like this whole trip's been a way to kind of reconnect us to broader culture. Just kind of get out there and enjoy the food, enjoy the people that make the food and just be with them, talk with them, have fun."

He noted a conversation with a woman originally from the Mexican state of Puebla earlier Thursday during a stop at an Ogden restaurant.

"We just kind of chatted about Puebla, where she's from, and a whole bunch of stuff. She just thought it was hilarious that we're traveling the state, eating tacos everywhere," he said.

As for the food, it's run the gamut. They picked the itinerary through Utah's 29 counties, then searched out Mexican restaurants along the route, tweaking their stopping points along the way if, say, a place was closed. Later Thursday in Morgan, not finding a Mexican restaurant, they improvised, buying locally made smoked brisket and using it as filling for tortillas they brought with them.

As of midday Thursday, Carson said a lime Mexican popsicle, or paleta, that he picked up in Davis County had been one of his favorites. He also singled out a sope from Price, a strawberry churro from Vernal and horchata, a sweet, rice-and-cinnamon-based beverage, from several locations. Sopes consist of thick corn tortilla bases topped with meat and other ingredients.

Maybe it wasn't his favorite, but Carson also noted a spicy salsa he tried in Vernal that left him breathless. He likes spicy food, he said, "but I tried the spiciest salsa and I was dying."

The elder Palma singled out the tacos prepared by the woman from Puebla at the Ogden restaurant, made with freshly cooked meat since they arrived as the locale, El Patrón, was opening. "Her meat was so good. The carnitas there were so good," he said.

'It's been awesome'

As Palma and his son are making the trip in four days, they have to make seven food stops a day, give or take, to take in all 29 of Utah's counties. Accordingly, they aren't necessarily eating full-fledged meals at each location. They might share a taco on one stop and get Mexican snacks at another.

Still, after the seven stops on Wednesday, the first day of the trip, they needed a little movement to help them contend with all the food they consumed. They ate in Grand, Emery, Carbon, Duchesne, Uintah, Daggett and Rich counties on Wednesday, ending up in Logan in Cache County, home to Utah State University, Palma's alma mater.

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"At the end of the day yesterday, we were in Logan, so we had to run the stairs at Old Main Hill to try to burn it off a little bit," Palma said, alluding to the 124-step staircase on the Utah State campus.

Their trip has prompted a mix of reactions from people along the way. But Palma takes it in stride.

"It's like they can't quite grasp what we're doing, like, 'What are you guys doing?' It just seems a little ridiculous and it kind of is. But it's been awesome," he said.

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