Coyote Pause Café has been doing some serious renovations! We recently finished updating our covered patio with new window treatments, a new cooling system, a new paint job, and a new look! The overall atmosphere of this new patio feels very comfortable and colorful with updated oilcloth as table coverings and new decorations adorning our walls. 
Even though the weather is hot, this patio stays cool all summer long! Come in and enjoy some of your favorites on our menu and experience our new patio!
Meet out Muralist: Sam Casados
Sam Casados was born in Colorado, and began his career as an artist early. By grade school, Sam was winning awards for his lifelike paintings, iron work and sculpture. He became certified to teach ceramics when he moved to New Mexico in the 1980’s, and there he also taught fine art to children as well as adults. He started painting murals when he relocated to Delaware in the 1990’s, as well as putting on one-man art shows. His work can be seen all over the east coast, in both private residences and public spaces. He finally decided to settle down in Tucson, where he was a instructor and resident at multiple museums and galleries. He is also painting murals, which can be seen all over Tucson and the surrounding areas. Sam has been a fixture at Cat Mountain Station for many years. He first started out painting the mural on the front of Coyote Pause Café. He used the surrounding Sonoran Desert as inspiration, accenting this mural with coyotes, bunnies and birds that look like they are living within the painting. 
A few years later, Kerstin asked him to paint a mural on the front of her new business called Spencer’s Observatory. She wanted this mural to showcase the beauty of space as seen by the telescope. The richness of the dark color scheme brings out the starscape he painted. 
Next he did a series of western cutouts. He was inspired by John Wayne and Dale Evans as well as the movies they starred in. These paintings are the favorite of our patrons, because they can interact with the pieces and take the pictures home with them. 
The most recent mural he made at Cat Mountain Station was to disguise the Observatory from the view of our Labyrinth. He once again used the surrounding desert as inspiration and painted with multiple green hues to soften the edges of the building and blend it into the surrounding vegetation. 
Sam is a very important part of the operations at Cat Mountain Station. He takes on many special projects and executes them seamlessly. His artistic eye has helped in many ways to heighten Cat Mountain Station into what it is today!
The Cat Mountain Lodge Nature Trail
Cat Mountain Lodge has undergone yet another change! Explore the new half-mile nature trail as it meanders through a scenic part of the Sonoran Desert called the Arizona Upland. Two benches along the way encourage the trail goer to pause and appreciate the quiet splendor or southwestern nature. One rests under a towering saguaro cactus, and the other has a wonderful view of the majestic Golden Gate Peak and a long view across Avra Valley to Baboquivari, a sacred peak of the Tohono O’odam Natice American tribe.
You will enjoy the changing seasons of native tress such as velvet mesquite, palo verde, as well as white-thron and cat-claw acacia. There are many glorious specimens of cactus on the trail, including prickly pear, saguaro, cholla, and barrel cactus. While on the path, you might spy a road less taken. There is a sign to the meditation destination, and it is a slight detour to a perfect spot for reflection.
While there, you will see a perfect vista of foliage and mountain majesty.
Overall, this new trail is small enough that it is leisurely, yet is filled with everything that makes the Sonoran Desert great. Who knows, you could see a bobcat walk by!
The Cat Mountain Lodge Labyrinth
Lots of new items have been cropping up around Cat Mountain Station lately. The most recent project that has been completed is the Cat Mountain Lodge Labyrinth. In Greek mythology, the Labyrinth was an elaborate structure designed and built to hold the Minotaur that was eventually killed by the hero, Theseus. It is an ancient symbol that relates to wholeness, and a journey into a labyrinth promotes a physchological and spiritual transformation and meditation.
It is a 6 circuit, left-handed classical labyrinth. Designed by our landscape architect, Doug Larson, the labyrinth is shaped as a turtle in honor of the resident tortoise, Juan Wayne.
We started construction 8 weeks ago. After selecting the physical location, Doug graded the land to make it as even as possible.
All the materials used to make this labyrinth were locally sourced from quarries and the local desert. The laybryinth was designed to look like it fits in with the surrounding nature, yet is also distinctive. The most distinctive part is the finishing touch: the turtle statue with a bright blue gazing ball shell.
We hope that you come to Cat Mountain Lodge and enjoy our one-of-a-kind labyrinth!
Bakelite: A Love Story
At Buffalo Trading Post, we get interesting things coming into the store on a daily basis. It’s truly a treasure hunter’s dream come true, and if you are into Bakelite, your dreams are about to become a reality. But first, a brief history:
-Patented in 1907 by Belgian-born chemist Leo Baekeland, Bakelite was originally used for its nonconductivity in electrical insulators, radio and telephone casings, and such diverse products as kitchenware, pipe stems, and toys. It is known today as the first thermosetting plastic.
Antique Bakelite items—from household appliances to jewelry—today are displayed in museums and sold for large sums. Their appeal to collectors may lie in Bakelite’s distinctive look, as well as the way they represent a particular era: a time when more and more consumers were able to take advantage of previously out-of-reach fashions and consumer goods.
In honor of Bakelite and our love of it, Buffalo Trading Post is running a 20% off sale of all Bakelite items on Valentine’s Day! Come pick out the perfect pieces for your collection, or start your very own collection.
Friday Night Dinners Are Back On!
Coyote Pause Café is ringing in the New Year by hosting Friday Night Dinners starting January 2nd! The dining area will be open from 4pm – 8pm, and will be serving the favorites from previous menus, as well as some new flavors. As always, everything is made from scratch with quality ingredients and local flavors are sprinkled into every bite. Here is a list of the top 5 dinners chosen by the customers:
5. Caesar Salad with Hand Carved Steak – New Menu Item!
Spring greens topped by grape tomatoes and herb crusted croutons, finished with house made Caesar dressing and freshly grated parmesan cheese. The salad has a choice of protein, but the crowd favorite is the marinated steak. The chefs marinate the steak for hours before cutting and cooking to order. This dish balances flavor with nutrition, and is quite filling. This salad can stand alone as a meal, or be split as an appetizer.
4. Spaghetti and Meatballs with Garlic Toast
Angel hair pasta is cooked to order and topped with our homemade marinara sauce and meatballs. The parmesan cheese is loaded on before cooking twice in the oven to achieve that melted, gooey, cheesy topping. The garlic bread is made to order, and comes with one of our house salads with prickly pear dressing. Our customers love this one because it tastes like an authentic Italian supper in the middle of the Sonoran Desert!
3. BBQ Pork Ribs
Our chefs cook these ribs low and slow to achieve the juicy and flavorful meat our customers come to expect with our ribs. They are then smothered with the house made prickly pear BBQ sauce and served with our bourbon baked beans and choice of salad or mashed potatoes.
2. Sonoran Meatloaf
What makes our Meatloaf special, you ask? We locally source prickly pear cactus and mix it into our meatloaf. The added ingredient creates a unique flavor profile, and many customers ask for it by name. It is topped with our house made prickly pear glaze, and accompanied with mashed potatoes and sweet buttered corn.
1. Fish Fry
Our fish fry is the number one item customers ask for. The fish is panko crusted and fried to order to ensure every piece is golden brown and perfectly crisp. We put some of our famous fries next to this masterpiece, and pair the two items with prickly pear coleslaw.
Chulucanas at Buffalo Trading Post
At Buffalo Trading Post, there is always something new and fun coming in through the door. Recently, a shipment of Chulucanas pottery came in directly from the Piura Region of Peru. The pottery that comes out of this region is hand made and the style and technique dates to the pre-Incan days. The designs on this pottery varies, but is traditionally made in back and white. The clay is cultivated from the ground, and is hand kneaded to let all the air pockets disappear before the clay is shaped into works of art. 
After the clay is shaped and smoothed, it is fired twice in a special kiln. After the first firing, the darker areas are painted with a liquid clay and is fired again using mango leaves to smoke the clay and leave the charred residue on the dark areas, thus adding more black pigment to the clay. This process takes several days, and the smoking process is repeated four times. The end result is a lustrous piece that is packed and shipped around the world. Our vendor comes twice a year from Peru to Buffalo Trading Post with new and interesting designs that we buy on the spot. All pieces are one of a kind. Come to Buffalo Trading Post and pick yours out today! 
New Menu Items at Coyote Pause
Changes are being made to the menu at Coyote Pause Café. The restaurant is incorporating some of the beloved specials into items that will be cooked to order on a daily basis. Here is a list of just some of the delicious dishes that are added to the Coyote Pause wheel house:
1. Chilaquiles
A layer of crisped corn tortillas are doused in a chili verde sauce and topped with cotija cheese and fresh cilantro. Accompanied with eggs any style.
2. Avocado Tacos
Beer battered sliced avocado fried to perfection, over a bed of shredded cabbage, topped with cheese and lime. Served with a small salad and black beans.
3. Steak Sandwich
Hand carved sirloin steak is marinated overnight before being grilled to perfection and placed on a French roll. Topped with grilled onions and provolone cheese, this sandwich is matched perfectly with a side salad or our famous mesquite fries.
4. Pancake Special
Our ever changing pancake special is a crowd favorite. It changes with the season, so ask your server for the description of the latest special. Here we have a banana pancake topped with fresh bananas, pecans, cream cheese sauce and house made caramel.
5. Weekly Salad Special
The salad special changes weekly, so check with your server for a description. This week’s special was a grilled chicken and mandarin salad topped with sunflower seeds and accompanied with gluten free crackers and strawberries.
The 5th Annual Cat Mountain Station Pet Fair
Glenda the Good Witch was part of a Wizard of Oz group costume that won best in show.
Cat Mountain Station had its 5th Annual Halloween Pet Fair on Sunday, October 26th, 2014. Every year, pets and their companions come out to this event decked out in their most creative costumes and get a chance to interact. There was a raffle, a wheel spin, a face painter, and a pet psychic with all proceeds going to benefit the Hermitage Cat Shelter. We raised $142.00 for this charity!
Our resident face painter showing off his skills to a very happy customer.
A pet psychic came to spread Halloween cheer to our four legged friends.
The biggest draw to our fair was the actual costume contest! Cat Mountain Station had 14 constants, all of which deserved the grand prize.
A Poodle Angel.
A Yorkie Picnic Table.
A Cute Little Devil.
A Skeleton Terrier.
We even had a cat dressed up as a Crayola Crayon! She was a very well behaved cat, considering there were 20 dogs having a party around her.
A Feline Crayon and a Crayola Box. This little girl has so much fun parading around with her cat.
The wining contestant went to The Wizard of Oz cast. We had Dorothy, The Tin Man, The Cowardly Lion, The Scarecrow, Glenda the Good Witch, and even the Wizard himself!
Dorothy and her troupe getting ready to walk in front of the judges.
The Wizard, The Scarecrow, The Cowardly Lion, and The Tin Man all of which are rescued dogs.
Dorothy even had the Wicked Witch of The West following her!
The Wicked Witch of the West following Dorothy and her cast.
All in all, it was a very fun fundraising event. Hope to see you next year!
Cat Mountain Station Blog 