Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Jal, NM: Texas 0, Skip 1
Miles since last blog: 34.2
Miles Total: 2701.5
Route
Last night I made it out of Texas. Don't get me wrong, there were a lot of great times and people in Texas, but it was just the mental battle. Texas doesn't just want to hold you there, it wants to break you in the process. I had a few choice words to deliver as I crossed the state line but was too tired to do so. I actually had a dance and several songs choreographed for the occasion in my head but it was a long day, so maybe I'll do it today after lunch. It won't be the same, but the joy of crossing a border and into a new time zone is still pretty fresh.
The day started out with fortune, "in the middle of nowhere" according to the two "bitchen" employees, was a roadside cafe. I sat down and enjoyed breakfast and a free t-shirt courtesy of the girls. From the outside it looked like there was no possible way that this was an open business, but inside the walls were decked with photos of all the 'famous' people that had come through. A few years back it seems an Aussie had even walked through on his walk across the USA. The waitress said she was famous too, locally, then corrected herself to say infamous.
"That's not to hard with a population of one." The other woman said.
Then the wind started kicking up outside and it sounded like the place was about to blow over. 35-40 mph winds were expected for the day. I could have sat all day in the heat, with food and good company but I braved the journey to New Mexico in the wind.
It was a harrowing day. It involved non-existent roads, wind, sand, uphills and at times all of those together for lengthy periods. As I approached the border a Sheriff even stopped me to question me about the tracks I had made across the desert and through a ranchers property after all semblance of roads had left me. I got plenty of video and rather than detail the whole day here I think I'll leave it for the moving picture show portion of my life.
Here I am, New Mexico, and the dark specter of Texas that tried so hard to hold me has been shaken off. I am free to walk again.
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2 comments:
JOY, it must be wonderful to know you DID it, you got the get up going again, and what progress you made in only 3 days!..That cafe sounds like heaven did you give them a photo of you for the Wall of Fame?
Here in SC its overcast and rain is forecasted. The birds are busy with nest preparations and the grass is green...but it pales in comparison to the stark beauty of the desert in any season.
Safe journey today..
I don't know if I would have liked this section of the journey as much. There doesn't seem to be too many coffee shops out there.
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