What is the Spanish for ‘Happy New Year’ again?!?
Day 111 Monday
Chuidad Juarez
New years Eve was a quiet day for me, once again I phoned the insurance places which were closed and the family took us all out to lunch, to a Steak house…. Maybe I should repeat I don’t eat meat a little louder, although I thought we were going for Tacos… I slobbed around until the evening watching Mexican Soaps with Grandma (and switching to Seinfeld when she went to the bathroom) and not getting much done. People started arriving so I went for a shower and changed my clothes to something less ‘backpackery’ and when I came down there were 2 Mexican guys in white shirts serving drinks to everyone. Posh!! They didn’t give the maid a night off though which was something of a shame… New Years Eve was just like Christmas really, drinking, snacks, some songs on the piano, someone brought a guitar and no one could find the right channel at midnight to do the countdown. I was handed 12 grapes which I was apparently supposed to eat as the clock counted down the seconds but I was probably the only person who finished them completely, but then Im a tourist. I then set off attempting to wish everyone else a happy new year but should probably have sat in one spot and let them come to me because everyone set off around the house trying to hug everyone as quickly as possible. More smoking and drinking commenced but I grabbed Raphi’s ipod and watched Superbad with Dani which would have been a much better option the day before. Quite hilarious! Mc Lovin!!!!! :p
Tags: christmas, grapes, tea, backpack, white shirts, new year, set, ears, TravelI am a Leg End!
Day 110 Sunday
El Paso, Tx
That night I had gotten my camping mats out and slept away from the kitchen table. All the events in Ruidoso needed to be explained to the rest of the family that were left behind and they were chatting, laughing and smoking long into the night. I tried calling some insurance places in El Paso but they were all closed, although I did get a few addresses. I gave my parents a much overdue call and then Dani and I went back into the States to go shopping. The border wasn’t too bad, although they did take my Organic eggs. As if you can get those in Mexico! I couldn’t complain and off we went. I was looking for a small computer to replace the hopelessly crap one I had, an Asus EEE which is a tiny thing and rather cheap but after checking multiple stores couldn’t find one anywhere. So much for the American Shopping Sensation! In circuit city they had a sale on and had 14″ laptops for only $500 which was pretty good and go me thinking….
I dropped Dani off with her mother-in-law and instructed her to get as much free stuff from her as possible while I went geek shopping on my own. I didn’t do much as I found a free wifi spot and spent most of the time chatting to Miriam on Skype. She was getting excited now by her looming trip to Europe and had bought her ticket. She still couldn’t find her passport though which might be a problem. I’m sure she’ll work it out. I picked up Dani and we went off for a nice Indian meal and then went to the cinema. Why is it that Will Smith takes classic novels and manages to pervert them into a action flick? Like ‘I, Robot’ before it, ‘I Am Legend’ was only loosely based on the novel of the same name and managed to pack in machine guns and hand grenades aplenty. Fun, but ultimately puerile. 6/10.
Tags: mother in law, possiblity, laptop, camping, india, multiple stores, circuit city, asus eee, organic eggs, parents, crap, heap, passportThe road back to Mexico
Day 109 Saturday
El Paso, Tx
I don’t quite know how they all managed to accumulate so much stuff but it was everywhere and we were supposed to be leaving at 11am. It said so on the door, check out at 11am or have a $25 fine charged to your credit card. I think they justified it by saying the house wasn’t ready at 2pm when we arrived and hence we could check out late. I’m not sure how they justified ignoring the big ‘no smoking’ sign on the door but they did. Typically the woman from the office came to see if we had checked out and collared me by the front door. I said I would hurry them along and we finally left at 12.30pm. It was a long drive back to El Paso but I missed the fact that we wouldn’t be heading back there but instead were going tubing. Short snow covered slope meet fat American on a rubber ring. Sounded like a $20 waste of money, one I didn’t even have to pay for myself but still I refused. The queue was horrendous and it was cold, I would rather sit in my warm car fixing little things. I took my steering column apart and found that the connection to the wheel buttons had popped out. 2 minutes work meant I could now use my cruise control again and most importantly, my horn! That saved me $30 at a Mexican car place I’m sure.
When I had gotten through dismantling my cup holder in a futile search for a missing memory car I went searching for the tubers. Seems they had gotten about 3 goes each after 2 hours of standing around, plus 30 minutes waiting to pay and sign the disclaimer forms. What a rip-off. Just go find some rubber rings and a small hill, why pay $20 to be frustrated. Hopefully now we could get going, but instead of hitting the road we went for something to eat. I thought the ‘Still Smokin’ BBQ’ place was sweetly ironic since that’s all the women in the group had done all week but it still didn’t help me find something to eat. The place was packed to the rafters with blackened meat and I simply smiled when they all asked me if I wasn’t getting something to eat. I just couldn’t be bothered to remind them for the umpteenth time I didn’t eat meat. At least we got the kids in the car for the trip back and could listen to some nice music again. I felt bad back in El Paso for all my negative thoughts when they presented me with a Ruidoso T-shirt for my patience on the ski fields. I had a great time overall, they were all warm and friendly, I just wish I understood more of what was going on and they wouldn’t all smoke so much :p
Now we were supposed to go back to Mexico for New Years but I was paranoid about the border and accidents. If I had a crash I would be in serious trouble and no matter how much they all tried to reassure me I didn’t know if my insurance was valid. I rang my emergency number but the guy was less than useless in answering my questions. If I didn’t go back to Mexico, what then? I didn’t have much choice so I reluctantly went back over the border and hoped nothing would happen. I was a fool for risking it the first time but I was hardly helping by doing it again. It was late, I was tired and hungry, besides, everyone wouldn’t fit inside just one car. At least I could set my cruise control on ‘really slow’ and keep my foot hovered over my brake now! :p
Tags: crash, rubber rings, queue, choices, money, disclaimer forms, new year, smile, american, eat meat, great time, futile search, apartmentSki Apache
Day 105
Ruidoso, New Mexico
Only 4 of us were brave enough to head out that morning but I had already bought my lift pass the previous afternoon so I really didn’t have a choice. I tried to tell someone that they could do with a lesson but I wasn’t getting through, maybe it was my lack of Spanish skills. We got up to the slope and it was snowing now, usually a good sign but I wasn’t equipped for cold. I passed out the hot hand packets and hope my charges would make it through the day, it was -5 and I was with 3 Mexicans! I would be lucky if they didn’t all die of exposure. I decided the best policy was to keep them moving, so set them off on the very very green run we had been doing the previous day. They did it with no problems but then I saw the queue for the lifts. I left them queuing and skied back UP the slope and got there faster than them. There were only 4 lifts open, all the top runs were closed and the gondola would only take sightseers up. What the hell was I doing here?? I scoped lift 4 and it seemed to be quieter with a ride to a long green run. That was the plan, I got them moving up to lift and we waited and waited. When we finally got to the front I took Stephi up as she hadn‘t been on a lift before, and we somehow made it off without falling over before seeing Dani come up and not get off before jumping off at 2 meters! I nearly had a heart attack. I then saw Raphi come up and fall over before he left the chair! Then I looked down the run and saw this green was so blue you could use it to hide the Blue Man Group! With 3 beginners!
I thought it was too late to put them back on the chair and if I had know how long it would have taken me to get down I probably would insisted they put them on the lift but once we got started it was too late. I told Raphi to snow plough over to the main run and he said ‘what’s a snow plough?’. I then realised he had only been a couple of times when he was 6! I have no idea what he was doing the day before but Dani and Stephi managed to get over to the run and start going down, but Raphi didn’t even know how to stop. Everytime he moved he turned, went backwards and then fell over. If he got any speed up he would probably kill himself, or worse, someone else. I had argued for proper lessons the previous day but my concerns fell on deaf ears. I was the only skier but obviously I didn’t know what I was talking about… The slope was far too steep to get down safely but the girls were slowly moving down, I had to concentrate on Raphi. I made him hold my pole and tried to get him to slide down on the sides of his skis. It seemed to take forever… I would have skied down in 2 minutes but it took more than 30 minutes of falls and frustration.
When I was done I pointed them at the easy slope and went off to find a proper green, but first I stood in the line for the other blue run, I needed to work out some of the stress of anchoring a beginner down a blue run so no one would get hurt. Only 4 lifts open and the place was packed. They had a line for single skiers but far too many lifts were going up with only 1 person and there were no ropes to divide the skiers. After the ease and speed of skiing in Canada I was sorely disappointed by the American experience. I didn’t understand why so few lifts were open! At least the ticket price was reduced but I didn’t think I got any kind of value for money for the day. I wanted to be skiing and keeping warm but instead I was waiting for an inefficient lift. I found a nicer green for the others and directed them onto it, now with the slope being less scary I was able to give them some tips and advise, but I’m not sure an Englishman instructing 3 Mexicans was the best plan. :p
The slopes were full of Texans but there was non of the chat I enjoyed while skiing in Whistler. Going up on a long lift and talking to the people I was sitting with was always great but I didn’t get any of that in Ruidoso. I guess I wasn’t having a very good day :p It didn’t take too long for Stephi and Raphi to give up and go to find some warmth while Dani and I did a last run but I was tired of waiting for 30 minutes in line for 2 minutes fun. One days skiing gave me about 7 runs down which was hardly sufficient and left a bad taste in my mouth for American Skiing but at least I had some time back on the slopes, possibly my only chance this trip, although I suspect there is some good skiing in South America. I certainly hoped so.
Up to the ski fields/3 lifts open/no gondola/another lesson/blue not a green run
Tags: mexico, dani, choices, girls, american, blue man group, ski apache, Travel, scoped, chairs, hadn, mexicans, ruidoso, moneySkiing in the States
107 Thursday Ruidoso, NM
Lilys brother slept downstairs in the living room and woke up me up a couple of times moaning and talking. It sounded very weird! Everyone eventually dragged themselves up and stated the purpose of today was to go skiing. That sounded fine but when you looked outside there was no snow… I dressed myself up in all my appropriate clothes, such as they were and piled the teenagers into the back and headed up to the mountain. At least we had an hour of decent music on the way. We followed the winding road and a few cars and at around 2pm we made it to the Ski Apache field. There was snow, not a massive amount, but most of the lifts were shut. It certainly felt cold enough to go skiing. I wasn’t going to bother but Dani‘s dad offered to pay for my gear for the day so I had a dilemma. The lifts were due to close in an hour or so, so a half day lift pass would probably be a waste of money, by the time we got our gear sorted. I said I would give everyone a ski lesson and we got kited out. It was pretty much a waste of time though, it was about -6 degrees, no one was wearing the right clothes, or even enough of the wrong ones. We were going 50m down a slope and then having to walk back up. Stephi and Dani were doing surprisingly well though, I didn’t watch Raphi since he said he had been several times before. We did about an hour and gave up and went for hot chocolate.
On the way back we went via the local Indian Reservation Casino, more for a look than to gamble, but it looked just as crazy as the vegas ones. I should know better but a Star Wars slot machine caught my eye and before I knew it I had blown another 6 dollars on 2 spins of the wheels. It was the only way to win the $1.5m prize, but I’m a sucker and after 2 spins with multiple chances to win at least something I got nothing out of it. What worse is that I didn’t have any change so put $20 in knowing I could cash out and get a redeemable voucher. When I came to get my $14 back the stupid machine broke and we then stood around for 20 minutes waiting for someone to give me back my $14. I’m never gambling again!
Tags: slot machine, dilemma, money, dad, wheels, ski lesson, 5m, wheelChristmas Day
Day 105Â Juarez Mexico
After the excitement of Christmas eve the next day was quite a lot more relaxed. We all watched TV, I finally signed up to Skype and called my parents in the UK. My brother finally officially asked me to be his best man, so it looks like I’ll be taking a break from the road in May. We were going back in the States the following day to visit a nearby ski resort and my vehicle was required so Dani and I tided it up somewhat and moved some of the more useless stuff into the house to make some room. Some people came back in the evening to drink more tequila but at least I didn’t have to sleep on the sofa again, someone had a room at the holiday inn in Juarez they weren’t using so we went and crashed out there. We had to be back at 8am sharp though as we were going to get an early start! Don’t be lazy and don’t be late!
Merry Christmas!
Tags: ski resort, best man, dani, mexico, christmas, watched tv, crash, holiday inn, excitement, sleep, juarez, christmas dayMexican Christmas
Day 104 : Juarez Mexico
It was Christmas Eve, my favourite time of the year…. Not. Its not that I hate Christmas but I think that its been perverted by capitalism. I’m not a Christian but I’m expected to celebrate it non the less. Sure there should be a time in the year for families to come together and give out gifts but why should it be the day that Jesus was supposedly born for non-Christians. Atheists should swap out Halloween and Christmas, give out gifts at he end of October to each other and dress up as zombies in December. Seems like much more fun. After completing so many miles the previous day we only had a short hop ahead of us into El Paso. The sun was shining as it always does and we followed the signs for the highway. Just on the intersection there was a guy with a cowboy hat, a guitar case and a big smile holding out his thumb. Getting Daniella‘s opinion first we pulled over to pick up the hiker…..
Tags: el paso, seat, dani, desire, highways, mexicans, carpark, ella, guitar case, pervert, buddies, backpack, smile, sofa, photographs, mexicoSurprise! You have diarrhea!
Day 103:Arizona
As tempting as it was to stay longer in the amazing hot bed of vice and sin we had to get a hustle on back to Texas for Christmas. I was looking forward to my first Christmas in America, despite the fact I didn’t eat turkey I’m sure it was going to be a great traditional time of the year! We said goodbye to Chad through the bathroom door (Leon was off hiking again somewhere) and took the interstate back through the heart of Darkness to the freedom of the desert. We had to negotiate the Hoover Dam once again which was gridlocked with people desperate to get away from Vegas. Helicopters filled the skies overhead like carcinogenic belching dragonflies, $28 a flight the signs proclaimed but when you got there it was really $58 to see the dam. I can imagine the childrens tears as their daddy tells them he’s too cheap to spend another $30! We sat in the jam practicing my terrible Spanish over the buzzing of the propellers.
Tags: checks, pizza, stupid mistake, dragonflies, beds, hot bed, mistake, traditional time, pineapple, mexicans, stupidity, heart of darkness, deserts, ghost townsThe Heart of Darkness
Day 102: Las Vegas
That morning Leon had disappeared off to some hiking place in the nearby mountains and we had a city to explore. He had furnished us with maps and some suggestions but the first thing we wanted was some food. We headed to Chinatown and after a wander around found a nice Thai place to get lunch. This was the nicest meal of the trip so far, we both agreed and since it was Vegas it was pretty cheap. Further into town we started looking for a place to park and drove back into the strips gridlock. We were surrounded by posh shiny new cars and we were sitting in a 10 year old minivan which was still covered with the mud from Monument Valley. I wasn’t embarrassed, I just wished I had my website name on the side :p We took a few wrong turns and ended up by the Sahara and decided to park there. All the casinos have free parking but we had chosen the one furthest from all the others which wasn’t so smart, but I needed the walk since I was getting lazy and we hiked down into town. I wondered how long the $50 I had allocated to my gambling would last….
Tags: nearby mountains, place of heartbreak, decider, money, sahara, maps, cranes, crap, sun, souvenier, daniella, white knuckles, laziness, deserts, minivan, montreal, visaSanta Rampage!
Day 101:Las Vegas
We went back to Macys for breakfast and had some nice waffles and oatmeal for breakfast. We figured it was about 5 hours to Las Vegas give or take and we would gain an hour at the Nevada border. A guy called Leon had replied to our couchsurfing requests but made the offer on the provision we would come out to the Las Vegas Santa invasion with him. Since I missed the one in Austin this was fine by me, and might help to keep me out of the casinos… :p The walls at Macys were covered with prints from a local photographer, I was amazed anyone could charge $2300 for essentially a large poster. I guess you can tell I wasn’t overwhelmed by the pictures. Certainly not for that much, but I guess if he can charge that much people might pay it. On the way to Vegas we went looking for a ‘Ghost Town’. There is a website dedicated to such places and after checking for somewhere on the way we went to a place called Chromium or Chlorine or something. After bouncing down a bumpy dirt road for 15 minutes we found a normal town. There were even people! So much for the Ghost towns of the west. Tempting as it was to kill a few locals to try to make it a bit more authentic time was pressing and we had to get a move on. No one else had offered us a place to stay so it looked like we would be getting santafied tonight.
Did you hear about the dyslexic devil worshipper?
He sold his soul to Santa….
What a Grand 100th day!
Today marked the hundredth day of my trip and was also the day I would finally get to see the Grand Canyon which always appears near the top of all the spectacular travel lists in the world. We even managed to get up reasonably early since we would be driving and walking around all day. The sun shone but there was a chill in the air which would only get deeper. We scoffed our bran flakes in the room and went off to discover the next great American State park. Daniella really isn’t a very good navigator, I had put in a random road for the town by the park village and was following those directions and we passed the turning for the south rim without me seeing it. Dani did say something but then waited for another 50 miles before mentioning that we had probably gone past the turning. The random road was the highway that leads to the village and I had obviously messed up but she should have more forcefully told me I had passed the junction. Oh well, cursing our dual doziness we had to turn around and head back. More time wasted we could be spending in the canyon though. At the junction we stopped for coffee and m&m’s. As I’m getting in the car a woman pulls up and tells me that the coffee I had just bought isn’t very good and I should be buying it from the coffee place just around the corner. Apparently they make it with ground water. Great. Thanks for telling me I wasted my $1.20! Like I’m now going to tip it away and go buy some more…..
Tags: morning joe, canyons, sleep, stomach, tourists, south rim, american, peace, rush, moneys, walmart, traveller99:Tuba City, Az:Shiprock, 4 Corners, Monument Valley, getting covered in shite…
This part of New Mexico was pure desert, mostly flat when we started out in the morning but we could see a massive rocky mountain looming on the highway as we drove towards it. Checking the map identified it as Shiprock and it looked like a mass of sails towering into the sky. I will have to Google it sometime, but my guess it the remains of a volcano. The state park where the 4 States meet was close by now and we were happy to learn we wouldn’t have to pay the normal $3 entry fee as it was a holiday. Why anyone would want to go there and pay to have their picture taken surrounded by a circle of souvenir shops… I don’t know. 90% of the stalls were closed though so we grabbed our pictures and got the hell out of there. The Grand Canyon was getting close now just another day away and the scenery became more rugged and dramatic. Shiprock was a just a taste of monument valley further up the road. I should look at the map a bit more I guess but that wasn’t my job any more. We drove slowly through a huge valley of dramatic rocks erupting from the red dust, flecked with snow that hadn’t quite melted.
Tags: tires, scenery, seat, checks, traffic, tuna, pumps, map, freedom, souvenir shops, bikes, seals, brakes, sails, rocky mountain, curse, possiblity98:Farmington:Keep on keeping on…
We had to get a move on, the Grand Canyon was so near now and we still had to get to El Paso for Christmas so after a late brunch with Mike we filled up with the cheapest gas of the trip so far ($2.66) and carried on west. We chose to head away from the easier Interstate and head towards the only place where 4 US States meet. It might be worth a photograph or two… We both had lots of laundry to do so we stopped quite early in Famington and tied up the washing machines for a few hours and sat watching Seinfeld on cable. Getting a hotel without wifi was a mistake!
Tags: Travel, el paso, brunch, wifi, grand canyon, seinfeld, washing machines97:Santa Fe, Nm:Day trippin’ in the cold mountains.
Santa Fe is an artists town and I had now realized this was where Mel-Mel was based but since she was now enjoying herself in Thailand wouldn’t be available for drinks. The place is full of galleries but we weren’t looking to buy a load of paintings, we’d rather concentrate on seeing something cheap. We took Mikes suggestion and had a drive up to Taos which was a small road with lots of character and spectacular scenery. Heading north we finally arrive in town which was coated in a light covering of snow and pulled up to the tourist information place for some maps and ideas of things to do. There was plenty of suggestions but highest on the list was the local Pueblo where the local Indian people live in traditional dwellings still. There was also the 3rd highest suspension bridge in the US nearby as well as drives around the snow capped mountains and trips up to the local ski fields. It looked like they we about to have a good season too but we were hardly prepared for skiing. That would have to wait.
Tags: suspension bridge, mel mel, santa fe group, mud houses, wanderings, bread ovens, frozen stream, thailand, ski fields, tourists96:Santa Fe, Nm:Too cold for art.
I wasn’t going to make the same mistake I did at the dinosaur park and we paid up our $14 pronto before they called in the feds and we headed back to Roswell, intending to go to the museum. I also intended to get a photo of me standing by the city limits sign with a plastic bowl dangling on a piece of fishing wire as I cowered in terror but we somehow drove past it on the way. There was always the one on the way out though. We went back to the coffee shop to make some couchsurfing requests for the next stop, Santa Fe. We didn’t hold out much hope since it was pretty late in the day already but we crossed our fingers and left town, not even bothering about the museum. I guess that was one mystery that would have to remain unsolved for us. Terrible tourists.
We had put my bike on the roof and it constantly flapped in its tarpaulin, buying a load more bungee cords didn’t help either so when the noise got too much it went back in the back, quieter and better for the gas consumption. I haven’t even ridden it for a mile either, tragic. We looked for the city limit sign on the way out but couldn’t find it this time either so that’s a photo that will have to wait until I go back one day. We got an text from a guy called Mike as we drove up to Santa Fe offering us a place to stay for a couple of nights so it looked like we wouldn’t be sleeping in the walmart car park again for a while. We thought it prudent to wait and check his profile before we said ok and we stopped to steal some wifi and found 2 more people offered us a place to stay. Even better. We ended up going with Mike in any case and one of the other guys suggested we try to arrange a meal out in town the next night. Seems they don’t get too many visitors, especially ones as fascinating as us!
Mike was busy working on editing his cousins novel so didn’t have time to take us out to explore the town but gave us a few ideas for dinner. He lived in a small condo complex with another girl so we dumped our stuff in the living room and went out to check out the infamous Santa Fe. Its about 7,000 feet above sea level and it was cold. Very cold. We parked up near a group of bars and went for a walk. It turned out to be a very short walk as within 5 minutes we were desperate to get inside to get warm. We ended up going into the Cowgirl which is a popular bar, but they had lots of vegetarian options on the menu so I was perfectly happy with that. I had some great quesadillas and despite constant warnings of the level of spiciness am not really finding Mexican food too hot on the tastebuds. We went back to Mikes and there I found Dani had never seen Taxi Driver. Well that would never do so we sat and watched Bob DeNiro go slowly insane on Mikes big TV.
Tags: photo, couchsurfers, couchsurfer, fishing, couchsurfing, bungee cords, novel95:Roswell, Nm:The truth *is* out there, but I’d rather sit in the warm drinking coffee…
We woke up in the wal-mart car park feeling like we’d been abducted by freaks. Stumbling into the bathroom for a wash and teeth clean the people in Carlsbad looked liked they’d been breeding with Aliens or something. I’m guessing we might have looked just as weird to them but I’ve never seen such a sorry bunch of hill-billies in my life. Shallow faced, slack jawed, limp haired crazy folk wandering around pushing trolleys full of plastic from china. I needed a coffee if I was to escape this episode of the twilight zone I had strayed into. Carlsbad is famed for its caves. Huge caverns formed millions of years ago and only just discovered. Massive natural cathedrals of rock filled with natural wonders and formations of lime, stretching for miles into the earth. We got to the exit of the car park and neither of us could be bothered. Sod the caves, let’s go look at imaginary Aliens in Roswell!! :p
Tags: teeth, coffee, freaks, crazy folk, electricity, Travel, wal mart
94:Carlsbad:The end of the road?
When I got up my headache was still throbbing in my skull but at least I could see and think straight, everytime I bent over my forehead would feel like my brain was trying to slosh out of my head. Still I had a job to do and it was the last day of my crazy writing tour of the South, one final line south and then the road to victory north. Daniella would finally be free to direct me as she would, preferably somewhere warm. We left Ozona temporarily to head down towards Mexico but before we made it to the Rio Grande I did a u-turn and the final line was in the making. Could you see my trip from space I have been asked? Probably not, but then it depends on how many pixels wide it was.
Tags: rio grande, beds, set, google, sun, blog, atm, rocks, subway, cold clouds, scrubland, wind turbines, weather, maps, logs93:Ozona, Tx:Evil Cake!
The sun came out in the morning but it wasn’t enough to turn the car into an oven like it would in Florida and get us up. We filled her up in San Angelo and determined that today would be the end of my groundwriting and we would be free to go where ever we wanted. First we had the stupid A to complete and after a slight cock up on my part we had missed part of the bottom and it meant we would be driving part of the route we had driven the night before. Driving down the same road 3 times because of some strange obsession seemed a bit stupid, but its only gas and time. I spotted a good place for some pictures on the way back and we ended up back on the 88 south passing through Paint Rock (the gate was now closed) and past Eden (the sandwich shop was open, but we weren’t interested) before heading on the way back up to San Angelo.
Tags: windmill, san angelo, paint, second time, shana, beds, cock, campsite92:Somewhere in the heart of Texas:Im not going to Graceland, in Memphis Tennessee
The weather was shockingly bad when we woke up, rainy and very cold. We had been watching the weather reports and it looked like the front of snow would just miss us but we still had a few miles north to go. We left Abilene and followed the road until it was time to go east at Haskell, abandoning my original route. It was grey and dull, and we stopped in Newcastle to have a coffee and a sit down. Bad mistake. The coffee was awful, the people eating the ‘food’ looked like they had escaped from a mental institute but we amused ourselves by reading the local paper which was 4 pages of drivel and trying to make the tiny amount of milk the waitress gave us fit into 4 coffees. ‘Y’all come back now’ she mumbled as we left. I think I would rather die.
Now I had the horribly boring job of driving the 50 miles back to Haskell and onto finish the T in trousers which I set to with a dull resignation. Graceland would have to wait.
Tags: haskell, graceland, locals, waxing moon, jayton, newcastle, stupidity, traveller, weather reports, trousers, boring job, carpark, set91:Abilene Tx:Time to face the music…
We were woken by the rangers truck. I sank deeper into my sleeping bag and advised Daniella to pretend to be asleep. He only stuck a thing on the window though reminding us to pay before 9am. I doubted we would be that efficient. After breakfast, showers and the long overdue washing of my cooking gear we went over to the office to face the music. I was slightly concerned when they said ‘we were just talking about you’ and expected to be tazered or worse for my previous crime so I quickly explained I had driven off without paying at the previous place and they could hardly believe it. Hardly believe that I was owning up to it, its apparently a very common occurrence. They called the other park up while they took my details and payment for the night before and I then had a nice chat with the ranger about what to do. He gave me the address of the head office and said I should send the money with my details and they would sort it out. He also advised me that I could have been arrested but that they didn’t link the park information so if I hadn’t said anything they never would have known. He was extremely impressed that I ‘fessed up. Apparently they have lots of people doing the same at the South Llano River Park too.
Tags: daniella, deserts, welcome reappearance, sun, open 24 hours, decider, fear90:Junction:7 letters done, 7 to go…
I looked out of the hotel window and could have sworn I was back in the UK. It had been raining and the sun was no where to be seen It was cold and miserable. Bleh. No time to sit around moaning and no chance to jump on a plane to warmer climes, I had a stupid route to complete and by god I was going to do it. Passing by the rollercoasters in Six Flags again we drove for quite a while on the Interstate before turning south towards Junction a couple of hundred miles away. We stopped for some greasy breakfast in a pretty seedy truck stop café and I hoped this wasn’t going to be a feature in the trip now Daniella was along for the ride for a while but she was as unimpressed as I was. At least I finally found out what ‘biscuits’ are, kind of like a scone. You see them advertised everywhere so its nice to know.
Tags: madness, sun, scone, Travel, trip west, rain, bleh, biscuits, hotel window, sleep, money, map, cars, set, highways, bad weather89:Dallas:Picking up the passenger
I didn’t get an early night in any case and couldn’t get to sleep until about 3am. I had started reading His Dark Materials again and that kept me up later than I should have. I managed about 10am which was potentially too late but I wasn’t going to kill myself getting up to Dallas. I packed up my gear, gave Josh a hug and set off first east to continue the loop of the O towards Houston and then onwards to Dallas. It was a pretty unremarkable drive, slightly overcast but the temperature was a sweaty 28 degrees. The traffic was light as usual but as I turned North and past Huntsville the clouds piled up and the temperature started dropping along with some rain. It seemed it was the end of my luck with the weather and I watched it drop and drop, into the teens and then down to 4 degrees, the coldest since Huntersville a couple of weeks before but at least there the sun was shining. I can’t really complain that I had 89 days of great weather and it should finally get cold in December. I was intending to swing further to the east to make the letter O more defined but in the end I thought it more prudent to stick to the I-45 North to get to the airport at a reasonable time. Daniella was due in at 4.30pm and after driving for 6 hours or so, stopping only for coffee and gas I made it to a chilly Dallas-Fort Worth airport with 20 minutes to spare. Finally a passenger for my Gringo Taxi!
Tags: Travel, pizza, dark materials, photos, clouds, weather, coffee, hell, map, mexicans, traffic