Texas is a special place for me and Kristanne -- it's where we first met, where we spent a giddy first six months together after I quit my job in California and moved out to be with her, where we first fell in love. There's a special vibe here for both of us, one that can't help but make us want to smile, kiss, and eat barbeque. Everybody needs a little bit of that vibe in their life.
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Unfortunately, it's also damn hot. And more than a little bit humid. There are insects, too, particularly a nasty breed of fire ant that can make you feel like Herve Villechaize is heating up plastic cocktail toothpicks with a Bic lighter and shoving them under your toenails. Ouch. That smarts. |
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Nonetheless, we wanted to get there, and fast. We had originally wanted to visit Big Bend National Park on the Mexican border in Southwest Texas before hitting Austin on the 4th, but in the interest of our continued health, we decided to skip that and head East. We woke up early -- spending the night in a trailer park next to the highway in 100 degree weather will do that to you. After being treated to a repeated demonstration of why 18-wheelers are generally prohibited from using engine brakes within city limits (like the unholy clank and din of the gates of Hades opening and reopening, opening and reopening), we hit the road for Texas. From Socorro, New Mexico. That's a long row, but we were ready to hoe.
As we drove to El Paso, I managed to finish the web page for the day. And El Paso even listed two (count 'em, two) Kinko's within the city limits! Exciting. Thrilling. A vibrancy so positive in nature that we broke out in great eructations of spontaneous laughter. Unfortunately, we darkened their doorways only to find that neither of them had internet access or easily-accessible phone jacks. Heavy bummer, baby.
Luckily, I managed to convince Kristanne that the Airport Holiday Inn on the way out of town might hold the solution to the various ills that were plaguing us. Well, they probably wouldn't have the lunchmeat we so badly needed for our sandwiches, but they just might have a handy phone jack whose use we might be able to purloin for a few chance moments. I cased the joint -- nothing. Kristanne came in and spotted a phone that might work, but a Holiday Inn employee was refusing to get off that phone. I was discouraged. Finally, Kristanne came up with what is a rather novel idea for this Odyssey -- ask someone politely if they could help us out. "Crazy," I said. "Yes," she replied, "but it just might work."
That was all she needed to hear. She leapt into action, inquiring with the front desk as to whether they might have a handy phone jack. The clerk didn't know, but pointed us to her manager, the Kind and Mighty Mike Demore. He was not taken aback by our request at all, but instead directed us to the Holiday Inn's office behind the front desk where he graciously offered us the use of a phone jack for however long we might need it. I was a mite thunderstruck -- there are people this nice in the world? I might have to revamp my whole apocalyptic outlook, sell the doomsday shelter in northern Idaho and invest the money in a nice mutual fund. Something, anyway.
That's Mike next to me, below, as I send the web page up. A big Office Odyssey thank you to Mike and the folks at the Holiday Inn. Hey, it's even the Extreme Shot of the Day!
With the web page done, there was nothing to do but drive. We drove until we stopped, which happened at Enchanted Rock State Recreation Area in Texas' Hill Country. This is a beautiful area, one of our favorites during the brief time we lived in this area. Unfortunately, the campground was not designed for folks like us. All the sites were hike-in sites, if you can use the word "hike" to describe a walk of about 100 yards. Car-camping was against the rules. Luckily, we got in after midnight, so the ranger's rounds were done for the night. So, even though we did get a mild chewing-out in the morning, we at least didn't get kicked out during the night -- a potential disaster given how tired we were. We slept.
Potential disaster aversion notwithstanding, this was a small consolation when it came time to wait the half hour in line it took to pay for our stay the previous night. The lines were not long, either. There were only two folks in front of me when I got in line. Nope -- they just had the most asinine registration system in the world. To camp there, you had to provide all the following:
This was all painstakingly entered into a computer database by people who don't know how to type. I nearly falsified my license plate number when I realized it had a "Q" in it -- I didn't want to wait the five minutes it would take the registrar to find that on his keyboard. Why they needed a social security number to take my payment for camping, I'm not sure. Perhaps they wanted to check my tax records, make sure I could afford the place? Not all that unlikely, I guess, given that fees were a flat $9 per site, plus a whopping $5/person surcharge. That adds up fast.
Check back tomorrow as we descend on Austin for the Fourth!
Total Miles for 7/3 = 724! A new Odyssey record! We don't recommend driving this much to anyone, unless you have the vast emptiness of West Texas to cross.