2/29/04 10:30pm Bedford, TX
As I write this, the Academy Awards are on TV, another event watched by millions of people that echoes the Super Bowl, which just about kicked off my journey. The time between them is bridged in my mind by one of the most memorable experiences I expect to have in my life.
This morning I managed to be on time for breakfast at 8:00am, and it was a delicious, traditional New Mexico breakfast of spicy sausage, eggs, and salsa, with coffee and orange juice. Scott, Steve, and Linda joined Ruth and Carl in sending me off on my last day on the road. This particular road is one I’ve taken before, and one I’m sure I’ll see again soon. (Author’s note: Three weeks later, my parents and I drove it to attend Steve and Linda’s wedding.)
I started off heading east on highway 60, but when I got to highway 41 I decided to use it to reach I-40 faster. The speed limits on those two-lane roads are actually comparable to the interstate, but I still feel like I make better time on the interstate. We’d seen a little snow in Mountainair overnight, and it looked like the rest of eastern New Mexico had as well. Most of the way to Texas, there was a thin layer of white on the ground broken frequently by juniper and saltbush. The wind was blowing steady and strong, and followed me all the way home. In New Mexico, this meant currents of snow blew across the highway, sometimes in a thin stream, sometimes for the length of a football field, but never more than a dusting that was quickly whirled and dissipated by the speeding tires of the hundreds of semis going both directions. I saw one jack-knifed in the median.
Shortly after crossing the border into Texas, the temperature started to rise, the snow disappeared, and it became a beautiful day. The sun was shining and the clouds hung randomly in the sky like pieces of white cotton candy pinned to a blue background. I went through Amarillo again, the only city I saw twice, but didn’t even slow down. It seemed like a more developed place than it had the first time, but I guess I just didn’t notice. I’ll have to see Palo Duro Canyon another time, but at least it’s not far away. (Author’s note: My parents and I stopped and saw it on our way back from the wedding three weeks later. It was quite impressive. We saw a flock of wild turkeys and some deer on the canyon floor.)
The car’s outdoor thermometer was reading in the lower 60’s, but even with the wind it was warm enough to crack my window for some fresh air. At least twice today, that meant smelling a dead skunk not far away. I crossed one almost completely dry creek bed, harboring only a few inches of muddy red water that looked for all the world like the blood of the earth oozing out of a shallow gash. Instead of snow, I started to see motes of dust blowing over the road, only higher and harder, with more depth and obscurity. I thought once I was about to encounter a dust storm, but I passed through it in just a few seconds.
Eventually, just like yesterday, the clouds rolled in to hide the sunset at my back. It’s a straight shot down highway 287 from Amarillo to Fort Worth with nothing but fields of pale grasses on both sides as far as the eye can see, punctuated by the occasional small town or group of cows grazing together, white, black, and brown. I stopped in Chillicothe to look for the historical marker indicated by the familiar brown sign on the side of the road, but couldn’t find any sign of it. The town itself looks like a wreck from the highway, all abandoned buildings leaning at odd angles, windowless, with the wood turning a dull grey, but once you turn down one of the side roads there are some nice houses, a modern school, and a baseball field.
I pulled into the apartment complex about 7:40pm local time, making it about a 9½ hour drive, one of my longer days without a break to examine the surroundings anywhere, but it’s time to wrap this one up, label the pictures and file it away in memory for many happy returns. I hope I’ve learned a few things along the way, but one thing I suspected from previous travels overseas proved just as true here in the continental U.S.: people everywhere are more alike than they are different. They are almost uniformly honest, decent, and generous, even travelers in a strange place, far from friends and family. They have respect for the people they’re sharing their home territory with and each other, but they’re not afraid to take a risk when the circumstances make the rewards worth it. I didn’t witness a single act of violence in the past month, whether I was staying in a posh casino or a seedy red light district, but I did witness and receive many acts of kindness. I attribute this to the inherent morality exhibited by all but a few, regardless of race, color, or creed. It’s easy to make new friends anywhere if you’re not afraid. I’m going to endeavor to do this at every opportunity in the future, and I encourage everyone else to do the same. The world is a big place, and sometimes we need all the help we can get. If we move forward together, we have a greater chance of making our dreams come true.
P.S. In case you’re interested, here are a few numbers:
Total miles driven: 7,061
Total rolls of film: 20
Total pictures that came out: 500
Total money spent: $3,111.32
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