On this last trip off of the boat(s), I took a little road trip. A dear friend decided that her hiatus had come to an end and it was time to move back to Los Angeles. She decided that if she was going to drive her soul and belongings back, why not make it interesting- thus the planning began. Because of my unique situation- life in 20/10 day increments and the fact that it had been too long since I had been to LA- I volunteered.
Sarah left Grand Rapids and picked me up in Chicago, whereupon during a coffee excursion 20 minutes later I realized I forgot my wallet. Luckily we were still in the general vicinity and stopped by Brandon’s apartment once again. Good Start.
We descended on Indiana, then Kentucky stopping regularly for gas and restroom breaks. Through Indianapolis then Louisville. In (I think) Cover City we met a new friend..
We arrived in Nashville around 730 pm meeting a mutual friend and one of my favorite people in the world at his apartment. His parents were in town visiting and in addition to meeting them, we met Ryan’s new life partner, Lincoln.
We went out for drinks, caught up and reminisced of our shared lives in Orlando. Got hit on by married women and I tried breaking dartboards with Nolan Ryan speed. It was almost a hundred degrees- the entire time.
Ryan Tracy, we love you.
We left the next morning catching traffic outside of Memphis and into Arkansas. I either was too hungover or not interested enough to take any pictures at this point, so for that I am sorry. (Just image a lot of trees, that’s what I’ll remember.) We headed towards Louisiana as we left Little Rock and then corrected our path towards my home state of Texas. When we reached Texarkana it was nightfall. We stopped at a McDonalds for some coffee where we were met with great conversation.
“Don’t sweep peoples feet with a broom, honey. That’s bad luck. The last time- I uh- somebody swept my feet I was in jail by the end of the day”
We headed through the vast state of Texas to San Antonio arriving at my parents house around 4 or 5 in the morning. I, by some luck, delivered us there by taking roads that sounded familiar. Sarah kept quiet but we both knew she thought that I was lost. I may as well of been.
We stayed the day catching up on sleep and Sarah, a sunburn later on the Guadalupe river. As we were heading back to the house, the radio crapped out. I researched and switched and replaced fuses, but my failed attempts couldn’t revive the stereo. Obviously with out an explanation- you know how grave a situation like this is. After an hour or so I gave up to cook dinner and we planned the rest of the trip.
We left San Antonio the next morning and headed towards the nothingness that is west Texas, all the while listening to music via a laptop.
We stopped in Ft Stockton to charge the laptop and eat at IHop, which saddly enough was probably one of our more nourishing meals. We had some Walmart fun and stopped at Auto Parts stores in search of a relay for the Jeep’s stereo. No dice. While at walmart Sarah bought a cigarette lighter converter to charge the computer. Sometime after being stopped by State Troopers about 100 miles from El Paso, she rigged an ihome alarm clock on the center console so we could listen to my ipod. Good Job Sarah Joe. She saved the day.
When we finally made it out of Texas we stopped outside of Las Cruces to meet yet another friend…
We headed for Tuscon as the sun was making its way directly in front of my line of sight. The desert is such an awesome place to be at sundown..
We made it to Tucson around 8pm and called it a day. Headed into a steak house in the parking lot of our motel for a drink with some locals. The entire time I had said I wanted to stay at something similar to a Bate’s Motel. The Lazy 8 was somewhat of a compromise but great none the less.
We woke around 8.30 am. Sarah and I grabbed some coffee and ascended upon Phoenix for lunch. Then on to LA. I regret not taking more photos, especially while in LA. As much as the long drives killed I was sad to see it end. And I was sad to then leave Los Angeles.
When I got on the plane yesterday to head back to Chicago, I felt a sense of euphoria. Something like accomplishment but not on a specific level, on all levels. It’s hard to describe what a trip like that means to me and how much it was needed. It was freedom. It was a refresher course on living.
More pictures to come… getting film developed is going to be pretty tough seeing how I’ll be gone for the next 20 days.
Love,
A
