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FRIDAY
got out of the motel 6 and drove into the desert. the mountains in western texas ar quite beautiful. not a lot of traffic but it seems rt 20 is all uphill and with a nasty headwind i was only able to get the truck up to about 60mph. had to stop in Van Horne for gas and saw a giant sign for a cool-ass looking truck stop but when we pulled in it was nothing but a burned out hulk. we stopped anyway and wandered around for a bit. totally cool and totally the sort of place i love. so hurriedly abandoned that there was still a car sitting at the pumps (i wonder if the person who owned the car died in the fire and the car just stayed there). it’s weird the philosophy in the desert seems to be “if it falls down... just leave it there... it’s too expensive to do anything about it.” i wold have liked to explore more but the sky went yellow as the sandstorm we had seen skulking on the horizon blew in with sudden ferocity. jumped in the truck and gassed up at the truck stop that HADN’T burned down and continued on towards El Paso. 
drove thru the mountains, mesa and plateau (is that the plural of plateau?). was awed by the desert landscape. exits off rt 20 that went nowhere. big sky. huge clouds. scrub brush and tumble weed. empty buildings sporting signs for “bar and grill” that were miles from anything... when did people come all the way out here to go to those places? what was it like when they were new. would have liked to explore each one but we stayed on course. stopped in El Paso for lunch. got to see Mexico from the other side of the hi-way. big dirt hill after big dirt hill w/ ramshackle houses and cardboard boxes littering the slopes. looks great. cant wait to visit. 
stopped at one of the giant porno emporiums, the billboards to which had been popping up every few miles or so. too overwhelming. sensory overload. couldnt even figure out where to start. joey got asked by some creepy trucker guy if he wanted to “go out to his truck and watch some movies from his private collection." ha ha. got back on the road... more vast expanses. heading towards johnny’s G’ma’s in Bisbee, AZ. been entertaining myself during my passenger time by reading the Jeff Smith Bone TPBs (johnny has them all). quite, quite good. i was never really interested in the artwork when i flipped thru it in the comic shops...but i was quite pleasantly surprised. the story is incredible so far. stopped off at another touristy truck stop that had a 100yrd old west scene painted on the side all the way down a slat board sidewalk. johnny and joey got caught up in all the crap...as always. i bought a Virginia shot glass. at least it’s useful. made it thru a hi-way checkpoint without a hitch... which is good since devin gave me a little “going away package” which was not very well buried in my bookbag in the tracker. whew. stopped at rt 80 to debate whether johnny could drive another hour and a half on less than a quarter tank down desolate windy mountain roads. decided against it and took rt 191 south instead which added an hour to our trip. 
pulled into the tiny mountain copper-mining town of Bisbee and parked the truck in an alley in what passes for downtown. could hear some bad blues/rock coming from one of the saloons (they are saloons out here... not bars) and decided to check it out while johnny tried to figure out how to find g’mas house. what a weird scene. giant burly guys working the door with a large, angry looking spanish bouncer, a fairly washed up looking older crowd, cowboys, bikers, substitute teachers, weird gypsy women, older yuppies trying to dance to the awful coverband playing “working for a living” by the J Giels Band. but there was also a younger crowd too. a very strange mix of people. chugged a couple beers and entertained ourselves by checking out a fly-ass mexican girl who may or may not have been one of johnny’s cousins. another older lady playing pool instantly pegged joey and i as east coasters. weird that we really stuck out that much. finally johnny came back with one of his cousins and lead us back to the big ass boarding house his G’ma lives in. what a cool ass, huge dilapidated house...just like i like em. i want a full tour in the morning. stayed up and chatted with johnny’s aunt and cousin for a bit and then crashed out on the fold out. tomorrow it’s breakfast with the fam, a quick stop in tombstone and then on to San Diego...whooo! |