No road trip would be memorable, if there weren’t any hiccups along the way.
Sorry for the late post, but yesterday ended with a big ass and well deserved cocktail. I will get to that shortly, but have to share some good stuff first.
We headed out of Jackson 6AM Central time. Grabbed a coffee and Starbucks, and proceeded to the next leg of our journey. I truly recommend that everyone drive across this country, at least, once. I can’t quite explain the feeling, but there is an enlightenment, each state has offered me.
I am an observer and a “people watcher”. I love to chat with people, especially people I don’t know. There is a big difference in the folks out here. There is a slower movement, lot’s of respect and lot’s of kindness. The farther in I get, the more relaxed and tankful I feel, about everything. I don’t want to sound cliche, but it feels very spiritual.
In addition to feeling “spiritual”, I feel very “American”. It’s a virtual documentary. Witnessing the topography change, as we travel state to state. From the green luscious rolling mountains of West Virginia and Tennessee, to the Green meadows and farms of Oklahoma, The windmill farms and tumbleweed in Texola and the beginning of High Desert in Texas. We started our journey 725 feet above sea level, and I compose this post, from my hotel room in Amarillo, at 3712 feet above sea level. Which leads you to the “not so fun” end of our day.
Toddy and I were 20 minutes outside of Amarillo, traveling west on I40. Two lane Interstate, Big ass trailers, a speed limit of 75 and 106 degrees outside the car. My Jeep said, “hell no”, and literally stalled while we were traveling 80MPH on the interstate. Horrified, and I thank God that Todd was driving. He saved our lives with his quick thinking and maneuvers and got us to safety. After I caught my breathe, had my, “WTF” moment, I realized how bad this was. We were on the fine line of the shoulder, with a ravine on one side and trucks breezing by on the other side. Me in flip flops and shorts, 106 degrees, strangers to the area, and not able to remain in our car, we had to cross the ravine to the safety of a service road. For those of you who do not know, Texas has snakes, lots of them. A kind local gentlemen stopped on the service road an gave us the tow trucks phone number and thankfully, our location. There were no signs or landmarks otherwise. Smack in the middle of ranch country, with horses staring at us. Called the tow company and they said it would take 45 minute to get to us. Have you ever stood outside in 106 degrees, no breeze or shelter from the sun? Oh wait, I forgot to mention I had to pee for about an hour before we broke down. I was driven to tears, and then noticed that my flip flops were melting to the ground. At first I thought it was the tar on the road, but it was my flip flops. The gentleman left and another vehicle pulled over, a wonderful couple, travelers like Todd and I. They offered me shelter and air conditioning in their car, I accepted. Todd said later, “I want you to know, I took a picture of their plate, just in case they kidnapped you”. Alas! The tow truck pulled up and we arrived at our hotel with our Jeep on a flatbed. When Todd went to empty the car, that would continue it’s journey to a Jeep dealership, he realized the keys were locked inside. Luckily the tow dude had the right tools and got it open. We hd to regroup, we were not turning back. We waited so long for this trip, could not, would not stop now.
It is June 18th, the day after, as I compose this post. We are still a day ahead of schedule, but will loose a few hours, and get to Sedona a little later today, but still one day early. I secured a rent a car on line, we will cab it to the airport to pick it up and continue on our journey. Mr. Jeep will be gathered on our way back, Todd and I will get lost, somewhere in America.
Here is a cool video of the Windmill Farms we encountered.
Somewhere in America 