I left Sydney almost 2 weeks ago, flying from Sydney to Dallas. That’s a direct flight on Qantas, supposedly the longest direct flight in the world. It was almost 16 hours of flying. Luckily I managed to sleep through most of it, and clock into Dallas time on arrival easily. I was also lucky as I got upgraded to First. In my humble opinion, not any much better than Business.
I flew into Dallas to visit my cowboy friends who moved from North West Arkansas to a small town west of Dallas, called Weatherford (remember my last year’s drive in the mid-West?). My visit to Texas also included a brief stop in other small towns like Stephenville and Granbury where I accompanied Ritchie on cowboy errands. Like the last time I visited Ritchie, I was a champion in the eating arena – BBQ meats galore! Unfortunately, I have also started to re-addict myself to the charms of Dr Pepper, which is hard to get in Sydney, but is everywhere here in the States. Unlike the last visit though, I didn’t manage to get on a horse. Next time, I promise there will be more stories of real cowboy adventuring (or mis-adventures as will be in my case)!
Weatherford was the gateway to the start of another rambling
drive through the “fly-over” States of the US, this time only through Texas and
New Mexico. I initially wanted to drive
down to the border town of El Paso. This
is the town where the US version of the Danish/Swedish drama “The Bridge” is
set. I also wanted to see the Mexican
border gates, which we see so often in movies and tv shows. But alas, my friends were concerned for my
safety and convinced me to only go as far SW as Odessa, TX.
Odessa is an old oil town much like the one that the movie
“The Giant” is set (which was further south and nearer to the Mexican border –
the town called Marfa). Surprisingly, it
also has an airport called the Midlands Air and (wait for it..!) Space
Port. The other main claim to fame is
that it has a faithful replica of Stonehenge in the middle of the university
campus. I have pictures to prove it –
just ask!
From Odessa, I drove north into New Mexico, stopping at a
town close to the TX/NM southern border called Carlsbad. The Carlsbad Caverns are a natural wonder
which is worth a visit if you find yourself in that part of the world. The caves show various stalagmites and
stalactites, rock bubbles, caves and other strange cave and rock
formations. A truly spectacular sight to
see and well worth the detour. Caution,
though – accommodation is pretty expensive for what you get.
From Carlsbad I drove north into Roswell, pure out of
curiosity. The main drag through the
city is peppered with UFO-related shops, museums and curios. Even the street lamps are made to look like
aliens! If you find yourself in Roswell
and are looking for a tasty burger lunch, I recommend Toddzilla’s Mobile Burger
food truck. It is was pretty
awesome! I had the Zilla Burger, which
was a double patty prime beef (12 oz) with chilli, muenster cheese, pico de
gallo and bacon mayonnaise (!!!) which came with a truly awesome side of chips. It was so good that I followed it up with the
Chicken burger, which is made with minced chicken mixed in with bacon. Seriously!
Such a great idea!!!! Sigh… happy
food coma.
With sticky hands and a full stomach, I kept going to Santa
Fe, the arts community town of New Mexico.
There, I visited the Town Plaza as well as several interesting art
galleries including the Georgia O’Keefe gallery. Santa Fe is everything you may
have heard that it would be. A bustling
arts hub with middle aged hippies and “artists” swanning about. The place is spoilt for galleries,
particularly on Canyon Road. After
awhile, I got a little battle-shy weary with the “creative” spirit of the
populace. But then again, I am not very
well known for my patience…. Rounding up
my visit to Santa Fe was dinner at Cowgirls BBQ. I couldn’t decide on what to have from their
extensive menu, so opted for the BBQ Platter - Mesquite-smoked Ribs, Brisket
and BBQ chicken served with BBQ beans, cole slaw and potato salad. World of YUM!!
From Santa Fe, I drove to Albuquerque where I visited the historic Old Town (much like the historic Town Plaza in Santa Fe) and had my very last Tex-Mex type meal (yes, I know – I am not in Texas, but not being a connoisseur of Mexican or Tex-Mex food, it am sticking to my assumption that the Mexican food I had in Albuquerque was Tex-Mex!) before flying to San Francisco. For those of you following my food adventures (seems like gorging myself is the theme of this year’s trip!) the place I ate is a local established favourite called Garcia’s Kitchen. I was even served by Madame Garcia herself!
Here’s where I am going to stop for now. But a few observations about the last 2
weeks:
- Driving on the other side of the road is a challenge. The phrase “big left, little right” helped me to remember which lane to be in when turning. But other road rules were a challenge, along with reverse parking, parallel parking, round-a-bouts and using your left hand to steer while using your right hand to change gears. I didn’t know that it’s OK to turn right at a red light after you come to a full stop. And you can drive across double yellow lines. Quirks. I was proud of myself, tho - I only drove on the wrong side of the road once!
- I am embarrassed for Australia, where the current government has discouraging wind farms because it is “unsightly”. Driving through SW Texas, they were a consistent sight on the horizon, no doubt saving money, making the state less dependent on oil and creating power for the national grid. It wasn’t an eye-sore to me, but a nod to a responsible future.
- Surprisingly, large scary trucks on freeways all stuck to the speed limit.
- The TX and NM part of the world (unsurprisingly) is very Latino. People, road-signs, signs/explanations at attractions etc. But I didn’t really see many Latinos in medium to high level working positions. They were mostly serving staff, bus-boys, labourers. Rarely as tourist operators, hotel proprietors. Not sure what that says….
- TV adverts for any form of medication comes with a list of side-effects that is spelt out to you while the vision on TV is a smiling face. These side-effects listed are quite detailed and grotesque. I forgot that they did this. It’s a little off-putting….
- While driving in NM, I saw heaps of wild sunflowers growing in meadows and on the side of the road. Very cool!
- For some reason, in the motel/hotels that I stayed at, the toilet paper was about two thirds of the size of a normal sheet that I get in Australia. Not sure why….
- The landscape when driving was really interesting and changeable. In TX, it was literally flat, dry desert land, tumble weeds, cactus. As far as the eye could see. The drive was over flat, flat land. But when I crossed into NM, the dust turned to red earth with bushes and hills. This was the most enjoyable part of the drive – watching the changing landscape.
- In the end, I drove about 800 miles or 1290km.
So, that’s a good start, huh? Next up will be my visit to San
Francisco. The last time I was there was
almost 21 years ago. Wonder what has
changed in that time….
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