Day 4 New Mexico - Texas Pan Handle - Oklahoma
I decided to take it a bit easy on me & Gloria today, we'd covered some serious mileage, & been on the road for many hours. I chilled in the morning sun with a cup of PG Tips, whilst Gloria warmed up, the pair of us taking our time to wake up.
A quick scan of the map gave me a hit list of ghost towns: Conway, Groom, Jericho, McLean, Shamrock, with a stop off in Amarillo for fuel & free wifi.
Crossing the state line from New Mexico to Texas, the landscape changed again, from spaghetti western to wide, flat agricultural with the odd grain silo to break up the monotony. I'll be honest, the landscape here isn't as pretty, & the wide flatness of it is almost agoraphobic. Now, I understand why those tornadoes go whipping through the pan-handle, there is absolutely nothing around to slow them down.
Local radio also changed quite dramatically... There was no escaping country music, or religious sermons. At first, I couldn't work out why the guy was raging about 'Cheeses & Saturn', I mean, was he about to confirm there actually
is a man in the moon as well? Obviously, the local dialect changed over the state line, & it was only after I drove past a 190' high crucifix, the penny dropped that I was in bible country & his ranting over the airwaves was only for those who were true believers.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UiO3fG5SVY&list=UL
Do you remember the movie Convoy? (Let me just point out, it wasn't fresh in the cinema when I was a kid...) 10-4 Rubber Ducky.... There were times I felt like I could have been an extra in that film. The trucks are massive, compared to the UK; & at times, their great bulk rumbling down the side of me made me feel pretty small & vulnerable. I mean, those guys are really shifting, & could side swipe me off the road like swatting a fly away...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mWOlx6ZRO4
Amarillo, for a pit stop at the truck stop.....
Bumped into some cowgirls & their quarter horses at the coffee house....
Now, people do ask the strangest questions sometimes, don't they? I mean, there I was, minding my own business, paying for some fuel & a lady standing next to me asks:
"Are you British?
"Yes...."
"Do you like the Queen?"
"Well, yes, of course..." I'm a bit puzzled.....
"I hate her!! What does she do anyway? Who is this Queen?"
Quite an outburst, I'm sure you'll agree... & it took me aback, I was almost speechless, the only response I could come up with was:
"Well, she's very good for our tourist industry. Have a nice day." At least I hadn't forgotten my manners.....
I headed off again.
Being on the road for hours on end can give you an immense sense of calm; it's a place you have to find in your head, knowing you aren't going to speak to anyone for hours (no comments please about women having to chat all the time....) that you are at the mercy of what you can find on the radio to sing along to - I'd been pretty lucky so far, with plenty of vintage Rolling Stones; & it's really,truly just you & your car.....Except, I always take some company, in fact, he has been with me in every car I have owned.
At times, I have felt he could possibly be my only hope.......
So, I popped Old Ben out of the glove box to keep me company. Maybe all this time on my own was getting to me......
