day twelve, tucson to austin

we make an early start of it today. in fact, even earlier than intended. i set the alarm for 8:00 but didn’t notice that the clock hadn’t been set back an hour so we got up at 7:00. when i rolled over to hit the snooze button i thought of some good country lyrics: “I’m face down on a rented mattress in Tucson.” we get on the road by 9:00 and it’s a good thing. we’ve decided to try to do 800+ miles today and get all the way to austin. hellish. here’s a summary:

arizona.
arizona.
arizona.
arizona.

i watch “dog town and z boys” on matt’s ipod. it’s about the early history of skate boarding. i was skeptical but my brother offered me a money back guarantee so i watched and it was cool. the soundtrack was good and the story was interesting, even to someone who doesn’t care about skateboarding.

new mexico.
new mexico.
new mexico.
new mexico.
new mexico.
new mexico.
new mexico.



new mexico.
new mexico.
new mexico.

stop for lunch just outside of el paso and the texas border. we had heard on the radio that there was an accident on I-10 east at the “spaghetti bowl” so we ask a local inside if he knows where that is and if we can avoid it.

me: “excuse me, do you know of an area called the spaghetti bowl? there’s an accident there and we want to avoid it.”
old guy: “i think it must be in the el paso area. why do you want to go to texas?”
me: “actually we’re just passing through on the way to south Carolina.”
og: “well, when you get to texas, don’t get out of the car.”
me: “why not?”
og: “there are chiggers in the grass everywhere in texas. do you know what chiggers are?”
me: “little bugs?”
og: “little bugs that burrow under your skin.”
me: “i’ll try to avoid it.”
og: “you know, you could take the 40 to get to south Carolina. that way you wouldn’t have to go through as much of texas.”
me: “i know, we were planning on stopping in austin, though.”
og: “oh, well you could fly to austin from here and then come back for your car and take the 40. i wouldn’t go to texas.”
me: “hahahaha?”

we continue on, despite his warnings.

new mexico.
new mexico.

texas.



texas.
texas.
texas.
texas.
texas.

hey, there’s mexico



texas.
texas.
texas.
texas.
texas.
texas.
texas.
texas.
texas.
texas.
texas.
texas.
texas.
texas.
texas.

dinner at pizza hut. we have a nice conversation when we get back on the road that makes the time pass faster. we talk about the need to have something bigger than yourself or your circumstances to make you happy. if not, when bad things happen or your life seems out of balance, you don’t stand a chance. for me it’s my faith in God. for matt, it’s music.

texas.
texas.
texas.
texas.
texas.
oh, it’s been a marathon. but we made it. 15 hours on the road and we pull into a little hotel just outside of austin.