Deep in the Heart...

...of Texas. Spent today driving from Austin, TX through the land of nothing out I-10 West. And we're STILL in Texas. But at least we're in El Paso and so very close to New Mexico. Hell, we're pretty damn close to Old Mexico, too. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

We started our day with a hike. I really needed to move around (without the aid of a car) so this was great. We departed for the hike around 7:30 AM, which may be the earliest I have ever seen HEG awake. And not only was she awake, she was functioning. And making me coffee. "Motherhood" has changed her, for sure, and it's great to see her so happy and comfortable. She deserves it more than most.

We got on the road around 12:15 PM. And we didn't get off of it until 9:57 PM. Drove through some very rural parts of the country. Parts that are so rural there aren't even power lines. There aren't even animals. And there certainly aren't people. We went through one stretch of highway that was about 250 miles long without seeing a single building. It was creepy to be driving through such isolation, and made me think twice about calling parts of SC the boonies ever again.

I'm not going to lie, calling this stretch of Trek creepy is somewhat of an understatement. There were times when I wasn't confident we'd ever see human life and civilization again. (Truck drivers, because they are mean, do not count as human, civilized life.) I was scared. And hungry. The Better Cheddars just weren't cutting it. (So inferior to Cheez-Its.) And I had to go to the bathroom. And we've already discussed the size of my bladder. So when we FINALLY saw Wendy's, I almost said a prayer of thanks. And yes, I splurged and had a Cajun Crispy Chicken Sandwich. With a Frosty. And Fries. And yes, I savored every last morsel.

But we still had two hours to go, and I have neglected to mention that for this entire drive, we had been heading directly into some interesting looking storm clouds. Interesting in the petrifying sense. What's odd is that most of the storm clouds were to the left of us (South), but to the right (North) it was clear. We knew that I-10 would eventually head more Northwesterly so as to avoid running right into Mexico, and that curve couldn't be too far away. It wasn't, actually. It's just that we first had to traverse down a long Southwesterly stretch before making the Northwesterly climb to finish the day and reach El Paso.

And that's where the trip took a turn for the worse, because we unfortunately deposited ourselves right in the middle of the worst thunderstorm I've ever experienced. Very little visibility. I slowed to 25 miles/hour. Very large trucks. They flew past me at 70 miles/hour. Very high pulse. I clenched the steering wheel. Very amazing travel companion. She told stories about her dog and told me I was doing a good job. Cracks of thunder and strikes of lightning. I honestly didn't think we'd make it to El Paso. I was sure we were going to die on I-10 in West Texas.

Finally, we saw lights. Electricity! City! People! My blood pressure went back to normal. We blasted some tunes and joked at what a tool I am. And we safely arrived in El Paso. 9 hours and 48 minutes after we departed from Austin.

People talk a lot of smack about El Paso, but it may just be my new favorite city in Texas. If only it were in New Mexico...

Today's License Plates: 575 miles, and only three distinct plates - TX, NC, TX, CA, TX, TX, TX, TX...