Rise and shine in another parking lot. This was the first time I had slept in a parking lot for boaters. This one even had a chemical outhouse. On the other side of the fence there were a couple of cars parked in the private land. Last night I heard a dog barking and it must been from them. The whole night I did not sleep well thinking I was alone- I tend to wake up frequently in the night like this. Also I recall seeing a car and 2 trucks coming through last night, or was that just a dream? There was a red light blinking in the night which came across the lake.
I was still so tired, and as drove out on a farm road, I came across this beautiful stream running across the road and there was a clearing on the side of the road for a couple of parking spots, so I pulled over, rolled down the window, and slept for another couple of hours until the unforgiving sun beared its unyielding heat. I used the bathroom somewhere in the woods up high away from the stream. Human waste near water sources could be consumed by the water when the water level rises, contamining the water.
For some reason I always tend to pass through San Angelo when I travel northwest, probablaly due to the way the highways are set up. I stopped at a small flea market on the edge of the city on Highway 87. After scrummaging through the items sellers had, there was nothing I wanted or needed, not that I was looking for anything in particular. I asked 2 of the sellers about a Sam's Club in town, since the Rodeo's tires were purchased there, Sam's Club will balance and rotated them for free (and 2 of the tires were begining to bald unusually at the rim). One of them stated the "business people would not allow a Sam's Club" and I replied it might put a lot of small businesses out of business and he agreed. The other older gentlemen I spoke to said he disagreed, and that it would be "more opportunity and jobs and that he didn't save too much money after driving a 100 miles to Abilene to shop at the nearest one" and I stated if the town wants to grow it would have to allow bigger businesses to set up. (It didn't matter to the second gentlemen because he moved away from San Angelo and now lives in the country).
I drove through San Angelo in the unbearing heat without the air conditioning. It's a fairly large city, but I have no explored it to it's full potential- the city is large enough to have a small university.
For the past 9 months I have ate meat only a couple of times and have just begun to be a limited carnivore again, so I stopped at Burger King (but I should have stopped at the Grandy's next door). In my last experience with Burger King in Commanche, Coloroda, it seemed no one wanted to take my order as I waited in line, and it seems to be the case here. I waited in line as the staff did there things and then a young guy comes up to the register to print something and then he started to head off, but he saw me look at him and decided to take my order. While taking the order, one of the girls who was running doing something came up and stated, "What are you doing at my register?" The guy replies, "You weren't taking his order."
She might have been helping with the drive-thru staff, but at least she could have asked me wait a moment. I think Burger King should have this in their training program: "If someone walks into the restaurant and they are waiting in line, it's a pretty darn good chance they are ready to order. Take their damn order (but please don't spit in the food)!" Simple, really. Don't want to traumatize the staff with too much useful information. I actually thought about going to Grandy's while waiting in line.
I ordered the sandwich which was advertised with the Men in Black II movie (the first movie was bad enough so no point in watching the second), and I was very shocked when it came out- it was tiny. At first I thought they gave me the wrong order, but it was correct. The way they disguised the advertisement, there was no easy way to tell the size of the burger- the sandwich wasn't set next to a cup or an order of fries to give the consumer an idea. Flame-broiled my ass, I just got ripped off by the movie I didn't care to see; however, the sandwich was somewhat filling, but while eating the meal, I looked straight ahead at the Grandy's where I should have gone. I should have just ordered the vegeterian sandwich.
(Burger King is actually decent, especially their Whoppers).
Now I was in West Texas, practically a desert. Not a desert like the Sahara with nothing but sand to the horizon, but a survivable desert with weatherd vegetation living under the oppression of the sun's might. The West Texas/New Mexico region is the opposite to the rolling hills and lush scenery of West Virginia. When standing in West Virginia a person may not be able to see very far, but in this desert region, the view at times can go on forever like looking down from mountain peak.
One thing which is very common in West Texas are pumps. They dot the landscape like pokka dots on a dalmation. They are everywhere and it seems the land is leased by private owners so big corporations pump for natural resources. Sometimes they remind me of the song Dry County by Bon Jovi. I'm not sure if there is much more to dig for.
I took a nap at a picnic area north of San Angelo under the shade provided by the shelter.
On to Midland, where I arrived with the setting sun. I finally ran into a Sam's Club, but it closed 20 minutes earlier at 8:00 pm. I would have to arrived at least before 7:00 pm to get any type of service. I gassed up, stopped at Wal-mart for food and drink, and headed off towards the border of New Mexico.
It was late on New Mexico Highway 8 heading to Hobbs from Eunice. I decided to stop by a drilling location and go to bed- it was remote and hidden from the rare Highway 8 traffic at this time of night. While waiting, the Rodeo's CD changer started changing disks (the ignition was totally off but the key was still inserted). This has never happened before, and it frightened me worse than any horror movie, and I quickly decided to get the heck out of that forsaken location. That was very spooky.
I made it into Hobbs and pulled into a Baptist church on the northern end of town. (I had originally planned to sleep at a church parking lot in Eunice, but unusually, a church was difficult to come by.) Nothing very unusual about his church except it housed a cemetary on the adjoining property. This wasn't too spooky since this was all within the city and there was an apartment complext across the street. I parked next to the cemetery due to the lamp poles in the parking lot. Tomorrow there would be mass, so I had to get up early before the crowds gathered.
