I woke up early as the sun began to ascend, and had to take a whiz, but since I was sleeping in a church parking lot inside the city, I had to drive a few minutes to the edge of town. There was a grass lot which the entrance gate had been removed where I wheed and went back to sleep.
While trying to set the rear of the Rodeo to face the sun, I ran over the "entrance gate" which was some barb wire fence in the scorched brown grass. Great, now not only do I need my tires rotated and balanced, there might be a couple of flat tires later.. Well, I wasn't too worried, since I always carry along a portable compressor, and headed back to sleep for another couple of hours next to a rarely used dirt road.
Sleeping in a church parking lot adjacent to a cemetery isn't bad at all- especially if the cemetery is inside the city; however, if it's out in the country where the animals and wind are making noises all night, that's a completely different story. Heck, just the animals and the thought of troublemakers (without the cemetery) is scary. When I drove back into Hobbs from the country road, the Baptist church parking lot was almost full around 10:30 am.
The thought of having my tires balanced and rotated occupied my mind like a person possessed with a love interest. Damn, I just wanted the tires balanced, so I figured the closest large city would have a Sam's Club: Roswell, NM. Nope. They have a Wal-mart on the north end of the city.
There is a reststop on Highway 82 just west of the Texas/New Mexico border which is not in the 1998 Rand-McNally map. I've stopped here before and they have very clean facilities even though the toilets are flushless. The caretakers take great pride in keeping this rest area clean. There are lots of flies here.
The worker here, different than the one I met in May 2001, said there were no Sam's Club around the area, the closest was in Midland, TX or Alberqueque, NM. Just my luck, I would have to spend an entire day with an obsession which could not be fulfilled like a nasty each can't be reach for satisfactory relieving.
I made a quick detour onto a county road which eventually led to a dead end. I had thought it was a road which might lead to Majadir, New Mexico. At the end of the road there were some containers which probably were used to hold water for livestock, but now are infested with bees, wasps, and flies. Unusally, in the unrelenting heat in this waterless area, livestock were chewing away. I saw a pickup, and I think ranchers come out and provides water for the cows.
Four years ago, my dad and I stayed a night in Roswell at a motel labeled "2 for 22" (that's 2 people for $22). It was cheap then, but I doubt it is that cheap now because it's now a Econo Lodge. The cheapest advertised place to stay is one of the local motels for $24.50. I stopped by the El Capitan's motel, but the staff was out for another hour. I asked a lady dropping by to pick up someone, and she thought it was $35. A little dumpy for $35 I thought- looking at this place compared to all the other places in town, I thought this would be the cheapest.
It was about 4:00 pm as I started to leave Roswell and a bank sign showed it was a shocking 109 degrees. Holy cow it was hot, but unlike Houston, TX, it's dry heat. This was 4:00 pm- the temperature was probably even higher between noon and 2:00 pm.
Before leaving the Roswell area, I stopped for a quiet rest along a dirt road where 4 mules were caged in with a pond. It's funny, they commmitted no crimes other than being free, and now they have to spend their lives inside the barb wired wall like prisoners at a maximum security prison. There only exercise is to walk around the circular track of the pond. Our family raises a dog, and we've done a very good job loving and caring for her, but I'm not sure I should be casting the first stone at this pond.
While waiting with the mules, I realize soon I would have to turn around and head home. The dreadful moment where things have to come to an end as far as going foward, like being able to look into eternity, but unable to take hold of it.
On highway 246 towards Capitan, NM, I encountered the beautiful Lincoln National Park. It really didn't stand out at first, but as I turned on Boy Scout Mountain road, I realized this was a great place to get away from the world. Camping was free, the land was fairly clearn, and there were only a few people along the road for a Labor Day weekend. It was truly a getaway- unlike other well-known parks where weekends are flooded with campers. The next time I pass through here for an extended trip, I will spend some time camping here.
For a brief time while the sun was dimming, I stopped at an open camp site and rested for a moment before heading further west. These are the places where a vehicle instead of riding the bus or hitch-hiking will take me. It's not easy to find such nice, safe, and serene places like these anymore. If anything, discovering this place for future travels was worth driving.
It was now dark, and I needed to head back towards Houston if I expected to make it home Monday night with enough time to sleep and get ready for work Tuesday morning. As I headed out I decided to make a detour on County Road B001. It took about 2 hours to get find my way out. To find my way out, I had to use the constallations URSA Major and Casseiopia whenever they could be seen in the hazy sky. Along the dirt roads I encountered a rattlesnake and some big fuzzy spiders. Since the poisonous snake was in the middle of the dirt road, I tossed some rocks gently at it to get it off the road so it wouldn't get trampled by the next vehicle coming through. Giving the snake a second at life means other animals will have to die by it's venom- it might even be a person, a remote chance.
Funny, how one to live, many must die. This is especially true of humans and societies. We smash insects when we drive, we slaughter livestock for food, we contaminate the waters of marine life, we pollute the air where the birds fly freely, we drive away animals to build homes. In essence, we are vampires, draining and consuming the life we encounter. Funny, one life equals many deaths.
Somehow, I made it back to Roswell late in the evening with a bit of an apetite, but nothing was open at almost 1:00 am except Whaterburger and Wendy's. I skipped on both and headed towards Houston.
I came full circle to the rest stop I had stopped earlier this morning and expected to sleep here until morning. Unfortunately, there was not a soul here this night- it would have been scary to stay. Ironically, it was less nerving to sleep at this rest stop than to sleep next to the cemetary in the city. I kept going until 4:30 to find the familiar picnic area I stopped at last year. I was too tired and knew there was nothing for miles, so I decided to sleep here since it was right off the highway and the sun would rise in about 2-3 hours. I just accepted if this would my doom and some pycho comes up to the Rodeo, so be it- I just needed to sleep from an entire day of taxing driving.
