Memphis To El Paso

There is something about driving through western Texas that really sets the mind at ease. As the sun sets across the Texas sky, all we can see are mountains in the distance. For hours we’ve passed oil fields and wind farms. There isn’t much out here, but you can see for miles. We’ll be in El Paso in a few hours. It’s been another long day on the road. Tomorrow morning we’ll finish the drive into Tucson completing our 2000 mile road trip.

Memphis to Arlington – After a late night in Memphis and 6 hours of sleep, we piled back into the car and headed towards Texas. The trip started to get really boring when we entered Arkansas. I’ve driven straight across Kansas… I thought that was the worst drive in the country. Arkansas is right up there. The attendant at the only gas station we stopped at look at us like we were aliens. The gas station had a nice hunting and fishing theme. Very appropriate for the area. Let's just say we didn't fit in to well. To make this drive any worse, it continued to rain all the way into Dallas. We finally made it to Arlington just in time to watch an old friend’s band jam out. After their band practice, we headed out to Sunshine, a bar I haven’t frequented in many years (when I was 19, we spent two weeks in Arlington because our band ran out of money and we couldn’t make it to the next city). Like all of my friends in Texas, the bar had not changed much. Before midnight, we made it out to a New Years party. I’m glad there aren’t any pictures from this party because I wouldn’t be posting them!

Arlington to El Paso – Another 5 hours of sleep last night… That brings the trip total to 16 in three nights. We hit the road a little late today because it was hard to find a quick ride back to our car. We knew we’d be in for a long day on the road. It was another 10 hours to El Paso, and we’re both running on fumes. I haven’t trained since the day before we left. My body is stiff and dehydrated. The only thing that is making this drive any better is the beautiful weather and good music. The closer we get to El Paso, the cooler the landscape gets. We’ve been seeing cacti since an hour west of Fort Worth, and it is only getting more interesting as we head farther west. We’ll be in El Paso soon. Hopefully, we’ll settle into a hotel and find some authentic Mexican food. Should be another fun night, as long as we don’t stumble anywhere near Juarez… then it could be our last night.

Arizona in the morning… can’t wait.

PS What I've learned so far... The margaritas are strong in El Paso, the music is great in Memphis, and Texas has great parties.

Cheers.