Friday, Nov 6th – Oklahoma City, OK to Roswell, NM

Up again, early. Not as early as the day before… I let myself sleep. I’m so good to me. Up at 630am, grabbed a waffle (I love those Belgian waffle makers at free breakfasts at hotels!) and fixed my bike. My bicycle (which I still haven’t named, although, I just had an idea… dirty harry, cause right now she’s covered in road dust…), which is strapped to the back of my jeep, with a bike rack that I am not terribly confident in, seems to sway a bit. So I took it off and checked to see if all was well. It appeared to be… and I put her back on. Ready to hit the road. At check out, I couldn’t remember my room number… and had to play Russian roulette with a combo of numbers that it could have been… we got it eventually… but during this time I became intimate (not like that!) with the clerk who is a Mexican man. Well, Chicano… Mexican American. Who doesn’t speak Spanish! I don’t speak Spanish either (not yet!), but we laughed that he’s chicano and doesn’t… I told him I was the whitest Mexican he’d ever meet. He admired my tattoo of the Virgen de Guadalupe on my arm and we laughed about me being so white. Heh. On the road… wish I could say I saw something rad in OK, but if I did, I cant recall at the moment. Headed towards TX. Texas and I have a funny relationship. I hate it. But I also love it. Like I said, funny. Anyway… my first time in northern TX and it smells like cow shit. Yup. They whole freakin northern part of the state. Cow poop. And, I think I am allergic to it. Allergic to cow poop. For the next 24 hours I would be breathing cow poop and grossly congested. Grrr. Another reason we should get rid of cows and grow corn and soybeans. I’ll never marry a rancher. (haha… like I’ll ever actually get married anyway!) I was headed towards Amarillo, and quite excited about this fact. I don’t know why… maybe because of the song (which matt also mentioned it to me in a text… being the good Texan that he is, he actually texted the lyrics to me, thanks matt!) or because it’s just a great sounding name. AMARILLO. Armadillo?? Amaryllis?? Sarsaparillas?? Nope. Amarillo. It just sounds neat. It’s a let down. It does have some kitschy stuff. Like a truck stop named: JESUS CHRIST IS THE ANSWER NOT A SWEAR WORD. Really, that’s the name of the place. And, in good old fashioned Texan spirit, there were plenty of giant state flags on sides of buildings and roofs… as well as stars everywhere. Thanks Texas, you still rock even though I was let down by Amarillo and cant breathe. Heading southwest towards New Mexico I went through Hereford, TX. Beef capital of the world, or some such thing. They didn’t have a vegetarian restaurant in town, go figure. It too, smelled of cow shit. I really don’t know how people live in places like this 24/7. Do they rub vicks under their noses?? Is the where the women who bathe in their Charlie perfume come from?? I may never know… because I will likely avoid the route, next time. Trucking along through cowpie country I was greatly surprised to be suddenly in New Mexico! Yay! I was in it sooner than I had expected… and, the gods were on my side, I gained an hour! You know how I said I tend to wander a bit… well, I had wandered a bit again… and gotten a little bit behind schedule, but with the time zone on my side, shazam! Stopped at the info center, super nice and helpful guy there. I realized, while going over my itinerary with him that I am spending the next 7 nights in NM. Sweet. I headed from there towards Roswell. Yup. Roswell. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaliens! I rolled towards town (on yet another long, straight, flat road – as they all had been on this journey thus far) and lo and behold! A mountain on the horizon! As I headed into the last hour of my drive to Roswell I watched the sunset over the mountain… it was amazing. Dusk now as I begin my final stretch into the city. At first glance, it’s a disappointment. It’s all commercialized. Main drag is full of every box store and chain you can think of. Including all those brand name hotels. Ugh. Not a single kitschy alien motel in sight. If I didn’t have bigger plans I’d stay right here in Roswell and open up a kitschy alien motel. There have got to be at least 20 hotels/motels in this city… I really am overwhelmed with sadness not one is alien themed. So as I slowly drive with great disappointment down the strip I see a motel that is all done up adobe style. That will do. Its very charming looking. I meet Jamie, the girl working there (and the owner’s daughter). She and I chat about school (she has is thinking about going back at 29) and life in general. I get to my room and… a bit underwhelmed. With all the amazing charm of the southwest the outside possesses…. The inside is bland, at best. I spent the evening (and most of my morning breaks from homework) day-dreaming about how I would renovate this space to match the wonderful exterior. (Jamie, if you’re reading this… add some color inside! It’s just too beige! Take some of the colors that are in the trim outside and use them inside… please, I am begging you!) otherwise… it was all that I needed. It was reliable internet and wad quiet. Initially when I sat on the bed I thought it would be uncomfortable… but I slept wonderfully, so I was wrong. For $48, I’d stay there again.