*NOTE: Five years ago I began a journey across the country with Thiel, a dear friend of mine. I was moving from Chicago to Long Beach, California, and she agreed to make the drive with me. I present my journal of that journey on the corresponding day that it was recorded five years ago. Enjoy reliving this adventure with me!
Day 9: January 11, 2014
Cleared out of Amarillo via the Cadillac Ranch, which is a big field on the side of the road in which a group of artists upended ten Cadillacs in the ground in the 1970s and the back ends of them are sticking out at an angle. Since then, unfortunately, all the cars have been completely covered in graffiti. I’m not sure if that was the intention of the artists or not. A huge area of the field around them was covered in garbage, most of it spray paint bottles. People just pick them up and use what’s left in them to tag the cars. I finally picked one up and shot a little dot of paint on one of the cars just because everyone else seems to do it.
In Adrian, Texas, we passed the supposed exact midpoint of the road, where it’s exactly the same distance from there to LA as it is to Chicago. Halfway there. Day nine. Yeesh.
Almost as soon as we crossed the border into New Mexico the terrain completely changed. Now it really looked like the southwest one always pictures: Sweeping, panoramic views of mesas in the distance, red rock, scrub brush, mountains on the horizon with snowy peaks. We had to get on the interstate for a while because the conditions of the old road are impassable, so that sped us along for a little bit. Once we got off we promptly got on the wrong road and took it deep into the wilderness, then realized we were wrong and came back out on the right course, but we didn’t have too much of that happening today.
We passed through another ghost town, then there was a long section of the road that is now gravel, so that was slow going at points, as it could be rough, but here we—well, I—saw a roadrunner run across the road in front of us. Thiel was reading something in one of our many books or maps. It was almost 70 degrees today and the skies were beautifully blue. We reached another long stretch in which it was necessary to take the interstate because the road was in patches that went to dead ends, so once again we gained some time back from that.
There’s a place in Santa Rosa called Blue Hole. It’s a pool of blue water 81 feet deep, popular with SCUBA divers. The water is so clear that you can see all the way to the bottom. I don’t know what makes it so blue; it’s not blue like the ocean, where it reflects the color of the sky. The water looks to be actually blue, but it’s crystal clear at the same time. I’m not sure if it’s a spring, but I would assume so, because it is a big circular pool of water, then it flows away in a small stream.
Exiting the interstate, we drove on the old road into Santa Fe and arrived at dusk. It’s such a charming city; you’d never know you were in a city, as they don’t allow any tall buildings to be built. The majority of buildings here are adobe structures, and they blend into the landscape, so even when you’re up high with a vantage point over the city you can’t tell you’re really in a city. It has a lot of character. I really love adobe architecture, stucco, Spanish tile and the like.
I had originally wanted to move on and get to the Arizona border before stopping for the night, but I’m tired of driving, and tired in general, so we had dinner at a place called Cowgirl. Thiel has been wanting to get some barbecue and she finally did. We found a motel and are calling it a night. We plan to get up really early tomorrow and move on into Arizona and points beyond. Ideally I’d love to reach Long Beach late tomorrow night, but I don’t know if that’s feasible or not. It depends on how many stops we make, how many times we get lost (knock on wood), and road conditions. We’re up in the mountains now, and we saw patches of snow on the roadside on the way up here. It’s much cooler up here than it was in the lower country earlier today.
Oh…and people are getting more attractive again out here.
You seem to have spent a lot of time lost!
We did. It’s a confusing thing when the road doesn’t officially exist any longer.
So what are you writing about next? I look forward with anxious anticipation.
Stay tuned!