What a Great Day It's Been - Day 18

Again, what a great day.

I started off the day with a round of golf. The only course in Del Rio was a 9 hole course, so for $32 bucks I took a cart and played it twice. (It was a par 36, so I will be adding it to myscorecard.com, I shot a 102.) The course was pretty good, a little dry on a few greens, but otherwise nice and definitely challenging for someone playing it the first time…lots of blind shots where you can end up in the natural spring river or lost in the trees. I improved five strokes on the second nine based primarily on course knowledge. I was practically the only person on the course, and I played 18 in just over 2 hours. And that was with it being cart paths only. At the right course, I am sure I can finish in under two.

After that, I got the tank filled, the car washed for a buck, and headed out on route 90 West for the next 5 hours. I sort of regret getting the car washed because the bugs started committing suicide in kamikaze attacks. Splat! I’d have to say that was the worst part of the day, because otherwise, it was really perfect.

The destination was Marathon, TX and it was about a 3 hour drive. Between Del Rio and Marathon there were only about 5 cities on the map and most of them didn’t need to make the map. They were mainly places to slow you down to 25MPH for about a mile with just a couple of places to stop at, but not really any worth stopping for.

After a long spell of driving through the beautiful rolling hills of Texas, I had to stop at an immigration post. The guard asked if I was smuggling anyone. I told him that was an offensive question, and asked him where he was from. After the strip search, I was allowed to proceed. I guess this is a spot where Illegals sneak into the country, and perhaps hitchhike. I didn’t see any. And I'm not sure whether I’d pick any of them up if I did...we'll see.

The beautiful drive continued for hours. In Texas they do rest stops and picnic areas right. Before this, I have often stopped at the rest stops, which consist mainly of trash cans, restrooms and perhaps Fritos and Diet Coke machines. But along this drive, they pick their spots based on the view. They find a naturally beautiful area and plop down some picnic tables. The Pecos River Tall Bridge was the best of the best. The whole ride was beautiful if you took the time to look around.

(I took a bunch of pictures today and will add them to the photos area when I get caught up. If you haven’t seen it yet, I added a photos section at the bottom of the archives. I will keep trying to get it updated with everything.)

Most of the way to Marathon, I had the road to myself. Pretty early on, I sped past two trucks travelling together. After another half hour, I stopped at a rest area. Resuming the trip, I came upon them again and this time passed them one at a time. After repeating the process at the next rest stop an hour later, I figured out there is no rush in passing. Pretty much, I was going around 75, and they were going about 73. Instead of accelerating, I just drifted into the left lane, and stayed there for about 5 miles as I casually passed them both before sliding back into the single right lane. I was ready to get back in the right at any time, but there was never a car coming the other way, and you can see a car coming for many miles.

But pretty close to Marathon, just after slowing down at a non-town, I pulled up at the end of a line of about 20 cars that were stopped on the road. Just a moment before the line was allowed to proceed, the trooper walking the line told me that there were time-trials for a road race being performed. Upon release I was riding in “heavy” traffic for about 10 miles. I pulled over to a rest area to let the sparse crowd move on and to let the beautiful open road return.

The rest stop happened to also be the end point of the time-trials. There were a few cops there to control the traffic flow through the course, like at the other end where I had been stopped. I chatted Bill up for a bit, and he informed me they only did this one day a year, today. The cars in the “unlimited” category traveled at more than 200 MPH. I also asked him what his normal day was like and he said sometimes he sat in town and ticketed people who don’t slow down for the “town”, and other times he drove the Route 90 and ticketed people driving the highway.

I said, “Beautiful scenery around here.”

Bill said, “Sure, if you like the desert”. We talked a bit about my trip, and I mentioned I quit my job because I hated it. I asked him what he though about his job. Bill said, “What’s not to love.” I agree! Perhaps I’ll be a trooper out here for my next career.

Unfortunately, I think I like Texas.

There was no cell coverage for most of the route, so breaking down would have been bad, so it was nice to be approaching Marathon. Then I drove right past it. How did this place make the map? I guess if you have a gas station and a couple motels, you get a dot on the map. I drove back to make sure I didn’t miss anything…I didn’t. I was tempted, but with no cell phone coverage, I decided to pass by. The Verizon guy from the commercial asking “Can you hear me now?” wouldn’t be getting a response when in Marathon.

Alpine was just a half hour further, and provided the coverage I needed and was clearly the better destination. I had a great Mexican meal at La Casita. I should have ordered a burrito or the soft shell tacos, as that was what most of the Texans seemed to be eating. I had the most expensive plate on the menu at $8.75, the Spanish Steak. It was ok, but wrapping it in the fantastic fresh tortillas turned it into the aforementioned burrito.

The pamphlets from the hotel offer some great sounding side journeys (which I am hoping to convince the Treason’s to do with me on a day trip). But for tomorrow I will probably be doing a long scenic drive south and not making much progress toward Phoenix. So much to see, I may arrive a little later than thought. And perhaps I can steal two hours and get in another round of golf.

Best day yet. "Notice" the moon in the center of the sky in the picture at right.