Austin

May 3, 2009 Austin, Texas:

Keeping the sun at my back in the morning and in my face in the evening, I drive, leaving
Florida and the all too familiar behind. I just head west. I am not good at researching a destination before I get wherever it is that I end up, nor do I pre-plan a specific route. In a way, I really do let fate and fancy guide me. Generally I just drive and arrive and see what’s there, wander around a bit, stop and look. Perhaps I miss some significant landmark or tourist attraction, but having few expectations, I am, for the most part, surprised and pleased at what I do find.

I am not opposed to asking directions, but after having done so, I don’t always follow them. Sometimes I try to follow my instinct, or guess, or think a way. Sometimes I get lucky and sometimes, well……it is just that I hate having to retrace my steps, hate having to go around whatever is in the way, hate going back to where I began and finding a new way to get where I thought I was going. So I get lost sometimes, for a while, but I am not opposed to asking directions, again. I think, I just gotta learn how to use that GPS!

Last night was my fifth night on the road. I spent it in a comfortable bed in my brother’s house, after a delicious steak dinner, a shared bottle of wine, and conversation. Perfect! It’s what I came here for.

Night before that, I slept at a basic Comfort Inn alongside I-10 in Louisiana. (Without some time spent on interstates, I don’t think that I would get very far, unable to put significant miles behind me.) Although I tried to get hot food, Wendy’s and Taco Bell didn’t have enough cooks or servers or anything, and consequently they had few customers who were willing to put up with the long wait. Neither would I. That night I climbed into bed and ate peanut butter, crackers and a banana for dinner washed down with a coke from the vending machine down the hall. I was feeling road weary. I am not particularly fond of Louisiana. Without New Orleans and Cajun food all that’s left is swamp and buildings in need of paint and repairs and an occasional oil refinery forest of steel.

The night before that, I camped at Big Lagoon State Park just outside of Pensacola, Florida. The campground was filled with people although I couldn’t really discern why. There were 126 campsites surrounded by swamps, sandbars, and the remnants of charred pine trees. I traversed the swamps on boardwalks eventually to circle back on a nondescript sandy path. Peanut butter and crackers for dinner again, washed down with a glass of wine.

I had stopped earlier in the day at an information center in Tammany Parish, LA where a nice volunteer recommended a restaurant down the way a bit where, I was told, they served the world’s best oyster artichoke soup. As I said before, I really don’t like oysters, nor am I crazy about artichokes, but I felt compelled to try the highly recommended soup just the same. Add the proverbial crackers and it made for a delicious and unusual lunch.

I find myself at this early stage in my travels wondering how I will ever find the time to do anything besides drive, eat, and sleep, with an occasional interruption in the routine to see a sight or two. Perhaps I was a bit too ambitious with my plan to circumnavigate the USA in three months. This is a really big country! Heck, Texas alone is gonna take some time. I brought plenty of reading material that I doubt I will have time to read, not to mention the paints and brushes that may never make it out of the tote bag. Not enough time. I have places to go, people to see, miles to drive.

I have not felt lonely the last four days. Life in this first week puts me very much in touch with my now. Thoughts revolve around where I am, what to eat, where to sleep, which CD to play. If I don’t think too much, life is simpler on the road. I feel like I am moving fast and moving slow all at the same time. I am disorganized. I brought all the wrong stuff. I brought too much stuff. I can’t find the corkscrew or the phone charger, or my sunglasses. My front seat is covered with maps, candy, scribble pads, receipts and food wrappers. My plan to take pictures, note expenses, and brush my teeth longer, has already been compromised.

My brother says, “You’ll get into a routine, you’ll get organized, you’ll work it out.” I hope he is right. I think he is right. I am counting on it! Maybe after a few more miles.

Hey! What day is today? May 1st? Was that Friday? Had I not been divorced, it would have been my (our) fortieth anniversary, probably spent at home, doing what we always do. Instead, here I was, somewhere new, just me by myself, and kinda happy!

You know, I thought I was going to dance all the way to Austin, relish the freedom, feel the pull of the road, and be giddy with anticipation. But instead I find myself quietly contemplative, carefully trying to figure out how to let go, how to make more time, be less weary at the end of the day, and relish that freedom! It’s all good. It’s all different. It’s all something I can’t quite describe.