where were you when the west was won
While in Austin, Laura and I found piñatas (they may have found us), and Wilhemina the Pig and Dorothy the Unicorn proved the perfect traveling companions for a drive from Austin to Phoenix, part of Laura’s trip from Washington, D.C. to L.A. that I missed a flight, booked another, and shuffled things around to join.
Our festive friends stood proudly at the base of Sleeping Lion Mountain in Fort Davis, Texas, where we ended up the first night:
Laura explains this trip tangent (note: we ran over a wolf on the road that night, and the stars were so bright without the layers of light pollution that I looked up, mouth open, before heading inside the B & B):
A hearty breakfast with grandmother’s silver:
paper-thin slices of bacon, airy breakfast cinnamon buns,
and somehow Laura procured an unusual pound cake recipe and a red velvet cake receipt with oleo (this always appears in old recipes and should be substited 1:1 with unsalted butter).
The next morning, we converged on the public radio station in Marfa (infamous for mystery lights) and were charmed by volunteer Rosalind, who complimented us on our eyebrow shapes and told us about her classical selections for two hours on the air.
I’d return to this kooky town for the Farm Stand Marfa Hour, the Donald Judd work,
and the Prada Marfa installation.
(As we left, D.C. musician Jesse Elliott‘s voice was in my head as I wondered “if this really was a windmill, or if I was seeing things again.”)
Later that day, we rolled into Truth or Consequences, New Mexico for a local turtle,
and a walk around this town of Airstreams,
rusty refrigeration signage,
and partridge benches.
It’s all a bit like a film stage where the set designer made the curious decision to use Helvetica for the antiques store.
Strange cacti abound,
but we stayed at the Sierra Grande (behind the truck), with plenty of water for mineral soaks (T or C was originally named ‘Hot Springs’),
and for other plants (including succulents) to thrive:
Leaving T or C, we passed through El Paso, stopping for the chicken mole special and chile relleno at H & H Car Wash,
to speed us along Highway 60 to the Very Large Array in New Mexico.
(Beautiful and strange, these move on tracks keeping their ‘Y’ formation.)
Next, we crossed the Continental Divide,
and journeyed into Pie Town
to the Daily Pie Cafe.
Our favorite was the New Mexico Apple pie with green chiles and local Piñons (we brought one with us for Alice, who graciously let us stay with her on Thursday night in Phoenix),
with cherry a close second.
And the last part of our drive took us through reservations and into the surprisingly wooded parts of Arizona,
where our backseat companions stared with awe at the natural beauty, until they didn’t.
You can only drive through desolate country with good friends, and I was reminded of Laura’s lyrical command of list songs and how much I value her friendship this week.
Laura, maybe next time we’ll learn How To Cook a Wolf…
More: Laura’s blog of her adventures, full Flickr set of my images, and the These United States song that inspired this post’s title, “West Won”.
