Yesterday we drove 402 miles from Weatherford TX to Carlsbad NM. The land was empty, dry and flat. Herb could swear that he could see the curvature of the earth. The landscape was dottted withl machines (maybe 15 feet high) pumping oil. (They looked like donkeys bobbing their heads up and down.)
Every 30 miles or so therer wold be a busy interchange with McDonalds, Popeye Chicken, Subway, Wendys and gas stations. They were often a welcome sight and a relief from sitting. Huge trucks crowded the McDonalds parking lots, lines of people buying double big Macs, cowboy hats, boots with spurs. We are a long way from Kittery.
Every 50 miles or so we'd see a bump on the horizon which, as we cruised along would become larger...................
We are listening to a FANTASTIC book on tape. The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao. Sometimes it's such a thriller, we don't even notice the miles!
Entering Oil Patch, Texas...............
Onwards to Andrews Texas........................
When we arrived in Carlsbad (the town, not the national park) it was 5:00 ish and our first impression was the newly built fast food places, big dusty trucks, places where red flashing lights announced that they would loan money to you BEFORE payday! Where there were no new buildings, the ground had been dug up in preparation for some money making enterprise to be built.
A big takeaway for me over and over again is how we are using the earth to our own purposes regardless of what is happening to the environment as a result. It seems that we are wrecking the place!
When I told Herb this, he replied, "Well.....of course....that's been the case for years.....and of course if you and I cared enough, we would've stayed home instead of wasting all this gas!"
All the restaurants were full, so we had scrambled eggs, pancakes and bacon at the newly-built I-Hop next door.
Robbie and I are howling over Herb's comment. We're having such fun reading your blog. Thank you for writing it! We feel like you're not so far away at all.
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