On Monday, August 9, my brother and I left Colorado. It was a sad goodbye. I did fall in love with the state, if you couldn't tell. My plans are to be back as often as I physically can. January, ski trip? Summer, more research? Sooner than is comfortable, grad school? One can only dream.
But as we left that lovely state, and spent about ten minutes in the panhandle of Oklahoma, we made our way into Texas. Texas. The state that takes three days to drive across. Texas. Surprisingly enough, the scenery did not change much in the three days during which we drove across its expanse. Of course, we stayed mostly to the eastern edges, and did not venture toward the New Mexico or Mexico boarders, but I suspect that those reaches of the Lone Star State would not have very many novel sights to offer.
Texas is full of flat, brown farmland. It is full of goats, both alive and dead. It is full of 75mph two lane roads, and it is full of friends and family. At the time when we were passing through, I knew at least four people in the state; my lovely Aunt Oney and her family live in San Antonio. My friend from high school, Sherwood, was spending the summer working for IBM in Austin. Two friends from the program this summer live in Texas: Sabrina in Dallas(?) and Travis in Austin.
Unfortunately, I would have died of some crazy Texas disease had I stayed at all of their houses for a night or two. So I had to pick my destinations wisely. I've heard rumor of Austin being one of the coolest cities in the country, and I've been to San Antonio before, so I decided to drop by Sherwood's for a night. Unfortunately, Austin is about 14 hours from Cheyenne Wells, and there was no way I was driving that far in one shot.
The problem? I know no one in northern Texas.
The solution? CouchSurfing.com
CouchSurfing is a wonderful project geared towards the low-budget traveler. It allows people to create profiles and explore others with the aim of connecting weary travelers with a free couch to sleep on. At first it sounds shady, yes. But if you go deeper into the infrastructure of CouchSurfing you can find ways to protect yourself. For one, there is a verification system that allows users to confirm that they live where they claim to live. Another method to create a safer environment for Surfers is that you are encouraged to vouch for people you have either stayed with or hosted.
This was how I found my way to Ashley's house in Lubbock, TX... a halfway-ish point between Cheyenne Wells and Austin, TX.
We walked in to be greeted by (luckily not all at once) six dogs, three cats, and two snakes. Oh, and Ashley and her mother. They were beyond wonderful to us - providing us with chicken tacos, chocolate fudge cake, and Comedy Central. All of this they handed over with smiles on their faces. We were allowed to sleep in a good-sized guest bedroom (on a bed! not a couch!), and left in the morning feeling a little better about humans as a whole. There really are good people out there.
Day three of road tripping. Destination, Austin, TX.
I found a goat farm. I found a goat farm with a crazy goat farmer. A goat farmer that, apparently, when one of his goats dies, cuts its head off and hangs it on his barbed wire fence. It proceeds to dry in the sun and look like a turkey breast with ears. It was surprisingly awesome. But still gross. Don't get me wrong... it was definitely gross. Awesome and gross. I expected no less from Texas.
Austin, however, was in no way gross. It was just awesomeawesomeawesome. We did not get to spend much time in the city... for we were tired and ready to just settle down. Or at least, I was tired. Ian, on the other hand, spent the entire day napping in the passenger seat. Thanks, little brother. Thanks a lot.
But the part of Austin we did see was wonderful and covered in trees. Dinner was had with Sherwood at a Tex-Mex restaurant that had wonderful avocado salads and green-chili burritos. And fajitas. So many fajitas. I do love me some o' them.
Sherwood was actually staying at an extended stay hotel for his summer working with IBM (yes, it's small, but maids clean it twice a week!). So we hung out and watched movies on his PS3. Don't be fooled. Just because AntiChrist has Willem Dafoe in it does not mean you want to see it.
Sleep was had, and the next morning we set off towards Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
I will leave you lovelies with that, and will sign off for the day.
Love love, major Texas-is-a-huge-flipping-state love,
Amy Plunk!
Progress across this country of ours
A) Boulder, CO
B) Cheyenne Wells, CO
C) Lubbock, TX
D) Austin, TX
Total mileage so far: 992
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