Actually, I made it yesterday, but didn't have time to drop a post. Hey, don't look at me that way - it was a long drive, and there were some snafus and beautiful things along the way that left me a little preoccupied. We're still pals, right? Right??
Lemme tell you about some of it.
It rained on the way out of Atlanta, and my windscreen fogged, so I turned the A/C thingy to vent. Once I was clear of the rain (Somewhere in Mississippi, I think), I turned it back to A/C. Well...I tried, anyway...turns out, when the dealership replaced the compressor for me, they may have mucked up the control thingy...so I had to drive the rest of the trip with a trickle of cool (not cold, cool) air and plenty of cold water to keep me from over heating. You can bet I'll be getting that repaired post-haste! That was the first snafu.
There was the gully-washer in Alabama that damn near got me killed several times. Not the rain itself, which was actually pretty amazing. No...it was the people in the rain, afraid to drive in it, that nearly did me in. Hey, Alabama? And everyone else, for that matter? If you don't like driving int the rain, stay off the bloody road!! Don't pull onto a major highway, drive twenty miles-per-hour under the speed limit in the right lane with your flashers on (An aside - flashers are for emergencies. Rain is not an emergency. Please note that. Thank you.), decide that the left lane is the place you want to be, then pull over in front of the Astro van going significantly faster than you, forcing the
There was the sunset in Louisiana. The clouds had thinned, arrayed themselves around the sun in gauzy veils, reflecting the molten peach-gold, shot through with silver. As the sun sank lower, the clouds morphed into strands of white hair, the Crone's locks flowing across the sky, threaded with peach, vermilion, and gold.
There was the rainbow incident. Two double rainbows arching overhead form where I came from to where I was headed. So vivid, they were almost solid - I wanted to reach from my van and gather a handful of colors, drink them, roll in them, clothe myself in them. As I looked, a bolt of lightning lanced downward from the clouds at the center of the arc, sizzling blue-white light, energy, clapping, bellowing, brilliant beater striking the great sky-drum, rolling out beyond me, carrying me with it.
The clouds were almost clear when the moon rose, and I watched her out my side window as she peeked this way and that, peering under, around, and finally over, then sailing grandly upward slightly behind me. She pushed me onward, laughing, the tinkle of bells in my mind. I wasn't on pavement any more, but sailing on her pathways, gliding, floating, suddenly removed from the ordinary, the mundane, passed through a gateway to another realm, born along by silver horses in my chariot of glass...
There was the Hampton Inn that was full...but the nice lady at the desk kindly directed me to the motels with the cheapest rooms rather than trying to convince me to go up the highway a little more and stay at another of her chain...and the good woman at the Super8 who searched for her cheapest room so I didn't have to spend a Benjamin just to sleep for a few hours - honestly, I would have just parked at a rest stop and cracked the windows if I didn't think Mum would somehow know, fly there on her broomstick, and bitch-slap me.
Next day, there was the stop for fuel that was almost, but not quite, the stop for another day because the Magic Wand o' Fueling suddenly wouldn't work. Kudos to Exxon for their diligence, noting that there was anomalous use of the Magic Wand o' Fueling and putting a security hold on it until they could make certain it wasn't stolen - even if it did add thirty minutes to my fuel stop. Better safe than sorry. That snafu was an easy fix...thanks Mum, for making that call!!
When I checked into my current lodging, the good woman at the front desk was kind enough to charge me a different rate from the one I thought I'd have, saving me nearly a hundred dollars - which was terrific, because when you pay cash there's a hundred-dollar deposit, and that would have put a real crimp in my grocery/dining budget! My room was nice, plenty of space, nice little kitchen...I got unpacked, called everyone who wanted to be called and told I was alive and safe, and booted up bob the Wonder Computer...only to find the Internet resisting me! Aww, dang.
Turns out, there's a weird access point in that building, and they couldn't get to it to fix it because of a less-than-congenial resident in that room...so instead of making me go without Internet, the good woman up front offered to let me move - to a ground-floor room up front! Awesome! Here I am, settled in and finally online. I am about to take a nap...didn't sleep much last night, up late talking and uh...talking. Also, the danged alarm clock kept going off...starting at three in the morning! What the Hell!! At three-thirty I threatened it with a hammer, and it stopped. You just have to know how to talk to these things. I'm sure finding the "Off" switch had nothing to do with it.
Whew, long post - and I didn't even tell you about cars in ditches, the Texas welcome center, my breakfast at Waffle House, and why Slim Jims are still the best processed-meat-in-a-plastic-sleeve available on the road.
I'll end with this - the Motel6/Studio6 in Houston is full of the awesome, and I am now totally a fan of this fine establishment. No kidding - the bed isn't as good as the ones at Hampton Inn, but I don't care - there's a freakin' kitchen!!
More live updates later, when I've gone out and about, explored, maybe shot some photos - I'm hoping there's a garden or three in my near future (botanical type place/s) and perhaps a trip to Galveston, and if I can possibly shoot a pic of the amazing interchange outside this motel, I will - it puts Spaghetti Junction in Atlanta to shame!!
Cheers, y'all!
Posts
1 comment:
I know exactly which Motel 6 you are talking about. I stayed there on my way to Cali. Be warned, early in the morning the smell of manure lingers in the air.
Post a Comment