This TravelBlog covers a three-or-so day ride from Phoenix to Round Rock, Texas.

 

Upon starting out, the very first impression I get, and the most vivid memory I now have, is how Large-Hadron-Collider* hot it is. Really. Between 103° and 109° in Arizona and New Mexico. I swear, the heat billowing up from the asphalt is singeing my eyebrows and evaporating my eyeballs. (What’s a Large Hadron Collider? See below.)

 

I’m on Interstate 10 most of the way and it’s interesting. I’ve been on this part of the I-10 (Arizona-New Mexico-Texas) a dozen or two times, but today it looks completely new. Don’t know why. The dark blue mountains, low and remote, are like a gathering of friends and the clouds are saying, “‘Bout time you showed up. Let’s have a beer!”

 

Damn. When I’m not on the road, I always miss it!

 

By the time I get to West Texas it’s gone down into the mid-90s and it feels like I’m riding through a tropical breeze. To celebrate the “frigid” temperatures, I stop at two Texas stop signs, otherwise known as Dairy Queens, and get chocolate covered ice cream cones. Yes!

 

At one of them, I’m waiting for my cone when the girl at the counter asks me if I’ve gotten my blizzard yet. I didn’t order one so I reply, “No. But some freezing precipitation sounds wonderful!”

 

Later, I have one of those odd interchanges with a stranger. It occurs somewhere on Interstate 10 east of El Paso. East of Sierra Blanca, too.

 

Next to the super slab** is this gas station and small convenience store sitting on a low hilltop. Just sitting there. All alone. Nothing else around. No diner, no motel, no poodle grooming place, nothing. But a really friendly guy (“I’m not the owner!”) is running the place with a smile.

 

Anyway, I get some water and a Naked Juice (gawd, those are good!) and sit outside on the curb next to the Behemoth, my bike, sloshing around in my own sweat. Around the corner comes a skinny elderly lady. Short and crazy hair, worn out flip-flops, and baggy jeans that go just below her knees.

 

She’s wearing a t-shirt on the front of which is the picture of a dog wearing sunglasses. Written below the dog are the words “Don’t Stop Retrievin'” which I’m thinking is an alteration from that famous Journey song, “Don’t Stop Believin’.” She stops in front of me, lights a cigarette, then looks into the deep blue faraway like an old cowboy poet.

 

      Skinny Elderly Lady in a Don’t-Stop-Retrievin’ T-shirt: They better not steal my tire.

      Me: Uh … okay.

      Skinny Elderly Lady in a Don’t-Stop-Retrievin’ T-shirt: Don’t know what to do.

      Me: I hear ya.

      Skinny Elderly Lady in a Don’t-Stop-Retrievin’ T-shirt: Ain’t like it used to be.

      Me: I’ll say.

 

She then throws down the cigarette and walks into the convenience store. If any of you can explain what that was about, please let me know.

 

* The Large Hadron Collider in Geneva, Switzerland is a place where they smash gold particles together and when they do that, the temperature reaches 7.2 trillion degrees Fahrenheit for a split second. (That’s 7,200,000,000,000!) Now, why they’re smashing gold particles together I’ve no idea, but I’m sure it’s awfully important.  

 

** A super slab is a term for an interstate freeway. Actually, any kind of freeway.