Friday, March 13, 2009

Still Trapped in Texas

Day Three. Thursday, March 12, 2009.

9:00 am: Jennifer and Penny attempt to dress for Arctic-like conditions that followed the Texas typhoon. Jennifer was attired in layers of sundresses.

10:00 am: Loaded cats on luggage cart with our various possessions. Wheeled two polite cats and one howling cat through lobby. Pretended we did not know howling cat but had trapped him upstairs in hotel and felt compelled to rescue him and give him a good home.

10:15 am: Began loading car.

10:55 am: Finished loading car. Drove immediately to Wal-mart to buy cat litter and chocolate donettes. Jennifer pumped more gas.

11:00 am: Continued driving through West Texas. (Quite possibly the ugliest place on earth.) Passed through Clyde, Texas: "If we were any tougher, we'd be making license plates." And Stanton, Texas: "Home to 3000 friendly people and a handful of soreheads."

12:30 pm: Lulu unzipped Rumi's cat carrier and let him out. Because of Rumi getting out, we had to go to the Exxon station in Cisco, Texas, and put him back into his carrier (and also buy more road snacks).

12:40 pm: Back on the interstate.

1:00 pm: Lulu climbed to back of car, opened dry food container, and had herself a snack.

Sometime after: Managed to ride 87 miles from Cisco to Sweetwater without incident.

2:30 pm: Arrived at WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots) Museum in Sweetwater, Texas (home of the World's Largest Rattlesnake Round-up). Town still shrouded in ice from last night's ice storm.

3:00 pm: Headed for Pecos, Texas (home of the world's first rodeo), to spend the night. Continued driving through West Texas.



6:15 pm: Arrived in Pecos. Quickly abandoned the idea of spending the night in Pecos.

6:20 pm: Back on interstate. Just when we thought we couldn't bear the sight of one more bleak, barren landscape, mountains arose miraculously in the distance. Jennifer and Lulu drove as fast as possible toward the mountains and the sunset.

9:00 pm: Officially left West Texas and arrived in Van Horn, Texas (population 2000. Hotels: 10, due to all the local scenic attractions).

12:00 am: Two Nivens and three cats enjoyed a good night's sleep, knowing that Friday would bring at last New Mexico, Arizona, and possibly California.

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