The Eagle has Skidded In

I headed out to El Paso this morning with a full car and Wicket in the back seat. I had rain all the way until west of Junction. Lots of traffic all the way through Austin until Drpping Springs, since I left at 7:00 a.m.! Yeah, I know I should've waited, but I wanted to get on the road to beat the kids home from school. Driving in the dark through the periodic downpours was challenging but hey, I'm up to it! I was having a serious case of white line fever and I needed a roadtrip!

The weather from Junction on to El Paso was beautiful. I remembered all over again why I fell in love with west Texas, originally. Long empty vistas to get lost in. An endless ribbon to drive down. I was, oh so ready, for a road trip, and even the whining dog in the backseat didn't detract from my peace I found myself remembering things from way back in the day. Thought about my aunt, thought about all the folks I taught with in El Paso, just random thoughts falling out of my head and leaving me empty.

The coolest thing though was right about the time the iPod ran out of juice, no radio stations were in range, the CD player quit working, the cell phone hit a dead spot-- right there, the road turned from black tar to something red. Red like "a path of heart". It was a very good few miles.

The most I paid for gas we $3.44 a gallon at a little town called Bakersfield (still in Texas, not Cali!) but otherwise I found a Love's station with gas $3.15 a gallon. Trust me, it was a good price for all that I saw on the way in. I was even happy with $3.44 a gallon most of the time. I caught a lucky break in Van Horn! Keep it in mind though if you head out this way. It's on the first exit for Van Horn but it's right behind another gas station who's gas is not as cheap, so you have to look for it. It's almost time for Oprah and Eckart, "A New World" so I'll get some photos up tomorrow. I had my photographer (Mikey) take some shots of me and my crew!

Anyway, the title is an homage to my brother-in-law, Bill, who always emailed us the line "The Eagle had landed" whenever Mom and Dad arrived safely in Minnesota. Of course, I'm more like a buffalo so I had to skid in... Well, all's well out here in the west Texas town of El Paso.... Let's see what Eckert has for us tonight...