The journey went a little faster over the past couple of days once Stephanie finally got behind the wheel. We both took pleasure in whizzing past Prius after Prius while clocking upwards of 100 miles per hour as we cruised along sparsely populated stretches of highway in western Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico. The VW Jetta Sportwagen TDI is built for hauling butt, hauling gear and having fun. And we still managed to average 34 miles per gallon while she was driving. When I filled the car up early on Day 2 and calculated my gas mileage from the day before it came to 39 miles per gallon over 500 miles of highway from Asheville, NC to Memphis, TN. Today we’re enjoying the fall colors throughout Colorado and checking out some very cool towns. I’m writing this entry inside the Steaming Bean Cafe in Durango.
The other evening I had a fun chat at the check-in desk at our Memphis hotel with Zach Randolph, formerly of the New York Knicks and now with the Memphis Grizzlies. He was interested in hearing about my Lazy E tv show but even more interested in discussing pit bulls since we’re traveling with the one my girlfriend rescued and he evidently shows pit bulls at competitions. Having a tv show is pretty good street cred but apparently taking care of a pit bull is what really impresses. I didn’t tell him that our dog’s name is Shaq. Not sure how he would have felt about that.
Yesterday, we drove up to Taos and then on to Questa and Red River, NM. In Questa, we got a tip from a local that the best Mexican food in town was to be had at the Chevron gas station where two awesome women managed the kitchen in the back. Hanging out at the Chevron when we arrived was one of the most effective environmentalists of all-time, Joe Cisneros, whose real-life battle against Molycorp was the inspiration for the novel and movie The Milagro Beanfield War. Little Joe as he’s known throughout the Southeast is still feisty and battling for environmental causes throughout the Southeast.
