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Stats to Date: |
| Total Miles: | 1175 |
| Total States: | 3 |
| Total Oceans Touched: | 0 |
| Car Problems: | 0 |
| Total Times Lost: | 0 |
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Day: 2 | Location: Phoenix, AZ |
The most sublime word in the english language is 'duty,' you can not do more and you should never do less. -- Robert E. Lee
After finished breakfast in Las Cruces this morning, I met a border patrol officer named Julio at a checkpoint on the highway. I drove up, he looked confused and asked,
"What are you doing?" I wasn't sure if I had screwed something up or he genuinely wanted to know... I went with my gut: "Ummm... traveling around the country?" This trip is hard to explain to people in positions of authority -- but
after a few seconds of awkward conversation, he laughed and said "Alright, go on. Merry Christmas." Most people smile when I tell them what I'm doing, or say something like: "Man,
I wish I'dve done something like that..." Which makes me wonder, why didn't you? For example, I was driving down the road thinking about how the strange plants in New Mexico
look like a Texas Cactus and a California palm tree had relations (see picture), and I noticed a sign for "Tombstone." Whoa... That movie makes every man want to be
Wyatt Earp and kill
bad guys... and this was my chance to see the historic town itself. Sure, it was a 4 hour detour -- but I got to see gun fights, old western saloons and hang out in the town
where Curly Bill and the Earp family made history. Totally unplanned, but it was a blast. That kind of freedom from a set schedule feels like... well, freedom.
And that was after I drove through the "Continental Divide" (see picture left, it sounds a lot cooler than it is...). I wish everyone could experience this kind
of freedom and time alone.
Now, I'm
hanging out in Phoenix trying to find an internet cafe or other internet source so I can get this journal online. I don't have a whole lot more to talk about
today, except that I got to listen to Tom Brokaws "Greatest Generation" today -- it's amazing to me the kind of sacrifice and devotion that generation had... the selflessness
that was required to leave families, wives, careers, everything behind to fight a war on the other side of the world... because it was the right thing to do. I don't know
many people my age who have that sense of duty. Tomorrow morning I will be at the Grand Canyon and tomorrow night I will be in Las Vegas! Please pray that my truck will hold
up -- every time I smell burning oil I pray there is a refinery nearby.
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