This post is about a road trip I took with Jasper (my boyfriend at the time) from Austin, Texas to Los Angeles, California in early June. First, though, I've got some other things on my mind, if you'd graciously oblige. (Or skip to the road trip stuff, I won't know either way.)
I had a dream last night that I was in another country, and I was having a really hard time figuring out if I was still on my Bonderman trip or not. It was like those dreams I used to have while I WAS on that trip, dreams about accidentally coming home too soon and thinking, "Oh crap I forgot I still need to go to Japan! I'm not supposed to be home yet, I'm going to get in so much trouble!" This time, though, I definitely remembered I DID go to Japan already, so I was like, "I must have finished the Bonderman... but then why am I still traveling? Where am I? What am I doing here?" I guess a part of my brain forgot that I can still travel to new places even though the Bonderman is over (or it worries that I won't). It was an odd dream.
As much as I love having my "normal" life back (with a few significant changes: new job, new city, new niece), I do miss my travel days. If I was offered another multi-month travel adventure again, I would accept it in a heartbeat.
I think the part I miss most is how traveling affected my self-concept. I felt special, unique, interesting, strong, independent, and capable. I can still feel those ways about myself now, of course -- I just need to work harder for it. Identifying as a world traveler seemed to come with those feelings as a package deal. I find myself posting old travel photos on Instagram just to remind myself (and others, obviously -- you never post on social media "just for yourself," duh) that I did these things, I went to these places, and even though no one was there to experience it with me for most of it, IT HAPPENED! And it wasn't that long ago -- this time last year, I had only just arrived to Brazil, I just turned 31, with 6 more countries to go. Now, having just turned 32, I mostly feel very broke, very single, and unsure of what direction I want my life to go.
But whatever -- those are just temporary birthday-related feelings and I'm sure I'll feel like a badass again soon enough. Let's explore the great American Southwest!
When I found out I got a job a the WA State Department of Health starting June 16, Jasper was visiting friends in North Carolina and had registered for a tech/computer game conference of some kind in L.A. It seemed that the best use of our time while I was still fun-employed would be to meet up in Austin and take a road trip to L.A. over the course of 8 days or so. We had three items on the Austin to-do list: 1) Get some cowboy boots, 2) try some authentic Texan BBQ, and 3) listen to live music at one of Austin's many music venues.
Allen Boots
We had both asked our Uber drivers on the way to the Austin AirBNB -- separate Uber rides -- where to go boot shopping, and what brand of boots were the BEST (this was more important to Jasper than to me; I don't really treat myself to nice things very often because making sure nice things stay nice is stressful to me). The advice we got was unanimous (2 person unanimity still counts), which was to go to Allens Boots, and get a pair of Luccheses. So that's exactly what we did.
There were rows and rows of gorgeous boots with every imaginable detail and style (I was drawn toward the campy colorful ones, but thankfully, Jasper talked me into a more "classic" looking pair). I think you can find a pair of boots here for less than $100, but hoooo-ee, these boots do not come cheap.
Later that day, we went to Rainey Street, a strip of old houses that have been repurposed into bars, restaurants, and shops. I love it when houses turn into other things, so this was very fun for me.
Franklin Barbecue
The next day, the number one priority was barbeque. Now, what constitutes the "best" BBQ is obviously subject to personal tastes and preferences, but when you ask locals where the best BBQ is, they are likely to tell you either Franklin, or Terry Black's. Franklin Barbecue is widely regarded as the best, but also the most overhyped. In other words, it's not SO much better than other options that it justifies waiting in line for 2-3 hours, which is just an accepted part of the deal unless you happen to get lucky and go on an unusually slow day. We took our chances, but did not have such luck.
Here's the thing -- the line is an experience in itself. They don't open until 11:00am, but people start to line up as early as 7:00. Jasper and I got there at 9:00, picked up some iced coffee from a very strategically placed coffee stand in the parking lot, grabbed some complementary umbrellas for shade, and waited two hours for the place to open, and then another hour to get to the counter to order our food. They let you buy and drink beer in line, and a cold beer on a hot day makes anything tolerable, amirite?
Here are the rules o' the line:
The Texas State Capitol: George W. Bush and Confederate Monuments
With bellies full of brisket and ribs and beer, we walked up the state capitol building. Several questions came up: Do all state capitol buildings have that dome feature? What is George W. Bush up to right now? Is he painting still? How much do his paintings cost and where can I get one? Holy shit, is that a monument honoring the Confederacy??
I still don't know about the dome question; too lazy/don't care enough to look into it. And I don't know if George W. Bush's paintings are available to purchase, but he does have a book of paintings he's done of American soldiers called Portraits of Courage, and I kinda want it. Hanging out in Texas definitely made me want to track down his ranch and try to meet him. Even though I didn't agree with a lot of the things he did as president, he did always strike me as a chill dude to hang out and have a beer with.
Below is his portrait hanging in the capitol alongside all the other Texan governors, two of which are women! Wooo! Miriam A. "Ma" Ferguson was elected in 1924, along with Tayloe Ross of Wyoming -- the first women elected governors of U.S. states. Ann Richards, a democrat and a badass feminist, was governor from 1991-1995 and her portrait seems to embody Texan "don't mess with me" strength. She was also known for quippy and quotable one-liners. Apparently she also narrated a documentary film called Barbecue: A Texas Love Story. (I like this woman.) During the recording, she noticed a line that was really vague and said, "What does that mean?! It doesn't mean anything. It sounds like something George Bush would say." (I'd like to hear her thoughts on Trump's speech patterns.) Here's dear ol' W:
And here's a close-up of that Confederate monument mentioned earlier, which reads: "DIED for state rights guaranteed under the Constitution. The people of the South, animated by the spirit of 1776, to preserve their rights, withdrew from the Federal Compact in 1861. The North resort to coercion. The South, against overwhelming numbers and resources, fought until exhausted."
I am, admittedly, not a U.S. historian. The civil war was complicated and messy; it was about more than just slavery, and I empathize with the idea that states were trying to exercise their right to secede from the Union when they felt it was no longer serving them, or forcing them to give up their way of life which they thought was their right, or whatever their grounds were. Hell, sometimes I wish the West Coast could secede and do our own thing. Maybe ask Justin Trudeau to adopt us. (Not Canada, but Trudeau, personally.)
However, in light of what happened in Charlottesville and the rise of white supremacist voices throughout the country, even in the least expected places (my friend Richelle and I saw a truck displaying a Confederate flag drive down Ruston Way in Tacoma a week ago), I think keeping Confederacy-glorifying monuments are damaging to our nation. They send a message to our black citizens that there's a chunk of the population who wants to be reminded of the period in our shared history when black people were slaves, and to honor the people who fought to keep that status quo. Monuments are for honoring people that represent our values as a nation and to honor people who stood for those values, and slavery is antithetical to everything America is supposed to stand for.
As for the argument that taking them down would "erase" that part of our national history: monuments aren't necessarily meant to be markers of history. Museums, documentaries, and textbooks do a pretty good job of capturing the historical side of things.
I doubt this monument at the Austin capitol will come down anytime soon, but I hope it comes down eventually. Texas is better than that.
A few more Austin highlights before we hit the road:
- Walking through the botanical gardens
- Catching a bluegrass music show at Continental Club
- Eating at Homeslice pizza (twice)
The highlights of New Mexico were...
1) seeing the gravesite of Bill the Kid in Fort Sumner...
... 2) and staying with Bob and Judi (Bob is my maternal grandmother's brother), who gave us beer and wine after a very long day of driving and entertained us with stories of my grandma, my mom, and 6 aunts and uncles as children.
New Mexico may be best known these days as the setting for the hit FX show Breaking Bad. Apparently, there are tours where you drive an RV around the city to the different sites where the show was filmed. We didn't have time to do this, but that's okay. If I'm going to participate in a Breaking Bad tourist activity, I want it to be a cooking class.
(Get it? Cuz the show is about a guy who cooks meth... that joke doesn't really land when I do it on stage either, but I like it too much to give it up just yet.)
The Grand Canyon
The next day, we drove to a town in Arizona near the Grand Canyon and booked a "Glamping" site. Glamping is one of those word-smushes for "glamorous camping," which in this case meant that there's a queen-size bed with nice bedding inside the tent, and a home-cooked meal is included for dinner. Our host, Jeff, was great, and I highly recommend staying here as part of a trip to the Grand Canyon.
As for the Grand Canyon.... it was breath-taking. It's really silly that it takes so many of us so long to get our butts down there to see this Natural Wonder of the World in our own backyard. I think the photos are worth a thousand words (though they still don't do it justice), so I'll keep words to a minimum for this. We did just one day at the park, and that seemed to be enough, considering we weren't going to do any into-the-canyon hikes. If you DO want to hike into the canyon, you have to plan to spend the night down there, because it is way too strenuous to hike all the way down and back up again in one day. Apparently people have died from heat exhaustion trying to do that, so don't do that.
The other thing we didn't get a chance to do that would have been AWESOME is white water rafting through the canyon on the Colorado River. My friend Dylan told me that this was possible, but I thought you had to have a special license or something. Turns out, pretty much anyone can do it, but you need to book it WAY in advance. When we asked about it, they told us there was a two-year waitlist. Damn. Also looks like you gotta start in Las Vegas for a lot of these rafting tours.
Here's what we DID get to do with one day there:
1) Watched the IMAX movie "Hidden Secrets of the Grand Canyon" at the National Geographic center outside the park
2) Hiked Hermit's Trail and caught this stunning view:
3) Went to the geology museum (this is a one-room 'museum' but very informative and worth checking out)
4) Went to Mather's Point for the sunset
That night, we stayed in a repurposed railcar at an RV park, because why stay in a hotel when you can sleep somewhere that wasn't originally meant for people to sleep? If you travel with me and let me pick where to stay, I am always going to choose the quirky / unique / adventurous option.
And then there was Bearizona -- a wildlife park featuring animals of the southwest, like black bears, bison, wolves, and several species of birds of prey. One of the bison they had named "Trump" because of his hair. Remember when the greatest disaster Trump was responsible for was his hair? Good times.
After Bearizona, we continued west to Phoenix and stayed the night with my Aunt Jeni and caught up with my cousins Seth and Austin. Seth and Jasper bonded over motorcycles and outdoor adventures, and Austin explained cryptocurrency to me, a conversation that went something like this:
Me: You're going to have to start with the basics, because I know nothing about this stuff.
Austin: Okay, so you know how you have money?
Me: .... no.
He did manage to convince me that when I DO have money, I should invest it in Bitcoin, which I did.
Sedona Jeep tour! (no time for natural water slide)
California Wine & Comedy
The first night in California, we stayed in Temecula wine country, spending the afternoon doing wine tastings at Wiens Family Cellars. The next day we reached Los Angeles, and made it to a comedy show at a gay club called Micky's, featuring Joleen Lunzer and Xchel Hernandez, who I met in Arizona while receiving stand-up coaching from my Uncle Mike and his comedy friends. They are married now, and Xchel recently had an audition for SNL (!)
I love watching the evolution of people's standup careers. I wonder if the names on this poster will ever pop up in my life again...
