062203

 

Weed to Alamogordo to Las Cruces, NM

Sunday June 22, 2003

     9:50am  Sean is telling me about how dangerous wild pigs are out in the mountain. Sean says I would want to have a gun on me. He tells me that these pigs don't just kill you, but they eat you, too. Anything you have on you, it's gone. Waste not-want not, I guess.

                   The Weed store is at highway 24 and Agua Chiquita. If you're coming from Cloudcroft, take a right. Then come down 130 and turn right on 24. It'll take you straight to Weed.

     10:03am  Sean is telling me about this encounter he had with twelve wild dogs. He only had his .22 gun with eight rounds. The dogs came up to him and confronted him. When they saw Sean wasn't running away, they froze for a minute. Sean shot four dogs and killed one. He reloaded and the rest ran away.

                     Oh yeah, make it a point to read the Constitution of the United States and the Holy Bible.

                     Sean is telling me that he would much rather fight a bear than a wild pig. He would have a chance, at least. Wild pigs are much more dangerous. They have absolutely no fear of man. They're smaller, faster and more dangerous.

                     I'm almost to Sean's house and we just passed Cevellas Baptist Camp.

                     We're going down East 82 to 130 and turning right. Weed is in Oterro County and Ruidoso is in Lincoln County.

     10:31am  Sean is telling me about Joy Junction in Albuquerque. They have many resources to tap there. They help people.

                     Man, this is so awesome. The scenery I am seeing. The mountains I'm driving through. I can't believe this is just one state away from Texas. Wow.

                     We're going through this tunnel now. Lincoln National Forest coming up. Turn lights on. Do not stop in tunnel. 17'0"

                     Okay, Sean is telling me that where the white sands stop in the distance, the Malapais begin. Sean says the malapai is an ancient lava flow that came out of the ground like water and cooled. Now it's this big rock basin. Legend has it that when the white sands and malapais touch, that will be the end of the world as we know it. We're driving through the Sacramento mountains in New Mexico.

                     We stopped at the Chevron on the outskirts of Alamogordo. Sean is going to put some air in the tires. I'm going to go inside and use the restroom.

                     Sean dropped me off on Highway 70. I'm going to go to this gas station across the street and see if anyone will give me a ride to Las Cruces.

     11:20am  Sean dropped me off at this gas station. Sean is cool. He's almost just like me. He's a mountain man. He does odd jobs for money. He lives up in the mountain in this awesome little house, which he built an addition to. He barbequed some chicken for me and I ate so much I thought I was going to pop. It was delicious. It was everything I needed. This morning I woke up in the trailer behind his house. It was all set up. I even made the bed. I was going to wash my shorts, but I changed my mind. I don't need to wash my shorts yet. We got everything together and drove out of Weed. Man, I can't believe I ended up in Weed, TX. Umm, I mean Weed, New Mexico. That's so awesome. Now, he dropped me off on 70. I'll walk to gas stations and ask for a ride.

     11:28am  I finished taking a shit at the gas station. I'm going to go try and get a ride.

     11:39am  I am walking across the street to the Gateway Baptist Church.

     12:07pm  I walked up to the church, but they're having service right now. It's Sunday. This usher came up to me and asked me if I wanted to sit down. I told him, "No thanks, brother. I prefer to stand." I don't know when it's over, but I want to talk to the pastor. The reverend. I want to find out if these people practice what they preach.

     12:46pm  I talked to this guy who came outside. He had offered me a hymn book earlier. He is as ignorant as they come. He was thumping his bible hard, telling me I haven't been saved. That sounds like a judgment to me. Damn hypocritical sinner. Ignorance is bliss, I suppose.

     1:05pm  Before I knew it, someone at a gas station gave me a sixty mile jump to White Sands Missile Range.

     1:40pm  The name of the people who gave me the ride were the Harpers. The Harper family. I appreciate it, guys. Thanks a lot.

                    Kickass, only twenty miles to Las Cruces. I'm just going to walk the hot desert highway. Hopefully I can find a place with shade, so I can stop and rest. I wish I could smoke a cigarette, but I don't have any.

     1:48pm  Twenty two miles from Las Cruces. 81 miles from Deming. Let's see what happens.

     2:04pm  Mile Marker 169.

     2:20pm  Mile Marker 168.

     2:43pm  Mile Marker 167, got to rest.

     2:47pm  Leaving 167.

     3:06pm  Mile Marker 166. I'm going to stop and rest again.

     3:11pm  Leaving 166. The road turns to the left and goes around the canyon here. That should be cool.

     3:20pm  Passing sign that says, "You are now leaving White Sands Missile Range. Drive carefully."

     3:30pm  Campground six miles, cool. I'm going to keep walking.

     3:38pm  I am just walking along the highway and I see this white Aerostar with an Oklahoma license plate. CJB-214, Nobody's in it, though. I'll keep walking.

     3:48pm  I stopped to rest for a couple minutes.

     4:06pm  I was just walking down 70 and I see a truck pulled over. I hoped I walked up to him before he took off. I walked up to them and it was this Mexican couple. They didn't speak English, so I talked to them in Spanish. They told me the car broke down and they weren't sure what they would do. I told them not to worry about anything. That I would take care of it. I told them I was going to flag somebody down who had a cellphone. So as cars were passing by I made the universal I-need-to-make-a-phone call sign. You know, thumb and pinky. In no time, these people in a Toyota Four Runner stopped and let us use the phone. When the tow truck comes, I'm going to see if I can get me a ride to Las Cruces. I'll call up Efrain and Bernice and see if I can go crash at their house again(5-10-03, 11:10pm).

     4:10pm  Some other truck pulled over and the Mexican dude was trying to talk to him, but the other dude didn't know Spanish. I translated and asked for a ride to Las Cruces. They guy told me he couldn't, but a couple blocks down the highway, there was another car that had broken down.

     4:40pm  We are still waiting for the tow truck.

     4:59pm  Tony, has agreed to give me a ride to Las Cruces. Thanks a lot for mobilizing me, Tony. I appreciate it."

     5:26pm  Tony just went into Albertson's for some stuff and surprised me with six bars of Nature Valley Chewy Trail Mix. Wow, Tony also refilled my water for me.

                   We drove to the Pep Boys over here, because Tony was concerned about the Mexican couple from earlier. Wow, Tony is actually following-up on giving a damn. I mean, he called the tow truck earlier and now he came to the Pep Boys to check up on them.

     5:45pm  Tony pulled over and is treating me to some ice cream. Awesome. I love ice cream!

     6:21pm  Tony just gave me eleven dollars!. I told Tony, "Hey man, would you be offended if I bought some cigarettes with this?" He told me the money was a gift and to enjoy it however I see fit. Hey, I have enough to buy me a dimebag of weed.

     6:55pm  I'm at some Pilot gas station that Tony dropped me off at. I went inside and bought a pack of cigarettes. I was just outside smoking and the idiot cashier comes outside and tells me, "You can't be out here asking for money." I told her, "I wasn't asking for money. I just bought a pack of cigarettes from you. Duh." She was all, "Well, I'm just letting you know." Idiot.

     7:07pm  I walked into the TA Travel Center and this black dude complimented my walking stick. I told him, "Hey, I want to tell you what I'm going to do." I told him my plan and asked him if he knew where I could score a little weed. He told me walk over to this lake a couple blocks away. So that's where I'm going.

                  Whoa, I see a sign for Burn Lake. Gotta love the signs on this mission. I'm going to score some weed at Burn Lake. Just you watch.

     7:24pm  Okay, I'm at Burn Lake. I don't see a lake anywhere. I see a big soccer field with all these kids practicing.

     7:49pm  I came over here and am talking with Rick. I asked him if he had any weed. He told me no, but if he did he would gladly give me some. He said, "I love kickin' people down." Rick is cool. I told him my ideas. He didn't have any weed, so I'm going to go walk around some more. I can go talk to these guys under that pavillion over there.

                   The dudes under the pavillion recommended I go to the mission to score some weed, so I guess that's where I'm going to go.

     8:05pm  I walked away from these people fishing at this man-made lake. I went and smoked a cigarette with some dude who had a dog named Wolfie. Just then I remembered that I had these fish hooks in my bag. I had found them a long time ago in San Antonio and just kept them to give away someday. Well, this lake was my cue. I'm walking back to the guy I talked to earlier and I am going to go hook him up. Kick him down.

     9:00pm  I'm just walking around Burn Lake hoping to get smoked out. When I would ask people I would go up to them and say, "Hey, they don't call this place Burn Lake for nothing, do they?" I went up and hit this brother up, Carl. I gave him the line and he says, "Why? You wanna smoke?" I told him I just wanted to see if he had some for sale. Dude, I gave him five dollars and he gave me a little bit of weed. Hehe, just like I planned it all along. Scored some weed at Burn Lake. Just following my signs.

                   Cool, Carl just hooked me up with a pocket atlas. I told him I was headed to San Francisco. He said, "Fuck LA. Hit I25 North from here, go through New Mexico, Colorado, head West at Cheyenne, WY and that will go straight into San Francisco. It'll be a much more interesting route."

                   Dude, I got some great traveling instructions from Carl. Oh yeah, the dude who told me about Burn Lake at the TA earlier, told me to watch out for all the homosexuals there. I had forgotten, but Carl refreshed my memory. While I was talking to Carl he seemed a little flamboyant, but adamantly swore he was not gay. Then, later on, this black dude pulled up and started flirting with Carl. Carl asked the brother for a ride. The brother opened his trunk and tried to cram Carl's bike into it. Carl told me he was going to go take a shower. Shyeah, you're not gay, dude. Well, he changed his mind at the last second. He said it was because the brother wouldn't let him smoke.

     9:47pm  I walked away from the homos. I was going to find a spigot to get some water out of. But Burn Lake didn't seem like such a clean body of water, so I decided against it. It was pretty dark out, so I took out my Swiss army knife, pulled out the main blade and put it back in my pocket. That way, if I got jumped I would just slit their throat. Nobody ever messed with me and I walked to this trail going closer to the highway. Interstate 10, I think. Maybe I'll go hit up one of these hotels for a free night, hehe.

     10:00pm  I'm standing out here in front of the Quick Pick Phillip's 66 gas station. I'm going to ask if someone will give me a ride to Interstate 25.

     10:03pm  Some guy already told me yes! Awesome.

     10:10pm  Brian is hooking me up with a ride to 25. He's driving this big Camaro. He is even doing me the favor of taking me North to the edge of town. 25 runs down the whole town, I think. Thanks a lot, Brian.

     10:23pm  I am at the Texaco over by Interstate 25. There's an IHOP right across the street. Cool, I can go hang out there all night.

     10:30pm  I walked into the IHOP across the street and asked them, "Smoking, please." This girl told me, "Sorry, we don't have a smoking section." "Say what?"  I flipped out. Yeah, she told me that you couldn't smoke inside anywhere in New Mexico. I highly doubt that.

     11:30pm  What an interesting turn of events. I was at the Quick Pick(I guess that's where I get rides). I always get picked up quick at the Quick Pick. I was telling the cashier my stories and some other hip-looking dude came inside to pay for some gas. I asked him if he was going 25 North and he said he was. In the car I told him my mission objectives and he ends up inviting me to his house to hit his bong. We go to his house and I am able to copy all my loggings so far to his hard drive. See, I thought maybe I would be able to crash there tonight, but I never brought it up. Anyway. after a while Mark(his name) asks me where do I want to be dropped off. A bit disappointed, I tell him to take me as far North on 25 as he is willing to go.

     11:56pm  Man, that was so weird. Mark just picked some random median to pull over in and dropped me off. There is no civilization close by anywhere. Just out in the middle of nowhere. So here I go. I'm walking down this dark highway in the middle of nowhere. I should be scared, but I don't give a shit. The spirits got my back. The sky looks damn beautiful. It makes me feel so small. Cool, I found the big dipper. It's right in front of me. It's the only constellation I know, hehe. It's still there, after all these years. I remember seeing the Big Dipper when I was little.

     12:21am  Shit, that median was a bitch to cross. It was like a canyon. I see a Chevron sign not too far from here. Whoa, I almost tripped going down this big hill of sand. I am so glad I have these boots.

                      Damnit, the Chevron is closed. They should turn the lights off, like the gas station across the street. What a wasteful country.

                      Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that guy Mark told me he had noticed my peace tattoo on the back of my neck and that was the only reason he brought me over to his house.

     12:45am  I changed my mind again. I'm going to walk back to the highway and walk North. Maybe somebody will pick me up. Hopefully it won't be some crazy lunatic. Hopefully.

     1:00am  The weirdest shit just happened. See before when I was smoking a cigarette by these picnic tables, I noticed there was a nice patch of grass right there. It was kind of out of view of everything. Then when I came back from walking I decided I was going to crash there. I pulled out my blanket and crashed out in the grass. I was lying there for like ten minutes when all of a sudden this car pulled behind the gas station. These two Mexican dudes pulled up to me, looked at me and drove off again. They went behind the dumpsters. I sat up and folded and packed my stuff. Other people were pulling up to the gas station and buying gas with their credit cards. I thought I would just have to stay up, ask the right person and sleep in their car.

                   Maybe they'll call the cops on me and I'll get a courtesy-ride from the cops. Can you say nothing to lose? Cool, nearby the benches there's this thing that says, "Free Water" and there's a hose. Badass. I have a well close by. I can sip on it until I get a ride. Badass. Renewable resource. Ahh, screw this, I'm going to bed. Goodnight.

Next day..