062204

 

Ruidoso to Truth or Consequences, NM

Tuesday June 22, 2004

     6:30am  I woke up at like six in the morning. I crashed out underneath this realty place. Pine Mountain Realty I think it's called. There's a deck in the back and I crashed out underneath it. In the middle of the night I thought I saw something moving around. At first, I thought it was a bear! It scared me, hehe. It turned out to be some bum who crashed out drunk.

                   Anyway, this morning I woke up and there were snails all over me. Like everywhere! Attack of the snails! I'm dumb, because when I found this place last night and I made my bed, I put my rain poncho down and put my falsa blanket on top. There were snails underneath my poncho which I slept on and I squashed them. It's all dirty. I rolled it up and I'm going to clean it when I get the chance.

                   Other than that, I've had a good morning. That bum woke up and noticed I was there. I was eating a donut. I had two, so I handed him one. He had a broken arm and everything. I'm in Ruidoso, by the way. I crashed pretty close to the Greyhound station. I'm going to smoke a cigarette. I'm going to try and get to Tularosa again. I don't have any money.

     7:12am  I am walking down Sudderth Road. This town is really ignorant. Almost nobody gives me the peace sign back driving by in their car. I give every single car a peace sign. I'm testing the town.

     7:14am  I'm in front of this food bank now. This is the place I crashed out for a nap last year. They had a big dome I slept underneath(6-20-03, 8:34am). It's not there anymore. Anyway, I came and put my stuff down on a picnic table and I'm going to do my stretches and Tai-Chi. I forgot to do them this morning.

     7:18am  Alright, I did my stretches. I'm going to take off walking. I'm going to go find that church where I took a shower last time.

     7:23am  People are starting to wave back now. Like three in a row. Cool.

     7:24am  I'm walking past this place called Pines Inn on the River. There's a river here? I'm going to go find it and take a picture.

                   Ahh, it's more of a creek than a river. I need to conserve pictures, so I'm not going to take a picture of it. You'll just have to take my word. You can trust me.

     7:49am  I came up to these tennis courts. I scanned the trash cans and I found one ball.

     8:09am  I tried scoring a free donut at the donut shop and they gave me some bullshit excuse, "I can't do anything until the owner gets here." She told me he came back at ten, if I wanted to wait. Damnit, I'm hungry now.

     8:25am  That place was called Daylight Donuts. Anyway, there was a Ruidoso Labor Ready place behind the donut shop. I went up to the home-bums there and asked them, "Hey, isn't there a church around here I can take a shower at?" They told me it was right next door. Cool, it ended up being that place I had gone to last year. Actually, I am in the same bathroom right now. It was cool, they gave me a towel and soap and shampoo. I'm going to take me a chower.

     8:57am  I just got out of the Gateway Church of Christ. I scored me an awesome shower.

     8:58am  I was walking out of the church and Lee came out and hooked me up with some food. When I got out of the shower, I had asked him if they had any grub to spare and he had told me they were running low. I had told him thanks anyway, but he just came out and gave me some food. Awesome. Everybody gets credit, thanks.

     9:27am  Gina me esta dando gasolina para mi estomago para caminar mas. Muchisimas gracias. Todo el mundo recibe crédito en mi juego.

     9:49am  I got hooked up sooo good at this Mexican restaurant. It was awesome. They had this scrumptious buffet. I had never been to a Mexican buffet before. It was just delicious.

     10:10am  That was so awesome! I scored some Mexican food. Just like I knew I would. They had a badass buffet. Delicious too. It wasn't just the price that made it taste so good, hehe. It was quality stuff. Everyone should come eat the buffet at this place. I don't remember the name, but just remember it's the place in Ruidoso(on Sudderth, I think) that has a Mexican buffet. Tell them Victor the Liberator sent you, hehe.

     10:40am  I am all excited because I got a full stomach. I've got a full tank of gas and I'm going to walk. I had passed Paradise street I passed earlier. There's a sign that says White Mountains this way.

     10:44am  Passing over Rio Ruidoso. The Ruidoso River.

     10:57am  I'm on Sanders I think. I'm turning left on Bradley. I'm going to walk it.

     11:14am  I have donned my boots. I'm walking down this one road that said Dead End on it.

     11:54am  I had a long rest on top of this log out in the woods. I'm going to go back to that road and go all the way back to the church where I took a shower. Arthur told me they could hook me up with a bus ticket to Tularosa, but in the afternoon. He was real busy this morning.

                     I hadn't put my boots on since I left San Antonio. I put them on and tried hiking in these woods. My feet hurt in those boots! I have to put my other shoes back on. They'll take some major getting used to.

                     The guy's name at the church who helped me out last year and this year, his name is Arthur.

     12:29pm  I am all the way back at the church. The Gateway Church of Christ.

     12:53pm  Arthur here, at the Gateway Church of Christ is going to hook me up with bus fare all the way to Truth or Consequences! I appreciate it.

     1:22pm  Time for an update. I am back at the Gateway Church of Christ. This guy came up to me and asked me, "You need a ticket to Tularosa?" I told him, "Would I be pushing my luck if I said Truth or Consequences?" He told me, "Let me go ask." Arthur said it was cool drove me over to the bus station and bought my thirty five dollar ticket for only twenty six(they get a discount) to Truth or Consequences. I'm going to get there tomorrow. At 6:10pm I'll catch it here to El Paso and from there transfer to another bus to T or C. I told them, "Thanks for mobilizing me guys. On my way to save the world."

     3:38pm  I was tired so I took a nap in front of this door. There was some carpeting there. In front of some closed church.

     3:55pm  Sean hooked me up with a cigarette at this gas station.

 

                    I appreciate it, brother. Everybody gets credit, thanks. At the Texaco here.

     4:22pm  I'm waiting for 6:10pm, so I'm just walking around Ruidoso bored. This is a really ignorant town. I didn't tell my story too much. I'm going to go to this Ole Taco place and see if they hook me up with a taco.

     4:32pm  I got hooked up at that place! They gave me a soda and everything.

     5:17pm  I went back to the Greyhound station to sit and wait for my bus. I spot some dude in a truck driving by smoking a cigarette. I give him the universal bum-a-cigarette hand gesture and he pulls over quick. His name is Rex. I walked over to his truck and he gave me a cigarette. He was pretty ignorant, though. He didn't let me tell him my story. After I logged his generosity I asked him, "Hey, can I tell you about it?" He goes, "Na, Na, Na." I tell him, "Let me at least tell you my mission-objectives." Cool, I got a cigarette.

                   Man, that cigarette just fell in my lap. I was really craving one.

     6:00pm  Shane, driving a taxi cab gave me a cigarette. I appreciate it, brother.

     6:14pm  I've been messing around with these two birds 

that have a nest here at the Greyhound station. I wave the tennis ball on my stick at them and they fly away. Then they come hover by the nest and I scare them some more. It's pretty fun. I'm going to take a picture of them. I want them to get in the nest.

                   Oh yeah, and all these little kids were picking things in all this shrubbery. They were collecting stuff and putting them in a bag. I asked them in Spanish what they were doing, "¿Que hacen?" They told me they were caracoles, snails! They're everywhere in Ruidoso. These kids filled up these plastic bags with tons of snails. I asked them, "What are you going to do with them?" They shrugged and told me they didn't know. This other kid chimed in with, "I'm going to let them go." "That's right!" I told them. Liberate them.

                    I had told them, "Oh, those are for if you get hungry on the ride home, huh?" They laughed.

     6:15pm  Oh yeah, the lady told me the bus is running late, so it'll be here at six thirty or seven.

     6:17pm  Rosalia me dio un cigaro en el Greyhound. Todo mundo recibe crédito en mi juego, gracias.

     6:49pm  The bus finally came. It's going to El Paso then to Truth or Consequences.

     7:34pm  Delaney has just suggested to me that I download Cottonmouth Kings. They're a band out of California. I'll check em out.

     7:43pm  I showed Delaney my meager portion of weed I had left. She had a dugout with the same kind of of one-hitter I have and she emptied out the last of her shake into my wallet. Badass. She told me, "My boyfriend sells, so I get it for free." I like free.

                   She gave me three cigarettes too! Awesome, awesome.

     7:52pm  I am on the bus. We had to stop in Alamogordo. That girl Delaney listened to my story like crazy. She gave me a big hug. She told me to have a safe trip wherever I am going. I told her those were the only kinds of trips I knew how to take. I'm on the bus now. I'm going to eat these Cheeto's I got, that will make my mouth green.

     9:15pm  We are in Las Cruces. We stopped for a five minute cigarette break.

     10:48pm  Frasier hooked me up with a cigarette here at the Greyhound station. I appreciate it, Frasier.

     11:57pm  Oh, the bus is boarding early. Oh yeah, the driver recognized me. I had seen him before. He told me, "I told you last time you can't bring that stick on the bus!" I was like, "Okay, We can put it underneath!" He started yelling at me and I told him, "I am agreeing with you!" He smiled. He was kidding. I even went back up to him and asked, "Hey, can I sit next to you in front and tell you about my mission?" He said, "Sure!"

     12:45am  I just finished telling the bus driver my story. He had told me, "Yeah, I had seen you before." After I finished my story and told him I was going to try and get some sleep, he told me, "See you later, San Antone." I am having the greatest time on the road.

     2:45am  Lee hooked me up with a cigarette outside. Oh yeah, I'm in Tularosa! I forgot to tell you. Wait, in Truth or Consequences, I mean. They woke me up. We are here already.

     3:15am  I came and smoked a cigarette at Community Loans. Down the street I see all these cop cars with lights on. I wonder what's going on. I'm going to walk up to the cops and ask them where the youth hostel is.

     3:22am  The weirdest thing. There's an overturned eighteen wheeler over there where all the cops are. It's just the cab. It wasn't hauling anything. I asked the cop if he could tell me where the youth hostel was. At first he didn't know what I was talking about. Then he said, "I think you're talking about the Powerhouse. It's down that street and take a left."

                    I walked down 3rd Street. I ran into that tie-dye shop(6-24-03, 1:55pm). Dukat71, where I got hooked up with a shirt last time. Actually, his dogs started barking and he came outside. I walked up to him and asked him, "Do you remember signing this shirt?" He goes, "Yeah, last year." I told him, "It's an integral part of my uniform now."

Next day..