Posted By bbinns on March 16, 2009
On my last day in Marfa, the town is hopping. It’s spring break: people and babies are everywhere in evidence. There’s an exhibit at Marfa Ballroom, the sheriff is grilling out east of town at the stables, then there’s music behind the old bowling lanes, and a wedding has taken over the Hotel Paisano. Plus, […]
Posted By bbinns on January 4, 2009
It is good to have an end to journey towards, but it is the journey that matters, in the end….Ursula K. Le Guin
Posted By bbinns on January 1, 2009
12.31. Scottsdale to L.A.: 423 miles. Two states: Arizona and Home. The Mojave desert is long, wide, spare—just like I remember it from the first time I drove home to LA from Sedona, the summer after graduating from high school at Verde Valley. It doesn’t change much. But I have.Although I love the drive, I […]
Posted By bbinns on December 31, 2008
12.30 Gallup to Scottsdale: 348 miles. Two states: New Mexico and Arizona. Signs: “Zuni Fetishes Direct!” “Don’t Drive Into the Smoke.” “Cops Every Where. Don’t get Blitzed.” Sounds: XM Seventies, CNN, William Boyd’s “Restless.” When I was little, I always thought the word in the title above was pronounced “reminsking.” I was an only child, […]
Posted By bbinns on December 30, 2008
12.29. “That’s a very beautiful tree,” I am saying to the elderly proprietor of the El Rancho Hotel-Motel, Mr. Ortega, who assures me that “This hotel is on the register of historic places.” And rightly so. We had approached Gallup on the business loop of I-40, rather than going straight on to the hotel, for […]
Posted By bbinns on December 30, 2008
12.29: Amarillo to Gallup, 424 miles. Two states: Texas and New Mexico. Sounds: New Riders of the Purple Sage (Glendale Train, Louisiana Lady, Panama Red), Coyote Oldman, Sheryl Crow (Everday is a Winding Road), Lyle Lovett (Long Tall Texan, Road to Ensenada), The Marshall Tucker Band (Take the Highway). My bliss in hitting the open […]
Posted By bbinns on December 29, 2008
12.28 Oh dear. I was so very excited about the Golden Light Café and Cantina. Amarillo has been a culinary wasteland on all of the 3 or 4 visits I’ve made, so when I discovered the “famous, raunchy roadhouse” with “the best burgers,” “great beer,” live music etc., it was a big thrill. Are we […]
Posted By bbinns on December 29, 2008
12.28: Tulsa to Amarillo, 364 miles. Two states: Oklahoma and Texas. Sounds: Asleep at the Wheel (Take me Back to Tulsa, Boogie Back to Texas, Miles and Miles of Texas), Jerry Jeff Walker (I Wanna Go Home with the Armadillo), Bonnie Raitt (The Road’s My Middle Name). Now this is what I call driving. The […]
Posted By bbinns on December 28, 2008
On my first few cross-country drives, I consulted the venerable Roadfood for dining recommendations. But after a while ribs, rib-sticking bbq, and pie started to wear thin. Or, rather, heavy. Plus, after a drive of such epic proportions, one wants a cocktail, and rib-joints rarely offer such sophisticated sipping. That’s when I started to get […]
Posted By bbinns on December 28, 2008
12.27: St Louis to Tulsa, 395 miles. Two states: Missouri and Oklahoma (although Kansas and it’s relative, ArKansas, are lurking nearby). “There is a tornado warning in effect for the entire area,” says the satellite weather channel for St Louis. All six of our eyes meet, take a beat, and then roll, as one. At […]
