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We have made it through 2 days of desert driving. 2 more days of driving to go until we get to Hermosa Beach.
Great skies. Wide open spaces. Fresh air. Good stuff. We had another great day.
I can't wait to see these films. I did some color and some black and white, so it should be interesting.
Long drive out of Odessa. Long stretches of nothing far as you could see and oil rigs and windmills. Great for photography. The most memorable thing about Odessa was that we were in an economy hotel where a lot of oil/fracking workers were also staying. We were a little frightened to ask questions. I don't think we had either the right accent or license plates.
Part of the drive across what seemed like desert took us up to 4500 feet. I now know that's my limit. We've been hugging the coast to stay pretty close to sea level, and this was both an experiment and a challenge. I did start to feel weird at the top but it didn't last very long and I was able to recover which was good to find out.
We drove 300 miles before seeing signs of civilization. We missed lunch because along the route was a National Park where we might have stopped, but it was shut down on account of the shut down. Another place along the way was open Wednesday through Sunday. It was Tuesday. We couldn't believe it. Met some bikers from Buffalo, New York! Go figure. We did take a break by the Salt Flats which were really cool. Looking forward to seeing the shots from this day.
Today, our driving will take us to Tucson, AZ. Can't believe it's been 3 days to get across Texas! Stay tuned.
Where the hell am I? Seriously, I've seen a lot of green trees on the side of the road. We do see cool views, snapshots, of America too.
Our lunch stop in Cisco, TX, was pretty amazing. It was as authentic as authentic gets.
Tomorrow we press on to El Paso. More films back. Can't wait to see!
We made it halfway! Well, a quarter of the way really, but we're halfway to halfway! Couple days in Fort Worth for a great visit with my little one (who's getting bigger every time I see her) and the exciting arrival of the first processed films back! We'll whet your appetite with just a hint of what's in store, but by and large, I'm pretty pleased with the results and think we should definitely continue on. Heh heh.
When we left Shreveport we left the main road and stopped for lunch in a little town on the back road called Van. It's the home of the Van Vandals (interesting choice). Our producer found a family restaurant that was a barn inside a warehouse. It was a good lunch.
More from the road when we get back on tomorrow. Stay tuned. Love you, B. Nice
Today started out with good weather and a complimentary breakfast that was pretty good! The staff of the hotel all assembled in the lobby to meet us and give us a warm send off for our trip. They heard about our story and the purpose of the trip and they asked me to say a few words. I got kind of emotional because it touched me so much that they were genuinely interested and cared for our cause of TBI. That's the thing with a TBI, sometimes the emotions go from guard rail to guard rail. I almost never know how I'll be feeling from one moment to the next. This was really cool.
Then we rolled down the road, took some more photos, stopped for a stretch and had an amazing lunch at a place in Jackson, Mississippi called Walnut Hills Round Tables and Tea Room. We all sat around a big round table that had a lazy Susan in the middle. As soon as we sat down our waiter started bring out dishes to put on the lazy Susan. Coleslaw, collard greens, black-eyed peas, the best fried chicken any of us had enjoyed in a long time! It seemed to go on and on. Sweet tea and banana pudding for dessert. It was amazing! They couldn't have been nicer.
We road out of town over the Mississippi River and a very cool bridge. I can't wait to see those pictures.
Speaking of getting my photos back, FedEx is playing a large role in this this project. Here's a shout out to FedEx. Hope they don't lose any of my film! Soon we'll be getting them back. Hoping to have a preview of the first batch in Fort Worth.
And you know, speaking of windshields, some days are good, some days are bad. Sometimes you're the bug and sometimes you're the windshield. I had a pretty good day today. I felt like the wind between the bug and the windshield.
A friend from high school set us all up with a super dinner at Chili's. Should have a great sleep tonight in Shreveport and on to Fort Worth tomorrow! Can't wait to see my little one. Better get my rest!
