Hey Cow!

I got out! I am now in Albuquerque, New Mexico with my sister and her family. I arrived here last Wednesday after driving my car, Theo, for like 15 billion hours, only 3 of which were in New Mexico. Seriously, Texas is massive. The Black Hole is about an hour from the Louisiana border, so basically I drove across the entire state at a slightly northern angle, and it took forever. I consoled myself by blasting country music...it seemed fitting.

I stopped in Lubbock for the night, thinking I'd wake up the next morning and hit the New Mexico border within an hour. I was mistaken. First, I had to make my way out of Lubbock, and let me tell you that was not an easy task. Yeah, yeah, I know..."Lubbock is a basic grid system of streets with numbers and letters and blah blah blah." It doesn't matter. Even my handy dandy gps named Madam doesn't like Lubbock.

Madam: Turn left to blah blah street.
Me: There is no left!
Madam: Rerouting. Make a legal u-turn when possible.
Me: Grr. Fine. (I turn around.)
Madam: Rerouting. Turn left. Rerouting. Make a legal u-turn.
Me: Fuck you, Madam!

So, anyway, I managed to get myself out of that place without throwing Madam out the window (which is lucky since Madam is also my cell phone.) Then, I was on the road to New Mexico, and I thought it was gonna be an easy 5 hour drive. Until I slid into Farwell, TX. If you are not incredibly knowledgeable about Texas geography or don't know how to work Google Maps...that tiny ass town is precisely on the border between Texas and New Mexico. I came to a complete halt sandwiched between an 18-wheeler and a pick-up truck. You know the big kind, the ones that seems to be seem to be compensating for something else. I leaned my head out the window to get a look. I mean, what could cause a traffic jam at 11am in  Yup, a train at a dead halt. Not moving at all. And it seemed to be laughing at me..."Hahahaha Natty, you just THOUGHT you could escape the Black Hole!!" I sat there thinking that I really was going to have to turn around and drive the 18 billion hours back to the Black Hole where I would waste away my life as a house sitter allowing my accent to slowly creep back in. This train was going to ruin me.

But then I followed an RV down some side roads and country roads and found myself back on the highway, delayed an hour, but back on track to Albuquerque. The train only THOUGHT it could thwart me. Muahaha! (Also, thanks, RV driver who had a better gps.)

Basking in my victory over the mocking train, I decided to open Theo's windows and sunroof. I was excited to find that I had also escaped the humidity of the Black Hole, and I blasted my music in celebration as I sang my way through the deserty countryside of New Mexico. I also played the game, "Hey Cow!" This is where you yell out the window, "Hey Cow!" as loud as you can and see if any cows look at you. I'm pretty positive I didn't do anything but freak out the cars around me. I mean, it must have looked odd...this brunette girl leaning her head out the window to scream with her hair blowing every which way. No cows looked. And I'm pretty sure that game was way more fun with other people in the car.

Anyway, after my journey, I finally made it to Albuquerque where I have not driven anywhere since. I spend my days going for walks and reading until my sister comes home with my 10-month-old nephew whose picky self still won't let me hold him. This is the life I lead.