The Desert 8/5-8/6

It was about 2:30pm Central time when we left Austin, TX. According to Google Maps, with no stops we would arrive in San Diego at approximately 8:30am Pacific time the following day. The journey would take us through western Texas, and the southern parts of New Mexico and Arizona before finally getting to California. The plan was simple: drive in 3 hour shifts, stopping for gas between each shift, and if you weren't driving your job was to either sleep or help keep the driver focused (read: not sleeping). Western Texas was beautiful, huge blue skies, open roads, and shrubby desert with the occasional ranch. Just before sunset, we stopped at a real desolate gas station / RV park and enjoyed our leftovers from Curras while watching the sunset. The fun was just about to begin.

This probably doesn't need a caption.

I think we can turn this off for a while...

There's nothing like cold leftovers at sunset...

We drove through the rest of Texas and watched the stars come out. They are much more numerous and easier to see when there is absolutely no light pollution from nearby cities. Somewhere just outside of El Paso (which is on the US side of the Rio Grande, across from Juarez, the murder capital of the world) we ran into some light traffic. This was weird because it was about 12:30am on 6^th, and we had no idea why there would be traffic. As we got closer we could see what it was: a border checkpoint, where the US border patrol tries to catch illegal immigrants and illegal drugs coming from Mexico. The conversation between the border guard and Andrew, who was driving, went something like this:

Border Guard: “Good evening, how are you?”

Andrew: “Hi sir, I'm doing well”

Border Guard: “Are all of you US citizens?”

Andrew: “I am, he is”...(points to Jon)...”and she is from Denmark.” (points to Tibbe)

Border Guard: “She's from where?”

Andrew: “She's a citizen of Denmark.” (Tibbe hands her passport to the Border Guard)

Border Guard: “Please pull you car up over here sir” (points to a spot to the left of the road)

We pulled the car up, were asked to get out, and the guards quickly separated Andrew (the driver) from Tibbe and I (the passengers). The border patrol's suspicion of us was probably not helped by the fact that both Andrew and I had full beards and were wearing bandannas on our heads. They asked him several questions as a few guards started searching the car with the help of a canine: “When was the last time you smoked dope in the car?...Where are you coming from?...Where are you headed?...How long have you been smoking dope?...We're gonna give you one last chance to tell us where the drugs are before we find them...” When the crew of guards had found nothing in the car, we were let go and told to enjoy San Diego. This was all very funny as the only “drugs” we really had were some beers in our cooler and I some antibiotics for a toothache I had the previous week. Either way, at least we were all a bit more awake for a while.

Driving was resumed and continued throughout the night. Coffee was had wherever we could find it; in a gas station mini-mart, or a hotel lobby, it didn't matter. To make things even more fun, southern New Mexico and Arizona are home to some giant bugs late at night. They especially like large lights, or anywhere we cared to stop. The sun finally came up around 6am, while we were in Arizona and nearing the border with California. The view of the desert was amazing: a straight highway, cacti dotting the landscape, and mountains in the distance. There wasn't much civilization until we reached California, and yet another border checkpoint. We were humored again by a furious car search for illegal drugs while one border guard stared at Tibbe's passport, probably trying to figure out where Denmark really is.

One of millions, keeping us company along the way

We made it!

The last leg of the journey was through some beautiful mountains in the southern most reaches of California before we descended down to the coast. Oh yeah and one more border checkpoint too, sans car search.

A view from a mountain road

Highlights of the 20 hour drive: listening to Tool in the middle of the west Texas desert, dinner at sunset definitely in the middle of nowhere, and excessively suspicious border guards.