Highway 40: Vagabond Warrior Blues

Friday March 28 2014

If you had to be stranded with car problems there are worse places to wind up with a broken spoke than The Land of Enchantment - unfortunately two nights in a $200 a room night busted our travel-via budget.  Scrutinizing our back account my mom and I made a meteorite crashing the earth sort of breakneck decision - to drive straight from Gallup, 1400 miles, galloping east on I-40 to Nashville TN, stopping only for gas and good eats.

Why Nashville?  I attended college at Belmont University and since graduating I have held onto a storage unit that is costing me an arm and a leg - the idea is to sort through the unit so everything is ready to be packed up and moved into our new apartment as soon as the funds are available (moving is EXPENSIVE and the case of the storage unit will be another saga - another adventure for a future blog).

My mom filled up our tank and hit the highway.  The sky an open canvas of calm blue and thick white clouds - castle rocks floating midair.  The open desert prairie is contrasted by the towering 'window' bluffs of red rock - these mesas in a way are a window into the soul - both a beacon and mountain - a sign of testing and a hope - at least that is the vision I clung too as we headed east towards Albuquerque.

My heart is sad to leave the west - the land of color and resounding light and vast complexities that beg a soul to ponder, argue and find peace.  It is in the desert tests we find redemption, hope and life.

We listened to a mix tape for an hour before starting an audio book of Tom Clancy's The Hunt for Red October.  Clancy has a detail oriented, rich and saturated writing style - this unabridged reading the action packed saga we desperately need to keep us awake throughout our twenty-plus hour non-stop drive.  

We stopped for gas just outside of Albuquerque where I picked up some postcards featuring the Hopi and other local tribes and cultures in the region.  When I first drove through New Mexico's state capital of Albuquerque in 2004 I found it to be dingy, run down and echoes of crime - the Denny's where I stopped in 2004 off the interstate was later part of a gun showdown on national television.  I make this point because while a part of Albuquerque remains broken in corruption and crimes facing many cities worldwide - the state capital is now glowing - just driving through I could see the POSITIVE changes inviting tourists in to tour the city - the artistic touches on the highway blended Mex-Native American styles into engineering and road design.  I hope to return to Albuquerque to explore the town on foot.

The traveler's heart within me regrets that I could not take time to detour from the interstate - to really dig into the culture and roadside attractions NM has to offer. I hear whispers of enchantment calling me back to the land of the ancients, where the Navajo, Hopi and Mex-American culture is vibrant as a desert sun.

My mom and I filled up our tank in Santa Rosa NM - and guzzled down a Starbucks sugary espresso in a bottle - horrible for you - but jolts you awake zombie heart attack sort of drink.  I kept counting down the miles to Tucumcari - the last major city in NM off 40 before Texas.

Tucumcari - the name alone evokes a mysterious power of the Old West.  It's root comes from an Indian folk legend about rival tribes, a beautiful girl and the battle for her heart.  

Legend has it that Apache Chief Wautonomah was nearing the end of his time on earth and was troubled by the question of who would succeed him as ruler of the tribe. In a classic portrait of love and competition, his two finest braves, Tonopah and Tocom, not only were rivals and sworn enemies of one another, but were both vying for the hand of Kari, Chief Wantonomah's daughter. Kari knew her heart belonged to Tocom. Chief Wautonomah beckoned Tonopah and Tocom to his side and announced, "Soon I must die and one of you must succeed me as chief. Tonight you must take your long knives and meet in combat to settle the matter between you. He who survives shall be the Chief and have for his wife Kari, my daughter."
As ordered, the two braves met, with knives outstretched, in mortal combat. Unknown to either brave was that Kari was hiding nearby. When Tonopah's knife found the heart of Tocom, the young woman rushed from her hiding place and used a knife to take Tonopah's life as well as her own.
When Chief Wautonomah was shown this tragic scene, heartbreak enveloped him and he buried his daughter's knife deep into his own heart, crying out in agony, "Tocom-Kari"!

We crossed into Texas Territory just after six o'clock, at this point we had been on the road around five hours.  The scenery drastically shifted to a flat panorama where the ocean of sky and infinite golden grass looked like a two-tone Georgia O'Keeffe painting - the only signal of life was the pounding of the wind - a massive wind energy farm straddled the road, along with a solar farm.  

 

Starving we stopped at Logan's Steakhouse in Amarillo at night fall where we enjoyed college basketball and an excellent meal to power us through for the next leg of our race east.  




Cadillac Ranch - a ghost town of highway art in Amarillo - I made my pilgrimmage to the junk yard of Cadillac in 2004.

Tom Clancy kept us on edge and high alert we sped through Texas by night - echoes of George Strait and Bob Wills on the tip of my lips as I hummed my own roadside beat.

Oklahoma - I remember how green and lush OK was when I first visited in 2004 - I was enamored - the OKLAHOMA roar of thunderous plains and verdant prairie a wind song of hope...sadly the color is gone as fracking has taken hold of the land - I had heard reports on the news - but seeing is believing- my mom and I both were disappointed in Oklahoma for the primary reason it stunk - literally stunk - a sulfurous odor through the entire corridor of I-40 made us cough and turning off our air did little to help.  A local told us it was mostly exhaust from area hydraulic fracturing outfits and oil refineries - I am sure OK is a wonderful spot in many ways but we GOT out of that OK CORRAL like a BAT out of a dust storm.  

We reached Arkansas at three a.m.  A renewed adrenaline struck fire into my soul knowing we were in Southern Time and nearing Sweet Home Tennessee - I was bound and determined to reach Nashville.  

A heavy southern wet humid rain took hold of the landscape...for the first time in years my mom and I were exposed to the southern pine forests and lush foggy bottom terrain that evokes the haunting veil of the land south of the Mason-Dixon line.  



The dreary mood - actually soothed my mind - the peace of gray skies and light rain and fog - so ethereal and symbolic.  We made it to Tennessee just before ten o'clock, crossing over the Mississippi - the power of muddy waters reminding me of so many other travelers returning home - the anxious heart encouraged by the landmark crossings - but so determined you fail to take stock of the importance of the moment - just a bridge with traffic in the wet mud water of another mile of broken run down blistered highway.

Famished - my mom and I stopped for breakfast/lunch at a Cracker Barrel just outside of Memphis.  With Tom Clancy's thriller complete in nuclear explosive time - I found myself in desperate need of coffee - a full pot if necessary.  My mom indulged in the Sunrise Sampler, while I opted for a burger and salad. 

100 miles to Nashville - three hours east through the hills of Tennessee the ghosts of the cradle of the Civil War, the legends of music and the rhythm of my soul treading that furious confusion where you straddle the climax - not sure how you should feel - so many emotions ready to resurface - yet my body too tired to negotiate the rugged terrain of my emotions.

We arrived in Nashville just after one o'clock and the first thing we did was go to our storage unit.  The original plan was to get the key and return in the morning - but that changed abruptly when we realized Nashville was completely sold out of hotel rooms for the weekend in the vicinity and even as far as the airport.  Exhausted after traveling for 25 hours straight with no respite - my mom and I weighed our options.

We decided to continue driving east for 77 miles to the town of Cookeville TN to crash at the Motel 6.  Cookeville is located in the beauty and majesty of the Cumberland River Valley and rolling hills of western Appalachian foothills - nearby state parks such as Fall Creek Falls are internationally renown for their scenic beauty.

We ate dinner at Logan's and debated if we should return to Nashville or head on towards Raleigh. 
"We have over a week until our lease is available," My mom looked at the calendar...we both agreed we were ready for R&R after the mad house rush of car problems and highway blues.

Unsure of what the next portion of our journey would hold I gave up the ghost of worry and fell into a deep sleep in the comfort of the Motel 6 Queen Size bed.  

Adele Lassiter also writes for Adele Belle and Vagabond Warrior...