IN the Middle of Nowhere

Its getting close to our time of departure.  I have been looking up some good kitsch places to visit; Weeki Wachee and Rock City.  

     If beauty fell in a forest and no one was there is it still beautiful?  There is a person who loves every square inch of the world, someone who has been everywhere and has always found something interesting. Beauty in the middle of nowhere. I am going to go there. Turn down an old dirt road for no reason, like a babies eyes before its had a day to live. The Taj Mahal and the Grand Canyon were once in the middle of nowhere.  

     We are considering waltzing across Texas.  I asked a couple of Texas friends for suggestions about where we should meander in our dance. 

Austin. San Antonio. Then drive west on I-10 to Ft Stockton and go south to Marathon (spend a night in the Gage Hotel in Marathon) the bathrooms are down the hall. And Big Bend. Drive up to the Chisos Mountain basin. Unforgettable. Marfa is a neat little town, too. I've only been through it once or twice. It's the land forms driving from Marathon to BigBend and driving around Big Bend that are so impressive.  There is also a meteor impact area a few miles out of Marathon. The surrealist exhibit at the Menil in Houston and the Rothko chapel would be good (they're essentially right next to each other and both pretty small). We could go into Houston for lunch from la grange and see these at the same time. 

I asked about Bar-B-Q. They responded with:Jesus, I'm thinking that god himself would avoid trying to answer that. I've had great BBQ all over the place there.  Funky: the City Meat Market in Giddings (at the intersection of US 77 and US 290. Google barbecue in Austin and see what you get. 

 The other friend responded with; My favorite Barbecue in the world is at the Giddings City meat market in Giddings. There are more famous ones but i think this is the best. It has soot an inch thick on all the walls. You say you want brisket and they say, "say when" and then they start cutting slices of the juiciest most beautiful brisket you've ever seen. 

oh man I'm hungry now.  I've never been to Big Bend but I hear its breathtaking.

Brisket should be in every ones spiritual Waltzing.

       I started writing this on March 3rd 2014; 403 months to the day after our wedding. 

 Sue & I are heading west in a meandering Pop-up camper named Neda, at the end of May. We are going to visit all the thin places between here and there and back again.  The first part of this mythical travelog is to tell you about the mural we painted on the side of our camper.  It's a profile of Bob Marley with Long gray dreadlocks blowing back in the wind.  He is depicted as old and gray as he would look today if he were still alive, and he is alive. He is the same age as Sue & I. (He is really 69 years old this year) Also in the mural sticking out of his mouth is a long spliff pointing into the wind with a whirling trail of sparks haloing his hair with tiny spiraling universes.  Do you think we are setting out on the right foot?

 One  Love