Koyaanisqatsi II -- A Road Trip
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Later we passed next to an eerie goblin neighborhood below us with lots of little path/streets and buildings with hundreds of blue lights all through it. It could have been a Nevada brothel but it seemed too big and spread out and goblinlike for that. It could have been anything -- we didn't really want to dwell on it at that point because we were too dazed. We played Beatles out-takes tapes and sang along -- we'd been singing along with everything else -- but on some of those studio tapes we were better than the Beatles. After you've been in a car practically non-stop on a hot day through boring scenery you'll jump at anything. Big generator, in for the kill Second nature comes alive, even if you close your eyes We exist through this strange device Moving to the left, moving to the right Big generator, moving through the night  We'd gotten the idea that we were back into some sort of civilization and didn't have to fill up the gas at ½ tank down like in Arizona and Utah... but we were wrong and we almost ran out for the second time. Luck was riding with us again and we came upon a massive and busy truck stop after going uphill with the reserve light on for what seemed like 10 miles. There was a huge store, complete with slots, and loads of truckers and tattoos lining up at the counters. Jason stayed with Lucy while Barbara went in to pay and pick up refreshments. The clerk asked if she could ring up 2 guys first who weren't buying gas, just chewing tobacco. OK, no problem -- favors for the regular customers and all that, but meanwhile more Harley-shirted, beer-bellied tattoos kept getting in line and it was about to set off a severe mood swing. Fortunately it turned out fine, we paid and left but it was then we realized that as tired of the car as we were, it was more comfortable to be in the car, in motion, than it was to be out of it. It had become home, and getting out of it didn't stop the humming or vibrations anyway: at least you were supposed to hear and feel that when the car is driving, and it was OK.
We were amazed and proud of ourselves that we had made it all the way to Reno. It was about 10:30pm and we weighed the options: spend $40-60 for a motel and have a casual drive home the next day, or go for broke and push straight through. We'd already made it farther than we would have thought possible. After 12 hours, what was another 3 or 4? So Reno came and went in a blur of lights and we were back on our fast track through the night. Mountain air and pine trees revived us; we stopped for coffee and took a last look at the stars before they moved back to their hiding places behind the city lights. Surf stylers hanging around a 7-11 proved that we were back in California. |
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