Captain's Log 5/11/14 Texas

Sunday, May 11th, 2014

[Amarillo, TX Wal-Mart]

     Alas, a refuge in the wind swept desert. Tonight marks the third consecutive sleep in a Walmart parking lot; Each one feeling a bit safer than before. We make a late arrival, as usual, to find a half dozen travelers strewn about the far corner of this busy lot. I dim the lights on the approach, not for stealth, this is a welcoming place, but so as not to disturb the wandering souls whose plates indicate such far flung travels as my own. We creep in slowly and place the Van into the scene, not too close to the others (to avoid intrusion), but no so far that we seem broken off from the group. In park, I slap the Reflectix up on the windows and jump into bed. No dog walk tonight, no teeth brushing or even late night window shopping. The amazing intensity of the past few hours has drained us severely. Amarillo was not the plan, but to pass this place and continue into gale force winds would be suicide; we can barely keep our eyes open. It's a wonder I can still hold a pen...The howling wind is the only thing keeping me awake tonight.

How did we get here? I wonder...

    Earlier, we slept in at the Dover Walmart and vacuumed the Van clean. We then hit the road towards Flagstaff, but were side tracked by the possibility of visiting Taos, NM. A place I have no expectations for other than the steep terrain visible as green peaks surrounding the ski-town on Google Maps. But it's a far off place, and after spending the better part of the day driving through flat country, we pulled out of the Oklahoma heat and into a cool Texas rest area. Curving in from the off-ramp, I noticed the large rest stop building was flanked by a towering wall of layered bricks some fifty feet high. I scrambled a quick dinner and then some yoga with the dog, but halfway into some poses the temperature plummets and a swift wind begins to roar. Brilliant flashes of light on the darkening horizon bring no thunder. The night was fast upon us, and decreasing intervals between lightening bolts indicated the storm was steadily approaching. No time to waste...I grabbed my climbing shoes from the Van.

     At the base of the wall, things suddenly seemed taller, and the wind suddenly swifter. Slipping on my new climbing shoes, I notice the wind pick up my sandal, which I chase down and arrest with a firm stomp, and this Old Western scene is born...

     Zipping up my jacket I could sense tiny hairs over my body stand on end. It wasn't the cold wind that suddenly replaced the hot desert air that set this scene. It wasn't even the silent flashes and strobing lightening bolts steadily advancing across the black open sky. No, there was something else that marked this moment. Something fine tuning my senses and taking me into heightened awareness... It was the electricity in the air. 

     I shove my sandals into my waist band and start up the highest wall, gliding up smoothly as tumble weeds blow beneath me, as if climbing had met with a Western movie. My breath, the texture of the stone, the air between me and the wall, and a million other proprioceptive and tactile sensations fill my brain. Intuition takes over and in this moment I suddenly feel free. Approaching the top out I look down and register about 50 feet, this is the fatal zone, but I only process the information, there is no time to convert it into rational thought and I therefore avoid fear and the panic. Pulling over the lip I am blinded by an enormous flash, and standing on my feet again, reality strikes. I am in the middle of a storm, and it is certainly time to go. I sprint back to the van and yank it in gear for the race to Amarillo to seek shelter from this storm. The drive was a constant battle to stay between the yellow lines. Partly because of the fatigue, but mostly from the vicious wind. Dust, bushes, and birds were blown onto the highway, and I could do little to avoid them. Even the tiniest movements of my steering column sent us into steep turns....

     Making it into Amarillo safely was a feat greater than any free solo I've done, and in this lot, with the van still swaying in the wind, I can't help but smile and think we made it. We are out West!

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