spc: roadtrippin' on highway 10

the self portrait challenge
this month is: small spaces
so i thought it appropriate
to write about my
current roadtrip and being
trapped in a car for what seemed like
forever.

my dear friend, keno
and i left houston on sunday afternoon.
we gassed up trigger,
our trusty steed,
and headed west on highway 10.

armoured with
ample snackage
(two thermoses filled with
strong coffee, scones, cookies,
hot cheetos, salt and pepper chips,
bananas, breakfast burritos, popcorn,
pellegrino, spring water, and diet dr. pepper),
we began our 16 hour, 1065 mile voyage.

somewhere after san antonio
we switched seats.
"if you see a critter," advised keno,
"and you can't swerve to miss it,
then just hit it."

what?

"you know...just don't flip us.
don't freak out and go off the road,"
he explained.
"it is better to dent trigger then to be
upside down, skidding across the empty
desert highway..."

i nodded in agreement.
my eyes peeled, i sped down the road.
not even one mile into my navigation,
i spotted a deer carcass.
(much more than a dear-smear).
i screamed, and held onto the wheel tightly
as i realized i was going to have to straddle the
bloody mess with the tires.

"good job! you handled that well!"
encouraged my nervous friend.

my heart was racing and we were still
in one piece. whew...
i sped ahead.

"what the hell is THAT?!"
i could only switch to the lane that
the big, grey, needley-furred looking beast
was facing.
"please don't run in front of me..." i pleaded.
my stomache flipping, i stared at the critter
that stood on the yellow line.
i drove right by its nose.
"i think...i think...now i know this sounds crazy...
but i think that was a wild boar!" i stated.

then we started laughing.
hard.

laughing nervously.
laughing at the surrealness of it all.
laughing with relief that we didn't smear it across the highway.

bunnies. hundreds of bunnies.
whole gangs of 'em
watched us from the roadside
as we sped across texas.
into new mexico.
and, finally into arizona.

the sun came up as we deliriously
drove into tucson.
past the yucca trees and cactus.
sleep deprived, we arrived at our hotel
and parked trigger.
finally, we were free to roam
about with our own two feet.

i am in the land of cactus, ya'll.
a whole 'nother world from baltimore.
i'll keep my eyes peeled for rattlesnakes
and keep ya'll posted.