Road Trip – Day Two – Kerrville, TX to Marfa, TX January 7, 2009

Apologies for the delay on getting this up – a wind storm in Marfa (allegedly) knocked out the Internet at my hotel, including ethernet (allegedly). I’ll get to that by and by…

I started off on Tuesday with no idea of what the landscape for the day would look like exactly, never having seen it firsthand myself, but encouraged by the amazing blue sky checkered with gray clouds.  I snapped a photo, again unsafely while driving, for your enjoyment of the electric blueness of it.

Follow my route today.

I put on Catonia’s playlist and ended up listening to it all day – over 70 songs! There was much singing along.

So, I didn’t know there was anywhere in the U.S. where the posted speed limit was 80 MPH but around Junction, TX (I think) when the hill country gives way to plateaus and the trees and bushes become notably shorter and more scrubby, the speed limit jacked up to 80.

Then, somewhere around Sonora, TX I saw the first state highway sign warning of cross winds. I thought that was interesting…until an 18 wheeler nearly drove me off the road some 40 miles later because of strong cross winds. I fought with the steering wheel all day. BTW @ Alex – Sonora is full of caverns and it made me think of that weird scary movie you recommended with spelunking and vampires. It was set in Texas, right?

I stopped in Fort Stockton with little more than gas fumes left, got out to fill up and was immediately smacked in the face by a giant wind (and some sand). We’re talking blow your skirt up, layer your scalp with dirt, rearrange everything about you wind. It was bracing, you could say.

More after the jump, including today’s playlist.

Then I turned onto highway 69 to go to Marfa – this is one of the roads James Dean was fond of speeding down when they shot “Giant” here. It is beautiful. Then eventually you come to highway 90, then Alpine and Sul Ross University (which I had forgotten even existed until I saw some signs for it) and then Marfa.

Marfa was, in a word, boring. I was super tired and didn’t do much except take a nap and then take another nap. However, my hotel room was pretty fantastic. It reminded me of modern Europen hotels. Here’s a picture. Functional minimalism would be the description. I had to walk across the street to the office because the Internet would not work, no matter what. Wireless, ethernet, none of these. THE WIND BLEW IT OUT! It reminded me of last summer in the Italian country side, when the Internet would randomly go down for hours in the afternoon and there was nothing you could do but wait until everyone went back to work after siesta.

Marfa is a small town of just over 2K people so it’s very “a lot goes on but nothing happens.” I drove around downtown after dark though and it looks neat – but everything was well closed by about 6PM.

• Franz Ferdinand “All My Friends”
• Estelle f/ Kanye West “American Boy”
• Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers “American Girl”
• Broken Social Scene “Anthems for a Seventeen-Year-Old Girl
• Albert Hammond Jr. “101″
• The Dandy Warhols “Boys Better”
• The Police “Can’t Stand Losing You”
• Gary Numan “Cars”
• Foals “Cassius”
• The Beastie Boys “Ch-Check It Out (Just Blaze Remix)”
• Spiritualized “Come Together”
• Jesus & Mary Chain “Cracking Up”
• Justice “D.A.N.C.E.”
• Le Tigre “Deceptacon”
• MGMT “Electric Feel”
• The Rolling Stones “Emotional Rescue”
• Gorillaz “Feel Good Inc.”
• Kanye West “Flashing Lights”
• Modest Mouse “Float On”
• Late of the PIer “Focker”
• The Kills “Fried My Little Brains”
• Duran Duran “Girls On Film” (18 wheeler alert!)
• Klaxons “Golden Skans”
• Wu-Tang Clan “Gravel Pit”
• Cold War Kids “Hang Me Up to Dry”
• Pixies “Here Comes Your Man”
• The Good, The Bad & The Queen “History Song”
• Siouxsie & the Banshees “Hong Kong Gargen”
• Tom Vek “I Ain’t Saying My Goodynes (Phones 12″ Vers)
• Arctic Monkeys “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor”
• Gang of Four “I Love A Man in Uniform”
• The Stone Roses “I Wanna Be Adored” (memories of Hi-Fi)
• Catherine Wheel “I Want to Touch You”
• The The “Infected”
• Feist “Inside and Out”
• Pavement “Kennel District”
• Santogold “Lights Out”
• The Clash “London Calling”
• Queens of the Stone Age “The Lost Art of Keeping a Secret”
• Guided by Voices “Motor Away” (is this my theme song?)
• Santogold, Julian Casablancas & Pharrell “My Drive Thru”
• The Cardigans “My Favourite Game”
• The Stooges “No Fun”
• Jonathan*Fire*Eater “No Love Like That”
• Blondie “One Way or Another”
• Mark Ronson f/ Ghostface, Nate Dogg & Trife “Ooh Wee”
• M.I.A. “Paper Planes (remix f/ Bun B & Rich Boy)”
• Bloc Party “The Prayer”
• The Walkmen “The Rat”
• Hot Chip “Ready for the Floor”
• New Order “Regret”
• Black Rebel Motorcycle Club “Rifles”
• Primal Scream “Rocks”
• DFA1979 “Romantic Rights”
• Kings of Leon “Sex on Fire” (I have to admit this is a good driving song)
• The Virgins “She’s Expensive”
• Wolf Parade “Shine A Light”
• The Avalanches “Since I Left You”
• The Twilight Singers “So Tight”
• The Beastie Boys “So Whatcha Want”
• Primal Scream “Some Velvet Morning” (great song)
• The Afghan Whigs “Somethin’ Hot”
• The Gossip “Standing in the Way of Control”
• Mark Ronson “Stop Me”
• The Postal Service “Such Great Heights” (also a great driving song, in a totally different way)
• Franz Ferdinand “Take Me Out”
• T. Rex “Telegram Sam”
• The Smiths “This Charming Man”
• MGMT “Time to Pretend”
• The Clash “Train in Vain”
• Mark Ronson “Valerie”
• My Bloody Valentine “When You Sleep”
• TV on the Radio “Wolf Like Me”