June 2, 1999
The day began a bit sourly. The kids weren’t very anxious to see their papa off on his adventure. Hedy was finally able to roust them out for a photo.
Here we are in June of 1999—Nata, Soph, Viv, myself and Hedy.
I was a bit depressed starting out, a poor way to begin. I found myself fiddling around on backroads and around 2 PM realized I was only 70 miles from San Antonio. For the remainder of the day I concentrated on the road. Here is the day’s summary—
San Antonio to Andrews
435 miles
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June 3, 1999
Andrews to Lordsburg
458 miles
893 miles to date
I remember stopping in at Carlsbad Caverns. It required a token visit but certainly wasn’t what my trip was about.
And then came Deming. I worked on a friend’s cotton farm during the summer of 1969, for about 6 weeks. Most of the time was spent in the fields, 10 hour days, walking up and down long rolls of cotton with a hoe and chopping at weeds. Often times I would be working side by side with Mexican workers looking for a way to make some money to send home. They were paid $5 a day and that was a big payday for them. I was paid $15 and I quickly learned that I was not really an asset to the owner, he was just doing me and probably my family a favor by letting me have this experience. I certainly could not work as fast or as well as the Mexicans. I overstayed my welcome and resentment had grown between my friend and myself to the point I realized that my romantic adventure wasn’t much fun after all. I headed back to Salt Lake, feeling like a failure. I guess that is why, when I came to the Deming turnoff on I-10 that I just kept on going.
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June 4, 1999
Lordsburg to El Centro
461.4 miles
1,354.4 miles to date
I continued through Tuscan and Gila Bend and arrived in California. I honestly don’t remember anything from this day. Remember, I am writing this blog from memory and it is April, 2008. But, I do have a cactus picture from that day (and an artistic rendition).
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