Big Bend to Bottomless Lakes State Park, New Mexico (355 miles)

After eating camp sandwiches for a few days, and having half transformed into a werewolf (Were Erin, We'rin for short), it was time to sit at a table and use a fork like a person, so I stopped in Marathon to have what turned out to be one of the best damn caprese sandwiches of my life. I am not exaggerating, though I will admit I was a bit deprived for a while so maybe (strong maybe) my senses were a bit skewed. Nonetheless, damn fine sandwich, V6 Coffee Bar. 5 out of 5 stars.

And no, I did not stab at the sandwich with aforementioned fork--there was a salad, too, with this yummy lime-something dressing that complemented the salad perfectly. They have great coffee, too, as you would expect!

The drive to Bottomless Lakes was incredibly depressing, truth be told, as the highways between Marathon, Texas, and almost-Roswell, New Mexico, are deeply sad, warbly affairs filled with all manner of trucks and their damn grilles because apparently 385 and 285 are gas-and-oil refinery gateways to the West? Anyway, lots of industrial businesses + lots of trucks = a road in constant need of repair and lined with garbage. There was even a spot where we all had to sit and wait for 20 minutes because there was only one lane of usable road so each side had to take turns. 

While it was a grim sight and bumpy ride, I did get to be part of a CONVOY since it was me jammed between all these rigs and "Truck!Yeah!" guys, with a few RVs thrown in for good measure. My favorite highway space is me, alone, with groupings of cars behind be and in front of me, but like far behind and in front so I can see them and know they are there, but they aren't, you know, all up on me. I really do think there are people who love being a part of a CONVOY, but I am not one of them. There's even a song about it, I think it is called CONVOY.

What the trip reminded me of more than anything was all the time I spent playing Sim City 2000 back in college. I miss that game so hard. All those miles and miles of industry with no commercial or residential areas is a quick ticket to a ruined sim city, where all the buildings start crumbling and the crime shoots through the roof no matter how many police stations you drop on it. Building successful sim cities really wasn't so hard once you got the hang of it. You just had to know the right ratio of industry to commercial to residential, then drop those police and fire stations in between the little peeps and all the scary industry. Before you knew it you'd have stadiums, high rises, and all manner of simulated "success." Of course you had to turn off the "disaster" setting because that bullshit was fun like once, when the aliens would invade or whatever, but then you had a serious mess to clean up and what slightly neurotic gamer needs that hassle?

Hours and hours. And hours. I loved that game so much. I know they released a version recently, but it was so widely eviscerated in the reviews I didn't bother to even try it. Anyway, my time in the CONVOY made me think of it--wistfully, because who knows if I would even enjoy laying down all those tracks of plumbing now? Who am I kidding. Set me up with a mega coffee, and comfortable desk chair, and a sweet, sweet desktop and I could play that game for a week straight. Then take a nap. Then get up and play Rollercoaster Tycoon. RollercoasterTycoon!Yeah!