Since my last blog in LA Thurs 27th pm I did the following :-
Thurs 27th - returned to hotel after completing blogging. Stomach not good, so ate very lightly and drank water. Read "EON" by Greg Bear - an absorbing novel about an invasion into the Earth's history from a parallel universe. Some of the maths concepts are too complex for me; need to get William (my son) to read it to explain.
Fri 28th - had a very light breakfast. Stomach still not right. Packed up and checked out - my bag is just under the critical 23kg ! Drove through suburbs just south of Downtown LA, then onto Interstate 5. By sheer fluke Interstate 10 (which I was trying to find !) was the next turning, so headed down there to Santa Monica and up to a nearby beach. Sat at the edge of the beach killing time most pleasantly until going to the airport in the afternoon. People were playing frisbee football and doing workouts on the beach. Had a very light lunch, then drove to the airport. Some good Christian teaching on the radio while I was stuck in the traffic going south on Interstate 405. Reached the airport and found the drop-off point for the car, and then went via a free bus to Terminal 2. Upgraded to premium economy as not feeling too great with my stomach and had some spare dollars, so I could have a bit more comfort on the flight. Long wait as plane was delayed, which I passed by doing some Sudokus (couldn't find any Killer Sudoku books which are my preference - this is obviously not popular in the US), reading, and looking round the gift shops. Stomach started to get notably better - clearly some of the trouble was tension re wanting to get home (I had really had enough by the end of the final week). Found the novel a bit heavy for the situation, so bought a copy of Keith Richards' autobiograhpy and started reading that instead (a bit decadant as I have this on my Kindle, but the Kindle was packed). Really enjoyed it - it is very well written and Keith has fascinating insights on life in Dartford after the second world war. Eventually got on the plane at about 21:30 US time.
Sat 28th - took off from LA at 22:00 US time (or 6:00 AM in England). Flight was very smooth, and the upgrade to Economy Premium certainly paid off. There was lots more leg room, and the seat tilted right back so I could sleep quite well. Read a bit, then slept/dozed for a few hours. Then played music on my MP3 - "Exile On Main Street", "Green River", and "Cosmos Factory". These are all classics of American rock and roll. Then had a full english "breakfast" (it was about 14:00 English time by now) and read through the descent into Heathrow. Got off the plane at about 16:20, and was annoyed to find both sets of toilets closed during the long walk through to Passport Control. The Americans who were with me were not impressed ! Had quite a queue at Passport Control - we're getting almost as slow as the Americans at admitting people into the country. My baggage, however, popped up immediately I got to the reclaim area; this has never happened to me before ! So I was at the exit just before 17:00, and was met by my friend Anna Pisani who had kindly agreed to bring me home. Very thoughtfully she had bought me some basics - eggs, milk, bread, butter - that was great as it saved me having to go out again. Got home, and after an initial feeling of anti-climax at coming back to an empty flat after all that excitement I got cracking and did the unpacking, got the storage heater and the hot water going, and hung my new shirts away. I then stayed up reading as long as possible, put the clocks an hour back, and went to bed.
Sunday 29th - Slept about five hours. By 5:30 AM I was wide awake, so made tea and watched "Match Of The Day". I've really missed the Premiership ! Then went through my Sky Planner and recorded stuff for the next week - looking forward to watching the World Series Play-Off decider between Texas Rangers and St Louis. Loads to do today - store all my photos on the computer, do the washing, the accounts, and some shopping. Then get ready to go back to work tomorrow.
Overall I'm so thrilled that I managed to pack everything (and more) in to my journey. My planning really paid off, and nothing of note went wrong apart from the Travel Agent's mistake with my final hotel reservation in LA. Impressions of America :-
1.I love the place - it's so exciting and positive. There's a real pride for the country wherever you go.
2.The people are really friendly, especially in the South. I really enjoyed my week in Texas (Dallas / Austin / Lubbock); whenever I went to a museum or place of interest the people there were so pleased at my interest in and knowledge of their musical and political history.
3.The scenery can be monotonous but also amazing - the drive on highwary 71 from Austin to Llano and then Brady was very beautiful, especially the hills east of Austin. Then the drive West from Albuquerque through to the Grand Canyon and LA was very spectacular - huge sandy rocks and mountains. The Mojave desert was sparse and unforgiving.
4.I loved all the cities apart from LA. Admittedly I was road-weary by the time I got there and was also struggling with a cold and tummy bug, but LA just isn't that attractive a place. The downtown area is very impressive but has no patches of green to sit down in and have a read and a sandwich. Hollywood is exciting to visit but not very enticing architecturally, and Sunset Strip is a dump. Right by this decrepit area you get the plush exclusivity of Laurel Canyon and Beverley hills - plush mansions, high security, closely-cropped grass. The opulence of this area juxtaposed with all the poverty on its doorstep is revolting. LA is built totally around the needs of the automobile - you get a very narow window to cross these huge boulevards, and the "walk" sign starts counting down from 20 the minute it comes on. The drivers are very unforgiving and will never let you change lanes. They sit there in the traffic hooting pointlessly at no-one in particular.
5.The commercialisation of America is shoved right in your face - constant ads for medical insurance plans. It is clear how far Reaganomics has taken the country from the care and concern shown by Kennedy and Johnson in the sixties. But then it is the country that elected Richard Nixon and assassinated Martin Luther King and the two Kennedys.
I feel as if I really know a fair bit of America now. Obviously there's loads I still haven't seen yet, but I have covered all the bits I'm interested in. My lifetime ambition of drving right across the country has been fulfilled. I also had a great chance to think through my situation at home and decide how I want to move forward. So now I've got to face the great English winter, which is predicted to be as harsh as last winter. How tedious...
Sunday, 30 October 2011
Thursday, 27 October 2011
Thursday 27th - LA (15:35)
I'm in a FEDEX office in downtown LA on the last afternoon of my trip. Since my last post I've done the following :-
Tues 25th - Walked down Hollywood Boulevard and Sunset Strip. Sunset Strip is a dump now - why it was so legendary in the sixties I'll never know. Sat for a while and read, then caught the bus back. Had a stroke of luck - there was a guy on the bus with a bag from Amoeba Records, which I was hoping to find. Went to Amoeba - was not impressed that they didn't have a restroom as I was dying for a crap (there are no public toilets anywhere in LA). At any rate, looked round the shop, got some CDs, then got the bus back to the hotel.
Wed 26th - Had to change rooms today. Took the opportunity to fully pack my case, emptying the car. Discovered that I had to jettison one or two things in order to come in under the weight restriction. Moved into my new room, then drove up into Laurel Canyon. I don't know how all those druggy singer-songwriters in the sixties managed to live up there - nowadays you aren't even allowed to smoke a cigarette outside in the hills due to the fire risk ! LA is such a place of rapid contrasts - you drive straight up from a dump like the Strip into this exclusive area of mansions, close-cropped lawns etc. Had lunch at a viewpoint overlooking the city - very impressive. Then drove back via Beverley Hills and had a nap in the hotel as I was very tired - I think the effect of all the drving had caught up with me, plus I still had the after-effects of my cold. Went out for a walk; not very scenic but the exercise was good.
Thurs 27th - Came to the Downtown area. Huge skyscrapers, opulent shops, yet so close to areas of utter depravation. LA is exciting but it has no heart - a bit like London has become now. Cold has now gone although stomach is dodgy - must be all that Bud Light ! Went to the Grammy Museum, which wasn't up to much, although it had an interesting George Harrison "Living In The Material World" exhibition, plus a set of drum pads upon which I did my Ginger Baker bit ! Had a light lunch - tummy trouble as I said - and then went into the central area to read. Looked round the Macys Shopping Complex - was hoping to have a piss, but here you have to buy something before they let you use the loo. A cold, cynical, mercenary touch. Will sit and read for a bit before heading back.
Overall I'm very pleased to have had a good look at LA but can't say I have much affection for the place. It is built totally around the needs of the motorist - you only get very brief 20-second slots to cross these massive boulevards. There are no public parks, unlike all the other cities I've visited. The gap between poverty and decadant opulence is so glaring. I'll be glad to be out of the place tomorrow.
Tues 25th - Walked down Hollywood Boulevard and Sunset Strip. Sunset Strip is a dump now - why it was so legendary in the sixties I'll never know. Sat for a while and read, then caught the bus back. Had a stroke of luck - there was a guy on the bus with a bag from Amoeba Records, which I was hoping to find. Went to Amoeba - was not impressed that they didn't have a restroom as I was dying for a crap (there are no public toilets anywhere in LA). At any rate, looked round the shop, got some CDs, then got the bus back to the hotel.
Wed 26th - Had to change rooms today. Took the opportunity to fully pack my case, emptying the car. Discovered that I had to jettison one or two things in order to come in under the weight restriction. Moved into my new room, then drove up into Laurel Canyon. I don't know how all those druggy singer-songwriters in the sixties managed to live up there - nowadays you aren't even allowed to smoke a cigarette outside in the hills due to the fire risk ! LA is such a place of rapid contrasts - you drive straight up from a dump like the Strip into this exclusive area of mansions, close-cropped lawns etc. Had lunch at a viewpoint overlooking the city - very impressive. Then drove back via Beverley Hills and had a nap in the hotel as I was very tired - I think the effect of all the drving had caught up with me, plus I still had the after-effects of my cold. Went out for a walk; not very scenic but the exercise was good.
Thurs 27th - Came to the Downtown area. Huge skyscrapers, opulent shops, yet so close to areas of utter depravation. LA is exciting but it has no heart - a bit like London has become now. Cold has now gone although stomach is dodgy - must be all that Bud Light ! Went to the Grammy Museum, which wasn't up to much, although it had an interesting George Harrison "Living In The Material World" exhibition, plus a set of drum pads upon which I did my Ginger Baker bit ! Had a light lunch - tummy trouble as I said - and then went into the central area to read. Looked round the Macys Shopping Complex - was hoping to have a piss, but here you have to buy something before they let you use the loo. A cold, cynical, mercenary touch. Will sit and read for a bit before heading back.
Overall I'm very pleased to have had a good look at LA but can't say I have much affection for the place. It is built totally around the needs of the motorist - you only get very brief 20-second slots to cross these massive boulevards. There are no public parks, unlike all the other cities I've visited. The gap between poverty and decadant opulence is so glaring. I'll be glad to be out of the place tomorrow.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011
Tuesday 25th - LA
I'm writing this from an internet cafe on Hollywood Boulevard. Yesterday I drove from the Grand Canyon through western Arizona and the Mojave Desert, then on to San Bernadino and Pasadena and to my hotel at the eastern end of Sunset Boulevard. I had a hard time getting to the hotel; the route I had planned was working perfectly until I got to Echo Park, which is a right turn away from my destination. At that point the road I wanted was closed and there was a diversion. Typically, however, there were no further signs, so I found myself flailing about totally lost and with impatient drivers behind me ! Eventually I had to go back to the Freeway I came in on (through all the evening traffic) and try another route in, which worked. I have found finding my way around the US quite easy, but when you do make a mistake it's very difficult to correct it. That diversion cost me an hour at the end of a 450 mile drive.
I had a real stroke of luck. I was originally planning to arrive in LA on Wed 26th, and had pre-paid for the nights of the 26th and 27th through the travel agent prior to my flight on the 28th. However I ended up ahead of schedule, so rang the hotel yesterday lunchtime to (so I was expecting) make an additional booking for last night and tonight (the 25th). However I discovered that the travel agent had wrongly made my booking for the 24th and the 25th - fortunately they had a room for the 26th and the 27th, so no harm done. But had I not got ahead of schedule and decided to spend more time in LA, I would have turned up on Wed 26th with no room for my last two nights !
There was another twist to this when I arrived last night. The pre-booked reservation for the 24th and the 25th was paid for by the travel agent via a third party - however the hotel informed me that their credit card had been rejected ! So I had to pay for the 24th and 25th on my own card (in addition to the 26th and 27th which I had booked myself at lunchtime over the 'phone). This morning I contacted the travel agent and they are sorting out my refund for the 24th and the 25th. So my travel agent not only reserved the wrong dates but also failed to check that the payment (made through a third party) had worked ! The joys of outsourcing...wonder if they're using Aspire under the covers ? (N.B. For the benefit of non-VOA people reading this, Aspire are the main outsourcers we work with).
After that little hiccup I checked in and read in my room. This morning I sorted out the hiccup (hopefully) and caught the bus to Hollywood and Vine. There I saw the Capitol Records Tower, which is where the careers of the Beach Boys and the Beatles (in America) were launched. I am currently walking along the Walk of Fame and will be heading for Sunset Strip.
So my drive across the US is complete ! I have been very lucky with the weather; it has been hot and sunny throughout apart from a violent thunderstorm (it was raining cats and dogs out there) when I first arrived at Memphis. Here in LA it rained overnight, and it is cloudy today. It is refreshing to be in milder weather after the heat of Texas and New Mexico. I am looking forward to getting to know LA a bit better. Then it's back to the UK just in time for the clocks to go back for the English winter !
I had a real stroke of luck. I was originally planning to arrive in LA on Wed 26th, and had pre-paid for the nights of the 26th and 27th through the travel agent prior to my flight on the 28th. However I ended up ahead of schedule, so rang the hotel yesterday lunchtime to (so I was expecting) make an additional booking for last night and tonight (the 25th). However I discovered that the travel agent had wrongly made my booking for the 24th and the 25th - fortunately they had a room for the 26th and the 27th, so no harm done. But had I not got ahead of schedule and decided to spend more time in LA, I would have turned up on Wed 26th with no room for my last two nights !
There was another twist to this when I arrived last night. The pre-booked reservation for the 24th and the 25th was paid for by the travel agent via a third party - however the hotel informed me that their credit card had been rejected ! So I had to pay for the 24th and 25th on my own card (in addition to the 26th and 27th which I had booked myself at lunchtime over the 'phone). This morning I contacted the travel agent and they are sorting out my refund for the 24th and the 25th. So my travel agent not only reserved the wrong dates but also failed to check that the payment (made through a third party) had worked ! The joys of outsourcing...wonder if they're using Aspire under the covers ? (N.B. For the benefit of non-VOA people reading this, Aspire are the main outsourcers we work with).
After that little hiccup I checked in and read in my room. This morning I sorted out the hiccup (hopefully) and caught the bus to Hollywood and Vine. There I saw the Capitol Records Tower, which is where the careers of the Beach Boys and the Beatles (in America) were launched. I am currently walking along the Walk of Fame and will be heading for Sunset Strip.
So my drive across the US is complete ! I have been very lucky with the weather; it has been hot and sunny throughout apart from a violent thunderstorm (it was raining cats and dogs out there) when I first arrived at Memphis. Here in LA it rained overnight, and it is cloudy today. It is refreshing to be in milder weather after the heat of Texas and New Mexico. I am looking forward to getting to know LA a bit better. Then it's back to the UK just in time for the clocks to go back for the English winter !
Sunday, 23 October 2011
Sunday 23rd - Grand Canyon
Spent today going round Grand Canyon Park. Drive to the Visitors' Centre, then took the bus on the Blue Route and then the Red Route. Stopped at a viewpoint called "The Abyss", which was stunning - you could see the Colorado River right at the bottom, and there were huge layered red rocks. Then I walked on the Green Trail to the next bus stop, pausing at various viewpoints. Popped into the food centre for lunch, then went back to the centre and took the Orange Route bus. This went East, and I looked at some more viewpoints there. Good thing I remembered to charge up my Panasonic last night ! Caught the bus back, then went to the Rim near the visitors centre and stood at a couple of outcrops there. Left at five and now I'm in this Internet Cafe writing this !
The views were certainly stunning as advertised, but after a while I found it a bit monotonous - to me one set of steep rocks starts to look very much like another after a while ! So the day was a welcome resting time for me after three days of hard driving, but I wouldn't want to come back. I'm just not that visual a person - I'm more exctied by cities and music/political history. Also the place is cynically exploited for tourism - my hotel is very expensive, yet doesn't have all the facilities that the cheaper motel chains have.
Just before writing this I checked the football results - amazing Man City performance ! Pleased to see that all the Man City players I've got in my fantasy side played and that Aguero (my captain) scored. I haven't touched the team since I left the UK and only made minor adjustments before that, so it will be interesting to see how I've done. Was worried when Aguero was injured the day before I left, but he seems to have been playing recently. With Chelsea losing, Man City look well set at the moment.
Tomorrow I leave here and have two days to get to LA. Not sure where I'm going to stop tomorrow as I need to get across the desert, but don't want to go into the Spaghetti Junction of LA freeways quite yet. My cold has been alive and well and bothered me a bit during the afternoon, but I feel better now. I'd like to throw it off before I hit LA as I want to check out loads of places there.
The views were certainly stunning as advertised, but after a while I found it a bit monotonous - to me one set of steep rocks starts to look very much like another after a while ! So the day was a welcome resting time for me after three days of hard driving, but I wouldn't want to come back. I'm just not that visual a person - I'm more exctied by cities and music/political history. Also the place is cynically exploited for tourism - my hotel is very expensive, yet doesn't have all the facilities that the cheaper motel chains have.
Just before writing this I checked the football results - amazing Man City performance ! Pleased to see that all the Man City players I've got in my fantasy side played and that Aguero (my captain) scored. I haven't touched the team since I left the UK and only made minor adjustments before that, so it will be interesting to see how I've done. Was worried when Aguero was injured the day before I left, but he seems to have been playing recently. With Chelsea losing, Man City look well set at the moment.
Tomorrow I leave here and have two days to get to LA. Not sure where I'm going to stop tomorrow as I need to get across the desert, but don't want to go into the Spaghetti Junction of LA freeways quite yet. My cold has been alive and well and bothered me a bit during the afternoon, but I feel better now. I'd like to throw it off before I hit LA as I want to check out loads of places there.
Saturday, 22 October 2011
Saturday 22nd - nr. Grand Canyon
Drove from Albuquerque to the Grand Canyon (mid-way through Arizona) today. This was the most scenic drive of the holiday - beautiful mountains, rocks, and a variety of trees. When I came off Interstate 40 at Flagstaff to head for the canyon the views were astonishing - forests, mountains, and clear blue sky. Naturally the battery on my Panasonic chose today to conk out, so once again my trusty Blackberry came to the rescue. It's a good thing I got that camera cheap.
Accompanying this I had on a 12-CD set of various Crosby/Stills/Nash/Young out-takes and live takes given to me by my friend Jamie from The Embers (see my first post). This was the perfect accompaniment - their playing and harmonies are magnificent and their songs very hearfelt. I am increasingly coming to appreciate Graham Nash's songs - they are very genuine and straightforward and full of honesty and vulnerability. "Teach Your Children" is a very wise song, and "I Used To Be A King" and "Simple Man" are perfect fare for divorcees. Neil Young, of course, is out on his own; probably the very greatest talent in rock music, even eclypsing Dylan in my view.
To cap it all I got a text from my son saying that Palace won at Ipswich and are now third ! It is hard to capture my feelings about this day - it was so overwhelmingly amazing that I need to time take in what I've experienced. I did get a bit jaded in the afternoon with all the driving, so it will be great to spend tomorrow walking in Grand Canyon Park.
P.S. Still got the cold - the sore throat has eased off and now it's just a nose cold. Just a minor irritant, and nothing that a beer or two won't sort out.
Accompanying this I had on a 12-CD set of various Crosby/Stills/Nash/Young out-takes and live takes given to me by my friend Jamie from The Embers (see my first post). This was the perfect accompaniment - their playing and harmonies are magnificent and their songs very hearfelt. I am increasingly coming to appreciate Graham Nash's songs - they are very genuine and straightforward and full of honesty and vulnerability. "Teach Your Children" is a very wise song, and "I Used To Be A King" and "Simple Man" are perfect fare for divorcees. Neil Young, of course, is out on his own; probably the very greatest talent in rock music, even eclypsing Dylan in my view.
To cap it all I got a text from my son saying that Palace won at Ipswich and are now third ! It is hard to capture my feelings about this day - it was so overwhelmingly amazing that I need to time take in what I've experienced. I did get a bit jaded in the afternoon with all the driving, so it will be great to spend tomorrow walking in Grand Canyon Park.
P.S. Still got the cold - the sore throat has eased off and now it's just a nose cold. Just a minor irritant, and nothing that a beer or two won't sort out.
Friday 21st - Albuquerque
Started this morning by visiting the Buddy Holly Centre in Lubbock. Some fascinating exhibits such as the acoustic guitar he recorded his final set of songs on in a New York Hotel room. The exhibition gave a detailed chronology of events in his life, and brought out really well his innovative approach to his music - he wrote, recorded, and played on all his records and the Crickets were probably the first modern rock'n'roll band. All the Liverpool bands such as the Beatles and the Searchers covered his material extensively, and the Stones, of course, broke through with their cover of "Not Fade Away". There would have been so much more from him had his plane not crashed in 1959. Had a very nice chat with the person in the gift shop, who came from near Austin and talked about my drive yesterday.
After that I drove the 400 miles to Albuquerque via Amarillo (no-one asked me the way). You don't want to do that too often - the drive was very demanding. The scenery was flat and bleak for the first couple of hours. Then I left Texas and got into New Mexico, which was full of red sand, cacti, and the occasional hill. The view coming into the City, however, was very spectacular - a bit like Matlock in the Peak District but with parched red sand. Having reached Albuquerque, I had quite a bit of trouble getting into the hotel. Also their PC crashed while I was writing this, so I had to finish it the next day in an Internet Cafe near Grand Canyon.
The music I played was a 2CD set of Buddy Holly which I'd got at the Centre. Then it was Johnny Cash ("American Recordings"), Doug Sahm (Mendocino), following by The Byrds live at the Fillmore West, "Hendrix In The West", and finally "Full Moon Fever" by Tom Petty. Particularly loved the Johnny Cash - he's becoming a keynote figure for this holiday. His mixture of dark American gothic, country themes, and gospel very much reflects my pre-occupations.
One slight downer - I have a slight cold. Just a head cold - nothing to hold me back - just makes me a bit more tired at the end of the driving than I would otherwise be.
After that I drove the 400 miles to Albuquerque via Amarillo (no-one asked me the way). You don't want to do that too often - the drive was very demanding. The scenery was flat and bleak for the first couple of hours. Then I left Texas and got into New Mexico, which was full of red sand, cacti, and the occasional hill. The view coming into the City, however, was very spectacular - a bit like Matlock in the Peak District but with parched red sand. Having reached Albuquerque, I had quite a bit of trouble getting into the hotel. Also their PC crashed while I was writing this, so I had to finish it the next day in an Internet Cafe near Grand Canyon.
The music I played was a 2CD set of Buddy Holly which I'd got at the Centre. Then it was Johnny Cash ("American Recordings"), Doug Sahm (Mendocino), following by The Byrds live at the Fillmore West, "Hendrix In The West", and finally "Full Moon Fever" by Tom Petty. Particularly loved the Johnny Cash - he's becoming a keynote figure for this holiday. His mixture of dark American gothic, country themes, and gospel very much reflects my pre-occupations.
One slight downer - I have a slight cold. Just a head cold - nothing to hold me back - just makes me a bit more tired at the end of the driving than I would otherwise be.
Thursday, 20 October 2011
Thursday 20th - Lubbock
Drove down from Austin to Lubbock today. First part was on Highway 71, which took me through the hills west of Austin to the outskirts of San Angelo, where I got onto Highway 87 to come through to Lubbock. The first section of the drive was very scenic with quite a few hills. The mid-section was sandy but also had a few hills as well as lots of wind farms. The final part was all parched flat brown plain.
The hotel is right by Buddy Holly Street - he was born here. Buddy Holly was very influential because he combined rockabilly with a melodic approach which is more folk-based. This, in turn, was a major influence on many English performers, in particular Paul McCartney. Much of the melodicism of the early Beatles, then, derives from here !
Musically I had a strong selection of CDs on - the new Wilco album, "Perspex Island" by Robyn Hitchcock (great to finally get hold of that on CD), Johnny Cash's "Unchained" (one of the series of American Recordings), Wilco's "A Ghost Is Born", Emmylou Harris's "Elite Hotel", "Roadmaster" by Gene Clark, and then finally the new Wilco again. Hard to pick a highlight - the new Wilco is brilliant, and "Perspex Island" was a revelation to me as I'd never properly caught the lyrics before and had dismissed it as a lightweight, poppy, album, yet it is actually a pretty dark and serious work largely concerning how to cope with loss when you're an atheist. As a struggling Christian going through a divorce I really engaged with that. However the winner, once again, was Mr. Cash. His series of "American Recordings" begun in the 1990s with Rick Rubin are a very solemn, gripping, and yet humorous collection. He has amazing depth and authority in his voice, and the music is perfect.
Overall it was so refreshing to be driving on roads other than Interstates. Also I had a very nice lunch at a place called Eden, and the service was excellent. Texans seem to really like English people. I am now ahead of schedule - I'd only planned to reach San Angelo by now. Tomorrow I will be continuing north to Amarillo, where I pick up Interstate 40 and head west towards New Mexico. There's been a major drought round here and things are especially serious further south - Mexico has real problems now.
The hotel is right by Buddy Holly Street - he was born here. Buddy Holly was very influential because he combined rockabilly with a melodic approach which is more folk-based. This, in turn, was a major influence on many English performers, in particular Paul McCartney. Much of the melodicism of the early Beatles, then, derives from here !
Musically I had a strong selection of CDs on - the new Wilco album, "Perspex Island" by Robyn Hitchcock (great to finally get hold of that on CD), Johnny Cash's "Unchained" (one of the series of American Recordings), Wilco's "A Ghost Is Born", Emmylou Harris's "Elite Hotel", "Roadmaster" by Gene Clark, and then finally the new Wilco again. Hard to pick a highlight - the new Wilco is brilliant, and "Perspex Island" was a revelation to me as I'd never properly caught the lyrics before and had dismissed it as a lightweight, poppy, album, yet it is actually a pretty dark and serious work largely concerning how to cope with loss when you're an atheist. As a struggling Christian going through a divorce I really engaged with that. However the winner, once again, was Mr. Cash. His series of "American Recordings" begun in the 1990s with Rick Rubin are a very solemn, gripping, and yet humorous collection. He has amazing depth and authority in his voice, and the music is perfect.
Overall it was so refreshing to be driving on roads other than Interstates. Also I had a very nice lunch at a place called Eden, and the service was excellent. Texans seem to really like English people. I am now ahead of schedule - I'd only planned to reach San Angelo by now. Tomorrow I will be continuing north to Amarillo, where I pick up Interstate 40 and head west towards New Mexico. There's been a major drought round here and things are especially serious further south - Mexico has real problems now.
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