Day 5 – July 7, 2002
Our bad luck continues this morning during our free continental breakfast. There is no milk, sour orange juice, a broken toaster, unripe fruit and no spoons. We have a full day of driving ahead of us as we race towards Las Vegas. Dan had spent the previous night fashioning his beard into some fat ass muttonchops. Still no "Don’t Mess With Texas" shirts but we aren’t out of the state just yet.
Mix #22 The Tao of Rishi
Maker: Jeremy Date: 7/96 Begun: 11:17am Ended: 12:49pm Miles Covered: 122
Somewhere between Sonora and Fort Stockton, TX – We drive west through some incredible, desolate scenery. Windmills! Oilwells! As the dirt to vegetation ratio increases we decide that any type of music fits this landscape perfectly. Anything from Friends of Dean Martinez to Pavement to Giuseppe Verdi to Charles Mingus sounds good out here, enhancing the beauty of our surroundings
Mix #23 ☺Pray For What You Want, But Work For the Things You Need☺
Maker: Dan Date: Fall 96 Begun: 12:52pm Ended: 3:39pm Miles Covered: 118
Balmorhea, TX – We hit torrential downpours but Mandy Patinkin makes his first appearance on a mix tape, lifting our spirits and chasing away the rain. Stop for lunch in Van Horn, Texas. A sign as you enter states: "Van Horn, Texas – 17 motels, 18 restaurants, 5 R.V. parks, 3000 local inhabitants." If this was ever a tourist site, and we doubt that very much, then it must have been a long time ago. In Van Horn, functioning restaurants sit side by side with piles of rubble and burnt out buildings that look as if they haven’t been touched in over 40 years. Half strip mall, half bomb site, Van Horn is unlike anywhere we’ve ever been.
Mix #24 New Guided Missile Takes Off
Maker: Jeremy Date: Fall 96 Begun: 3:41 pm Ended: 5:44pm (time change) Miles Covered: 93
West Texas somewhere – Another moment of serendipity occurs as we approach El Paso and hit a stretch of Mexican festival music on this mix. There is a strip of corporate chain stores and restaurants outside El Paso that’s at least 3 miles long putting to shame all the strip malls we’ve ever encountered before. There’s also a stretch of cars entering Texas from Mexico that’s almost as long.
Juarez is very quiet except for all the car motors waiting in line and the guy selling big crosses in the middle of the street. We stay very briefly, not even buying a taco or a switchblade, before heading back. As we wait an hour in a sea of people to get back in the United States, a Mexican girl in front of us, wearing a British flag t-shirt keeps staring at Jeremy’s homemade Pavement t-shirt and scowling. She must be a Fall fan.
Mix #25 When Most People Say "I Think" Do They Really Think?
Maker: Dan Date: 11/96 Begun: 5:49pm Ended: 7:57pm Miles Covered: 124
Just across the border into New Mexico – Upon first giving this tape to Jeremy, Dan told him, "Once you hear the Dog Faced Hermans, your life will never be the same." That’s a lot for a band to live up to but goddamn if they weren’t up to the challenge. This mix begins with "Blessed Are the Follies" and immediately caused Jeremy to go out and buy the album. Isn’t that the goal of any good mix tape?
After leaving the Tatooine-like outskirts of El Paso, we now find ourselves driving through the flatlands of Southern New Mexico. At one point we drive past at least 2000 cows wandering around farmland that stretches on for miles. Soon after, we pass a sign that reads, "Caution: Blowing Dust." Bring on the desert!
Mix #26 Girls Feel Great
Maker: Jeremy Date: 1/97 Begun: 8:00pm Ended: 9:03pm (time change) Miles Covered: 122
Somewhere in New Mexico, 180 miles from Tucson, AZ – A watershed tape for Jeremy, shedding the embarrassing indie crap of his past and blossoming into a jazz and renaissance music loving geek. He still makes room for some Bee Gees though.
We drive alongside a train, enjoying the swinging sounds of the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Dusty ground to the right of us and dusty ground to the left. One of the persistent questions of the road trip makes its first appearance: "Who lives out here?" A road sign appears to answer our query. It reads, "Don’t Pick Up Hitchhikers Correctional Facility Nearby."
Mix #27 Mickey Who?
Maker: Dan Date: 12/96 Begun: 9:06pm Ended: 10:50pm Miles Covered: 118
Benson, AZ – A beautiful cover collage of Mickey Mantle photos graces this mix. Chris Isaak’s "Blue Spanish Sky" fits perfectly as we drive in the pitch-black Arizona night. Jeremy muses about how Elvis Costello should have remade "Wave a White Flag" into a megaphone hit and proceeds to make fun of Dan for following the Elvis tune with Ray Charles, a pairing that makes several appearances over the next few years like Dan’s own version of the Dynamic Duo. He then wonders aloud if the people who live in Austin call it Awesomestin. It’s been a long day of driving.
Mix #28 1803-1869: The Rock / Boogie Era
Maker: Jeremy Date: 3/97 Begun: 10:52pm Ended: 9:34am Miles Covered: 75
Arizona somewhere – It’s a strange land out west. Very dusty and dry. 60 West is littered with strip clubs and Surprise, Arizona is comprised of row after row of ticky-tacky suburban homes. As we drive underneath a giant orange bridge while leaving Sun City we decide "they’re weird out here…too much sand."
