As some readers will know, I journeyed 2000 miles across the
southern USA in late September, mainly to play in a National tennis
competition, but also to see some more of the US. The drive took my three friends and I through
the states of Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and New Mexico, before we
eventually arrived at our destination, Arizona.
The trip was full of adventure.
New Orleans
We began our road trip early, 5.30 am, and after eating
lunch with family of my friends, we spent the first night stop in New Orleans.
We found our hotel, The Hilton, in the city centre, unloaded our bags, and
opted to pay for valet parking, as it worked out only a few dollars more than
doing it ourselves.
It was only when we reached the checking in counter that we were
told that there are three Hiltons in New Orleans and we’d gone to the wrong
one! Luckily we were given a free glass
of wine and managed to catch the car before it was driven off to the park!
After finding the right hotel, we unloaded our bags, drank a
celebratory glass of Jim Beam, and ventured out into New Orleans. We headed straight for Bourbon Street and
took in the ambience. After eating a
meal, watching the street from a balcony, and experiencing some live jazz
music, we headed back to our rooms, tired but fulfilled.
San Antonio
We hit the road again early the following morning and it
didn’t take too long before we hit Texas.
Driving through the Lone Star State would take up most of the second day
(and a large chunk of the day after that too!).
We arrived at our next stop, San Antonio, late afternoon and headed straight
for its most famous building, the iconic, Alamo Mission.
I wasn’t sure how the boisterous Texans would present their
most famous building, but it was all rather tastefully done and it was great to
take in some history.
Afterwards, we checked our bags in at the hotel and headed
to the River Walk, an attractive downtown development running along the San
Antonio River. We ate some Tex Mex food
and ordered quite possibly the biggest margaritas in the world. We opted to imbibe the drinks through straws,
but had we brought our bathing costumes, we could quite easily have dived into
the limey-tequilerish beverages and swum around in them, such was their size.
West Texas Birthday
The population and the vegetation thinned out as we drove deep
into West Texas the following day. There
were some large, crazy rock formations and the first hills I’d seen for three
years (Florida is pretty much totally flat!)
It was also, by a strange coincidence, my birthday that day.
It was decided that the anniversary of my arrival into the world should be
celebrated with me drinking shots from a plastic cup in the shape of a cactus
every time that we stopped, whilst a collection of hit songs from the year of
my birth, 1965, was listened to when we were on the road.
Unfortunately, the cacti shot cup leaked more
bourbon than it held, giving the interior of the car, as well as my clothing, a
whiskeyish flavour – perhaps not a good thing, given the strict Texas alcohol/driving
laws.
El Paso
We ate lunch in El Paso and caught a glimpse of the Rio Grande, the security border fence, and the hills and shanty huts of Mexico.
New Mexico Customs
New Mexico turned into dry desert plains and mountains. The bourbon and pop music led me into a
satisfied relaxed state. Then, in the
middle of nowhere in particular, all vehicles on the road was funneled into a
self-described “customs post”. This caused some anxiety, as my green card has
lapsed whilst the USCIS process a replacement. They did send me an official
letter saying that my permanent resident status had been extended a year, but
I’d left it back in Florida, not expecting to cross through any customs posts. There were officials with dogs flagging down
vehicles, presumably looking for illegal Mexicans.
Despite my faultless immigration status, my concern was that
we would be delayed for a long time - but to my relief, after removing our
ponchos and sombreros, we were waved through without any problems.
(Okay, I made that bit up about ponchos and sombreros!)
Tucson at last!
The last stretch of the journey through New Mexico and
Arizona seemed to drag a little, especially after the sun went down and there
was no scenery to see. Arriving in
darkness, it was difficult to know what to make of Tucson. We wouldn’t see its dry desert splendor until
the following morning - the rocks, huge
cacti and stunning mountains in all directions.
We would have a couple of days to rest up and do some gentle
exercise, before it was time to play some serious tennis.
It should also be noted that during the last leg of the
outward journey, the cap of my family-sized mouthwash bottle had come loose,
leaking its contents into my suitcase. Despite
rinsing out my clothes, I would spend the remainder of the trip exuding a minty
aroma wherever I went.
