Day 9 - chill time

I'm sitting on a pile of gravel in back of my campsite, the sun is setting behind me and these gravel piles like the craggy peaks to my right are casting long shadows. Theres a strong wind at my back and I'm staring into the vast expanse of New Mexico plain- it must be 100 miles stretched before me, little towns dot the green and water towers are scattered around like tall white spiders. Kendrick Lamar is playing out of my cracked-screen iPhone and I'm drinking mint tea out of a titanium cup (shoutout Alex Ember).

Today was an off day, I've spent 2 days now in Las Cruces, a town of about 100,000 that's all stretched out and kind of feels like one big strip mall- but a lot of the buildings are old motels and ice cream shops that have a sort of a 50s western carnival vibe. Austin is my next destination 2 days away and I'm taking the day off to wait out a storm brewing there and get some errands done. You'd think this life was simple as can be, but no (Target for food & supplies, ATM for cash, mechanic for oil change, Starbucks for a taste of bougie cush, jog for conscience, clean motorcycle because it rained and left the bike covered in dirty polka dots.) Also I had to tie my tent to a tree because this f&%*$&@ wind wants to turn it into a hot air balloon.

(Kendrick Lamar is crooning "we hurt people that love us, we love people that hurt us")

I think I did so much shit today because suddenly not moving forward feels like withdrawal. Constant motion is a drug, and it's funny that even on vacation it's hard to just shut my mind off and chill out (although I do plan on spending the rest of the evening in my sleeping bag watching Tropic Thunder, if my laptop battery holds out, which it probably won't).

Random things I never thought to bring but definitely needed: can opener, dish scrubber, dish soap (nope, Dr. Bronner's does not cut it), tea, hand sanitizer, little bags / containers, sriracha. MVP goes to headlamp, which I've never owned before but man it's great, and I expect to maintain regular use once I return to Life. LVP goes to shitty foam sleeping pad- definitely should have gotten the inflatable kind and waive the 30-minute creak-and-groan that I do every morning. Invention someone should invent: small portable vacuum for cleaning up floor of tent (and not a Dust Buster cause they suck).

Song of the day: Average Joe by Kendrick Lamar.

H