The first day we drove (Sam, mostly) from New York City through a bunch of little states and ended up near Knoxville, Tennessee. Most of it is a blur to me because I was half-conscious from staying awake all night getting ready for the trip. After a good night's rest, I opened my eyes to America's vast expanse of flat farmlands that stretches through Arkansas and Oklahoma. The major difference between those states and Texas is that everything in Texas is the same but bigger. Shortly after entering the state, we sighted a 30 foot wooden cross implanted in the ground and a huge cornfield as far as the eye could see.

I got lost in one of the Wal-Mart vortices and picked up some foam cones that I thought might be useful for making horns that will be a part of my Burning Man costume. I still didn't finish the costume, and even if I don't finish it before getting to the playa, I've heard that there's a costume camp I can go to.

While at Wal-Mart I picked up some kim chi, and ended up spilling some of the strong-scented juice in Sam's car (sorry Sam!). We have quite different eating habits, but we both managed to find satisfying meals. There was no shortage of fast food or pre-made sandwiches, so Sam always had something to munch on. Although in moments of hunger everything looks good, I managed to stick to my raw food diet without a problem so far. For weeks before the trip, I dehydrated food and vacuum-sealed it so that I would have plenty of goodies during the trip. That and the random watermelon sale on the side of the street have kept me happy. :-)

On to the desert mountains…

As we crossed the border into New Mexico while the sun was setting, I could feel the change of weather. The air became drier, the nights cooler, and my allergies continued to flare up. We sped through the desert at 85 mph with the cool dry wind slapping against our faces, and we landed at a quaint little hotel in the middle of the night. A little Asian man who was sleeping in the service counter room with the lights off awoke to check us in, and we settled in for the third night of our journey.