Dead Leg Valley

Barstow, CA

2010 miles into the trip, 31 hours 50 minutes total travel time

This isn’t a typo- I drove over fifteen hours today. More on that later.

The Big Texan was exactly what you’d expect from a Texas steak house- big, all wood, lots of tables set up in long rows, some grilling done on the floor, and of course, everything is big. As I walked in, they asked where I was from. I told them, and I broke some kind of streak they had going, because everyone else in the restaurant was from Texas. Go figure. Two waiters walked by and I overheard one say “I didn’t think the little guy could hold it down. Anyway, I had some rattlesnake (dry and tastes like chicken) before my steak.


That's a mighty big sign...

...and that's no bull.

I started to look around for “the little guy,” figuring somebody tried to down the 72 oz. steak. It turns out the kid was 18-19 max, 120 lbs soaking wet, and he… didn’t hold it down, but at least he made it to the bathroom. But the steak went for something like $50, and they naturally couldn’t afford it, so there was then a big brouhaha over payment. Some very generous folks chipped in some money. I got a picture by the giant bull in the parking lot.

I woke up very early today. It was still dark. I hoped I could get a fair amount of travel, so I gassed up and went. Short version- 960 miles, two time zones, four states, and one leg that couldn’t push the accelerator.

Nueva Mexico was much flatter than advertised, and outside of a giant hill near Albuquerque, it was grassland. There was noticeable smog around Albuquerque. … impending rant …

Whatever idiot designed the traffic patterns and refueling abilities of people driving through town on a major interstate should be forced to get gas at the gas station I went to everyday until they quit and run screaming from dementia. The only places to get gas without taking an in-town exit and navigating an unfamiliar city were on the outskirts. All exits were “exit only” and didn’t have gas anyway, except on the outskirts. So as a result the average passer-by only had two options to get gas- before town and after town. Since the average passer-by doesn’t realize they can’t get gas easily until through town, they wait until after town. Just like everyone else. The semi gas line was three deep for all pumps. In the car lanes, though, something else. People would park in front of a pump, and… not pump. They were out begging for gas money. I was hit up twice for cash, once while pumping gas, once while eating.

Arizona wasn’t much different. The first mountain I saw was the biggest mountain in Arizona, and I saw the snow-capped peak over 50 miles away. That was interesting. But like I said, not much going on if you’re not heading for a tourist attraction.

I made it out of Texas before sunrise, and out of Arizona just after sunset.

Now I had been driving so long, my leg was starting to twitch. I noticed that I couldn’t go over 55 mph on a flat stretch of road, then I realized my leg muscles (calf and quad) hurt like hell. I shifted my weight and realized I wasn’t going to make Bakersfield. So I pulled in to Barstow, ordered a pizza, and started planning the home stretch.