April 12 – “Billy the Kid”

 

April 12 – “Billy the Kid”

 

We got started on our way out of New Mexico around 8 a.m.  That would be 9 a.m. Texas time.  I think.  Sorry.  Just trying to get oriented.

 

Chris put it into Glorieta mode (a.k.a. Driving to youth camp) when she sat behind the wheel.  She was pretty determined to get to Texas.

 

We did get distracted before we could get out of New Mexico, though.  For years we have driven through a little town called Fort Sumner.  Right in the middle of town is a building that purports to be all things Billy the Kid.  The town also claims to be the site of his death (Of course further down the road in Hico, Texas, we heard the same claims, and they have a similar museum, but it was closed when we went through there).  For years we have joked about that claim, but we have never taken the action to pull over and check it out.  Until yesterday.

 

We got the old people’s rate to get in.  Didn’t even ask for our ID.  Just four bucks each.  And the museum was way more than just Billy the Kid.  They did have a wing dedicated to him, but this was a full-blown museum of antique stuff –of all kinds.  From antique cars to horse-drawn hearses (complete with child-size coffins) to an entire room of nothing but saddles to a stuffed calf with eight legs.  That thing, by the way, should have been in a Ripley’s Believe It or Not museum.  They even had a section for old toys.  Chris found her first Barbie.  I found a glass case where they had captured and successfully interred six or eight of those creepy china-head dolls.  It was well worth the stop, even if it did keep us from Texas for another hour or so. 

 

Oh, and not to be outdone, Chris decided to take a little detour (Now, “detour” is different from “Shortcut.”  Shortcuts don’t necessarily have a specific purpose in mind.  Detours, however, are supposed to get you somewhere).  So where was the “somewhere”?  The grave of Billy the Kid a few miles outside of town in the local cemetery.  Well … why not?  You could walk right up and see the gravestone.  Couldn’t miss it.  It was locked up behind bars.  Literally.  Yep, thy had to build an actual jail cell over the gravestone and lock it to an iron casing with handcuffs.  Why?  Because it has been stolen two or three times over the years.  It was recovered each time.  Once it was in Granbury, Texas.  Another time it made it all the way to California.

 

We finally got back on the road and headed into Texas.  It took us a little while, but we finally located a Dairy Queen.  We are still trying to use up our retirement gift cards.  We actually had to go two miles off the main road to get to one.  The poor things are just dying out, I guess.  Oh, and they have been rebranded for a new generation … DQ.  Just DQ.  Chris had an ice cream cone.  I had a chocolate chip blizzard.  And we pressed on.

 

At some point along the way I may or may not have dozed off and on, but always ever so briefly.  The only thing that really kept both of us alert were the crazies on the road.  One time Chris was passing a car in a 75 mph zone.  Suddenly, he decided that he wanted to be in the passing lane as well.  He almost nailed us.  After she had accomplished a slick avoidance maneuver, Chris did something I have never seen her do before.  She honked at the errant driver.  I think the honk scared me more than the swerve.  The second event came when we were well into Texas.  She was tooling along and out of the blue cried out, “Oh, no!  A prairie dog!”  And the cry was accompanied by another swerving action.  That’s right.  One of those little critters was standing up on his hind legs right in the middle of the street.  And glancing out to the side of us we saw dozens of the doggies swarming the freeway median.  Weird.  But all’s well.  No prairie dogs were harmed in the production of this super-swerve.

 

Somewhere in west-central Texas where we finally had reliable cell service, we decided to listen to the Seaside Palm Sunday service saved on Facebook Live.  It is always good to see some familiar faces.

 

John 13:34 says, “A new command I give you: Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”

 

Father, thank you for getting us back to Texas.  It is good to be almost home.  We have a lot to do to get ready for our next trip.  Amen.