Roswell and Texas

Following a fun filled day in Santa Fe, Linds and I drove down to Roswell and promptly called eveyone we knew to tell them of the this town like we had never seen before. At first glance it appears quite normal. On the way in, the highway is filled with Holiday Inns, Wendys, and a variety of gas stations to suit your taste. Then as you immerse yourself further down mainstreet, you begin to notice that the street lamps have alien eyes painted on them. Interstellar cafes start to crop up until finally you reach the International UFO Museum and Research Center. Alien beings hang from street signs and replace manquins in the windows. Yes, we even saw an alien in a wedding dress. Although we stayed only long enough to take some choice photos, it was a great afternoon.

From Roswell we proceeded on to Fort Stockton, Texas where we decided to stop over on our way to Austin. In the morning as we prepared to leave we listened to the weather report and discovered that Highway 10, the very same highway we were about to get on, was experiencing severe flash flooding due to the monsoon like rains hitting that part of Texas. After listening to the detailed report, Linds and I made the executive decision to forego our trip to San Antonio and Austin. This was a bit of a buzzkill since those two cities where going to be the high point of our Texas experience. We know our parents appreciate our very responsible decision, but I must say that it made me miss those days in high school when responsibility was not our strongest personality trait.

NB: I think we failed to mention that while in Durango, CO I picked up the last Harry Potter book. While Linds drives, I read aloud chapter after chapter. It's amazing how quickly this passes the time and it's all we've been doing since. We're now 20 chapters deep and actually awaiting tomorrow's long drive just to find out what happens next.

With the flash flood warnings in our head we decided to head north to Dallas to spend the night. Unfortunately neither Linds nor I had done much research on Dallas so we were flying a little blind this evening with social activities. We stayed in a nice Quality Inn that provided a free shuttle into the heart of town. We had some fantastic Tex Mex flautas and then proceed to look for a bar that according to its website was a great "cowboy" bar. Another NB: Linds and I were only looking for two things in Texas--TexMex and BBQ. I can add that I was also looking for a handsome cowboy to flirt with. This was our mission for the evening.

When I was in college, my professors warned me about the misleading nature of the internet. I always believed them, perferring to seek out sources in the stacks at the library. When it comes to other things on the internet, like bar recommendations, Linds and I both took the cowboy bar's website at face value. Upon our arrival at bar (and after giving the bouncer our usual tale as to why two girls from NY are so far from home) I jetted off to the bathroom leaving Linds to wait outside. When I emerged, Linds had a concerned look on her face. She said we were leaving, and trusting her great judgemen, I left quietly. Once outside I asked what was going on. Linds replied that this particular cowboy bar was a Brokeback Mountain kind of cowboy bar. I glanced in the window and it all clicked. No wonder there were so many well groomed men there!

I just couldn't believe that the very first bar we stepped in to in Dallas was a gay bar. Of all the gin joints in all the world. Determined not to let this little mistep derail our evening, we went across the street to JR's of Dallas, another bar that looked pretty darn cute. Within thirty seconds of walking in the door, however, we saw that we made the same mistake. Attractive men were everywhere, conoodling with other men. We decided to sit down, have a cold beer, and decide what to do next. Some very nice guys from Houston chatted with us for a bit and apart from the two men (sitting in our direct line of sight) making out as though they were trying to produce babies, it wasn't such a bad place. Then the strip drag queen show started. I sat there in disbelief. All I wanted was a cowboy and instead I got a bunch of queens.

We finished our beer and left yet another bar in search of a new place. When Linds and I are on a mission it is very difficult to get us to quit. We headed over the the GhostBar at the new W hotel. This was my idea as I had heard some people say that it was a great new "hot spot" in Dallas. Turns out, "hot spot" means dim lighting, expensive drinks, and horribly loud techno music. We didn't even go in. Linds asked the guy at the door for some suggestions on where we could go next and we then headed directly back to the same street that our TexMex place had been. We walked in and were relieved to see a bunch of young people sitting around with pints, some playing pool, others watching the rugby game playing on the TV.

With lightened spirits we orded some drinks and sat down to relax. Yes, of course, you know this is coming....it was too good to be true. I was only one sip into my redbull and vodka when one of the guys playing pool came over to chat with us. Now, he actually started off as just a nice guy making conversation. That wasn't so bad until his pool partner came over to make conversation with us as well. This would have gone better for him if he had actually retained the ability to speak. Unfortunately, about four drinks previously, he had abandoned both his short term memory as well as the ability to form coherent words and phrases. Thus we found ourselves having to constantly remind him of our names, places of birth, and purpose in Dallas. I came to feel as though I was being interrogated by some hostile foreign nation and I could only utter the same three pieces of information over, and over, and over. Finally Linds and I abandoned the truth for far more rich stories. I became Melinda from Canada and Linds became Elisa from Boston. We met at McGill University in Montreal where we both earned our undergrad educations. The story could have gone further, but eventually the very drunk man wandered off thus leaving only the initial guy. He seemed nice enough until the conversation turned to his currently dating situation. He began to go off on how he was dating the love of his life and how he's 30 years old and been looking since he was 16 and how meeting people in bars was such a beating because women in bars are never really genuine...etc...

That was it. Linds and I threw up the white flag. We could take no more. We left the bar a full hour before closing time (and if you know us, you know how unusual that is) and headed home. Tomorrow we're going to go see book depository, get some BBQ, and then get out of dodge. Perhaps we'll run into some real cowboys along the way.