The saga continues...


Hey kids!  Well, now for the long awaited sequel to first job story.  

As soon as I got the low-down on the job-having situation, I proceeded
to leap into my new old Honda Accord and go screaming westard, intent
on adding to the 130,000 miles already on the odometer.  The beast
served me quite well and I was able to fit everything from food to
guitar to books about physics with no poroblem.  I also discovered
that it was totally sleepable.  Three of me could sleep in the trunk
WITH my trusty tent ($50 from Montgummy Ward back in High School) and
my food.  I found this out one night while sleeping in the back with
the seat folded forward.  I woke up in a cozy ball in the trunk!
Luckily there was no one around to shut the seat on me!  But on to the
tale.

So my long haired little head decided that what I really wanted to do
was go to Big Bend where the largeness of Texas could be truly
appreciated.  Sad I was as I listened to tales of moronic "oh yeah
well you..."s between those elected officials we hold most dear.  Soon
it became claer that the shutdown was to become reality!  I stoped by
a msmall town Zippeee Mart and, with a gulp of gas for my thirsty
little automobile and a coke for me, I felt secure in hastling the
locals for information.  As I quikcly discovered, Texans have no
problem babbling away about their great state, and everyone I met was
very friendly.  So even though I didn't have to buy the coke to win
their friendship, I enjoyed it anway.  But I continue to digress.  
	So I asked about the word on going to El Paso and grabbing a
tasty taco.  "Silly Yankee," they said, "El Paso is one of the three
largest cities in Texas!  You'll find no tiny taco place there with
out days of seraching.  Go ye instead to Guadalupe National Park where
the leaves are beautiful in death, and many nifty cacti await you."
And so I drove forth with this destination in mind, being confident
that the distant "told you so"s in the White House and little domed
buildings up North had nothing to do with me.  At the worst there
would be no park rangers to take my money for camping.  
	Sadly, I was a moron.  Upon ariving in the quite beautiful
park, I was immediately handed a tiny brochure and told that while I
could take the small, paved walk around the cacti garden, nothing else
was availiable for my camping, hiking pleasure.  After chattering with
some Germans and a couple from Seattle that had come just to see the
park, I suggested that everyone take the extra time they now had to
call a Senator.  
	So quickly went I to the eye on the sky.  The McDouglas
observatory is owned by the University of Texas at Austin and that day
(Tuesday) just happened to be a "star party night."  I dug Saturn's
rings from edge on (only once every 15 years!) and the gathering of
Mars, Saturn, and Jupiter in the sky.  "Just hanging out together
there in the sky for a few days," our guide informed us.  I had an
extra cup of hot chocolate, went back to my car for a beer and a good
book, and fell asleep there in the parking lot under a blanket of
beautiful stars.  It was a cold blanket, however, and I had to dig out
the ol wool sox inside my sleeping bag for that night.
	And so it went.  The national memorials and landmarks were
closed, and I continued to see the same cars and people aimlessly
wandering the west.  There are scattered little tiny state parks and I
swear that every one of us must have gone to every one during that
time!  Plenty of nice camping spots and high up places to keep my
acrophillia happy and my mind turning.  Entire days were spent on
drives just to see the route.  There are some incredible highways down
TO Big Bend Nat. Park and I took every one.  There were plenty of
stops to shoot a picture or eat a sandwich over the Rio Grande.  (Song
soon to be released on MindlessKai Records Inc.)  I put many a mile on
the new car and it ran wonderfully.
	So I guess my point is that I had a great time anyway and saw
a lot of cool new things for a Yank like me.  Huge tarantualas
scampering across the road, budding cacti, rocky hills, lazy rivers,
and at the end of it all, sunsets that melted across the sky and
burned away into millions of bright tiny night stars.  I learned about
the natives of the region and the ways in which those innocent looking
plants REALLY COULD be used as spear points (one punched a nice hole
in my leg while climbing.)  
	But as with all good things the trip, like this email message,
must come to an end.  I still have not seen Big Bend, but after this
second unsuccessful attempt to get there, I wonder if it isn't my
Eldorado.  Perhaps I am fated never to reach that place, but in
the journey itself lies the destination. 

Philosophically yours,

Kai

mantsch@uiuc.edu