The past three weeks have been an absolute whirlwind for me. I hit the road on December 15th in my trusty 98 Honda Civic and completed just over 3,300 miles of driving on January 2nd. Needless to say, I'm a bit tired of driving and extremely happy to have arrived in Southern California, where Old Man Winter can no longer bother me.
One of the many many stops along my way was Amarillo, Texas, where I stayed with some close friends of my friend Kevin (who I picked up in Dallas to accompany me on the second half of my trip). As we were nearing Amarillo, Kevin mentioned that we could go see Cadillac Ranch and asked if I'd heard of it before. Not only had I heard of it, but it was one of just a few roadside attractions that actually did attract me…and I'd had no idea that it was in Amarillo!
We managed a trip out in the afternoon of our first day there to go check it out and spray paint our names on the cars…and then Kevin and I decided we'd get up for the sunrise so that I could snap some truly unique photos of the place.
We dragged our tired heads out of bed at 5:30am and got some donuts and coffee before heading out to the Cadillacs. Unfortunately for us, there would be no sunrise, as a blizzard descended on Amarillo right as we were leaving the donut shop. We sat in the car, keeping ourselves warm as the sky started to glow a bit. Finally, when I thought there was just enough light to give me something good, we hopped out of the car and began running out to the scene.
I immediately wanted to turn back. The wind was blowing at an unacceptably miserable rate and snow was pelting my face and hands in such a way I'd imagine it comparable to being bitten by tiny piranhas. I kept insisting that I hated my life and wanted to go back, but Kevin, a hardcore Marine, didn't let me give up.
I set up my tripod quickly and without enthusiasm and decided it was too much hassle to secure my camera on it and simply rested it on the top. I took a few shots and we began to run to the other side of it so that I could get another angle. The second angle wasn't working, and was made even more difficult by the fact that we were now facing into the wind, so I told him I was done and we ran back to the car.
That run to the car was the longest minute of my life, by the way. If I had been previously unsure of my hatred of winter, I was now absolutely certain. I pride myself on being tough and not complaining much about things, but man oh man, poor Kevin got an earful that morning.
Luckily, at least one of the photos turned out semi-decent, so here you go. (I'm still trying to decide if it was worth it.)
