Today we woke up in preparation for a full day of driving. I have already blocked it out but I believe it was a 9 or 10 hour day. And down this far south, there is not a whole lot going on. Along with the loooooong, straiiiiiiiight roads, the thermometer touched 90. Though the Audi was blowing cool air, it wasn’t cold but it was better than windows down. Apparently wild wind is an every day occurrence in these parts. There were multiple signs urging ‘Extreme Caution’ and ‘Dust Storms May Exist!’ Actually, there was no exclamation point but the bold red lettering made it feel that way. We did not encounter any zero visibility conditions but with the windows open, the howling wind made it hard to hear, think or breathe. Windows up.
In general, we were blasting BPM and Lithium on Sirius the whole time. A little house followed by some music of the 90’s kept us running. At one point, requiring food, we ended up in a Subway that has surely been forgotten by the mother ship. This shack on the side of the road looked very off the beaten path but was really the only option. The guy behind the counter asked me if I wanted eggs or eggs white in my breakfast thing. As he gestured towards the pile of limp yellow circles in a metal bin, I bit my tongue as my mind ran wild with thoughts like ‘Those are eggs?’ and ‘If that’s an egg, I’m Barack Obama.’
We got to El Paso and checked into a hotel that had beds but that you would likely not revisit. Dave pulled out all the stops and got a workout in at CrossFit 915. I did not. That night for dinner we found a boutique burger shack right around the corner, Toro Burger Bar. Turned out to be a great find with a big selection of craft brews. The Old Chub by Oskar Blues Brewery was especially tasty. Along with it’s ludicrous name it had the tagline ‘It’s like Sputnik!’. Nobody knows what that means but everybody likes it.
We split the Toro Burger (pepperjack, avocado, Toro sauce) and the SOB Burger (swiss, onions, bacon, BBQ sauce) along with some sweet potato fries. I deliberately enjoyed some lighter beers with dinner since they had a Double Chocolate Stout Float on the menu that I was salivating over the whole time. When it came time to order however, I learned they were out of the stout and was crushed. The bartender was extra friendly however and that along with the quality of the food more than made up for it. Oh, and I subbed a 1554 by New Belgium for my float that was chocolaty and glorious. From there – straight to bed.
The Bologna Foot 