Day two. Terrorist checkpoint! in A small but passable life.

It was freeway driving. Pretty boring. A huge solar farm. A huge wind farm. Sand dunes. Pretty light traffic.

There it was- Highway 94. Interstate 8 veers a little north. Highway 94 veers a little south. A two lane twisty road through some stunning scenery. Near the little town of Campo we spotted something snaking across the face of a mountain. When we got closer we found out what it was. A brown steel border fence. So, I’ve never been to Mexico, but now I can say I’ve seen it. Right there above and behind that fence. A little ways down the road all the traffic was funneled into a checkpoint. After the flash of the cameras we pulled up to a booth and I rolled down the window. A border idiot dressed in the stupid “look at me I’m macho” ridiculous uniform asked me- “What nationality are you?” What the fuck? I shook my head, smiled and said “American?” After several more stupid questions- “Where are you coming from?”, “Where are you going?”, “Why’d you take this route?”, “What’s in the trunk?”; he got some kind of signal from someone in the booth and waved us on.

Driving away I told Mom that when he asked what was in the trunk I should have said- “Just Hector and Jose?” Yeah, she had been scared of what I was going to say.

I’ve spent nearly six decades on this planet and no one has ever asked me my nationality. Not ever. Not once.

Nevermind that the whole episode is completely Constitutionally illegal. And when did “America” become a nation or “American” a nationality?

Anyway, we drove on. Without Emma Pennyworth (the GPS). One freeway led to the next, while I bore west and south. When I finally was disorientated enough I pulled over and plugged the motel address into the GPS. I was 0.8 miles away. Not bad for flying by the seat of my pants! And then I missed the one driveway of the motel and had to turn right which led right back on to I-805! Well, shit. Exit right. Turn right. Turn right. Turn right. Turn into the motel driveway. We were an hour early. They had a room ready. Nice.

I unloaded the car. We went across the parking lot to Denny’s for an early dinner. Mom laid down for a nap and I went for a walk. It was a very busy area. I seen no fewer than a half a dozen homeless folks. And it looked like there was a small camp beside the Circle K.

The weather was unusually cool, about 60 degrees and cloudy and windy. We spent the rest of the evening in the room.

To be continued-

Last updated May 02, 2018