Monday, September 30, 2013

Copied from my Facebook. Sorry it's been so long since the last post. Will explain later. But first, an adventure!
Peter Powell, Tony Gage and I had quite the adventure this weekend. It began with my mom, Elizabeth Rodriguez coming over to watch the kids with help from my dad. This allowed for me to accompany the men to the Wednesday 13 concert at Tricky Falls in El Paso, Texas. We dressed accordingly and if you know Wednesday 13, you know what I mean. We decided to make a full circle by going through Alamogordo, NM to get there and returning through Carlsbad, NM. We first stopped for coffee at the Travel Center in Mescalero. While standing outside drinking our coffee and Pete & Tony smoking, an elderly lady saw us and sort of freaked out. Shortly after she went into the casino, out came security guards who began "keeping an eye on us". After a few minutes, I guess when they decided we weren't a threat, they went back inside. Then we stopped in Alamogordo at the Hi-D-Ho for some burgers. Within five minutes, the whispers and sideways glances began. So whenever one of them would look over their shoulder at us, Pete would make eye contact then wave at them with a friendly, "Hi there. How're you doing?" Then the person would make an uncomfortable smile and say an embarrassed hi and quickly turn back around. He did that twice. We got our burgers and started to leave but not before Pete rolled down the window and leaned out to wave and yelled, "Thank you Alamogordo, you've been a great audience!" We proceeded to the concert and had an awesome time. Hung out with the band afterwards and got a few surprises for our home and our radio listeners. Then it was time to head home. We were about to get on the highway when the driver next to us, who was in a right turn only lane decided he wanted to go straight and hit the side of our car. Then he drove around us cussing and flipping us off, which was returned to him. He was driving in front of us weaving back and forth, having trouble staying in his lane. We realized he was drunk and were so glad we weren't in a worse accident with him. Stopped at Taco Cabana for a snack and left El Paso. I started taking a nap in the back but then woke up upon reaching the border patrol checkpoint. Apparently, the drug dog alerted to our car and we were asked to pull over and park, show ID, leave the vehicle and sit on a bench while the officers and the dog went through the car. We had to empty our pockets and answer questions. One officer said to us, "If you smoked any pot, we really don't care, just let us know." Okay, so we don't smoke pot. We barely drink. But one has to wonder if people really implicate themselves with that question. Then Pete and Tony ask if they can smoke while we're waiting and they are told they can. The wind begins to blow and Pete starts shivering with cold. All I can think, and you'll have to forgive my language here, is "My God. He's shaking like a guilty crack addict, we're so fucked!" By now, there are six officers standing beside us while two and the dog are going through the car. One officer asks us what concert we went to and when we told him Wednesday 13, he totally geeked out! Told him about the concert and the souvenier we got (which, okay, came from the band and may be what triggered the dog). He is seriously standing there all excited talking to us while the other officers are staring at him as if thinking, "Dude, what the fuck are you talking to them for? We're trying to be intimidating." And then, they let us go because neither they nor the dog found anything. So we start driving to Carlsbad and I went back to sleep. About ninety miles before Carlsbad, the guys wake me up because the car is doing something funny. It's losing power and lurching or slowing down. When Pete would apply the gas it would speed up but then all the lights inside and outside the car would go out plunging us into complete darkness at 65 miles an hour. He would then tap the break and the lights would come on only to have the car lurching again. It was decided we would stop in Carlsbad because Pete didn't want to stop in the middle of nowhere and chance the car dying. The rest of the ride to Carlsbad was in panicked silence. We hit every red light and the car sputtered while Pete had one foot on the break and the other on the gas to try to keep the car going. We parked at my Carlsbad office because it's a government building with a large parking lot. I figured no one would bother us and there was plenty of space if we needed to get a tow truck. By then, it was 4:30 in the morning. We got out of the car and looked under the hood but then figured we'd just sleep in the car till the sun came up and look in the daylight. AT 7 we all woke up. Took a look at the car, started it up and then... the transmission light came on! Pete turned the car off and called Geico road assistance. It would be an hour before the tow truck got to us. Tony and I walked to the Alsups for the bathroom and some much needed coffee. When the tow truck arrived, Pete told him what was going on and he recommended taking us to a place that would do their best to get us on our way same day. We regaled him the tale of our adventure and had him laughing his lungs out. He took us to Atwood's Automotive which I highly recommended to anyone who needs car care in Carlsbad! While they worked on our car, we walked the streets of downtown Carlsbad for breakfast and bathrooms, had some ice cream and met some nice people. Also spent some time working on our radio script. Atwood's had the car fixed by 1pm. They were the nicest people and the lady in the office had two beautiful children, one a little girl with goth interests and a love of owls. We answered her questions and told her it was great to be your own person. I gave her my owl charm. We got on the road and made it home to loving children by 3:30. Plenty of time to laugh and visit and spend some time with the kids. It could've been a very scary adventure, but we handled it with laughter and I couldn't be happier to have shared it with two wonderful men. Thanks, Peter and Tony for making it a fun adventure instead of a scary series of unfortunate events. I love you guys!