In the permian basin

Ah. A long day. To be truthful, frustrating - but we're allowed one of those.

We spent the morning in Austin (motto "Keep Austin wierd") which is the state capitol of Texas. Last night we went down to 6th St, the equivalent of Courtenay place and had a very average meal at Iron Cactus. Actually, average meal number 6. Eating, outside of fine restaurants and Bob Hogan's cooking, has been unutterably, overwhelmingly dull. In fact there seems to be a greater number of chains and eating-out places than I've ever seen in the US before. Too fatty, too cheesy, too sugary and too much! Honestly, the standard of food in any cheap Thai place back home is a hundred times better than what we've had in most restaurants here. We crave lettuce and fruit. But enough scolding and fnger wagging.

In Austin we signed on to a segway tour - and had a blast. We saw the beautiful Capitol building from the inside. We learned about how getting right with God had fixed our guide's bi-polar disorder and incipient psychosis ("I had a demon possess me") and we learned where Lance Armstrong lives (did anyone know he'd hooked up with an Olsen twin?). A great way to see the city and the machines are - extraordinary.



Then the long drive from Austin to Odessa - home of 22% of America's proven oil reserves. Check it out on the map - we came off the I10 at Sheffield, and then up through Iraan (!!!) in the dark, and onto the 385 into Odessa. Tere is nothing there, save for oil rigs and deer. At times, as we drove past oil derricks in the night, we even smelt it. That was while watching out for deer (like the one who flashed across the road in our headlights. We stopped counting at 25 - and I thought they hunted around here).

The trip through the beautiful hill country of West Texas was great. The road, as always was a marvel. When seen from a moving car the road becomes an entity in itself, the towns begin to seem, what, incidental? They are simply geographical markers for the road to have a reason to go here or there.

And then - as we left towns completely behind and slipped off the interstate, we were treated to a sunset of mythic scale. The sunset filled the car with a light that came from the moment of the big bang. And it went on for hours and hours and simply got more and more intense. These photos are a pale imitation.