Journey into Sobriety...

[xtexan]

Journey into Sobriety...

Day 13- Addendum

Well, I just got back from the Chinese restaurant, and it was not buffet, but traditional.

I got to thinking about this. You know, if I had done this journey two years ago, a few things came to mind:

1. After seeing the situation at the San Juan River, I would have driven back to Pagosa, found a bar, and just got shit faced. I would have been grumbly, and pissed, and drowning my dissappointment in beer and whiskey.

2. I would have been so hung over this morning, I would have just laid in bed till noon or later, then probably stopped at a Sonic for a burger or something, too miserable to leave my vehicle.

3. Even if I had found the place I did today by some miracle, I would not have had the fitness to get down in that gorge. I would have just driven by, and said "piss on that".

So here it is. I am sober and healthy now. The reward for today is self evident. Look at those pictures where I was. This is the reward to myself for turning my life around.

Please consider this, if you are looking for more reasons to find your way abstinent. You see, sharing it with you all makes all the difference.

Be well.

Neil

[SKendall]

Journey into Sobriety...

Well today was a much better day for you than yesterday. I just viewed your pictures and you're in gorgeous country.

Safe travels my friend.

Hilary

[xtexan]

Journey into Sobriety...

To Hilary:

Hilary:

Yes, it was. This is the thing we all must remember. Even when it seems as if we are helpless, we really do have the power within ourselves to salvage a bad situation.

I just want to emphasize, that this is one of the big changes that happened to me when I got sober. I became filled with more determination and resolve than ever. Seems like things just started going my way a little more often in strange ways after several months of not letting booze control my life.

Some very strange subtle things pointed me in the direction of todays destination, and if I had been trashed as in the past, I would have missed all of them.

Neil

[Beaches]

Journey into Sobriety...

Neil, I just want to thank you for including us all in your journey and I think your pictures are fantastic. Happy travels to you!!

[xtexan]

Journey into Sobriety...

Day 13- The Deer

I just posted two more pics in "other critters". It was the fine mule deer snacking on tree leaves.

This animal had no fear of me, and it was close to the wilderness boundary. I took a few minutes of video of it as well.

Neil

[SKendall]

Journey into Sobriety...

Aw Neil, the deer let you get up pretty close didn't they. I can't imagine our local deer being so fearless.

Hilary

[louise]

Journey into Sobriety...

I read with nostalgia about Pagosa Springs. I remember it well. And Aspen when it was a podunk town and Vail was nothing but elk mating grounds. Sigh. But I am so glad you found a place still unspoiled down an unpaved road. I'm glad you enjoyed Ship Rock and its neighbors. The Navahos consider it very sacred. Thanks for sharing your journey and your pictures. They are beautiful. And congratulations again on your sobriety.

[lucky 2.0]

Journey into Sobriety...

I feel like I am on vacation! Thanks for the travel tales.

Be safe.

[irishlady]

Journey into Sobriety...

Neil, those pictures were wonderful, how I envy you this trip... I have to agree with you as well about having the power withing ourselves to salvage a bad situation, sometimes you have to dig really deep to find it, but its there, and once found you never want to lose it...

How many more days will you be travelling for ??

Love, Louise xxx

[sujul]

Journey into Sobriety...

This is so wonderful, Neil! Thanks so much for taking us along on your journey....

[xtexan]

Journey into Sobriety...

DAY 14- Wolf Creek Pass and Panhandle Time Travel Shock..

Hello from the hinterlands:

I didn?t quite make it to my birthtown yet. Seems as if the hotels there are sold out through end of July for some reason. I must look into this in person.

I?m very close though, in Amarillo, Texas. Just less than an hour from my place of birth back in 1956. I won?t give the name of the town for my own personal security, but if you are curious, I will tell you in a PM. This is the flat land that the world forgot I think sometimes. It is dry, and dusty, and windy. I was born and grew up in this area here, and it was rough with not too many luxuries. It is home though, and all is familiar. I know the people, the ways, the lingo, the expressions, the jargon, the courtesies extended that are unknown elsewhere it seems. You see, in this area, the environment is so rough that people just don?t seem to want to make it worse than it already is by being inconsiderate. Sure there is the legendary Texas arrogance and pride here, but it comes from making a living in this unforgiving territory.

What comes from the Texas Panhandle? Just the very basics of our tenuous society. Oil and gas wells still a pumping. Field grains, sorghum, soybeans, wheat, and a little corn by the mega-bushel irrigated from the deep Oglala aquifer. Millions of head of cattle and hogs for food. That?s what happens here in the Texas Panhandle. Not much tourism, or glamour, or sparkle. No big con games of insurance, finance, entertainment, or government. Just the absolute salt of the earth. They produce things here from the very earth. The absolute basics of food and energy for our ravenous society.

Several men wear Stetson hats still, and women are respected as being tough as nails to put up with all this. This is the place where I was born and raised, with values that many folks in other parts of the country sometimes find offensive. It just comes from the land here, and the harshness.

So today?s sojourn from Pagosa Springs took me over Wolf Creek Pass. The GPS recorded a high point of 10, 960 feet (3340 meters) altitude, which is the record for this trip. The mighty Dakota truck didn?t even flinch or cough climbing up there. I will never curse that truck again. I may scold it, but never another evil word. I could feel the effect of the altitude past the 10,000 foot mark. Deeper breaths, and a giddy sensation in the blood. They make airplane pilots go on oxygen past 10,000 you know. I saw some young people riding bicycles up there, and wondered just how much training and dedication it took to accomplish that feat. Not in my lifetime anymore. Once you get past 40, that sort of thing is just a good memory of the past I think.

mily: Times New Roman;">So on the final leg into Amarillo, I had the most intense deja-vu, time travel warp I ever had in my life. The four-lane road from Dumas, TX to Amarillo, TX is a short trip. I passed under a railroad trestle, and a most intense sensation of spine tingling weirdness flooded my body. I had a memory of driving under that trestle back in 1977. I was in a 1969 Camaro, and I was going to Amarillo to watch the very first Star Wars movie for the first time. It was new, and exciting, and everyone was talking about how amazing it was. This is now over 30 years ago.

I clearly remembered while driving in the Camaro back then, how wonderful it would be to have gadgets and technology that allowed video recording and playback, navigation and such, and communications like those in the TV series Star Trek. I passed under the trestle, and wondered what my life would be like in the 21st century perhaps 25 years from then, and was filled with awe.

So today, I drove my Dakota, with two GPS systems functioning, a cell phone at my side, my digital video recorder, and digital camera in a little bag in the seat. I have a cool mini-notebook computer (I?m writing this on), with a 120 GB backup drive in the bag as well. I have a portable remote control DVD player in my suitcase, and my entire music collection compressed onto the 120 GB hard drive. I have several movies, and a double layer DVD recorder built into the computer. I have a portable brainwave machine, and a PDA with all my data and finances on it. On and on, all my gadgets.

The time warp hit me hard. I have more things that I could have dreamed about 30 years ago. You see, there was not even VCR?s yet. Movie cameras still used film, and so did cameras. There was no such thing as a cell phone yet. My hotel room has a microwave oven., and those were not widespread at all back then.

Just call it a bizarre wrap around in the time matrix. I was both there and here at the same time for just a few short seconds. 1977 and 2007 existed at the same time in my mind, and an even more bizarre clarity hit me. It must be that God is all things, in all places, at all times, ??all at once. Suddenly, I had a new understanding, and it all seemed to actually make sense for just a short while. This is enlightenment I think. I just got a very short peek at the infinite I believe. This is the reason I have made this trip, to find the new things within, and not so much from without.

So my dear friends, I will be heading to my birthplace tomorrow to gather some history and records. Then I will make my way to my parents? house tomorrow for a few days of visiting and conversation.

I will not be able to give you a report tomorrow or the next few days if I end up at my parents house, because Dad only has dial-up, and would get upset if I hooked my laptop into his stuff, so I will respect that. I have not told them of MWO ever, but they are glad I have given up my poisons, and will leave it at that.

If I find a wireless connection in the town where my parents live, then I will update once more from there before heading home.

Next report: Arrival back home in Tennessee. (Irishlady, I will probably stay with Mom and Dad for the 4th of July activities, and be home Thursday or Friday.)

Neil

[SKendall]

Journey into Sobriety...

Neil, I hope you make time to visit the Palo Duro Canyon. If you watched Lonesome Dove it will take you back there to the scene where Gus caught the glint of Blue Duck's buckle up the canyon from where he was bathing. It is well worthwhile.

Thanks again, my friend for sharing this.

Hilary

[SKendall]

Journey into Sobriety...

Also, it was a spot where Charles Goodnight camped.

[xtexan]

Journey into Sobriety...

Palo Duro

Hilary:

I have camped out several times in Palo Duro Canyon. Got blasted on whiskey a few times down there back in the 1970's as well. Saw the amphitheathre play "TEXAS" a couple of times, and rode the Sad Monkey railroad back in the day. I wonder if all that is still going on? It was about the only tourist attraction back then. I know the Texas Panhandle very well.

My sister graduated from West Texas State University over in Canyon, which is short distance from Amarillo, and Dad took night classes there back in the 1960's to get some additional college credit. He had to make a two hour drive after work everyday to do that, and it must have been rough working in the oil patch and taking college courses, and raising two kids all at the same time. Very rough.

Neil

[SKendall]

Journey into Sobriety...

Okay, sorry for suggesting something you are so familiar with. In this case it may be more of a painful memory. Yes, your dad certainly hoed a difficult field, he must have worked very hard.

I will just push one point further - did you understand what I meant about the Lonesome Dove scene and the Palo Duro canyon. The hair on my arms came up when I was down there. It seemed electric with history.