Wild Horses Couldn't Drag Me Away

Do you find the lazy days of summer to be on the wild side this year? I do! Let me tell you what happened on the cross-country trip that gave us a taste of Americana with a twist. My husband and I drove from Nevada for our Michigan 50th High School Reunion. We drove off the beaten road, ate in local cafes, and spoke with people in small towns and campgrounds along the way.

In the cornfields of Kansas, we had an interesting evening in a small town in the middle of nowhere. There were long, windy roads lined with farmhouses like in the Wizard of Oz. There was only one restaurant open in this little town, Pizza Hut which was empty. The small kitchen crew was busy making pizzas for delivery. We were the only ones to place an order from the bored waitress. She told us about men pinching and making suggestive remarks to her last night. She said her manager told her to tell him the next time and he’ll kick them out. We couldn’t even finish the large pizza and took the rest of it back to the only two-story motel in town.      

However, the parking lot was crowded with mud-covered pick-up trucks. We requested to change rooms because of a drunk man on the balcony above us. With a cigarette dangling out the side of his mouth, he yelled rude remarks as we got out of the van. The desk clerk told us they were having trouble with the highway crew who has been staying there for three months. They were trying to evict them which is a slow process in this small town. Luckily, she moved us to a quieter room on the other side of the motel. In the morning, we tried their famous breakfast buffet. It turned out to be the smallest buffet in Kansas with only two tables of little metal food containers with bunsen burners underneath. The tiny room held only four tiny tables and chairs. Needless to say, I won’t be writing a review on Yelp encouraging others to stay here. Kansas isn’t Oz anymore, Dorothy!

Next, we had an interesting encounter down the road in the artsy town of Taos, New Mexico. Let’s just say, this city wasn’t what we expected. It had one busy main street with a lot of traffic and nowhere to park. The street had a mixture of art galleries, southwestern jewelry stores, and overpriced restaurants. As we walked around a souvenir shop, an elderly native American man wandered into the store with a bag of wares to sell. He reached in and pulled out a purse-size compact mirror and showed the clerk. 

“I’m a local Pueblo selling $40 make-up mirrors with lipstick. Look at this, I just open it up and it turns into a small handgun with bullets.” Then he pointed the tiny gun at the clerk. She just laughed and said, “Wow, $40! Well, that certainly was a surprise!” I was so shocked that I quickly left the store just in case the gun accidentally went off.

Next, we drove down the straight, empty road to a gas station in the middle of the New Mexicodesert. After paying for our gas and buying some Gatorade, we casually walked back to the car. Suddenly, coming toward us out of nowhere was a tall, long-haired mountain man. He didn’t havea car and looked like he needed a horse. His big brimmed leather hat shielded a rugged,sunburned face half covered by his bushy beard. A leather vest matched his dusty boots and alarge knife in a leather pouch hung from his jean belt. My heartbeat quickened as I saw the sharpknife and wondered if he was half crazy. It looked like he was living off the land in the middle of thedesert and just walking into town for beer, water, and bread. I guess I’ll never find out.

Small town America seems to have a McDonald’s and a Walmart with everything from groceries to bathing suits. I have to admit we stopped in many Walmart locations on our cross-country drive. We bought groceries, bags of ice, Gatorade, and of course a People Magazine. At one of the Walmarts, there was a big scene that escalated between a heavy-set young woman and an employee. As I stood in line at the check-out counter, a group of employees ran by chasing the young customer to the door. Her boyfriend tried to guide her outside to the parking lot, but she kept shouting and refused to move. By now there was a crowd of shoppers watching the scene. The employee announced to her colleagues that she knows what she saw and stands by it. Sounds like shoplifting? The upset couple finally exited the store with the boyfriend dragging his screaming girlfriend to their car. Then he returned to apologize to the Walmart employee. I wonder how long that relationship will last. 

It truly is a trip to take a trip across the U.S. It is the land of the free and the brave in many ways. We saw wild horses swimming in a crystal Colorado lake surrounded by snow-capped mountains. As the Rolling Stones sang, "Wild horses, we'll ride them someday." We camped above a shimmering blue lake surrounded by tall pine trees.  As we drove through small towns and across unspoiled land, we saw a mosaic of colorful houses. I wondered what the people were doing inside and the stories they have to tell. We all live in the home of the free and the brave and can learn a lot by listening to the many voices and stories from small-town America.