Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
I took at least 1,000 photos during my recent 17-day, 4,162-mile journey with Spooky, a fellow Navy spy, stretching from New Mexico to North Carolina.
States included New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Since I don’t have the poetic chops to describe the desolate desert and rocky-cliff-framed beauty of the West nor the lush river-framed towering-tree majesty of the South, I will simply share a few memories.
In Red River I saw a wrought-iron sign with the profound message: “Do not cross this pasture unless you can do it in 9 seconds because the bull can do it in 10.”
Other New Mexico attractions included the Royal Gorge Bridge, Taos art exhibits, pueblos and Santa Fe’s Native-American vendors.
Oklahoma included singing “Okie from Muskogee” and signs warning of a $10,000 fine for hitting construction workers. I thought, if you disliked one, that was a bargain.
Arkansas included touring Bill Clinton’s birth home in Hope and an audio hallucination of music from “Deliverance.”
Tennessee included the Grand Ole Opry, Graceland, Andrew Jackson’s home and spending the night in a rest area by myself in freezing weather on the way back after 200 miles of non-stop rain.
Spooky discovered a signed copy of an Erica Jong poetry book for $1 in a used bookstore.
Pigeon Forge, the home of Dolly Parton’s “Dollywood,” has miles of shows, amusement parks, hillbilly-themed restaurants, motels, “moonshine” tastings…
Before you have a chance to exhale from the bumper-to-bumper traffic, Gatlinburg looms. Unlike Pigeon Forge where everyone travels between attractions by car, in Gatlinburg thousands of visitors crowd the sidewalks between bars, restaurants, gift shops and attractions.
Then, the roller-coaster ride through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park begins. The speed limit maxes out at 35 mph for good reason. If you miss a turn it may be years before anyone finds your vehicle in the river far below, hidden by incredibly tall trees.
At the bottom of the Smokies in the town of Cherokee I saw Confederate belt buckles for Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.
At a hardware store in Charlotte I saw fun slogan buttons I regret not purchasing. They included:
• “Sometimes people see me without a glass of wine in my hands and they don’t recognize me.”
• “Hell hath no fury like me when I’m slightly inconvenienced and hungry.”
• “I’ll have a caffee mocha vodka marijuana latte to go, please.”
In Charlotte I attended an art workshop where Spooky and friends were creating art to sell as a fundraiser for Urban Ministries’ work with the homeless. Mavis Staples will perform for them at an upcoming fundraiser.
They rejected my drawing of a Greyhound because they thought it was a seahawk.
By pure coincidence I saw bestselling author Elizabeth Kostova in a Charlotte bookstore discuss her Bulgaria-based historical novel “Shadow Land.” She also sang a Bulgarian folk song.
In South Carolina I toured The Battle of Cowpens revolutionary battlefield. In a huge March-Madness-worthy upset, the Americans defeated the Brits with some all-is-fair-in-war trickery.
The most amazing sight I encountered was back in Roosevelt County when a patrolman pulled over a tumbleweed for passing in a no-passing zone.
Contact Wendel Sloan at: [email protected]