Friday morning I decided to restrict my use of technology for a quick two day/one night road trip to south Texas. No GPS, no phone, no computer, no camera... nothing but music, but only what was on the radio. One could argue that a car is technology (and I would wholeheartedly agree with them), but walking or biking 800 miles in less than two days is not feasible.
Since I wasn't on the intertoobz yesterday and didn't recreate online the few days prior, I didn't actually find out that my 'original idea' perfectly coincided with National Day of Unplugged until five minutes ago. I remain convinced that people are robots and the internet is a manifestation of my dreams.
As I had no advanced warning, I might not hit all of the goals of National Day of Unplugged, but let's see:
. Avoid technology.
Check. The only use of technology was to record Border Patrol officers on our second run through (after being harassed the first time). We also took a picture of a riced car that had - I shit you not - a 12" exhaust pipe.
. Connect with loved ones.
I spent a bunch of time shooting the shit with my best friend from college. Nobody else went on the trip, so neutral on this one.
. Nurture your health.
Road trips always give me time to mentally evaluate life. Huge think stretches.
. Get outside.
Check. Camped on the side of the middle of nowhere... went to Seminole Canyon State Park - right on the US/Mexico border - and explored the numerous ancient cave paintings in a serene, water-worn riverbed.
. Avoid commerce.
We bought ~50 worth of gas and food along the way... nothing else. I wanted to find a kite to bring to today's kite festival, but as we were essentially in Mexico (being passed the inland checkpoints), I found this difficult.
. Light candles.
No.
. Drink wine.
Beer. Fredericksburg Brewing Company's entire sampler, including The Giant. Double-plus check.
. Eat bread.
Pumpernickle/Sourdough swirled buns.
. Find silence.
Sitting on the side of the road with the engine off looking at the stars near the least light polluted portion of the continental united states. Check.
. Give back.
Not this weekend, no, but last weekend we volunteered at Barton Springs pool, cleaning up fallen limbs and brush.
It felt great getting lost, stopping at a gas station to get a map, getting lost some more, and then finding ourselves...
...at a casino in the Kickapoo Indian reservation, just one mile north of the Mexican border. Lee and I had no intentions of winning money, and boy did we didn't!
I'll leave my border patrol search incident - K9 false-positived and inland border patrol searched our car while I nonviolently spewed civil libertarianism - for another post. Time to go fly a kite.
