the new mexico/colorado border is on top of a mountain. you climb and climb until you see "the land of enchantment" sign and top the hill to see the horizon flattened with only the occasional monolith reaching upwards. today i crossed it at sunset. the sky was just starting to turn that bright pink it turns before it goes into the purple range then it cools to blue until the ice clear blackness of desert night opens the blinds to the stars. i am perched on the precipice of deepest desert. i am staying at the robin hood inn. i choose my hotels by how much neon they have on their sign and if they have original art deco decor they are a must stay. my host tonight was a little baffled, as they always are, when a weary skateboarder type fella steps into their world and tilts the marbles of reality out of their holes and into the wavy room of weirdness. he wasn't sure what i was going to do in my room. especially after i asked to be as far away from other people as possible, i told him i liked to play guitar while i wrote on my computer and i didn't want to disturb anybody. he tentatively took my credit and put me on the backside of the hotel... the completely empty backside of the hotel. i love it of course. i'm walking around my wood paneled robin hood meets country meets art deco room talking out loud to myself. my friends in santa cruz would be so proud. plus my room faces the open desert. the hotel restaurant was operated by a graying chimney in a pink apron, so i decided to drive somewhere with a little more than "country cooking" on the menu...to no avail. it seems that "country cooking" is very fashionable at this particular exit. actually, its because this is the beginning of a scenic highway and scenic highways mean one thing...retirees. yes, and where you find old people in silver land ships you find "country cooking". i always travel on scenic routes so i spend a lot of time among the elderly. i don't mind, most of them know exactly what i'm on about. they are also "warriors of the wheel". out to see what they were missing all those years. we sat together tonight in a "country cooking" restaurant and ate fried chicken, listening to michael bolton and contemplating our descent into the fields of rock and sand tomorrow. thunderstorms are in the forecast and i am not afraid. i will fly happily into the heart of it all once again and i will contact you on the other side... until then i remain, electrically,