Fun & Games Across America: The Deepest Heart of Texas

It's been an obscene number of miles since my last post. Something like a thousand, and change... maybe more? But let me bring everyone up to speed. Sunday morning, the Secret Dead Blog tour bus (actually, a minivan) pulled out of Austin for the short, easy jaunt down to San Antonio, where we had enough time for a quick stroll through the Alamo:

 

They say you should remember the Alamo, but it's probably more important to remember the Alamo's business hours, because you ain't seeing shit after 5:30 p.m. Lucky for us we caught it during morning hours. However, as noon approached, we sped up Broadway for a quick drop-in signing at The Twig Book Shop, located at the former Pearl Brewery site:

It's a very cool store, especially if you have little ones along for the ride. And if you happen to be in the greater San Antonio area and are looking for a signed copy of Fun & Games, this is your joint. Meeting us at the store were writer/editor Scott Cupp and his lovely wife Sandi, who showed us the San Antonio sights, including my new favorite Mexican restaurant, Mi Tierra:

When we arrived for lunch, the wait was something like 90 minutes. But we didn't mind, because Scott and Sandi took us to the market across the street where you could find anything from knock-off Batman lucha libre masks to Day of the Dead figurines to leather bullwhips to Mexican wedding shirts. (Almost bought one of those, just to stun Noir at the Bar goers this weekend.) Huge thanks to the Cupps for the excellent company. And for spoiling my children absolutely rotten.

Monday was all about the grueling trip from San Antonio to El Paso... 558 miles, to be exact. Plenty of people warned me about how mind-numbing this trip could be. And yeah, it was a lot of this:

Repeat for 558 miles. Actually, it's all kind of beautiful, in a stark kind of way. There were more mountains and hills than I expected. And there is something strangely fun about knowing there's not another rest area for, oh, 90 miles or so. (Double your points if you have children in the car.) We were happy, though, to jump off the I-10 at the Fabens exit and wander five miles into the desert to visit Cattleman's Steakhouse, which was recommended to us by El Paso resident Tod Clark. (Thanks, Tod.) Not only is it a very fine eatery, but the ranch also served as the set to countless flicks, including The Border, Courage Under Fire, On the Border, The Day After Tomorrow, and Walter Hill's Extreme Prejudice, as evidenced by this clapboard hanging on the wall:

And you have to love a place that keeps a children's zoo in close proximity to a snake pit. Because, you know, the snakes must get hungry:

Sadly I did not see much of El Paso, which happens to be the home of one of my favorite rockers, Bobby Fuller (of Bobby Fuller Four fame). There's even a Bobby Fuller Drive, I believe. But  I was too exhausted to do anything but lug the luggage into the room, write out a bunch of postcards, write some funnybook pages, then pass out as gracefully as possible.

Speaking of...

Postcard update: Found a lot of great (and truly weird) postcards on the road between San Antonio and El Paso. These have gone out to Adam L. in State College, PA; Dave R. in Plymouth, MI; Andy B. in Philly; Angie B. in Pleasantville, NJ; Keith B. in Youngsville, NC; Kelly H. in Milwaukee, WI; Jason C. in Plaquemine, LA; Roman C. in Ardmore, PA; Russ M. in Novato, CA; Richard L. in Las Vegas; John D. in Farmland, IN; Craig Z. in Port Orange, FL; Ali H. in Feasterville, PA; Rafael C. in Philly; Tim H. in Columbia, SC; Andrew N. in Richmond, VA; Brian J. in Philly; Derrick B. in Clinton Twp., MI; Howard R. in El Lay; Andy M. in Memphis, TN; and finally, my old colleague Nicole Y. in Philly. Enjoy!

Tomorrow: Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, AZ! More heat! More driving! More postcards!