“Strange how something like a car which takes a person so far is a burden in its own right.” – Old Sean
Long Way Home
After a final rest stop visiting my friends in Phoenix, I continued back home, driving through the vast swaths of land which make up West Texas.
Not that I saw much of it. I primarily drove through the night and overcast skies escorted me the entire way making it a dreary drizzled journey.
Once I returned back to the Texas, I took a long moment to appraise myself. I was a haggard-looking fellow with a cropping of stubble and shadow-encrusted eyes. I was in a Hyundai Elantra I’d practically been living out of for the past month.
During that time, I had driven an exceptional distance, from Dallas to San Antonio, to the East Coast, up into Canada, back to St. Louis, across the Midwest and Rockies to the West Coast before driving home.
The car had held up amazingly well. I’d no problems with it during the entire drive. That being said, the interior was slightly messy. I’d tracked in grains of sand and dirt from across two countries and a pile of food wrappers was alarmingly high.
I cleaned out the vehicle, vacuuming aggressively and ran the hardy little vehicle through a car wash. Confident of its condition, I returned to the original car rental company I’d started in.
Callback Conversations
As I passed over the keys, a woman accepted them and had me sign the handover paperwork. Meanwhile, a mechanic hooked up a gizmo to make sure all systems were nominal.
“Hang on a mo'” he told me kindly. “We have a typo on the sheet.”
He jogged inside and I turned to the woman, handing back my clipboard. “It’s not a typo.”
The man jogged back out, stroking his beard as he shook his head at me. “Not a typo,” he announced.
In a little over a month, I’d put 7,921.6 miles on that Elantra. It remains, in my memories, as an excellent little vehicle of gumption.
After dropping off the car and returning to my father’s now-empty house (he’s selling it and moving to Delaware), I spent the rest of the day snoozing. Tomorrow, I finalize my last few reports and plan my next move.
I’m not entirely sure what that’ll be.
So until then,
Best regards and excellent trails,
Old Sean
Written February 5th 2019
Read more about visiting West Texas and seeing the world by visiting Leftfade Trails Destination Info.
Affiliate Disclosure: Leftfade Trails contains affiliate links, so using services or products through these links supports the website, at no extra cost to the user. All links are to tested services and products designed to aid travelers on their journeys. Some links specifically connect to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate this website earns from qualifying purchases.
Sometimes, when traveling, I don’t have a dedicated workspace. But the iClever Remote Keyboard solved this for me. The remote, folding keyboard is light and compact, allowing me to type on any surface to any device. It’s instrumental in operating this site.
