Subject: West Texas
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 93 20:24:22 EST
From: Jim.Rees@umich.edu

Land of mobile homes.  Not much human habitation here, but lots of
desert, sagebrush, cactus, antelope, mule deer, eagles, and jackrabbits.
It's hours between towns that consist of a few mobile homes, a cafe, and
some railroad buildings.

I'm on the Sunset Limited now, having left Ann Arbor Friday morning.  I'll
arrive in San Diego Monday around noon.

Hope, Arkansas, Bill Clinton's home town, is the watermelon capitol of the
US and has a big statue of a watermelon to prove it.  No cellular service,
and the train doesn't stop there, it just breezes through.

Crossing the river in Austin the train goes by a giant neon sign on the
side of a power plant.  Very scenic.

Last night a bunch of cowboys were playing poker for those little restaurant
sugar packages in the bar car.  One buck for white sugar, 5 for blue.  One
of the cowboys has invented a new kind of shower curtain rod that he feels
sure will make him rich.

A 33 foot tall cross marks the spot where Texas, New Mexico, and Chihuahua,
Mexico meet.  Every October religious pilgrims from all over the world
come here.

PS:  I hoped to send this from the train with my notebook computer and
cellular phone, but the cellphone companies west of San Antonio won't
let me make any calls.  I'm in San Diego now.