It’s been an interesting 24 hours, to say the least… Arriving in Dallas at 4am to ridiculous heat, pain and unable to hear out of one ear, spur of the moment decision to go to some regional town to see a band, getting dropped off in the middle of nowhere and discovering my phone was dead, and walking 6 kms (each way) to see a bunch of bands I’d never actually listened to before.

Preeeeeetty sure I just aced the Test of Awesomeness.

But to start from the top…

After catching an overnighter from Albuquerque, I arrived into Dallas about 4am. I had no accommodation organized for the night and I really didn’t know what I would end up doing with my day. I wanted to see the JFK assassination stuff, but other than that I knew nothing of Dallas, so if it ruled I would stay, if not I’d move on to Austin.

Streets of Dallas

A quick side note about the ear: I woke up on the bus with blocked ears… After a while when they wouldn’t unblock I realized something was up. As the day went on my hearing was almost down to nothing in my right ear and the pressure inside just kept building up. Not a real fun experience when you’re tired and walking around in 30+ heat, but I digress…

At 4am, wide awake and nothing open I went for a walk along the dark streets of Dallas to see if there was anything else worth visiting when things started opening up. It wasn’t long before it was apparent that Dallas really is a hellishly boring city. Wait, no, make that a hellishly boring town with a ridiculous amount of beggars. Poverty sucks in America, and so far it seems worst in Dallas.

Long story short, all I really did do in Dallas was see the Sixth Floor Museum (dedicated to the assassination), and this:

Another long story short, Austin’s hostel was all booked up for the night, as was Dallas’, so spur of the moment I decided to go to Denton, a regional town a bit over an hour north of Dallas, pretty much so I could go see Off With Their Heads… who I knew a tiny bit of and didn’t mind, but had never actually listened to properly. So yes, I travelled to Buggeroff, Nowhere to see an $8 gig for a bunch of bands I didn’t know (The show turned out to be good fun, if you’re wondering).

But the story gets better. I made the decision to do all this at about 12:30.pm The Greyhound had already left, and the next wasn’t coming till 7pm, so I hatch a genius plan to act like the locals and hop aboard some public transport that apparently goes to Denton. Nobody told me that the part of Denton it drops you off is barely in Denton. Nor that the motel I booked was also barely in Denton, let alone on the other freaking side of this town.

But wait, there’s more. I see the local cinema across the street and figure I’ll go ask them if they have the number for a taxi. But then I discover my phone died earlier that morning, and there was no public phone available. The guys at the box office were cool enough to call a cab for me though, even if it did take 45 mins for him to arrive.

Aaaaaand there’s more. With my awesome skillz gained from countless hours studying Geography in year 11 and 12, I was reading maps like a boy scout and working out how far it would be to walk to the gig, since public transport is pretty scarce, and, if I can save a few bucks by not having to call a taxi, I don’t mind walking. So I’m looking at the map, how far could it be? 2 miles maybe? The walk there was seemingly eternal. I worked out it took me an hour and a half. The show finished at 1:30am, and would have caught a cab if I could find one (but I couldn’t), so I attempted to half run/half walk and did it in 30 mins. Pretty knackered after that. Surprised I’m not even more sick today

By the way, probably a good thing my ears were messed up yesterday… I forgot to bring my plugs, but with the blocked ears already doing their thing, I was sweet!

Anyway, I’m all good now, ears are working a charm and aside from a little sleep deprivation, I’m feeling great.

And now for something completely different -> A road marker that looks like a fried egg:

Headed to Austin tonight.

Fin.