The Road Trip Part II
It came as no surprise to either of them as they drove out of their overnight stop on the fifth day of their road trip, and headed once more eastward on Route 66, that they should feel a draught. Then an angel appeared behind them, composed himself, then took a seat between them.
"So, I have to say that I am slightly disappointed in the two of you for choosing the shorter route and avoiding Santa Fe, although I can appreciate your logic in doing so, given that you want to get to Ohio well before the new term starts at Dalton. I would also like to apologise in advance for the fact that I cannot take a turn at the wheel, but firstly, I haven't driven in a very long time - wings kind of negate the need to do so; and secondly, people might freak out a little if they see the two of you sitting in the passenger seats and no-one at the steering wheel…."
"That is very true. The concept of the driverless vehicle is coming to the fore back in California, but here in New Mexico, it is probably a step too far," said David, before he started to laugh.
"It is nice to have you with us, Wessie," remarked Thad with a grin. "You can however take charge of the navigation, as that should not cause us issues with anyone…"
"That's no problem. So, having looked over your itinerary, I see that your next planned stop is in the town of Clovis, near the border with Texas; best known as the town where Buddy Holly recorded the songs that made his name. It is a straight road, so I think that I will just relax in the back and enjoy the scenery for a while, if that is ok with you guys. It will save me passing comment on other people's driving - and before anyone reacts and gets snippy, I meant in other vehicles, not this one…"
Wes headed into the back and reclined on one of the couches, watching the scenery of New Mexico pass by, as it changed from the mountains of the Rockies to the start of the great flat plains. Up in front, both David and Thad did wonder if Wes had just told them a little white lie when he said he was not questioning their driving skills, but they let it pass. It was just nice to have him with them again.
Clovis turned out to be a pleasant little town, one which had decided not to capitalise on the one thing that had thrust it into the consciousness of the world. They found the recording studio, and took a few pictures for Facebook; as the street was deserted and there was no-one watching, Wes even took one of the pair of them from the open door of the RV. Then it was time to head on once more, across the flat plains which now seemed to stretch on without a break forever, and before they knew it, they were entering Texas, passing through the north of the state. They drove through small communities that were getting close to reaching the status of ghost town. The trade that had once sustained them had evaporated with the building of the I-40, which let the travellers speed by without stopping. It was nearing time for lunch, and thanks to the good time keeping that they had, they were nearing the perfect place to enjoy a meal…
They all smiled as they pulled into the parking lot of the Midpoint Café, with its signs marking that it was equidistant from both L.A. and Chicago on the Mother Road. True, it was not quite the midpoint of their own journey, but it was still a very significant marker. The place was busy, but the waitress managed to find them a table for two in a quiet corner, which suited them perfectly. As they were unobserved from the counter and the main bulk of the diner, it would be possible for Wes to sit down with them and eat without anyone noticing. Sure, the waitress did raise her eyebrows a little when they ordered three main courses, but she had worked there long enough; she knew about college boys on road trips and their appetites. The three drinks were a little strange, but she let it slide, thinking that they might have a friend in the RV that they had arrived in that would join them later. If she had returned a little while later to see the glass floating in mid air as the Coke disappeared up the straw into nowhere, she might have been a lot more concerned about either them, or her own mental well-being…
Having enjoyed a satisfying lunch, they headed back onto the road, passing by the cattle ranches that seemed to dominate in this part of the world. They drove quietly at first, with just a little small talk, but then, with absolutely no warning, Wes looked up at a destination mileage sign at the roadside, and burst into song. David and Thad couldn't help but laugh out loud as their angelic friend sang Amarillo, but then in true Warbler style, they joined in with him, all three of them singing out the line 'Is this the way to Amarillo?' at the top of their voices. After the last lyric had been sung, they had all dissolved into laughter, which they managed to sustain until they arrived in the town itself.
They looked out at a town where they might see a cowboy on the sidewalk, dressed in traditional garb, albeit having driven into town rather than ridden in on his horse in this modern age. "I can just picture what this town must have looked like back in the day," mused Wes. "It was a place where the cattlemen came to pay their bills, get their supplies, and meet up with other folks for a drink. This is the place they brought their girl for a night out. It still is, to some extent, but the people and the place have altered as new technologies have come along. It is sad in so many ways, but that is how life is. We can't expect people in these places to live in some kind of museum so that us city folks can stare at them when we come and visit. After all, we would be the first to object if they suggested that we did."
Thad and David had both nodded at Wes' words, but had to try hard not to smirk just a little at the fact that he was just a little bit wrong in his assumptions. After leaving Amarillo behind, they continued on to the small community where they intended to spend the night. It was a very small one, but one which had thrived until it was bypassed by the new road in the early 1980s. The small town of MacLean, whose founder had gone down with the Titanic on her ill fated maiden voyage, had hit its own theoretical iceberg on the day that road opened, and almost overnight the place had effectively gone out of business. The population had dropped, but those that had remained had decided to cash in on the new found penchant for nostalgia that had become so popular at that time, and had done their best to preserve the buildings that had lined the main street in its heyday.
As they drove along it, Wes was quiet as he observed what seemed to be a time warp. Thad had done his research well, and he turned off the road to pull into the forecourt of a perfectly preserved gas station. Wes looked at it for a moment, then said, "If the gas here really is just 19 cents a gallon, then fill this baby right up; fill up your jerry cans too. I think however that the pumps ran dry a long time ago. I'm assuming that this whole town is acting as a museum; an effort to show how vibrant the place used to be. I have to admit that I like the concept, and being on Route 66, they must get more than their share of the passing trade."
"It must be strange actually living here though; to see all the old prices, the old stores but know that is all just an illusion; that in reality it is all long gone," pondered Thad. With that he started the RV up again, and drove on, soon finding the spot on the edge of town where they would be stopping for the night, just a short stroll from one of the diners that was still in business.
With the engine now stopped, Wes turned to his two friends with a smile. "Well, today was good; it was nice to just relax and watch a part of the world that I had never visited just rolling past the windows of the van. That, and I was in very best company that I could have had. However, I do have to leave you boys now - I have some work that I need to finish up for Elizabeth. It's funny; as an angel, the work does seem to be pretty constant, but even when you have been working hard all day long, you never seem to tire, or get bored with all the mundane tasks. I feel an urge to bring the others here one day, to see all these well preserved buildings. I think that we all need to spend some time visiting those parts of our own country that we haven't seen, to see how the people live there if nothing else. There is, I'm afraid, a grain of truth in Mr Trump's statements about how the elite has forgotten the rest. In Ohio, at Dalton, we saw some of the problems that the new world order has brought, but from a distance. I guess that in Lima, the New Directions saw the other side of life in this nation far more clearly that we ever did…"
Wes paused, then carried on. "We do all need to think about how the nation deals with the people between the two coasts, the folks in the middle, because it is the heart of the USA. At the same time, there are better ways of dealing with it than the ones that man considers to be right. The clock has moved on, and however much he blusters, the jobs that once existed will not return. People have also forgotten that the quest for higher wages only raised factory prices, which made them demand more wages; it just started a vicious cycle that could only be broken by getting someone else to make it cheaper elsewhere. If he forces the firms to bring that production back, all that will happen is that the price of those goods in the shops will go up, and as a result, the higher wages he promised will not be worth any more…" He looked up, to see both David and Thad staring at him blankly. Wes shook his head at himself, realising that he had overdone the politics, and opened his mouth to apologise…
"Don't worry about it Wes. We feel the same. Trust me, we are both inclined towards her, for want of a better choice," David said before he could speak.
"Personally, I wish it was Bernie," Thad whispered, "but don't either of you tell anyone I said that, especially Mercedes or Santana, because that is one risk I am averse to; disagreeing with the two of them." David and Wes glanced at each other, then burst out laughing at his statement. If truth be told, it was a risk they were both averse to too…
That night sleep eluded both David and Thad. They found themselves lying awake, thinking about the events of that day. They had enjoyed every minute of it, but the fact that Wes would not be there tomorrow made them sad, and the fact that they were halfway through their final trip together added to it. The hum of the traffic from the nearby road was almost soothing, but even with the air con on, the van felt a little too warm. Eventually Thad whispered, "I'm wondering if I should get up and make myself some hot milk. If I do, would you like some?"
"I'm good thanks," David replied, "I'm sure that I will manage to nod off soon, and I know for a fact that you only brought a little of your malt powder with you; I don't want you to run out…"
"I'd survive if I did. So, I will ask again; are you absolutely certain you wouldn't like some?"
Ten minutes later the two of them were sitting side by side on David's bunk, sipping the malted milk. "This stuff is actually quite nice, Thaddie. I will maybe need to start buying it myself when I get back to L.A. Just for the nights when I can't sleep."
Thad nodded, then spoke. "The good thing about those nights when you are sleepless in L.A. will be that if you can't nod off, and it gets to 3am, you will be able to call me up, as I will be up and about for 6am in Ohio. No matter what the time, though, I will always have time to talk to you. There's always time for your best friend…"
"Always time," David agreed. When both of them had finished their milk, Thad took the two cups away to wash, and by the time he returned, David was sound asleep. He smiled, and headed to his own bunk, where he nodded off in moments too.
The next morning the two of them fell into the same comfortable routine that they had for the last few days. They awoke to the sound of whatever radio station they had chosen the night before, which tended to be the clearest local one. As a result, they woke up most mornings to the strains of good old country and western music at the moment. Thad would then start to prepare breakfast whilst David went to wash; when he returned, Thad left and David finished off the breakfast. Both washed and dressed, they would sit down to eat their meal, the radio now tuned in to a news station, so that they could keep up on what was going on in the world at large. The word Brexit was still being bandied about in the international news, and when it had been accompanied with a fall in the value of the Pound, well, it had been a moment when some people had said 'I told you so!' The order of the world that they had known all of their lives seemed to be crumbling. In addition to the British vote, there was the disturbing rise of the far right in some other nations, which raised the spectre of the past that most people had hoped was far behind them.
The only compensation that came from the news was that the price of goods being imported from the UK had fallen sharply - as Nick would later tell them, Grace was delighted at just how much she had saved on her coveted winter coat by waiting a few weeks. With breakfast eaten, dishes washed, beds packed away, and their dues paid, they headed back onto the road and their eastbound journey, shortly to cross into yet another state. The RV seemed a little emptier as they drove along, and that was down to the absence of Wes. Neither of them mentioned that fact though as they drove along, and soon approached the signs telling them that they were about to leave Texas. They had good memories of the previous day, and in the end, that was all that really mattered.
At the exact moment that they crossed the state line, they both felt a draught in the back of the RV. Thad was concentrating on driving, so it fell to David to glance in the rear view mirror to see who it was that had joined them. He smiled as he saw that it was Kurt and Blaine who had arrived. "Hey guys," he said cheerfully. "Wes tell you how much fun he had yesterday, so you decided that today was going to be your turn?"
"Yes, and no," said Kurt smiling. "We are not able to stay for the whole day, as we've got to be at the children's centre soon, and we both have a collection of our own scheduled later on, but we just could not resist joining you at this precise moment."
"You wanted to see the ghost town of Texola?" said Thad, as he observed the signage for it at the side of the road.
"Interesting though that must be, it has much more to do with where you are, and to give you a clue, there is a link with Amarillo…" teased Blaine.
"Oh-oh!" said David. "Brace yourself Thaddie, I think we are about to be treated to a dose of Rodgers and Hammerstein…."
Thad laughed as, sure enough, Kurt and Blaine began to sing the final song of the musical with the same name as the state they had just entered - Oklahoma. It turned out that neither of the two mortals in the RV could resist the opportunity either, and as they drove through the ghostly remains of Texola, anyone who had been around would have heard the four of them belting the song out with gusto. The main song finished, Blaine treated them to a performance of Oh, What a Beautiful Morning before he dueted with Kurt on People Will Say We're in Love. After that, the two angels had to take their leave to go and perform their duties, but the impromptu musical session had set both Thad and David up for the day, and if from time to time they could be heard humming snatches of the theme, then so be it.
Their journey took them through some of the places that had been worst affected by the Dustbowl in the 1930s. Things were much better now, but then again, the population was a lot sparser. The small towns that lay along their route each had their own old world charm. This was the countryside of the novel The Grapes of Wrath, a favourite of Thad's. He had read it from cover to cover several times, and had made the Warblers sit and watch the film version on one of their movie nights. He knew it had been filmed here, and so they made the deviation into the town of Sayre, and David happily obliged him by taking a photo of him outside the county courthouse, much used in the film.
This done, it was back onto the road once more, moving fast along the road through the extensive plains, dotted with the occasional farm, and a few grain elevators, some of which had now rusted to a glorious shade of orange. It all looked so healthy now; it was hard to imagine that once this had been a desolate wasteland, ruined by a long drought and over intensive farming. Money had been invested since then, and it was unlikely that such a disaster could happen again now. There had of course also been oil under those ruined fields, and the income of that had bolstered the coffers of the lucky few that had been able to remain.
Eventually their journey brought them to the town of El Reno, and they were faced with the decision of choosing which of the town's three diners would get their custom, all of them coming highly recommended, in the town which had been nicknamed 'Hamburger City.' In the end they opted for the one that was least crowded, and where the wait staff looked older, and as a result, much more experienced. It turned out to be a wise choice, as they were both seriously impressed with their burgers with fried onions. They followed this with a slice of French Silk Pie each, which blew them away and left them truly satisfied.
With David back at the wheel, the two friends headed east once more, the traffic building up as they approached the outskirts of Oklahoma City. As the biggest city for many miles, they had planned in their timetable for congestion, but they found that luck was on their side; the roads were busy, but not to the extremes they were used to seeing in L.A. The fact that they had chosen to take the route that effectively bypassed the entire city did help. It would have been so easy to have stopped and paid a visit to the place, but time was a consideration, and they did not wish to end up snarled up in the congestion of the downtown streets. Of course, Oklahoma City had seen its fair share of tragedy; indeed, until a fateful day in September in Manhattan, it had been the location where the most lives had been claimed by terrorism in the USA, when an office building was bombed…
The city was soon left behind them, and they travelled on, chattering away until they both stopped as they caught sight of something that just made them stare; just off the side of the highway there was a giant soda pop bottle, which was illuminated by bright neon lights. Thad turned to David, and he nodded. This was definitely something that they needed to investigate, and as they were ahead of schedule thanks to the light traffic, they could stop and take a look at what appeared to be a massive piece of pop art on the outskirts of the small town of Arcadia. In actual fact, it turned out to be an advertising sign for a venue called Pops, which had a busy parking lot, and a sign that advertised a café.
"So I wasn't feeling thirsty in the least until I saw that bottle; now I could happily drink a Coke or a Pepsi," remarked David.
"Me too," said Thad. "We could pop in and buy a bottle…" David ignored the slight pun, and parked up.
It turned out once they got inside that there was a little bit more choice than they had perhaps anticipated. The moment that they walked in, they were confronted by row after row of bottles, each filled with liquid in a complete rainbow of colours. David just stopped and stared for a moment, whilst Thad stepped to one side to read a sign on the wall just inside the door; he gasped, then headed back over to his friend to break the news. "Well, Davie, there are apparently over 700 varieties of pop in here. I know that sounds insane and impossible, but it is up there in black and white; 700 varieties of soda!"
"That is just absurd! I am assuming that there will have to be different brands of the same flavour included in that, plus low calorie versions included in that count…" said David, shaking his head. "Still, it is a pretty impressive number. I mean, Wes would have been in awe of that total…."
"….and if we brought our little band of bird brothers here on an outing back in the day," Thad continued, "it would have been absolute mayhem in seconds. I mean, even now, when Jeff finds out, he will want to come here, and will probably pester Nick into a trip to Oklahoma! We must take some photos and put them on Facebook…"
"Thad Harwood! I am shocked and appalled that you would connect those two things!" said David, trying hard not to laugh. "I mean, poor Nick… Still, at least they don't have the world's biggest cookie shop here too." Thad looked at David, and that look was all it took to send the two of them laughing hysterically, attracting the attention of the majority of the people in the room, and more than a few stares of disapproval. Seeing those looks calmed them both down, and they swiftly returned to being the decent, well behaved prep school boys, with the most impeccable manners for the remainder of their visit.
Back in the RV, with two large boxes full of sodas that they had purchased in preparation for the next Warbler party, they paused for a while to consume their own choice of drink; a green apple one for Thad, and a cherry one for David. It was the latter that spoke out first. "Okay, can we both agree that some of those flavours were just bizarre. I mean, who in their right mind would want a ranch dressing flavour soda? Or buffalo wing flavour? Or bacon for goodness sakes!" exclaimed the young man.
"Don't forget the chocolate and bacon flavour," said Thad, shuddering at the very idea. "I mean, chocolate soda would be weird enough, but mixing that with bacon…"
"We got three bottles of that one, didn't we?" observed David, and Thad giggled.
"Yeah, mainly because no-one would believe us if we told them about it, and didn't bring the actual physical evidence with us. Which is why we also bought the aforementioned buffalo wing, ranch dressing and bacon flavours, alongside the sweetcorn, the cucumber, the peanut butter & jelly, and the espresso flavours…"
They returned once more to the road, having secured the bottles, heading in the direction of Tulsa, where they would be spending the night. Ohio was coming ever closer; they were heading north now, back to the world that they had both been raised in. a few more days would see them back at Dalton, unloading Thad's possessions into his new home, where he would them spend the first of many nights alone, whilst David headed on to catch up with his mom. True, a few days later they would be together again, heading east once more to see those houses in the West Village of New York that Jeff had inherited. He had hinted when they had told him they would be coming that they should have a big Warbler only party at the beach house. If that was indeed the case, then the bottles of soda that were now stowed in the back of the van would come in very handy indeed…
They spent the night just outside of Tulsa. Having checked in, they drove back into the town, and found to their amusement that their trip to the centre took them exactly 24 minutes… they refrained from bursting into song this time, as they had outdone themselves with the boys that morning. As it was still early, they took the time to explore the city a little. The art deco buildings that had been constructed at the height of the oil boom attracted their attention the most, the fine lines of those being far more pleasing than the jarring style of their modern neighbours.
"There was something about the way that people built things in those days; the buildings had to be modern and functional, but they were also a reflection of the prosperity of the owner. That's why you have those landmark buildings in New York, like the Chrysler Building. It wasn't a new concept - the Woolworth Building was also constructed to make a statement. Now of course it is all about functionality, and yes, those soaring towers of steel and glass catch the eye, but in my opinion, not in quite the same way," mused Thad, as he admired the detailing of the stonework on one building.
"It was a different era back then. People did not think that the way of life would alter, or that the way of doing things would change. They did not foresee that what was once prosperous could go sour. They flaunted that wealth in the virtual palaces that their armies of staff worked in. Now firms want the most economical square footage in which to house the few staff they have left, and the computers. It is a shame though. What makes it worse is that so many beautiful buildings like these were destroyed in the name of progress back in the 1960s and 70s," David replied.
Thad nodded, having read all about the destruction of the downtown area of Oklahoma City at that time, and how the grand modernist vision that had been drawn up for its replacement had failed to work in the harsher times of the late 1970s. The bankruptcy of New York had been the story that had made all of the headlines at the time, but the same shortage of funds had been around everywhere. Even now, there were places where the scars of that era remained; gaps where nothing new had appeared to replace what had once been vibrant and beautiful. It was a cautionary tale, but sadly the lessons still had not been learnt…