Goin' Out To Cally – Part 16, Three Beds + Four People = Oh Crap

My tent set-up heroics quickly faded into our memories as we scoured the small town of Tucumcari for some grub. We decided to partake of some quality economy food at the local Golden Corral Steakhouse. This was the first real meal we’d had all day, so we devoured the out-of-the-box tasting buffet like, well, four people who hadn’t eaten all day. Not wanting to close out the meal with the available bland tasting, lightly flavored ice milk, we walked the streets of the town and eventually stopped at one of my all time favorite haunts… a mom and pop ice cream shop. I quickly inhaled a hot fudge sundae and was officially and effectively stuffed.

We continued walking the streets of the small, historic town as the sun began to set. Tucumcari is one of the stops of the famed Route 66 and was heavily visited when that thoroughfare was in its heyday. The walk was very pleasant and gave us a good chance to stretch our legs.

When we returned to the campground we finished unpacking our camping supplies only to find something missing.

“Sunday,” I asked, “where’s your sleeping bag?”

“My what?” she replied.

“Your sleeping bag,” I repeated.

“I don’t have one,” she confirmed.

“But, I told you we were camping on this trip. What did you think you were going to sleep in?” I continued.

“I didn’t really think about it,” she answered.

As I looked over to her large stack of luggage I tried to comprehend that amidst all of her belongings, there wasn’t a sleeping bag, or tent or RV in there somewhere.

So, what did we have… three sleeping bags, two blankets and four people. Interesting. Since I asked Sunday to join our trip, it was my responsibility to fix this minor problem.

“Okay, how about I’ll open up my sleeping bag and put it on the floor. We’ll have to share the opened bag as our bed bottom and then we’ll each have a blanket of our own. Is that okay?” I asked.

“That’d be fine,” she said with a thanking smile and I went about making up the sleeping arrangements.

As the sun slumped below the New Mexico horizon, the temperature started to drop. Tim made a small fire and I finished constructing the makeshift tent sleeping assignments. I wasn’t overly concerned about sharing my sleeping bag and blankets with Sunday. Having traveled to Miami for a play, to South Carolina for a regional theater competition and to New York for graduate school auditions, sharing a floor with someone was not new to me. As long as I had enough space to fall into an unconscious state, that was enough for me.

As a matter of fact, sleeping on the ground was something I had perfected in college. When I was a freshman, I would see students scattered throughout campus, crashed on the ground or sleeping on a bench. I remember looking at them with disgust, claiming I would never do such a thing.

By the time I was a senior, my scholastic and social schedule were overbooked. Plus, my car had died, so I had to ride my bike everywhere. Everyday I would ride eight miles to school, then eight miles to work, then eight miles to school for rehearsal, then eight miles back home. So, if you were counting at home, that means I was riding 32 miles a day while living on milk, Oreos and four hours of sleep.

This hectic lifestyle enlightened me to the benefits of sleeping on any surface that didn’t move. As a matter of fact, to make sure I wouldn’t miss class I would sleep at the foot of the door of my next one, so when the previous students left, I could roll off the floor and fully awaken myself in time.

This day in New Mexico, however, I was more concerned about Sunday being comfortable having to sleep next to me than me having to sleep next to her.

Everything was going as planned, until the stars came out.

********

Goin' Out To Cally - Part 16, (Text, Audio) Three Beds + Four People = Oh Crap
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 15, (Text, Audio) Masculinity At Stake
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 14, (Text, Audio) Texas: Latin For Shoot Me Now
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 13, (Text, Audio) Cars, Crossroads and Cosmic Convergence
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 12, (Text, Audio) Tumbleweed Dreams
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 11, (Text, Audio) Wet, Rinse, Repeat
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 10, (Text, Audio) Divine Misdirection
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 09, (Text, Audio) Getting Nowhere Fast
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 08, (Text, Audio) The Cock Crows Nine
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 07, (Text, Audio) Is Jackass A Sign?
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 06, (Text, Audio) Leftovers
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 05, (Text, Audio) The Kiss Of Friendship
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 04, (Text, Audio) Scholastic Intimacy
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 03, (Text, Audio) Space Invaders
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 02, (Text, Audio) The Fourth Wheel
Goin' Out To Cally - Part 01, (Text, Audio) The Seed Planted