Englishman in New York

It’s our last full day today. We’ll be packing up the tent and heading north to Marfa.

The sign welcoming you to this tiny (pop. 2,400) one-stop Texas town reads MARFA IS HOW THE WEST WAS. Having seen little except olive-hued prairie grass, cacti, and tumbleweeds since driving out of El Paso a couple hundred miles back, you could well believe this claim. But if you turn south at the single flashing red light in the center of town and drive past the Border Patrol headquarters, you will soon find yourself leaving America’s mythic past for what is arguably the most cutting-edge art complex on the planet.

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For the next two days we should be walking and doing this.

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Back in the car. Not long now. Nearly there:

Big Bend is one of the largest and least visited of America’s national parks. Over 801,000 acres await your exploration and enjoyment. From an elevation of less than 2,000 feet along the Rio Grande to nearly 8,000 feet in the Chisos Mountains, Big Bend includes massive canyons, vast desert expanses, and the entire Chisos Mountain range. Here, you can explore one of the last remaining wild corners of the United States, and experience unmatched sights, sounds, and solitude.

We’ll be spending tonight in a tent at the base of a mountain. I hope I remembered to bring warm socks.

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Oh no we don’t! It’s just time to head west. But before we do, we’ll be stopping off at Space Center Houston for an early morning tour.

The rest of the day will be spent on the road. Our target is Del Rio, 350 miles west of Houston and close to the border with Mexico.

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Today I will be exploring Houston: the Menil Collection, the Rothko Chapel (pictured above), and hopefully visiting the West Alabama Ice House.

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Today I will be flying to Houston, Texas. A state with a population of about 21 million people. And, one presumes, very few Jews. (Don’t you just love reinforcing stereotypes?) (Texas video link via Macboy.)

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Today will be spent frantically sorting out last-minute work things, putting up a tent in the living room to make sure I can still do it, packing clothes, and packing up this computer to be sent back to Apple (that’s a story for another day). But before I go:

New Yorkers can look out for my latest story in the New York Times City Section on Sunday. Proud mothers will have to make do with the Internet. Mum, it should be on this page on Sunday for one week.

Secondly, a friend of mine is going to London soon and she needs some local advice on where to go and what to do. She’s already done the tourist thing. Now, she wants the real thing. I left London more than five years ago so my knowledge is pretty dated. Maybe you’d like to drop some suggestions in the comments box.

Thirdly, I have another Blogarithms piece in Metro today. The feature has moved to a permanent home towards the front of the book which I’m taking as a good sign. Pick up a copy. If you’re not in the city you can download a pdf of the page (UPDATE: or view it online).

Oh, and this story made me laugh.

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