Sgt Dunbar & the Corp of Discovery, a Tour Journal

To CELEBRATE! the one year anniversary of Sgt Dunbar’s historic “Escaping Winter ” national tour of 2011 I have decided to digitize my tour journal and give all of B3nson’s readers an inside glimpse of what our month on the road felt like, day by day.

DAY 19

MESILLA COMFORT INN
LAS CRUCES, NM

stayed at the MESILLA COMFORT INN last night. nobody slept well in the clean, queen sized beds. not enough sand i suppose

went swimming and in the hot tub yesterday, took a shower last night and one again this morning.

relaxed until noon, 1 hour after check out time, and came back to Starbucks to kill the last few hours until the van should be ready

Excerpt from entry dated 30 March, 2011, regarding the events of 29 March:

much excitement when we got the call that the van was ready. loaded it up, paying $1,100 cash [note: Sandoval Dodge did not accept checks or credit cards], hopped in and drove.

before reaching the city limit something was obviously wrong and every heart broke at the same time, you could almost hear them falling to pieces.

it still ran but lost its top gear and the ability to go above 50 mph. we pulled it back into the garage just before closing…we’d be here another night.

went to three hotels that were all booked and finally got two rooms at the DAYS INN on Aviendo de Mesilla. we opened Room 251 to find it nearly gutted with holes in the wall, plastic sheeting on the beds and entirely uninhabitable. [note: the holes in the wall are to the left of the fridge and TV which are covered with sheet rock dust]

got another room which was suitable, but not very luxurious. the few tv channels that worked were bad, toilet paper holders missing, locks broken off and only double beds.

a 4-H competition was in town, filling the hotels and surrounding us with rowdy high school kids so joyously away from their parents.

watched AWA (American Wrestling Association) matches from the 80s on ESPN Classic.

slept better than the night before

DAYS INN
LAS CRUCES, NM

Supplemental Material:
Excerpt from the accounts book of D. Pardee:

3/29/11 – Accomodations: $78.46 – Mesilla Comfort Inn, Las Cruces, NM

Excerpt from a letter dated 29 March, 2011 to Big B, et al:
“i have completely lost my mind. we have been stuck in las cruces, new mexico for 8 days now. but the van will be ready this afternoon, and a 27 hour drive to Eugene, OR will commence in around 4 hours. good god. …have been preoccupied with finding drinkable water and places to get out of the sun so that my skin doesn’t just fall off… this will be on my priority list when i get back to new york, if i ever get back to new york. oh how i miss trees, and grass. ok, wish us luck in getting out of new mexico! sunburned and dehydrated, but still having a silly silly time”

 Excerpt from a letter dated 29 March, 2011 to A. Campbell:
“…it’s been eight days of sun, sand and wind…in 24 hours we’ll be somewhere completely different. I might have to wear pants and shoes again, who knows? …the last few days have been really tough, and I’ve had a hard time staying positive…I can’t thank you enough for how you can make me smile and laugh, even during repeated hope-crushing circumstances.”

Previously:
The First Glimmer of Hope in Seven Days
What Are We Supposed To Do?!
A Man In a Black Cloak
George Strait and the Bataan Death March
U.S. Grant’s Memoirs