Sarah was all fired up to hit the road. So we hit the road.

 We'd almost made it to Rollins before she declared herself to be tired and started talking about pulling over and taking a nap. I, of course, offered to drive for a while while she slept but I think I may have oversold the degree to which my vision is impaired and she wasn't too keen on me driving. 

We pulled into Hot Springs, drove up and down a few streets and eventually parked outside the high school. I was sent off to have a little adventure and explore Hot Springs while she took a half hour, no wait forty-five minute nap. 

I dutifully explored. Asked at a local bar (really Hot Springs, three bars) about the hole in the ground full of hot water where we used to go when I was in high school.

"Hey," I says to the bartender "twenty, maybe twenty-five years ago there used to be a hole in the ground full of hot water over that way." 

"Umm, twenty…" says the bartender. 

"Maybe I need to ask someone older," and we both turn to look at the mustachioed guy sitting at the end of the bar. 

The old guy explains to the young guy "Oh past the Simes and then up and around the corner past the old bathhouse," he turns to me. "It got filled in, it isn't there anymore." 

"Well that's kinda bullshit" says I. The old guy sits up a little straighter 

"Not that I don't believe you or think that what you're saying is bullshit. Just that it's too bad that it isn't there anymore," I do not want trouble in Hot Springs. 

Welcome worn out, I leave with a smile on my face. Tickled to have had to ask the old guy. Tickled to have been able to ask about something that was there "twenty maybe twenty-five" years ago. Tickled that I'd had the forethought to smooth down my hair outside the bar to appear a little less alien. 

In California, in the middle of the night, I'd learned the word peregrinations - travels in a strange land. 

Large chunks of Hot Springs are for sale. I learned this a couple doors down from the bar. There's a house. A house in town. A house for sale for $50,000. I fantasize about this for a while. Let myself pretend that I'm living some other life where I'm attached to this woman asleep in the car down the street. A life where a little house in a little town sounds not just bearable but appealing. 

Stop that. 

I keep walking, look at my phone. I'd set a timer for thirty-seven minutes when I left Sarah in the car. Nineteen have elapsed. 

There's another place for sale a couple blocks down the road. $200,000 2 lots, storefront, two bedrooms two bathrooms, a creek running through it. 

Stop that. Keep walking. 

If I get lost, I tell myself, if I get turned around I can just follow the bar noises until I get reoriented. Hot Springs isn't big enough to get lost in but it's dark and the stars are bright and I'm glad I brought my flashlight. 

I hear a deer run off when I get too close. Didn't realize I'd been close at all.

There's a map at the entrance to town. Numbered squares on the left and a key on the right. Three bars, five churches, a school, a natural grocery store. I hear the police driving up behind me, give him a smile and a little wave. It could have been this guy's dad who we were afraid of twenty maybe twenty-five years ago drunk or stoned barreling down the road in Stuart's parents Oldsmobile. 

Seven minutes left on the timer and I start walking back towards the car. Sit down the block for a few minutes so I'm not lying when I wake Sarah up. 

Turn off the timer, pop open the back of the Subaru and am confronted with the words that are the enemy of getting anywhere tonight "You wanna watch something on my phone? I've got Netflix." 

Stifle a sigh, try and be sweet. My charms are no match for sleep. I climb in. 

"I'm watching Drug Lords" she says like it's a selling point. 

"It's gonna get awfully muggy in this Subaru." 

"You can open your window if you want," climb out, find the keys, start the car, roll down the window, turn off the car, climb back in, replace the keys. 

"I'll be fine" says I 

"I can only sleep for like half an hour at a time," she says. 

"I'll set another timer" 

"Don't" and she's lulled back into sleep by the story of El Chapo. "Let's just sleep here and have an adventure." *07 12 18*