I awoke in the Airstream around 8:30, threw on my shoes and pants and went looking for the coffe shop. But the place I went to last September is gone.

I did stumble upon the new coffee place apparently, adjacent to the laundramat. But after hiking around a bit I decided to head to the trailer and raid my food rations and David’s RC Cola.

After breakfast I decided a nap would serve me well later that night. When I woke up after noon I headed to Padre’s, stole a shower, and had some gumbo for lunch.

Sat around at Padre’s while a gentle lumbering desert thunderstorm meandered over. Helped around the place a little, hoping for the rain to pass so I could borrow Yvonne’s bicycle and tour town.

Johnny Bush’s band did their sound check around 3pm while the back room of Padre’s with its tin roof had a constant pitter patter.

The temperature cooled off making me wonder if I wanted to bike in my short sleeved shirt. The rain continued till after dark, so that never happened.

Since it’s opening weekend for Padre’s, they’re expecting a bit of a rush, so David asked me to help at the bar for the weekend. In return I get free access to the $100+ of music, free food, and free drinks, add the free lodging, and it’s a cheap weekend in Marfa for me.

As the evening hour approached there were a fair number of nervous investors buzzing about. The Marfa regulars without tickets got bumped out and a good mix of locals an out-of-towners showed up to see Johnny Bush.

The show was amazing; Johnny Bush is a real Texas legend. The dance floor was full of two-steppers all night. The capper was of course Whiskey River, a nicely composed mellow version.

I did a lot of bussing of empties. The bar was very busy all night long, and even more toward the end when the $35 was waved and the locals started coming in after 11:15 or so. The bars close at midnight in Presidio County.

Padre’s recycles all their glass, aluminum, cardboard, and plastic. This leads to about 90% less trash for a bar. Too more effectively allow for this, there are no trash receptacles available for customers. Everything has to be bussed. There are trash, metal, and glass slim trash cans behind the bar. The glass is later sorted for color by the recycler.

I hung out afterwards with everyone after we cleaned up the place. There was briefly an accounting problem for the night, but once the $4.09 ring-up for the $409 of merchandise was noticed, things ironed out.

The newest bartender, Tina Rose, gave me a ride back to the Airstream. It ends up she’s staying in the one just next to David’s, with her three dogs. She’s in for the weekend from Austin, but is moving out here in a few weeks.