Texas is Huge

Wow! I have so much to write about. Last time I checked in I was in New Orleans... I left that city a different person. I arrived in N.O. after a long long drive from Nashville, which I must say is a place that I recommend to everyone. The people there were super nice, the food was great, and there is sooo much to see I couldn't take it all in. Anyway.

I didn't really know where I was headed after I left New Orleans, the next city was Shreveport LA, but I didn't think that there was much there in the way for me so I decided to go camping instead. I'm not really sure what I expected, I think it was what I would expect say when I go to Bulls Island. Generic spots, so on so forth, you get the idea. I crossed into Texas on Sunday, then wound back and forth into LA travelling north. I originally planned on staying at a place called Ragtown, which is a campground on the Sabine Resevoir in Texas, but finding this place was beyond rediculous and I sort of stumbled on North Toledo Bend SP. I checked in at the ranger station for 3 nights, ended up only staying 2. The scenery there is beautiful.

So I'm checking in, granted I probably didn't appear to be the most rustic of folk when it comes to spending time in the wilderness. I had my 'fancy' blue jeans on, my #36 Westbrook jersey on and you could tell the lady ranger behind her counter was passing all sorts of judgement on me. There was an older couple there reserving a site, so I perused the ranger station, reading various pamphlets on what not to eat, what not to leave out overnight, what to do if you see certain vermin, what to do if you get attatcked/bitten/stung/whatever by any of the various deviant critters. I gotta tell you guys, at this point I'm seriously questioning what I am doing... Why would I choose to sleep outside in the backwoods of Louisiana as opposed to a comfy hotel. It's just something that I like, I like camping. In retrospect, as with almost everything, I was wrong. I like camping with people, in a place that seems remote, but is actually just not - like Bulls Island. Sure I'm camping in the woods, but ten minutes away is the fine city of lambertville.

So this is what my campsite looks like...

What you see is my chair, my lantern (rechargeable electric), my tent, and the fire ring. The tent is pitched on a 15x20 elevated sand. You can see the sun shining on the right side of my tent - that is west, behind me about 30 yards is the water where alligators are, and the picture is taken sort of from where my jeep is parked. I have more pictures of that. The trees are tall, and it gets dark fairly early. I think that night I cooked a steak on the grill - it was good, but I didn't much enjoy it with my eyes darting around at every noise I heard and my arms and legs flailing around everytime a bug landed on me. I must have emptied an entire can of OFF on myself.

The campsite was pretty generic. It has water and electric, so that came in handy - but there wasn't another camper withing 200 yards of me, and EVERYONE else was in there huge fancy RV's - so I don't know what the ranger was looking at me all funny for - I was atleast in a tent (for one night anyway). So anyway, when the ranger did find out that I was camping in a tent, she handed me a pamphlet that instructs campers on how to safeguard there tents and belongings from insects. Now I'm going to say that I'm not very fond of spiders, but the two that are most common where I was were the 2 that YOU DO NOT WANT TO BITE YOU. EVER, NEVER FUCKING EVER! The one is the Black Widow, and unless you live in a cave underneath a mountain you know what a black widow is. They say that being bitting by a black widow is like being struck by a bolt of lighting - not something you want. I can take that though, I mean I know I'm not going to die, and this thought honestly went through my head 'well atleast I'll have a hospital bed to sleep in' but anyway, back to my point. The other spider is a less known one. I'm familiar with it only because one of my friends e-mailed me a link to photos of what it looks like when you get bit by a recluse spider. I knew that the spider venom caused necrosis, simply put it kills the flesh where you are bit, I didn't know that it proliferates and will continue if not treated. Here is a picture of some poor bastards thumb that got bitten by a brown recluse spider.

It's gross, and I don't use foul language lightly, but that is just fucking disgusting and I would rather die than get bit and look like that. Not to mention that I have a sleeping back that is meant for zero degree weather, so sleeping in 40 degree weather makes it really hot, and I was just sleeping in my boxers. I don't need to finish this sentence, but I would rather burn in hell then get bit on my...

So yeah, and guess what - after a light sleep of a night, because I was hearing all sorts of racket through the night, I go to take a wee and just chillin on the driver door of my jeep is one of these bastards. Shit - in my mind the whole campsite is infested and I'm probably going to get bit and die and some animal will eat me and I'll never be found again. Strike one - two more nights left, and I've already had a close brush with death. Anyway, I went hiking after I made some breakfast.what you're seeing is my stainless steel cooler with a few things on top. On the left is a tortilla shell with two semi-melted pieces of cheese on it resting on top of a stainless pot. Behind that is a 300g canister of coleman x fuel. I think it's a blend of propane and another gas. it burns extremely hot and effeciently. it's hooked up to a regulater and braided steel cord which leads at a collapsable four legged burning element. I have a cast iron pan on top of that which is cooking 3 pieces of ham with the lid to the pot on top of that. I don't know what that does, but I always see chefs putting shit on the top of their food so I figured why not. I ended up making an egg ham cheese tortilla - it was ok - not ok 3 miles into my 4 mile hike. I thought I was going to have to poop in the woods - which I haven't done... yet.

Anyway, that was basically it - I stopped at the ranger station after my hike to do laundry and I bumped into the same lady ranger again and she said this... 'so you're camping alone...it's almost halloween ya know?'

STRIKE TWO AND STRIKE FUCKIN THREE I'M OUT!

I actually ended up sleeping there that night again, because it was getting dark and I didn't have enough time to break down all my stuff and pack it properly. I knew I had around 500 miles ahead of me to Austin, so you need to pack properly otherwise I can't see out of the back of my Jeep and it dangerous having shit flying around. I finished up my laundry, got into my Jeep put the seat all the way back, listened to the Monday Night Football game on my Sirius radio, watched Invincible again on DVD and fell asleep, woke up it was 6:18am sun was about to come up and I went to the 'Comfort Station' where the showers and toilets are and cleaned my act up, shaved, and mentally prepared my plans for the day. It took me some time, more then I thought it would to pack all my stuff up and I finally got on the road to here around 11 I think.

You know, overall - I'd do it again, but in a place with people. I do want to add two things that are important. One, there was this white cat that stalked me the entire time I was there, two, another brown recluse spider came down on my chest this morning at the hotel when I was on my way out to play golf. I flipped the shit out and crushed him on my chest with an empty diet mountain dew bottle. That's not the entire story, but I'm sure you don't want to read about me flailing around in the carport at my hotel infront of 50 people screaming spider spider spider!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm sure there are more in there, hopefully they saw what happened to their buddy and decide to leave.

I can't even begin to tell you all the side stories - hopefully when I get back around New Years everyone who is actually reading this will be with me and we can hang out over a beer and I'll tell you.

I have to get going, it's Halloween Night here in Austin and apparently it's like a wattered down New Orleans. I must say, there are some of the most gorgeous women down here - and believe it or not, they talk to me!

For anyone who cares, I shot a 1,232 today at Falconhead golf club here in Austin.

I'm going to post here more often, I figured out how to put pics up and stuff. I'm leaving tomorrow for San Antonio for 4 nights. I used up all of my rewards points on this one to get a nice place on the riverwalk..... I was going to stay for just two nights, but apparently San Antonio has some amazing stuff to see. So if anyone feels the need, fly on down and you can crash with me!

Love ya'll!!!

First Few Days

So I left Tuesday from Harrisburg, I guess I consider that my starting point for some reason. I like Harrisburg, I love Ali & Jared, and for some reason I sort of just feel like I connect with the city. I'm in my hotel room in New Orleans now, so this is all sort of in retrospect, but I'm starting to wonder if my fascination with the 'outside bar' in Hburg and me being here are related....probably, but oh well. I felt a little bad about not doing the personal goodbye with everyone, but they make me feel like I'm saying goodbye and then climbing into a coffin, to be sent to the bottom of the ocean. it's 2007, we have cell phones and computers and airplanes - I'm not selling bibles in Africa, I'm driving around the country. But I do apologize to anyone who was offended - then you can go hump a tree because I'm emotions are for sissies, no room for emotions on the road here, have to be tough . . .like leather in the sun, two dollar london broil tough.
it was kind of like a whirlwind of shit in my head when I left, I said to jared "Shake my hand" and we did the hand shake/back pat. We're past that crap, I could have just pounded it up with him, but incase you guys aren't aware, he is big on formalities (returning phone calls, RSVP's, greetings & salutations & GOLF RULES) so I'm glad I did, because Chewy, I love you and I keep many of your words of wisdom on the tip of my tongue. Alison, I was fake sleeping, thanks for the head pat and I'm going to miss the shit out of your couches. I took my toothbrush out of the basement bathroom, that wasn't a resignation of my domicile, it was more of a concession of rights. Anyway, I miss all of you guys so much and I think you all know that.

It's an odd situation that I find myself in... at the end of the 'day' when I either have reached my destination or I'm getting sleepy, I try and find the most reasonable place to crash. I really want to just camp out, but it's been rainy for the entire trip since I got to new orleans and not that I'm giong to melt or something crazy, but the additional mess that it would make in my already jam packed jeep wouldn't be worth it. Most of the 'primative' camping facilities don't have laundry machines either, so I don't want to be that guy walking around in new towns with a scruffy beard, dirty clothes, smelling like campfire - I mean I care now, but talk to me in a few weeks, I'll be eating scorpions in the desert that I killed with a hand fashioned spear made from the bones of dead wolves. Anyway, I'm getting really hungry, it's almost 7pm here and I am that lazy that if I get hungry eneough I'll just eat at the hotel diner instead of going downtown (3block away) so I'm going to put some clothes on and get out of here. Later Ya'll!

Oh yeah, eating lunch today was some experience, I want to make this detailed but I wont. So I'm hung over as shit, I was playing blackjack at harrah's until like 5 am, I won - anyway, dewar's kicked my ass, I woke up with a bottle of cola in my bed that was empty and my stomch was doing things I didn't approve of. So after two pots of coffee and sucking water out of the faucet until it felt like my stomach was about to explode, I finally made it to the shower and out the door. So I stop at the Cajun Cabin for lunch, it's right on the strip and they have a balcony and whatever. So i order all sorts of food, from alligator, gumbo, you name it. I felt like shit, but I really was hungry and that's all there is on the menu generally speaking. Some variation of some meat that I usually wouldn't eat. FYI, the most succulent part of the alligator is in the tail. So there are beer trucks idling outside, deiself fumes, aromas of clams from the clam bar across the way, and then the sun sort of hits me. I get the sweats, mind you I have already downed four bottled waters at this place, and it's down to the mental battle of not throwing up. Keep in mind that on the recomendation of Gia from the day before, I had downed a couple of Hurricanes, with an extra shot on top, as Gia recommends. I was straight fucked up last night, I kept it together though pretty good, and the casino offered me a room, they had somebody escort me home instead. Not because I was too drunk to walk, it was because I had a pocketful of scrilla and I don't exactly blend in at night with my flaming pink polo shirt. Anyway, off the topic, a horse and cart go by and I literally see the poop coming out of this horses dumper and I imagine he had some fresh business in his doody bag already because I just flat out barfed into my cup - a controlled barf into my soda cup. Aside from the resulting sweat and patika (hemmoraging of the blood vessels in the eye) I felt great.

So that's it - I'll write more later, but for now I gotta get going. Boston 2 Rockies 0.