Camp Eagle

Camp Eagle. My home from spring 2005 to spring 2007. 1500 acres of Texas hill country beauty located at the headwaters of the Nueces River outside of Kerrville, TX.

I got up sunday morning and went to church with my family, then went out to eat at Playa Azul, the local Mexican restaurant. After that I headed to Omaha to see if Cabelas would work with me to get some problemss with my tent worked out. Ended up they wouldn't, which was quite frustrating. Turned arond and headed to York, NE and took hwy 81 south towards Texas. The driving was slow due to the recent storm. I ended up getting to Austin around 9am after driving all night and only getting about an hour sleep. Checked in my car and unloaded, packed, then took off. I got a new droid eris smart phone while at home and now have Internet and gps capabilities, so tried them to get me across Austin. Some of the roads weren't very well marked and I made a couple wrong turns, but got it straightened out. Made it across Austin and out to pedernales falls state park; roughly a 50 mile ride. After this I was quite tired and went to bed immediately after dinner.

The next day was in the low thirties and I started out with some sleet and freezing rain. An couple offered and gave me a ten mile ride into fredericksburg. It was enjoyable meeting them. I finished riding to Kerrville and called my old boss. He offered to have someone bring me out to camp, which was good, since I needed to have my bike at the shop to get worked on. The 8 mile dirt road was very poor and it was a good thing I didn't ride in.

I am planning on staying here a week or two and relaxing and also doing some volunteer work on some projects for them. Everyone have a happy new year. I will post again in a couple days.

Florida to Texas by Pics

Chateau in Texas                       Inks Lake SP, Texas           

Hamilton Pools in Austin     Dinosaur Prints in Dinosaur

                                                   Valley SP, Texas

                 TEXAS                               Mississippi reroute                                                       The sign says it all                          from Louisianna

Alabama

Louisianna                                 The Dauphin Island                         

                                                       Ferry in Alabama.  


The Florida Gulf Coast.  Just outside of Seaside, FL.         

 

my guide in the             Gator by the boat 

Everglades                       in the Everglades

White Christmas

I made it home for Christmas Monday night at around 11:30. I drove from Austin, TX in the morning. Up until a couple weeks ago I wasn't even sure I was going to be coming home for Christmas, but things worked out. I rented a Chevy HHR. This was able to fit my bike and gear. The rental guy helping me pick out a car was showing me the Malibu's and Impala's, then learned I was putting a bike in and said the HHR's were equivalent, though not as sporty. I went on to inform him that I wasn't trying to pick up any girls on the way home, just get my bike there.

I got home and upon arriving home learned that my little brother had gone skiing at Breckenridge and my older brother and sister-in-law were coming from Michigan, but that there was a good storm brewing across the midwest which might strand them both. Go figure I'm traveling all over the country by bicycle and was the only one not planning on being home, yet I might end up being the only one home. All worked out, however, and all of them made it home before the storm hit.

While at home I went to the bike shop I bought my bike from and had them tune it up, replace the rear cassette and chain, wash everything, and change out the handlebar grips. I also put on a new saddle (the old one had around 10,000 miles) and got a new rear light (I broke one of my old ones on the trip).

While in Lincoln during one of my two day trips there I learned from a clerk at Dillard's (shopping with my mom) that some channel on TV mentioned the coming storm in the midwest and noted that they weren't going to focus too much on it. They stated this is the least populated area of the country and will affect very few people. I tend to disagree that this affects few people since the people in the midwest are often the one's who travel the farthest and the most to get places for the holidays. I then remembered how much they cover storms off the coast that may develop into a decent storm on the coast of America that may affect some populated areas. How is it that a storm that is certain to affect a great area is not as important as a storm that may affect a small area?

Anyways, the storm did end up shutting down the east and west side of the state and my little brother saw 35 cars in the ditch between Denver and home on the 22nd. All that to say, it was a white Christmas and one that kept many families in the midwest closer than other Christmases, with many sleepovers across the state that were unplanned.

While at home I was able to see my two nieces. I collected some shells in Georgia on the beach and when I got home I got a glass bottle, some sand, and a fake pearl necklace, and borrowed some craft paint from a friend. I painted one letter from their name on individual pearls and then glued those pearls into the shells. I then glued the shells into the bottle and spread sand around them, spelling their names out in the sand.

My nieces are very fun. The youngest one, Sierra, laughs on command in the funniest way: HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAh, HAAAH, HAAH, HAAAH. My older niece, Jenna, wanted to have candles lit at every meal.

Being home has been very quick and not near as restful as I had hoped. I have been able to switch out some gear to make the trip better and take a break to see family. It was good, but I am anxious to get back on the road and also get to the place I used to work at in Texas, so I can take a more restful break and see some friends I haven't seen in a couple years.

Keep Austin Wierd

Austin, TX. Last night I attended a cocktail party at one of my friends places. I showed up in borrowed clothes from another friends place using a combination of his and his roommates clothes. I showed up to his place, got dressed, hung out, then we went to Trudy's for a bite to eat and a bit of the Cowboys/Saints game. After that we headed to the party. I ended up knowing about three people at the party; all from college. They gave us a piece of paper when we arrived that gave us something to do during the night that no one else knew. Mine was to keep the conversation on me as long as possible. I figured I wouldn't really do it since I knew almost nobody. It ended up just sort of happening once people started hearing what I was doing. They kept introducing me to more of their friends as they heard. I ended up meeting a lot of people and feeling a lot less awkward at these events than I normally do.


As has been happening these last few weeks, as I left fort worth, it got extremely cold the day I left after being in the 70's the last couple days. I stayed at two state parks and one roadside picnic area on my way to Austin. While I was hanging out at the picnic area a couple guys pulled up in a work truck. They found out what I was doing then offered me some bottles of water and dr pepper. That is exactly opposite of what everyone else did. Most people drove up, saw me under the shelter, then switched their car to reverse and backed up without saying a word.


Today I went to church with my brothers in-laws. The church had a living Christmas tree performance that was quite a production. After lunch we went to a couple different parks around Austin and did some hiking. One place was Hamilton Pools. It is a swimming hole with a waterfall. It was formed by a cave falling in and half the cave is gone while the other half surrounds the pool. It was a pretty cool little place.

ATTN: This Is The FWPD

Today I got to ride along in my friend Zack's squad car in Fort Worth. He has been on the force for around a year now. After talking with his boss and doing a background check on me, I was allowed to go. Zack works in one of the poorer and rougher neighborhoods near downtown Fort Worth. We spent a lot of time in the homeless district and government housing district. Shortly after starting the day we received a domestic disturbance call which involved some car searching and foot chasing. While I was not allowed to be directly involved with some things, I was still allowed to be around for booking and questioning and also visual aid when searching. The next bit of the day was somewhat slow with a lot of patrol and some minor complaints and traffic violations.

After dinner I was given a maglite to use, with force if necessary. We then responded to a minor accident on i35w. A car tapped a car beside it as the driver tried to merge, then swerved into the guardrail, busting about a dozen posts, knocking down a street lamp, and folding the front passenger tire under the car, then sliding for a good distance before stopping. Nothing exciting happened at the call, but it was a neat sight.

Overall it was a fairly slow day, but it was still a fun way to spend it, especially whipping through traffic on the way to answer calls. I'm still not fully interested in becoming an officer, but I have a greater appreciation as to why they respond to some violations and not others.

I will be heading towards Austin on Tuesday. The weather is predicted to be in the 50's and maybe the 60's. Hopefully that is the case. I'm anxious to keep moving, but am enjoying the breaks. Almost everyday I am more and more anxious to have a permanent place to call home, but am still enjoying and appreciating my freedom and exposure to so much.

The Longest State

I am now in the Dallas area. It has been sunny but very cold for the area: staying at or below freezing. Of course it isn't the 15" of snow since the weekend in Nebraska.

My route of Texas is fairly neat in that it's three days of travel, then Dallas, three days of travel, then Austin, three days of travel, then camp, three days of travel, then Midland. I will get to ring in the new year at camp eagle in the middle of nowhere Texas. I am anxious to see camp again as I have not been there in about two years. A lot has changed. I also get to see a lot of friends I haven't seen in a while all over Texas.

The next phase of my trip will slow down due to not being able to get over the mountain passes to soon. I am not fully sure of my route past Texas. I need to check out some weather info and estimate time and distances.

Hello Texas

I camped on the Sabine river last night. Well, not on but right next to it. Made it into Texas today. There was a cold rain today and last night was a cold night for camping. It also provided me with a migraine I am currently fighting.

As I pulled into Logansport, LA after dark last night I was hoping I would find a place to camp. I had trouble along the hwy finding a place. I ran across a man who directed me to a boat ramp on the Sabine. He said it was a park, but it was just a put in. I found a place to put up my tent, however. It was restful and worked fine.

This state will probably take me the longest visiting friends and family and riding across. I will probably not get out of Texas until the end of January. I will also get to take a break for a few days for Christmas and go home. For new years I will get to celebrate at where I worked at in the hill country.

It's Snowing

I finally have Internet again and a time to write. I am in Winnfield, LA and it is snowing outside. It didn't get above 38 degrees today. The prediction is up to 3" tonight. It has been cool and damp over the last week and I waited out a few days hanging out with my friend Mr. Gerry in Amite, LA. He fed me a lot of good Cajun food.

Last night I stayed in a trailer of some redneck who had it sitting in his yard. He was outside with another person, Angie, around a fire. I pulled up at dusk and he offered that for a place to stay. Right as I turned in he came by and said "my name's Chester, my friends call me Chester molester." I was taken aback by this but sort of laughed it off to his drunkeness to where he could barely walk. Angie was nice and not so wierd.

Chester's place was unexpected as I meant to cross the Mississippi river at St. Francisville but the ferry was closed for repairs. The only place for me to cross north of New Orleans was Natchez, MS. I had to add a half day detour for this.

The rest of my ride from Florida had nothing exciting during it.