the day of firsts

officially yesterday and today, but who wants to nitpick. no, not that first...but it was my first backcountry camping trip, my first time to snowshoe, to drive in a good bit of ice an snow, and probably some others that i might think of later

anyways, i went up to rocky mountain national park and stayed the night. officially it took forever, and a couple of things i learnt on this trip
1. snowshoes are good when backpacking seeing snow
2. a good sleeping bag is a camper's best friend
3. camping is best done in pairs (for companionship, sharing the load, bringing stuff you forgot,... and the obligatory safety issue)
3.b. if 3 is not an option, then there should be a push button on the tent for up and down
4. a good pair of socks and handy waterproof gloves are a nice commodity in winter trekking
5. bring the dishes
6. folks are nice on the trail
7. the creation truly is wonderful
8. hiking boots are not to be mistaken for snowboots (even if they are water repellent, possibly waterproof)
9. if any of the aforementioned are missplaced, abandoned, broken, forgot, or not even thought of...a nice warm shower and friendship can't come too soon.

in the beginning

how can i forget to post the first person that i saw on this trip
Richard, you da man. Nice starting out seein you.

quick update. yesterday we went up to boulder and ate at CPK then went up the mountain that overlooked boulder. then we went further and yet still further until we decided to return.

tomorrow i set out to go to the rocky mountain national park and camp for a few days.

guys night out

went to highlands ranch with billy and eric. met up with keith and toured the countryside then ate and went to a movie (amazing grace). night and the movie were both pretty good

...but not least

well, i tried to blog through picassa...but it didnt quite work. sorry these are so late

at the palo duro canyon, before sunset at the summit


at tech, given a tour by ms. tech herself

boulder

well, went to boulder yesterday. had lunch with eric and a couple of his co-workers. went to one of the healthiest mexican food places i have ever been to. food was pretty good. they had to go back to work, but i was gonna meet back up with eric after work, so i decided to stick around and see what there was to see in boulder.

short list:
barnes and noble - parousing books (scifi/fantasy and checkin map of city)
whole foods - for those of yall that dont know i am actually starting to eat somewhat healthier.
mont bell - checkin tents and sleeping bags and other stuff cause last camping it was cold at night
rei
chautauqua park
mail stop (or something next to brazillian jujitsu)
i-market (organic food store)

drove by:
pearl street mall
28th mall
university of colorado - boulder

basically what i did today was look at books (scifi/fantasy and checkin map of city),
whole foods - for those of yall that dont know i am actually starting to eat somewhat healthier, so i purchased granola and some breakfast bars,
checkin tents and sleeping bags and other stuff cause last camping it was cold at night.
i then decided i had had enough of shopping for now so i decided to drive down 28th which is similar to broadway for those that know tyler (but cooler here) or the s. hulen, overton ridge area in fort worth.
anyways, the day is absolutely beautiful, the windows are open, the sunroof is bringin the sun, so i drive, and eventually the road turns into 36 which is gonna take me to denver so i ditch it and go to a road called baseline. i thought this could be cool cause the whole town of boulder is at the base of the rockies, so i thought this road would at least get me closer to the mountains.
well, eventually i see a sign for chautauqua park, and think, sweet, a park. figured i could hike and read or so. i did the hiking part but not the reading. the sun started to set, which brought colder temps, but wasnt a problem for the convertible pants. anyway, i make the couple mile hike and get back to the car and decide to see if baseline rd would go further into the mountains. well, the name is true to its word. went up there a lil and figured i could be there all day, which i didnt have much of, so i went back into town to kill a little time afore eating.

absolutely b-e-a-utiful day. being in all those outdoor equipment shops made me want to be there then, but good enough i found that park, great day for the outdoors.

i'll get to it in a minute

can you stand in front of a mirror and face yourself
can you calm your mind to focus on you
not like you do every day
where you look out for youself
where pride exists in everything
where selfishness grips you

but to simply acknowledge all that you are
to gain your trust again
to love you for you

while it might be hard
it has to be done
while the taste lingers
more is to come

but for the hope of a day when it will taste so sweet
when a smile returns

midnight rantings

i look at you and i feel hatred
i feel distaste

i see unbridaled potential
limited only by your own mind

i witness a wayward traveler
wandering in the blinding snow storm
a snow storm of confusion
of false hopes

do you have the wherewithall to take a stand
the guts to make a choice

is it time you need,
cause it is time you have

is it experience you seek
cause each day brings its own

finding everything you search for
doesnt come giftwrapped upon your door step

but is sought for with determination
is grasped at last when it is finished eluding capture

but you do not know when it will be
of when the time shall come

but only then can you be free
not a minute too soon

otherwise the timing would have been off
you would have been let off too easily

to torture yourself,
lying in your own mayhem
it will give you nothing but grief
and more confusion
though you seek to find a way out of this maze
to be untangled from this web

you are only here because you put yourself here
and you feed yourself lies like that

maybe you want to feel better so you say that it has a deeper meaning to it
and it does, at first

the old was not bad
but you lacked

does it come so easily?
or does one constantly swim in a sea of mediocrity?
to say that everything is great







far removed
far unknown
where does it lie but within
fire...peace...passion

delusion
denial
wasted time

listening to soul asylum.runaway train

man, so much i can see, but so unable to do. i see the creativity, the enthusiasm that once was. i see it living on, morphing and growing within certain people. and yet i see it leaving and diminishing in others. the fire and pasion that once lived within no longer exists. what will it take to shake it up, to bring it out?

just sittin in a coffee shop called ziggi's in longmont.

i see youth with passion, with drive, with talent and with gifts.
i see...

the trip

dang, i feel as if so much has happened recently and in my inarticulate manner i shall try to convey them unpoetically to you

short story --
left lubbock after buying some gear for the trip and then went to palo duro canyon.
stayed the night in palo and hiked the next day
left palo bout 2.30 and then headed from texas -> new mexico -> colorado
currently in northern colorado.


short jaunt up to estes park with the johnson boys
me: i think some food would help you out
noah: i think i could kill a bear now

long story --
i left lubbock after buying some gear for the trip and then went to palo duro canyon. on my way i had to dodge a couple of tumbleweeds that managed to cross the highway (again). got there and bought my way in. the park ranger lady was kind enough to give me a 1/2 off ticket cause there were no ordinary camp sites, only ones with water and electricity and cabins. they had these sites closed because of the winter season. So needless to say i managed to get water (which i used 1/2 a cup total) cheaper than i would have gotten just a campsite.

anyway, i parked my car, packed my small hiking bag and set out for a little adventure. being late in the afternoon i did not intend to go trapsing all over the countryside so i went to the nearest trail and started climbing the hills. Now while dodging wet red clay, and the occasional wind current, i managed to make it to the top of a nice hill only to discover another one taunting me in the distance. this game went on for a little, but boy i got some nice scenery up there. Fighting my camera for one more picture (which i didnt get cause of the timing and battery juice) i decided to give up and told myself i would check the shop tomorrow for batteries i could use to take on my day hike. blah, blah, blah, i started to come down the mountain trying to head for a trail i had seen. side note, this trail dragged all across the face of this cliff so i was bound to catch it at some point, but i wanted to catch it quicker than later, but did not plan this until i had set off into the jungle of juniper and cacti). i finally made it to the trail, and after deciding to head back to camp, the wind started gusting like none other. my guess was that this was the normal hobgoblin of wind coming to tear us away from the canyon walls (or the fact that the sun was going down and the cooler air was falling to the ground creating nice gusts amidst the warmer air).

dang, this really is the long story

set up my tent for the night and grabbed some snacks. tested my cooker, then didnt do much. grabbed an hour of snooze, and then was awakened and didnt go to sleep much until after midnight. man was it cold out there. turns out my sleeping bag isnt as well as i thought it was. and double socks really needs to be triple socks. anyways i managed to get nice an comfy with my jacket round my feet and the hood all cinched up. anyways i awoke later than i wanted, but earlier than i had really woken up at all this semester to the sound of some dudes talking on their cell phone (which had gone on during the night and which contributed to some of my inability to get some shut-eye).

i find that i spend a lot of time on the meaningless stuff, and not a lot on the better stuff (but what did you expect, this is the long version)

woke up and packed my gear in the car. i then put on my hiking boots (which i had failed to do the day prior because i was too lazy to walk 100 yards to change my shoes for boots) and skedaddled on the same trail that i had started out the day before. in the previous trek, i had managed to make it to mile marker .5 and i was bound and determined to make it a bit farther this time. i ended up going that whole trail and then headed to the lighthouse rock formation (the formation that is trademarked by palo duro [which means 'hard wood' after the juniper trees there]). met up with the boyscouts that camped down the way from me and then went all the way back to camp. total journey took about 3-4 hours and a distance of 10+ miles.

left palo duro round 2.30 and decided to try my luck heading to colorado. i crossed over to new mexico as the sun was setting on the serria grande mountains (b-e-a-utiful), and then headed to colorado from there. i only saw colorado in the dark this first day. the great winding roads, the speed limit of 75, the threat of ice on bridges, what more is to love?

anyway, eventually get to the house and crash. get up after breakfast and head to estes park. great view! on the way saw a couple of ponds frozen over and the streams in the valleys were peaking out from under the ice. absolutely beautiful!!

one more snow day

hey, for those that read...

been in lubbock for a bit hangin out with steph and jason. been slightly delayed due to snow two nights in a row and palo duro canyon's road being closed. have no fear, ... yeah i got nothin.

run down on things i did this week with steph and jason and lindsey (oh and brittany on wed night)

showed up and played some games, watched a couple of movies, went to tech to see jason and his cool office, done some scouting, cruised the streets looking for places, shopped, visited a grocery store, toured tech, drove back and forth on the same street, and absolutely fell in love with market street (very similar to central market and maybe that is why i like it so much).

anyway, plan is to head to palo duro canyon tomorrow, and no snow is in the forcast...

the new residents of lubbock

just a quick post to give a shout out to steph and jason and their wonderful house.

...

what are you gonna do in a town where you dont know anyone and there is snow on the ground? anyway the following was so good that i stole it from Brett.

01. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
02. Swam with wild dolphins
03. Climbed a mountain
04. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
05. Been inside the Great Pyramid
06. Held a tarantula
07. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
08. Said “I love you” and meant it
09. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg
19. Slept under the stars
20. Changed a baby'’s diaper
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower
23. Gotten drunk on champagne
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger (close enough to being a stranger)
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse (not sure about this one, but it seems like I have)
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk.
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe.
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them
54. Visited Japan
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke
59. Lounged around in bed all day
60. Played touch football
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theater
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight (better believe it)
72. Gotten married
73. Been in a movie
74. Crashed a party
75. Gotten divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programs as an 'expert'
83. Got flowers for no reason
84. Performed on stage
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music
87. Eaten shark
88. Kissed on the first date
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship
94. Spoken more than one language fluently
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country
100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didnÂ’t stop when you knew someone was looking103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Touched a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a facial part pierced other than your ears
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery (I was a C-Section baby. Close enough for me)
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states
124. Visited all 7 continents
25. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someoneÂ’s mind about something you care deeply about
130. Gone back to school
131. Parasailed
132. Touched a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
139. Been elected to public office
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you a’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
49. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

Brett decided to add some of his own:

151. Fired a machine gun (and jumped out of a plane with about 100 pounds of gear, including a machine gun strapped to my side)
152. Thrown a grenade
153. Had only about one hour of sleep per day for a week or more
154. Been saved by someone else
155. Finished a book you thought was terrible because you couldn't stand to not finish it
156. Sharted (if you don't know what this is...)
157. Told you'd never amount to anything by your teacher... on your birthday...
158. Had friends who threw you a surprise birthday
159. Told someone all the evil you've done and had done to you
160. Attempted to tell someone all the wonderful things you've experienced 161. Jokingly formed a “secret society or club
162. Kidnapped a friend as part of a joke
163. Had a cop pull a gun on you because he thought you were really kidnapping someone
164. Been scantily clad in a public place and been sought after by police
165. Tricked roommate into thinking you'd been kicked out of school
166. Been defecated on by a bird
167. Fought a dragon (okay. I haven't really done this, but I know I guy that has... okay, not really, but you can image what that would be like... no? EVERYBODY ON BUS!)

the crisp lubbock air

well, i woke up this mornin with fresh snow dotting the ground. it makes for an interesting plan of one to go camping. Well needless to say, i am still here in lubbock planning and waiting to go to the store amongst waiting for lowes to drop off the desired devices steph and jason are waiting for.

dont worry, i dont want to use caps or much punctuation.

some pics from the trip

leaving tyler


overnight stop in richardson


jaunt up to mckinny


stop and chat with the ole boss and fam (thanks for the grub too, yall are always great)



night at the casa del miguel


stop to see laura


sunset on drive up to lubbock (before tumbleweed incident)

the wild wild west

well my friends, i am officially in west texas. the trip up to lubbock was surprisingly beautiful. the night skies were amazing. could almost number the stars, cause they were all visible.

interesting story...driving at night on 84 up here and out of the middle of nowhere i had to dodge a tumbleweed crossing the highway...i am officially in west texas.

anyway, things are starting to get a bit cold but that doesnt diminish the fun.

justin, sorry to disappoint you, but i did visit the campus...bigger than tcu.

things are truckin along, might have to postpone palo duro cause of snow, but we shall see.

on my way

saw Rachel Hurst and Michael last night.

saw some of the crew, and Laura.

cant forget to stop and see mom afore i head out.

now im on my way to Lubbock.

The venture out

well, after hangin in tyler for a bit, cleaning, unpacking, rearranging, throwing away, and then packing again, i headed out thasafternoon. I was able to do a few errands and hit the road on my way to the big D, and i do mean dallas. I shall make this quick cause there is an anxious dog named kate hanging round, and we got to go to bed.

Left tyler, met up with Richard and went to eat at New York Sandwich shop, then headed to Monica and Daniel's.

Great seein them again... maybe i shall go into detail sometime...

Hey

figured that i would get this too, since i got everything else. Hopefully this will be a better editor and visual enticer. google is da man.