Remember that trip we took to Enchanted Rock, like two weekends ago?

Well, I've finally worked my way down to those pictures and I've uploaded 'em to FlickR. Here are a few of the highlights.

Here's our camp site. My buddies had already arrived and chosen three sites right next to the smaller of the two big domes. They come up from Austin, about thirty minutes away, so they can come early and snag some good ones. The rest of us come from places like San Antone (about an hour and a half away), Killeen (two hours away), or from as far away as Dallas (five hours away). These folks started comin' here in the early 1980s, when they were still goin' to UT and came to get wide and have REAL fun, so so they know what they're doin'.

Some of the sites have covers over them, and some are better situated for access to the shitters and showers. You can look here to see the map of the sites (we were at site number 27). The rocks jut out of the land just above these sites.

My first job, after unloading the car (maybe even before unloading, if it looks like rain) is setting up the tent. This is my job, because it's my tent, and it's easier for me to do it than to show someone else how to do it. And, hell, I love doin' it.

Same tent and sleeping setup as you saw in the shots from Terlingua. It's set up for maximum comfort, because I'm not alone any more. I want Denise to enjoy herself because I like wakin' up next to her, and I want to be able to spoon and snuggle and wake up next to her out here too. Too many of these guys can't get their women to come unless they get them a hotel room in Fredericksburg. That's bullshit if you ask me. I want to share the things I love with the woman I love, or I'll get another one. So far, Denise's been ready to do just about anything I do, so we're having a lot of fun.

I sleep better and I'm happier in a tent than anywhere else. I actually floated the idea (very briefly) when I did that road trip to Tennessee last summer to save money on the hotel room and just pitch a tent in Mushy's yard. It would have freaked them out, but I'd a been happier than a pig in shit. Of course, then I got there and saw the slope he lives on and has to mow, and I realized it wouldn't have worked out anyway. Hell, the Holiday Inn Express was PLUSH! King size plushness with internet and everything, so I was happy. They didn't have to listen to me snore, so they were happy too. From what I understand, Mushy and his dog and I would have set up a chorus.

These folks here have camped with me before, so they know to make sure my tent site is a ways off.

Anyway, here's the big rock, taken from the head of the trail leading up to it. At the top it's about 1825 feet above sea level. Denise bitched and moaned a little, but made it up the whole way like a trooper. I had to stop to rest with her a few more times than usual, but not TOO many more times. But I didn't mind it at all. I wanted her to make it, and when she did, you should have heard how proud she was.

Did I mention that we ate really well? This is breakfast on Monday morning. You guys have come to expect this sort of thing by now, surely.



We had a great time. We stayed up there on the rock for a good while, waiting for some of the other folks to walk over from the other dome, and then waiting for the kids to make it through the cave that's on the back of the big dome. After that we walked back to the ground level, with Denise sayin' stuff like "I can't believe I made it all the way up that sodding thing." She made sure I found out exactly how tall it was, and then called her daughters in Kentucky. I'm proud of her.

Later that night, after dinner, one of the guys brought out his telescope and we sat around star gazing. This guy knows a lot about the stars and planets, and can find them and give you a look. I saw the moons of Jupiter and the rings of Saturn here for the first time in my life. That was a few years back though. I've become a bit blase about the whole thing now, but a shooting star will still bring out the little kid in me in a second.

We laid out on blankets on the park road and watched for shooters, and saw several. Short nippers and long burners. All the while, the mass of stars of the Milky Way stretched out from one horizon to the other. I don't even really believe in God most of the time, but there are times like this that reach into me and bring it out. You can really see the majesty of His/Her/It's work in that vista, His wonders to behold.

The big attraction this year was the mysterious smudge in the night sky. You could see it with high powered binoculars, and then once you knew where it was you could see it with the naked eye. The consensus then was that it was probably a comet, with us looking at it from the back, through the tail.

I never did hear what the hell it really was, but I just found this over at the Astronomy site. It's called the "M13 Globular Star Cluster in Hercules" . Who knows? This sure is what it looked like, only there was far less definition in the view that we saw. Well, it was cool anyway.

Alright, that's enough of that. I can hear you bitchin' about the long post, so I'll put it away. Click on the FlickR link to check out the rest of the shots. There's a set of shots in the order they were taken, up there on the right of the page. There were some nice closeups. Enjoy. Later.